After Jared Goff tipped back his hard hat and swung his arm a few times to get loose Davante Adams Packers Jersey , he grabbed a football and tossed a high-arching spiral straight into the arms of an excited construction worker on an upper deck.

The Los Angeles Rams' franchise quarterback has already completed his first few passes inside his team's palatial new stadium two years before it opens.

Although the multibillion-dollar new home of the Rams and Chargers is currently a dusty construction site with a whirlwind of activity, Goff and his teammates feel confident it will be well worth the wait after getting their first tour Thursday.

"Even flying over it, you can't truly understand how big it's going to be until you get down here and look at it," Goff said, gazing wide-eyed from the future playing field way up to the top reaches of the arena. "It's exciting. You hope the years go by fast."

Rams coach Sean McVay canceled the final practice of the defending NFC West champions' mandatory minicamp and loaded his players and assistants onto buses for a drive from Thousand Oaks to Inglewood.

In safety vests and personalized blue hard hats complete with Rams horns, they got an up-close look at the progress on owner Stan Kroenke's stadium project, now a steel-and-concrete shell rising out of a massive hole dug at ground level on the former site of the Hollywood Park racetrack.

This stadium project is widely thought to be the most complicated and most expensive in sports history, and the main 70,240-seat arena is on track to open in the summer of 2020. When the surrounding complex eventually opens its shops, office buildings and innumerable additional features, the Rams and Chargers will be working in a new Los Angeles-area landmark.

"It's amazing to see all the great work that they're putting in for us to come out here and hopefully have lots of success and wins in the years to come," said Ndamukong Suh Denzel Ward Jersey , the Rams' new defensive tackle.

"Ultimate respect for all the hard work that's going in at this stage. I can imagine how much hard work and organization the GCs (general contractors) have to deal with. More power to them."

Suh was a construction management major at Nebraska, so he took a particular interest in the staggering number of workers and companies combining their efforts to complete the labyrinthine project in time for its two teams to play the 2020 season.

The stadium also will host Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 6, 2022, and college football's national championship playoff game in January 2023. The stadium intends to bid heavily for the next available Super Bowl as well, pursuing the game for 2026 or 2027.

Other events arriving in the next decade alone include expected matches for the 2026 World Cup and the opening ceremony at the 2028 Olympics. The stadium has a clear roof in sunny Southern California partly because of its intention to host a men's Final Four, which hasn't been held in California since 1975.

But the stadium's main tenants are Los Angeles' two NFL teams, and they can already sense a brewing home-field advantage in this remarkable setting.

The project's proximity to Los Angeles' main airport required extensive excavation to sink the playing field deep under normal ground level, already lending a momentous, larger-than-life feel to the stadium in its half-completed state.

"The roar is definitely going to be insane," Suh said. "I look forward to it. We're 100 feet deep in the ground, so all the concrete, the steel and even the natural earth will keep everything boxed in."

The NBA playoffs never go according to plan. The Golden State Warriors are proof of that.

Again.

They have been the league’s best team over the last four seasons Kentavius Street Color Rush Jersey , without question. But even the great teams need injury luck on their side, as has been evident in each of their playoff runs over that span.

Enter Chris Paul and Andre Iguodala this year.

In 2015, Golden State didn’t have to face injured Cleveland stars Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love in the NBA Finals and won the title.

A year later, the Warriors blew a 3-1 finals lead against the Cavs because the series turned in Game 5 – not because Draymond Green was suspended (the often-offered and incorrect narrative), but because Andrew Bogut got clumsily taken out by J.R. Smith and the Warriors had no one left to defend the rim from LeBron James’ constant onslaughts.

Last year, Kawhi Leonard came down on Zaza Pachulia’s foot in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, San Antonio’s big lead was gone in an instant and the Warriors steamrolled the rest of the way to another title.

Injuries taketh away. Injuries giveth.

The reigning NBA champions are on the brink of elimination, down 3-2 in the West finals in large part because Iguodala’s knee has prevented him from playing in the last two games – both of them close losses to the Houston Rockets, outcomes that may have been different if he was on the floor.

But now those Rockets have lost Paul to a hamstring strain. Officially, Paul is out for Game 6 against the Warriors on Saturday. Realistically, the perennial All-Star is probably out for a lot longer.

Series lead, Houston.

Advantage Youth Dorance Armstrong Jr. Jersey , it sure seems like Golden State.

”Injuries happen,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday. ”And you’ve just got to play with whoever’s out there.”

It’s amazing to consider that the Warriors have four All-Stars – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Green – and yet they’re one loss from summer right now because a 34-year-old Iguodala hasn’t been on the floor. Make no mistake, his absence has crushed the Warriors and especially so in late-game situations.

Golden State was awful offensively in the fourth quarter of Game 4 and lost. The Warriors then got ripped for Quinn Cook taking a wide-open 3-pointer and missing with about a minute left in the Game 5 loss at Houston. Green’s many social-media critics reveled in how he dropped a pass and booted the ball off his leg in the final seconds for a turnover that cost Golden State a chance to tie or win the game.

If Iguodala was there, he’d have been involved in those plays.

”He’s one of our keys, and we’ve missed him the last two games,” Kerr said.

Iguodala might be able to get through it and play on Saturday night. Paul won’t; in fact, it seems logical to fear that his season may be over regardless of how far the Rockets go.

Hamstrings don’t heal in a day or two. Playing through an ankle sprain or broken finger, that’s noble at this time of year. Hamstrings don’t allow for such displays of toughness. Running, jumping, cutting Cheap Rasheem Green Jersey , they’re simply not possible. Paul could barely stand after getting hurt Thursday. Anyone envision him running by Monday?

Probably not.

This has been the NBA season of injuries. Gordon Hayward’s season was over after five minutes on opening night and the Boston Celtics had to reinvent themselves. The Celtics had to do so again when they lost Irving to knee surgery late in the regular season. It took time; the Celtics nearly were knocked out in the first round before finding their stride again.

The Warriors, they’re running out of time. The Rockets, they don’t have time to waste either. Without Paul this season, they’re an exceptional 61-12. Without him, they’re 15-9 – still good, but hardly great.

Even with a 3-2 lead, the Rockets probably need one more great game to end Golden State’s reign.

”We’ve been here before,” Kerr said.

The Warriors aren’t acting like worriers. They’ve learned how to roll with the punches at playoff time, no matter how much they hurt.

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Tim Reynolds is a national basketball writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at treynolds(at)ap.org

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