17 Page 3 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

How the NBA provides injury updates shows a lack of regard for fans
NBA injury reports have turned into politician media availability. Expect everything except for a straight answer. The Philadelphia 76ers reportedly ran an MRI on Joel Embiid’s knee 10 days ago. He was expected to be able to play early last week if necessary and most certainly be available for the s...

Did not foresee the 76ers being the most impressive team in the playoffs
Game 4 against the Brooklyn Nets is a game that would normally be a disappointing loss for the “Trust the Process” era Philadelphia 76ers. The opportunity to close out a first-round series against an inferior team, along with a Joel Embiid injury to navigate....

Russell Westbrook — flaws and all — was crucial in the Clippers’ Game 1 victory
For those who may be too young to remember Russell Westbrook’s best work, show them from the 1:08 mark in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Clippers 115-110, 2023 Game 1 playoff victory against the Phoenix Suns, to when the clock stops at 10.1 seconds....

Here's which NBA playoff teams will boom or bust
NBA fans are preparing for one of the most equitable and competitive playoffs in recent memory. The lack of an active dynasty or superteam has the door open for nearly any team to make a Finals run. We’ve highlighted five teams headed toward playoff glory and five teams destined for despair. We cons...

Aaron Ramsdale’s fingertips may have saved the Premier League title for Arsenal
There isn’t another league that can produce the utter chaos, at least as consistently, as the Premier League can with yesterday’s 2-2 draw between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield. It starts with the end-to-end action, two teams waylaying into each other for various periods of the game. Which is the...

Who will win as the Lakers, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Thunder battle for play-in spots?
The 2022-23 NBA regular season has come to a close, and it’s time again for the league’s newest tradition, the play-in tournament. This year the Western Conference had the race to watch down the stretch as it was tighter than spandex in the wrestling ring. In fact, the west was close for most of the...

The best games of the final week of the 2022-23 NBA regular-season Schedule
It’s the final week of the NBA regular season. Usually I would advise sports fans to get one last glimpse at a young team like the Orlando Magic before their season comes to an end. This season, my viewing recommendation is to wait until next season to watch the youngsters. They likely will have imp...

Joel Embiid is missing his chance to put the MVP debate to rest once and for all
Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is on the verge of winning his first league MVP award. He could’ve basically locked it up with a dominant showing Monday night against two-time defending MVP Nikola Jokić. Unfortunately, the 76ers announced Monday afternoon that Embiid will miss the game due to a ...

Joel Embiid has overtaken Nikola Jokić for MVP
Don’t count MVPs before they hatch. Nikola Jokić’s third consecutive MVP has seemed like an inevitability during the first three-quarters of the season. Jokić’s triple-double averages, improved offensive efficiency, advanced statistics, and Denver’s No. 1 seed in the Western Conference all appeared ...

Howard University is dancing once again
Colorado, you can have Deion Sanders. I hope he enjoys Boulder which he claims has “no crime,” and I hope the university enjoys him until he moves on to a job with more money and prestige and says that he was instructed by God to do so. I also hope that Jackson State continues to thrive sans the man...

All the NBA action you'll want to catch this week
This week is the first of the NCAA basketball tournaments, and freak injuries have befallen both Kevin Durant and Luka Dončić. Some sports fans might believe this is a good week to step away from the NBA....

You know what will earn Joel Embiid an MVP? Winning
The longest active win streak in the NBA ended Saturday night, as the Philadelphia 76ers stopped the Milwaukee Bucks’ 16-game run with a 133-130 win in Giannis Antetokuonmpo’s house. Joel Embiid and James Harden combined for 69 points, overcoming an 18-point deficit....

The NBA old heads have spoken — and they think LeBron is currently the Association's best player
It’s official, the old heads of the NBA heads have welcomed LeBron James as one of their own. The Athletic recently polled 101 former NBA players, asking which current player is the best player in the Association. In a league that has an abundance of under-30-year-old talent that it is bursting out ...

Philadelphia is the NBA’s bridesmaid until further notice
Joel Embiid is the Second Coming. That is, he’s perpetually in second place, whether it’s to Nikola Jokić in MVP battles, playoff battles, or on the All-NBA team. Count the Boston Celtics as another circumstance where Embiid finishes second. On Saturday night, Embiid continued his second-place tradi...

Nuggets’ All-Star power outage is either disrespect from the league or a playoff omen
Nikola Jokić’s season has been one for the ages. The Denver Nuggets are first in the West, first in offensive efficiency, Jokić is a god according to almost every analytics metric as well as the runaway favorite to become the first MVP in three consecutive seasons since Larry Bird ran the table betw...

Travis Kelce was Chiefs' top pass catcher, but without JuJu Smith-Schuster they don’t win the Super Bowl
Juju Smith-Schuster did not enter the NFL with the goal of being a role player. His sophomore season at Southern California, he hauled in 89 passes for 1,454 yards and 10 touchdowns on a disappointing 8-6 team. The next season, the Trojans went 10-3 and won the Rose Bowl. His yards and receptions to...

Kyrie trade losers are the real winners
Kyrie Irving is a basketball monkey paw. His hardwood alchemy can grant your ephemeral wishes on the court, but with dire side effects on your long-term team chemistry. Stick with him long enough and he’ll deliver a plague to your franchise and refuse to get vaccinated afterward. If basketball were ...

Joel Embiid wants all of Nikola Jokić’s smoke
Following a double OT loss to the lowly Houston Rockets on Dec. 5, the Philadelphia 76ers were a .500 ball club. Doc Rivers, Joel Embiid, and James Harden all had that sad, whiny look on their faces as if you just told a 3-year-old no. Skip ahead nearly two months and 24 games, and they’re 32-16 and...
