As much as the Celtics are supposed to be struggling, and as much as I root for the Pacers, I’m just not seeing an upset special when Boston hosts Indiana tonight. The C’s have had a day to rest, an extra day to think about how they got booed by their own fans in a blowout loss to Memphis on Wednesday. Indiana is coming off a win over the Sixers, and they’re getting Danny Granger back from a one-game suspension, but still, my gut says a motivated Boston squad will make an example of the Pacers before Sunday’s potentially season-defining test at Cleveland. Read More »
Too old. Too slow. By now it sounds like a recording for the Boston Celtics, but there’s a new problem beginning to surface that may be the real reason why this team is looking like a fake contender. Forget age and speed — these Celtics aren’t as hungry as they were in ‘08 and ‘09. During last night’s 20-piecing at home at the hands of the Grizzlies, the Celtics looked a lot like the UConn men’s team when they went through the motions before quitting in the Big East Tournament; maybe it’s something in the New England water … Rudy Gay (28 pts, 8 rebs) is exactly the kind of motivated thoroughbred giving Boston problems. Read More »
Hawks/Heat was only notable last season for being the worst playoff series of ‘09: A brutal seven-game stretch of blowouts, dead crowds, a subpar Joe Johnson, an exhausted D-Wade, and some good ol’ Pat Riley-approved ’90s Knicks prison yard basketball sprinkled in here and there. This season it’s been more of the same, as the three Hawks/Heat meetings leading up to last night had been decided by an average of 16 points. And yet Saturday’s matchup turned out to be the best game on the NBA schedule … It was nip/tuck throughout the fourth quarter. Read More »
For some inexplicable reason, while the ESPN announcers were recapping last night’s Cavs/Pistons game as Cleveland was putting the finishing touches on another W, they failed to explore the possibility that Detroit was shaken up by what had happened to Rodney Stuckey, or go into how it affected their play … During a timeout late in the third quarter, Stuckey was coming of the court and said he felt dizzy. He then collapsed on the bench right next to the Pistons’ trainer, and had to be rushed away in ambulance. After that, there was a somber, strange vibe in the arena that even translated through the TV. Read More »
30. New Jersey Nets (6-53) — Mad Dog Carter and the rest of the ‘73 Sixers might have to cancel that champagne-popping party. The Nets are 2-5 since the All-Star break, recording wins over the Celtics and the (maybe) playoff-bound Bobcats.
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (14-47) — A disappointing season gets worse for Al Jefferson, suspended for this week’s games against Dallas and Houston after a DWI arrest. On a less serious note, Al’s team has dropped nine of its last 10 games. Read More »
It used to be a fairly easy answer. If I had a son who appeared to have a future as a power forward (unlikely seeing as I’m 5-8, but that’s not the point), who would I want him to study?
Tim Duncan. Easy. That was the answer, every time.
Now it’s more complicated. What if the kid has a naturally nice jumper? Well then, there’s Dirk Nowitzki to think about. What if he’s athletic as all hell? Maybe it’s Kevin Garnett game footage. What if he grew up playing PG before a late growth spurt? Lamar Odom makes a lot of sense. Read More »
If the Cleveland team that showed up Monday night routinely shows up this May/June, there’s no way LeBron doesn’t win his first NBA championship in 2010. Yeah, they were playing the Knicks. Still, the Cavs would’ve been tough for the ’80s Pistons to stop last night with the way they passed, moved without the ball, and played D — plus everybody had an extra spring in their step like it was Midnight Madness on a college campus … LeBron (22 pts, 7 rebs, 7 asts) had about 3-4 dunks in the first quarter, then in the second he hit some other level of craziness: Read More »
Jason Richardson should just lay it up next time. Don’t get us wrong, J-Rich is still one of the baddest to ever look down into a rim, but he’s developing a weird habit of blowing crucial dunks in the fourth quarters of close games. Last year it was the 360 for no reason that LeBron snuffed out. Yesterday it wasn’t even that complicated … Phoenix was down two in San Antonio with about 40 seconds left, Spurs ball. Jared Dudley got a steal and threw it long for J-Rich, who had gotten behind the defense. All by himself, J-Rich went conservative and tried a basic one-hand dunk that he’s probably been making since he was 13, but somehow missed it. Read More »
