basketball Page 134 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Beef Between Kevin Durant And Patrick Beverley Will Make This Inevitable Warriors Sweep Fun As Hell
When it came to the Warriors-Clippers series, the prevailing prediction seemed to be that the Clippers hardly had a snowball’s chance in hell of stealing at least one win from Golden State. However, the caveat to that pessimistic prediction was that Los Angeles could at least make things interesting...

The Raptors Were Never Going To Be Able To Stop D.J. Augustin From Becoming A Postseason Hero
The Orlando Magic are an enigma. The designation has nothing to do with a complex scheme that coach Steve Clifford has put together, or an analytics heavy-approach to selecting undervalued free agents that other teams would ignore. No, the Magic are an enigma simply because it makes no sense how thi...

Kenny Atkinson's Trust In Caris LeVert Paid Off
When Caris LeVert went down with his gruesome-looking foot injury in November, the initial assumption was that his season was over. It made sense at the time. When you combine his history of foot injuries, and the fact that he had to be taken off in a stretcher, the projections tend to be pessimisti...

Frankly An Incredibly Good And Informative, Ah, Preview Of The 2019 NBA Playoffs, Part 1
Well hello there, casual basketball fan! Welcome back... to the crucible of champions. The NBA playoffs are upon us once again, probably within minutes or possibly even before I actually finish writing this very long (and good) blog. Oh crap!...

Report: Lakers Dump Luke Walton
Magic Johnson didn’t want to be the one to do it, so he quit, but it was going to get done anyway, and now it’s official: The Lakers have canned head coach Luke Walton. ...

Uh-Oh, Joel Embiid's Knee Might Keep Him Out Of Game 1
A visibly frustrated Joel Embiid said he “has no idea” if he’ll play tomorrow in Game 1 of the Sixers’ first-round series versus the Nets, due to pain in his left knee. Seems bad:...

What Do The Sacramento Kings Want To Be?
Let’s start with this: the Sacramento Kings will never not be the Sacramento Kings. There will never be a time when this is not both painfully accurate, and just painful:...

Don't Worry, The Sacramento Kings Are Still Dumb As Dogshit
The Sacramento Kings—the NBA’s most laughable franchise and, by ESPN’s estimation, the most miserable team in pro sports—finally had a good season. They didn’t make the playoffs, but they finished 39-43, a 12-win improvement over the previous season. De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield took big steps up, t...

The State Of The Warriors On The Edge Of Unrest
If, as has been predicted with almost frightening certitude by anyone who has watched a basketball game since Zelmo Beaty roamed the earth, the Golden State Warriors tromp through yet another field of challengers and re-re-almost-repeat as NBA champions, you outworlders will be pleased to know that ...

Paul Pierce Is Getting Desperate
It’s been a rough time to be Paul Pierce as of late. Since boldly proclaiming that he was better than Dwyane Wade, he’s been the constant ridicule of seemingly anyone who could come up with a joke to make at his expense. Things started just moments after his claim when Jalen Rose read off a list of ...

Dirk Nowitzki's Championship Stands Alone
Dirk Nowitzki is finally retiring after two decades with the Dallas Mavericks, and is secure in his legacy as the greatest-ever player from outside the United States thanks to 31,540 points scored, the iconic fadeaway jumper, his 14 all-star teams, and the 2007 MVP award. His once-reviled, or at lea...

Alvin Gentry Thinks Anthony Davis "Got Some Bad Advice"
While some NBA teams were busy making a dramatic push for a playoff spot or sending off a beloved superstar last night, the New Orleans Pelicans were just trying to get their final game against the Warriors over with and slink away from what’s been a disastrous season. The game itself was unremarkab...

Heat Fans Made Sure To Give Paul Pierce A Memorable Send-Off, Too
Dwyane Wade’s year-long retirement tour reached its climax last night, when Wade started and played 34 minutes in his final home game as a member of the Miami Heat (this thanks to the Detroit Pistons, whose comeback win against the Grizzlies eliminated the Heat from the playoffs). Wade said goodbye ...

Steph Curry Leaves Warriors-Pelicans Game With Non-Contact Ankle Injury
Less than week before the start of the NBA playoffs, Steph Curry went down with a non-contact ankle injury early in the Warriors’ game against the Pelicans on Tuesday. The injury occurred when Curry’s right ankle gave out during a crossover attempt, forcing him to turn the ball over. The Golden Stat...

Report: Chris Mullin Out At St. John's Despite Winning Due To Sleazy And Failed Recruiting Efforts
Today, Chris Mullin announced that he was stepping down as St. John’s basketball coach after four seasons at the helm. Jon Rothstein first broke the news that Mullin was leaving last night. Mullin cited “a recent personal loss” in his resignation statement (his older brother died of cancer in March)...

De'Andre Hunter Was Worth The Wait
It was, right up until it wasn’t, the sort of tournament that can crumble a draft stock. Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter, a projected lottery pick, had had a mediocre (by his standards) tournament, averaging 11.25 points per game over his previous four, and failing to score more than 14—still below his s...

The Nets Are In
Coming into the final weekend of the regular season, none of the handful of decidedly un-great teams racing for the Eastern Conference’s last few playoff spots—the Pistons, Magic, Nets, Heat, and Hornets—had a truly easy route to the postseason. They’d all have to beat somebody to get through. The t...

The Knicks Are In The "Let Mario Hezonja Cook" Phase Of Their Tank
The 16-64 Knicks have locked up the NBA’s worst record, which translates to a 14 percent chance at Zion Williamson and the assurance that their pick will not fall outside the top five. Insofar as the team could be said to have any goals this season, they have now all been achieved: offload unhappy ...

How To Lose Everything And Get Some Of It Back
It’s 1993 and an addict is tending bar, probably the worst possible job for an addict besides, maybe, professional basketball player in the 1970s....

A Fortunate Bounce Helped Virginia Beat Auburn For A Spot In The NCAA Tournament Final
The officials at last night’s Auburn-Virginia Final Four game missed a pretty big call and caused a controversial ending to a game that deserved a lot better, as college refs are wont to do. With less than a second remaining, Auburn’s Samir Doughty committed a worst-case-scenario error and fouled Ky...