We took a break from hitting replay on the new Game of Thrones trailer to catch the Toronto/Milwaukee game, and outside of the terrible jersey choices (when did this trend begin of both teams wearing away uni colors? It needs to end now), the matchup was surprisingly awesome. The Bucks won 122-114 after dominating the overtime period, mainly because Ersan Ilyasova (29 points, 11 rebounds) morphed into a Hall of Famer at times in the second half and OT, and because Brandon Jennings morphed into Magic Johnson. Read More »

We can just imagine Memphis head coach Lionel Hollins shaking his head. So you’re telling me you’re trading Rudy Gay and our first game without him is against Oklahoma City? Yes, and it wasn’t pretty, a small Grizzlies comeback notwithstanding in the second half Thursday in OKC’s 106-89 win. Memphis tied a season-low by scoring 34 points in the first half and fell behind by 25 because of a combination of OKC being freakishly good and the Grizzlies playing with zero energy and looking like someone just kicked their dog. Read More »

Four years ought not to be a lifetime, but it is in the NBA. In 2008-09, Shaquille O’Neal led the league in field-goal percentage during his farewell tour with Phoenix, Indiana’s Troy Murphy was second in the league in rebounding per game, and L.A.’s Pau Gasol had the league’s best offensive rating. If those are easy to laugh at in a sense of how far the NBA has changed, one event I’m reminiscing about today is tinged with a little more sadness mixed in. On this day four years ago, Brandon Roy dropped his career-high 52-point game against Phoenix. Read More »

Toronto was down to just eight healthy players for Wednesday night’s game against Brooklyn, but you won’t hear any sympathy for the Raptors from Minneapolis. The Timberwolves have endured the NBA’s worst injuries this season, at times missing Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Chase Budinger, J.J. Barea and Brandon Roy. Now the team is projecting a not-so-distant future where all but Budinger will be back. The next piece in reassembling the Wolves roster could be in place Saturday. Read More »

The player who accomplished so much in such short time meets his likely end the same day as the player who did so little given so many chances. Brandon Roy and Darko Milicic entered with similar expectations as top-six picks in the NBA Draft and could quietly drift away just 20 days into this NBA season. Without this timing we’d have almost nothing to tie the two together. Their beginning and end points are neatly tethered together, but the gulf between their careers in between resembles a bell curve and its mirror image. Read More »

LaMarcus Aldridge is an All-Star, a top-5 forward in the NBA’s Western Conference and the epitome of the player — the perfect melding of character and game — Portland searched for to escape its Jail Blazers era. This season he will be the rock to which the likely Lottery bound Trail Blazers cling. In a city that prides itself on its all-local mantra, he’s managed the near impossible by becoming the rare import with universal popularity. Whether under the Rose Garden’s roof or over a microbrew’s pint, countless prayers will be offered this season by Portland’s faithful to keep him healthy, as he is the only No. 1 option. He is not, however, a natural-born No. 1 player. Read More »

Now that Dwight Howard is in Hollywood about to become the next Michael Clarke Duncan — any movie producers need a muscle-bound giant for a bit part? — it’s been accepted without argument that Philly’s Andrew Bynum is the best center in the East. But Brook Lopez might have something to say about that. When the Brooklyn Nets made their post-relocation debut Saturday night in Atlantic City, Lopez led the way with 19 points, nine boards and three blocks in a win over the Sixers. Read More »

Struggle is a part of life. Sometimes we forget that when we’re looking at professional basketball players. They make so much money, they’re so talented, and there’s so much hype around players changing teams that it’s easy to overlook how much harder a transition can be than just putting on that shiny new jersey. Read More »

There may not be a more fascinating front office than Minnesota’s, where GM David Kahn has been a lightning rod of criticism ever since 2009, when he succeeded Kevin McHale. He drafted Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn with consecutive picks in the same 2009 NBA Draft and gave Darko Milicic a $20 million contract, but also kept Kevin Love in uniform until at least 2015. This offseason was no different in Minneapolis, either. Most interesting are the doubts and decisions stemming from the latest moves from inside the organization itself. Read More »

Not since 1999 at Brookline has the chaste golf world let its hair down quite like it did yesterday at Medinah for the Ryder Cup. If you didn’t happen to catch the only tournament that sounds like a college football game, Europe tied a record for largest comeback to beat the U.S., and rallying from a 10-6 hole to win 14.5-13.5. It sent the Euros into a Moet-soaked celebration and the wife of former world No. 1 Luke Donald to tweet, “FYI Sergio gets drunk on 1 beer…” Read More »