18_1 Page 6 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
No Ben Simmons, no problem: Joel Embiid is carrying Philly on his shoulders like a backpack
Unless you live in Philly, most of you probably haven’t paid much attention to the 76ers over the past four to six weeks. Philadelphia has been on quite the roll, winning 16 of their last 20 games since having their Dec. 19 game postponed against the New Orleans Pelicans due to COVID-19. Philly had ...
Don’t fumble the bag
Just like a loose ball, when the bag is in reach, you dive headfirst for it. Every summer, a handful of teams, big and small markets, choose to resign, extend, or offer big money to one of their rising players. Sometimes it works out. Other times, you’re stuck with Kevin Love. Although kudos to Love...
Washington’s season has been an utter disappointment
What happened to this being the breakout season for the Washington Wizards? The NBA franchise representing the America’s capital started this season 10-3, appearing to be the D.C. squad ready to bring the franchise to an elusive conference final....
Blame Dr. LeBronenstein for creating this monster
It’s easy to just want to blame Russell Westbrook....
Damian Lillard’s injury, sadly, is exactly what the Trail Blazers needed
If the Portland Trail Blazers ever wondered what an unfortunate but well-timed injury looks like, Damian Lillard’s abdominal issue is it. The team announced Thursday that the All-NBA guard underwent surgery to repair it, and he will be reevaluated in six weeks, with a six-to-eight week timetable to ...
Lonzo’s Ball-in
Lonzo Ball finally seems to have found the right landing spot in Chicago after playing for two organizations in his first four years as a pro. Zo is living up to all four letters of his last name and balling out for a Bulls squad with the best record in the East. LeBron probably wishes he could get ...
Give DeMar DeRozan his flowers for putting the Bulls in first place
What a three-game stretch for the fifth-leading scorer in the NBA, DeMar DeRozan. Mr. Anti-analytics has been letting his mid-range shot fly all season, propelling him to a scoring average of 26.9 points per game. With 28 points and six assists on Monday DeRozan was the Chicago Bulls’ leader in poin...
Of course the Blazers say Damian Lillard is untouchable
There are a couple of ways to parse the report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe that the Trail Blazers are not willing to discuss trading Damian Lillard, “one of the Sixers’ top targets” in a potential Ben Simmons deal....
CJ and Dame have been fun, but if the Blazers want to salvage this season it’s time to say bye to McCollum
It’s far from all CJ McCollum’s fault the Portland Trail Blazers are struggling, and currently the 10th seed in the Western Conference with an 11-14 record. His field goal and free throw percentages are down, but he’s still averaging 20.6 points per game and shooting nearly 40 percent from the 3-poi...
The Dallas Mavericks are struggling and Luka Dončić deserves some of the blame
For the second straight year, this pipe dream of Luka Dončić being NBA MVP seems to be going up in flames already. Dallas started the season well, but now they’re a game under .500 (11-12) and have lost eight of their last 10 games. It’s not so much Luka’s statistical production, although his shooti...
Phoenix Suns’ solstice coming in part due to steadiness of coaching
On Nov. 4, ESPN published a report detailing the racist and misogynistic culture created by Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver within the organization, which had reached a point where one former executive was quoted as saying “there’s literally nothing you could tell me about him from a misogynistic o...
Kyle Kuzma, the latest NBA player to beef with Cleveland
Kyle Kuzma is feeling himself a bit with the Washington Wizards’ hot start to the 2021-22 season. The Wizards are surprisingly tied atop the Eastern Conference with the Brooklyn Nets. Falling into a good situation after being traded from the Los Angeles Lakers, Kuzma was not in the mood to take any ...
The NBA has new long-range shooting royalty in ‘King’ Buddy Hield
Move over, Splash Bros — you’ve got competition in Northern California in the three-point shooting department. Buddy Hield has hit 1,209 buckets from downtown in his first 400 NBA games, which is the most of any player in that amount of time in the league’s history. Hield beat out Stephen Curry (1,1...
Damian Lillard should have forced his way out of Portland
Hindsight is 20/20. But even then, sometimes people just don’t want to see what’s right in front of them....
James Harden had a ‘glitch in the matrix’ moment, recreating <em>NBA 2K</em> gameplay
The start of the season hasn’t been the NBA 2K simulation that most thought it would be for the Brooklyn Nets, but James Harden had himself a moment over the weekend that sums up the Nets’ slow start this year....
Western Conference beware, Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets have a new weapon in their arsenal
The Denver Nuggets have struggled a bit to start the 2021-22 season. Following three consecutive campaigns with a win percentage of .630 or better, they are .500 following a 108-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. Still, there is encouragement for Nuggets fans, both from this game ...
Ben Simmons is going full James Harden, which you should never do if you don't actually shoot the ball
For those who saw clips from the Philadelphia 76ers practice on Monday, it would have been reasonable to draw the conclusion that guard/forward Ben Simmons didn’t want to be there. One picture showed him practicing with his phone in his sweatpants pocket, and in a viral clip he was dribbling a baske...
Get ready, because the Mavericks are going to let you down big time this season
“They” said Dallas won the Trae Young/Luka Dončić 2018 Draft day trade. Yet, “they,” and everybody else, are still waiting on Dončić to win a playoff series, as Young was a twisted ankle away from playing in the NBA Finals....
Deandre Ayton hasn’t gotten paid because Phoenix is cheap
Phoenix Suns fans might be in for a rude awakening coming very soon. Breakout big man Deandre Ayton is eligible for a rookie max contract extension, but is still without one heading into his fourth year with the Suns. This comes with the territory when you play for a frugal owner who is mainly conce...
Indiana wants Ben Simmons, but they should be careful what they wish for
If you tuned out for a day or two and were wondering where in the world Ben Simmons is…...