Locker Page 1319 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Sometimes, You Forget Your Own Age. It Happens.
As we've mentioned before, soon to be No. 1 or No. 2 overall pick Greg Oden was the first human to spring fully formed from the womb, with a beard. And if his interview with "ESPN First Take" — it's like "Cold Pizza," only with a less dumb but more pointless name! And it's not in New York anymore! —...

Wild Nights In Salt Lake City
Just Call Me Juice points out what we're all thinking but are afraid to admit: These NBA playoffs have been so much more entertaining than the NCAA Tournament. (Assuming, of course, you ignore the Eastern Conference.) Last night's wild overtime thriller, a mad hatter 127-117 Jazz win over the Warrio...

Easy Pickings In The Eastern Conference
We mean no offense to a fan base that has to be ecstatic, but has an NBA team ever won its first six playoff games in less impressive fashion than the Cleveland Cavaliers? The Arenas-less Wizards folded fast, and, last night, the Nets looked like they really weren't up for much more basketball, than...

Wow, We Get Another One Of These Series, Apparently
So here's something no one could have expected: A second-round playoff series between Golden State and Utah that's destined to be thrilling, amazing to watch and go the full seven games. Utah won Game 1, but, as we watched the game early this morning while shaking off our Arcade Fire hangover, we we...

Free Darko Playoff Pants Party: Jazz Vs. Warriors
The second round continues with another new matchup tonight. It's certainly one few would have anticipated....

The Sad Tale Of Tracy McGrady
We were pleased to see former Illini Deron Williams and Dee Brown advance to the Western Conference semifinals with the Jazz's win over the Rockets on Saturday night, but it brought us no joy to see the likable and seemingly doomed Tracy McGrady fail once again to push his team out of the first roun...

Steve Nash, Definitely A Bleeder
There are all kinds of disappointing ways for a tight, close NBA playoff game to end. A key player can be thrown out, a team can self-destruct, a naked man can run on the court ... there are all kinds of ways to transform a potential classic into a missed opportunity. But one of the worst has to be ...

Congratulations, America, On Not Hating John Amaechi
John Amaechi spoke yesterday to the Log Cabin Republicans, the nation's largest (though, let's be honest, they probably don't have a ton of competition) organization of republicans who support gay rights. Amaechi said he expected the worst when he came out, but was pleasantly surprised at the reacti...

The Houston Rockets Are Buried In Sadness
Tracy McGrady assumed full responsibility for the outcome before Houston's series against Utah, then went out in Game 7 and did the Yeoman's work and still came up short. Then, in the postgame press conference, he couldn't run from the responsibility and ended up walking away in tears (thanks to The...

Free Darko Playoff Pants Party: Cavaliers Vs. Nets
The second round continues with two more matchups today. We've already previewed Suns-Spurs tonight....

Free Darko Playoff Pants Party: Suns Vs. Spurs
Even though there are still two first-round series still going on, the second round starts tomorrow. Two matchups are set already....

Free Darko Playoff Pants Party: Pistons Vs. Bulls
Even though there are still two first-round series still going on, the second round starts tomorrow. Two matchups are set already....

Look, There Was Another Game On Thursday Night
Lest we forget, in all the Warriors hub-bub, that another series took a fun turn last night, with the Jazz tying the Rockets 3-3 with a 94-82 win in Utah. The key Jazz star was Andrei Kirilenko, who shined late despite, you know, crying like a little girl earlier this series because he wasn't gettin...

We'd Keep Our Distance From Mavs Fans This Morning
It was not a good night to be a Dallas fan last night — it really hasn't been a good year to be a fan of any Dallas sports team — but it's really not a happy experience to be Dirk Nowitzki right now ... and it probably won't be for quite some time, writes True Hoop....

NBA Blogdome: Whoa, Nellie!
What they're saying in the blogs about Golden State's first-round series win over the Mavericks ......

The View From Oracle Arena: Proof It Really Happened
Deadspin associate editor Rick Chandler was at the Oracle Arena in Oakland last night to watch the Golden State Warriors finish off the Dallas Mavericks. Here's his account of the experience....

Crunch Time For The Warriors ... And Their Fans
Well, all right, kids, we think you probably agree with us when we say that if the Warriors can’t clinch their series against the Mavericks in that Thunderdome, they’re not likely to sneak out a Game 7 in Dallas. So tonight is, for all intents and purposes, the deciding game. And it’s the biggest ni...

Bay Area Calls Out Mr. Barkley
So Charles Barkley has been having a little fun at the Bay Area's expense during his TNT commentary on the Mavericks-Warriors series. Saying "Oakland sucks" on national television and wearing a Mavericks jersey, well, fine. While it's a bit like rooting for Margaret Dumont in a Marx Bros. film, we s...

Kobe, Carmelo, Iverson ... Exit Stage Left, Please
Before last night's Suns-Lakers Game 5, Henry at True Hoop looked at just how much the Lakers would change in the offseason if they lost, which, of course, they did. So now it can start. Trade Kobe! For Shaq! Or whatever: We can't imagine Phil Jackson will enjoy being a part of this for too much lon...

This Is Also Why NBA Refs Drive Cabs In The Offseason
The big story this morning? A study by a couple of Ivy Leaguers "reveals" that white referees call disproportionately high number of foul calls on black players and, to a lesser extent, vice versa. We find it amusing, first off, that they found enough white players for the study....