At this point, every loss for the playoff teams is huge. Home-court advantages and seedings are on the line. But those trap games can get anyone. While last night was lacking in high-profile match-ups, it did provide plenty to distinguish just who is ready for the playoffs and who isn’t. Denver and San Antonio passed their tests with flying colors. Then there was Atlanta, who reinforced every bad feeling you might have about them. And in case you missed it, Ty Lawson was hotter than Hell’s waiting room … Read More »
Blake Griffin is a beast. But you already knew that. Hopefully by the end of Friday night, those who don’t have NBA League Pass and have only been exposed to Blake Superior’s rookie brilliance got to see how beastly DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall can be … For the second straight year, the Rookies beat the Sophomores in the All-Star Rookie Challenge, but this may have been the first time it wasn’t an upset. Blake did his thing, finishing with 14 points in 13 minutes, pretty much all of it on dunks. Read More »
Once upon a time, the NBA’s All-Star Rookie Challenge was easy to call. The rooks would have their highlights here and there, but inevitably the Sophomores — older, stronger, more accustomed to the NBA grind, not yet burned out after 40-something games, plus a year of experience after playing together in the previous year’s Challenge — would take control and turn it into something like a Harlem Globetrotters game.
That’s not the case this year. Or at least nobody thinks that will be the case. Read More »
Sometimes the Spurs make it look so easy. On their way to becoming the first team in the NBA to reach 40 W’s this season, San Antonio’s defense suffocated Houston in the second half, and Manu Ginobili (22 pts) led the offense in a 13-point win … The efficiency was ruthless. In the first quarter, Tony Parker (17 points) threw a lob to Tim Duncan, which was the quietest, most difficult alley-oop we’ve ever seen: Duncan going backdoor, getting a pass that stopped right next to the rim as TD casually laid it in. Read More »
It’s the never-ending NBA dilemma: Young teams don’t win championships, but old teams don’t have bright futures. So how do you balance the roster if you want to win now and keep winning later? … The Spurs may be figuring it out. In last night’s win over the Knicks, we saw the old San Antonio regime mesh with the new: Tim Duncan (21 points, 16 rebounds, 5 blocks) turned in a throwback performance and dominated Amar’e Stoudemire (18 points, 15 rebounds, 4 steals). Those numbers might not show it, but Duncan and DeJuan Blair (18 points, 13 rebounds) had STAT flustered the entire game … Read More »
Crazy night in the NBA, with overtime finishes, upsets, comebacks, a head-to-head matchup of two of the best players in the League, another head-to-head matchup of two of the most talked-about players in the League, and (maybe) some kind of resolution on the Carmelo Anthony situation … Hours before Nuggets/Thunder tipped off, ‘Melo learned he won’t be playing for the Nets — at least not this season. Read More »
As much as I hate sports/dating analogies — I really can’t hear one more comparison between LeBron James leaving Cleveland and somebody breaking off a relationship — when it comes to trades, the process does resemble most club hook-ups: One side wants it, while the other has to be convinced they want it.
In this case, the San Antonio Spurs want it. While the team is sitting atop the NBA with a 29-6 record and are as strong a contender as anybody for the 2011 championship, naturally they have to look toward the future. Read More »
When the NBA announced its preliminary selections for this year’s All-Star Dunk Contest (Blake Griffin, JaVale McGee, Serge Ibaka and Brandon Jennings), it seemed not everyone in the League was feeling its decision. Enter Billy Hoyle. I mean Josh McRoberts. I mean Josh McRoberts as Billy Hoyle and his Indiana Pacers teammate Brandon Rush as Sidney Deane from White Men Can’t Jump. Got it? Good. Read More »
As I said last night, I hadn’t seen Madison Square Garden that animated since the crowd shots in Eddie. This dunk from DeJuan Blair was about the only thing that silenced them for a bit. Apparently Ronny Turiaf doesn’t like blacksmithing.
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