harden Page 7 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
When did the NBA playoffs become the NHL playoffs?
The first round of the NBA playoffs usually isn’t all that good, which doesn’t stop people from complaining about it. The difference between the top seeds and lower seeds is large enough that those series should result in nothing more than dress rehearsals for the true powers and the later rounds. W...
Draymond Green has nobody to blame but himself
Draymond Green’s footprints being logged into the NBA’s evidence locker is the least surprising event on everyone’s playoff bingo card. The Golden State Warriors’ loyal foot soldier has accumulated a track record of highlight kicks longer than David Beckham while maintaining a permanent victim statu...
Death, taxes, and James Harden disappearing during the playoffs
James Harden’s sunsetting in the playoffs is a reliable annual trend. Similar to Punxsutawney Phil emerging as a sign spring has sprung, but with darker clouds in the forecast. For what feels like a decade, Harden has disappeared into his shell once the best-of-seven portion of the schedule begins. ...
Overreacting to Game 1 of each NBA Playoff series
One game into each NBA postseason series feels like a good time to make some premature, bold declarations. The postseason tipped off with a fury of finishes that ranged from exciting to anesthesia. But Game 1 is a starter kit that we’ll try to extrapolate on. It would be wise to tread carefully in t...
Hey NBA— stop allowing players to 'defend' with bogus charge calls
I was born decades after the Great Depression, so I never had the opportunity to meet Dr. James Naismith. I know that he wanted a game without contact but to make an honest attempt at that goal, players on defense should not be allowed to slide in front of players on offense whose feet are at most o...
Finding the NBA playoff X factors
The NBA playoffs are where superstars can add to — or subtract from — their legacies. They may come up clutch, or absolutely choke under the spotlight. The same goes for coaches. But there are always subplots around certain youngsters, role players, and unknowns who can make a name for themselves. T...
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...
Four-letter words flying during NCAA Tourney — and we love it
One of the beauties of college sports is that viewers get to see young people act like young people. Sure the professionals play the game better, but sometimes youthful exuberance makes up for the many more fundamental mistakes. While we get to view their excitement, the coaches and sports informati...
Leave it to an influencer to talk mess with only 9 points to her name
Something happened at the end of Miami’s 70-68 upset of No. 1 seed Indiana in the second round of the women’s tourney Monday night that got a lot of run — not because it was a great play but rather because of the internet. With 12 seconds left on the clock and the Hurricanes up 1, Haley Cavinder sun...
The craziest storylines of the NBA season (so far)
The NBA is never drama-free, and there’s a reason the NBA playoffs are one of the few reasons to remain on the toxic hell site that is Twitter these days. But even for the NBA, this season has been a spectacle worth of Vanderpump Rules. As we inch ever closer to the post-season, here’s a look back 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 ...
Damian Lillard sounds like he’s threatening to Barry Sanders his career
Damian Lillard was in the news Wednesday for sounding like an old head during an appearance on J.J. Redick’s The Old Man and the Three podcast. From saying young players were entitled, to worrying about the direction of the league, and all the championship tropes that have followed him in between, i...
Mikal Bridges is the calm after the storm of Brooklyn’s tumultuous Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant era
Today is the one-month anniversary of the NBA trade deadline that put the league in a blender. While the Phoenix Suns seem content with their half of the trade that netted them Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets have quietly been winners in their own way. In addition to the first-round picks Phoenix su...
Jalen Williams is becoming the jewel of this NBA rookie class
For much of the past year, Jalen Williams has been an underground jewel for NBA mole people. He won’t be discussed on First Take because he came from a mid-major and got jammed into one of the NBA’s smallest media markets. ...
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....
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...
James Harden attempts to turn babyface following Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving trades
In the aftermath of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant’s blockbuster trades, a former member of those Brooklyn Nets teams is speaking out and attempting to clear his name of any wrongdoing. James Harden was part of the big three for Brooklyn that was a Durant big toe away from advancing to the Eastern Co...
Wild, Wild West: Kevin Durant is headed to Phoenix, another seemingly stacked deck
The blockbuster trade of the season Wednesday night while you were sleeping. By now, you’ve heard that Kevin Durant is no longer a Brooklyn Net and is heading west (again) to join the Phoenix Suns. That’s right, another stacked deck, officially proving he can’t do it with his “own” team. Durant to a...