fin Page 55 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

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 ...

Celtics’ struggles less about style of play, more about players
I don’t blame overconfident NBA players for attempting to take over a game when the only people excited for the Austin Rivers experience are opposing fans. I think it’s less, “I got this,” and more “I want to do the fun thing, too.” Who wants to watch someone play video games when you could have the...

Sixers fans chant ‘we want Lillard’ even in midst of worst shooting slump of his career
The 2021-22 season hasn’t been anything to write home about for Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard just yet. If you were present at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia Monday night, then you know 76ers fans don’t give a damn about Dame’s early-season woes. The Philly crowd didn’t w...

I’m old, so I made my kids help me rank this year’s NBA City Edition jerseys
The new NBA City Edition jerseys are out, with 28 new looks heading to the hardwood while the Jazz and Suns run it back with last season’s getups. Last year, Deadspin ranked Utah’s at No. 8 among the City Editions, and Phoenix at No. 23. Maybe it was the run to the NBA Finals, but those Suns “Valley...

Steve Spurrier is still finding a way to run up the score on Georgia, 25 years after Florida’s national championship
Florida-Georgia, “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” might have a little less doubt than usual about who’s going to win this year, what with the Bulldogs being No. 1 by a mile and the Gators being out of the top 25. The last three seasons, the rivalry has been a matchup of top-10 foes, wit...

Tennessee won’t revise alcohol policy… are they drunk?
The University of Tennessee has a plan to prevent another trash blizzard in response to this month’s debacle when Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss visited Knoxville....

I feel you AI, but let’s keep it 100, Philly fans can be something else to deal with
Philly’s favorite son, Allen Iverson, has been keeping a close eye on the 76ers’ dilemma regarding Ben Simmons wanting to leave town. Iverson gave Philadelphia the best years of his career and even led the team to its last NBA Finals appearance in 2001. There aren’t too many athletes who know that r...

The Nets miss Kyrie, but his absence isn’t the only reason for their slow start
Take two for Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Ky….well, the third member of Brooklyn’s big trio is on a leave of absence, and maybe that is part of the reason for the Nets’ struggles early on this season....

Perhaps it’s time for Barcelona to recognize what they are
It couldn’t end any other way, especially when you bone it and get zipped by Rayo Vallecano to fall to ninth in the La Liga table....

LSU, USC head coach candidate deniers auditioning for vacancies this weekend
I’m about as sick of the college football coaching carousel chatter as Mike Tomlin. I know reporters are obligated to ask these questions, but it’s like asking a child standing in front of a puddle of spilt milk, “Did you do this?” There needs to be a word for asking a question you know you’re not g...

The Braves are in the World Series, and the Knicks are winning in prime time: Someone bring me my damn Tamagotchi
It was throwback night in professional sports on Tuesday. The evening began with a nationally televised prime time Knicks game at Madison Square Garden on TNT… and a half hour after that started, the Atlanta Braves played in their first World Series game in 22 years. Both teams won, but that wasn’t ...

The Blackhawks are forced to face their reckoning, 11 years too late
The details are always worse than you can imagine, even if the overall arc of the story is exactly what we all expected. And so it proved as the Chicago Blackhawks released the findings of their internal investigation into how the organization handled accusations of sexual assault and harrassment by...

Is a small-market, slow-build dynasty even possible in this era of basketball?
A single championship does not a dynasty make, despite Kevin Durant’s comment this summer that the Bucks were “forming somewhat of a dynasty.” ...

Kyle Lowry’s leadership will be key to Heat’s success this season
Miami guard Kyle Lowry’s value to his new team is already being realized, just a couple of games into the season. After blowing out the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, the Heat suffered their first loss against the Indiana Pacers in overtime, 102-91, without Lowry....

Kyrie Irving is not one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history, so just get over it
The outrage over the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team has shed light on the lack of respect for some of the legends of the past. But everybody cannot make this team. And with Kyrie Irving not making the cut, some fans and even current players strongly oppose this decision. Simply having a sweet handle wi...

Even without Ben Simmons, 76ers’ collapse shows why they need to trade Ben Simmons
The second game of the season is hardly time to panic, so the 76ers shouldn’t. They’ve got a really good team, the Ben Simmons drama will eventually work itself out with either a trade or a return to the lineup and eventual “but what about the playoffs?” storyline (that would grate on everyone until...

Turns out Oklahoma’s Heisman candidate was their backup QB all along!
This year’s Heisman race felt a lot like last year’s race early on, in that no one really dropped jaws instantly a la Lamar Jackson, Reggie Bush or Johnny Football. It will probably end up going to Bryce Young, just because Alabama will be 12-2/13-1 and his stats will be better than everyone else’s....

Trae Young feels disrespected — and that’s a good thing
The Atlanta Hawks blasted the Dallas Mavericks in their season opener, 113-87, with Trae Young racking up 14 assists and Deandre Hunter holding Luka to 18 points on almost as many attempts (17). Afterward, Young had a message for the haters:...

Who’s the weird-ass video game rendering now, chumps?
Night two of the NBA season came through strong, delivering a double-overtime thriller where the New York Knicks bested the Boston Celtics, 138-134, in front of the home crowd at Madison Square Garden. This night was supposed to be about the return of NYC’s own Kemba Walker, but by the end of the ni...

Warriors fire warning shot to NBA by laying smack down on Lakers
The NBA season officially began Tuesday night with a doubleheader, and in the main event, the hoops world was treated to a showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. One thing I took away from the season opener is what I’ve been saying all along. The Warriors will contend...