nba-playoff Page 16 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Bucks bench is in a tough spot
Because the Milwaukee Bucks aren’t getting the necessary consistency from Giannis Antetokoumnpo’s co-stars, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, their bench has been unfairly forced to overcompensate, and they haven’t....

Forget Paris 2 - A Harden Day’s Night
The new Space Jam movie is coming soon, but James Harden has beaten LeBron James to the box office with a mid-1990s NBA film tribute of his own....

If the Bucks want to win these Finals, this is the change they need to make
In the days leading up to the NBA Finals, I thought the Ayton-Lopez matchup was going to be the most pivotal matchup of the series. NBA All-Defense First-Teamer Jrue Holiday could put the clamps on Chris Paul. Khris Middleton and P.J. Tucker could rotate to help on Devin Booker. Giannis could muscle...
![This Tokyo Olympics is fine [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/6c788899524642490434cc71d5a70b0c.jpg)
This Tokyo Olympics is fine [Update]
The Olympics shouldn’t be happening during a pandemic that continues to wreak havoc across the globe, but we’re well past the point of no return on that, so on we go — just knowing that COVID-19 is going to be as prominent at the Tokyo Games as Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky....

This was better than Jason Kidd?
It’s only Game 1, so maybe Mike Budenholzer is waiting to change how he does things as this series goes along. An NBA playoff series can be moves and countermoves as it goes longer, and you don’t want to give away everything in the beginning — so we have to allow for that. But we’ve seen Budenholzer...

The Greatest Game 1 NBA Finals performances of the 21st century
And now for our second NBA Finals in about nine months....

The Phoenix Suns’ Finals trip reeks to high heavens
The Phoenix Suns’ run to the NBA Finals is fugazi....

Patrick Beverley shoved Chris Paul and Frank Kaminsky… kinda just stood there
Y’all ever heard of James Butler?...

A report about the NBA wanting to add games, on the same day Giannis got hurt? The irony
Less is more, even if it causes you to leave money on the table....

Go against logic and believe in THESE Los Angeles Clippers
It’s easy to believe the Los Angeles Clippers can’t do the impossible....

Barkley has got this one right: Bucks have no killer instinct
Charles Barkley can be lazy and out of touch, and occasionally insightful, but he nailed it with the Bucks last night. That’s after he forgot who Jeff Teague plays for, which would seem to be the minimum requirement for his job. Anyway, at halftime, when the Bucks were down 20 to a Trae Young-less H...

Paul George didn’t let the call go to voicemail
It’ll take two more wins for it to really matter. And you can certainly say things bent toward Paul George to give him this platform. The Jazz had their injuries and problems. Kawhi Leonard got hurt, leaving the Clippers not much choice but to give George the keys and the blueprints. You still have ...

What to know for the upcoming Olympic Men’s Basketball Qualifying
As the NBA playoffs continue, 24 national teams across the world are vying for the final four open men’s basketball Olympic berths. The tournaments will run from June 29 through July 4 in Canada, Croatia, Serbia, and Lithuania. ...

Basketball gods, please give us a Young-Booker NBA Finals
I’m not sure if the Atlanta Hawks won the series or if the Philadelphia 76ers lost it, but either way, the Hawks and Trae Young have surprisingly made it into the Eastern Conference finals. On the other side of the bracket, the Phoenix Suns and Devin Booker are surging. Dreams are forming in my head...

In recent coaching trend, NBA stood for No Blacks Allowed... That MUST change
The NBA is finally back in the Black. In coaching, that is....

It doesn’t matter what we think if Ben Simmons’ teammates are done with him
I admit that I fell into the trap of using every NBA playoff game as a referendum on the legacy of every NBA star. Things are never that simple, and winning a championship is hard. Especially in the NBA, where it’s an actual referendum on how your team is built. It’s not hockey where the bounces jus...

Giving the ‘Suns in 4’ guy tickets and a signed jersey sets a bad precedent
Who wants to stage a fight at an NBA game next season? Any takers? I’ll let someone throw a few haymakers my way if it means I get tickets to a playoff game. I’ll take a signed Jayson Tatum or Mike Conley jersey. It can’t be that hard to fake a fight, right? The WWE scripts their fights all the time...

Crazy times for Dallas Mavericks
The Donnie Nelson-Rick Carlisle era in Dallas is over... and it’s shaping up to be a real ugly divorce....

Well, these playoffs took some unexpected turns in the past week
Less than a week ago, the second round of the NBA playoffs seemed like it was on its way to wrapping up quickly, with the 76ers and Nets looking far superior to the Hawks and Bucks, the Suns on the verge of sweeping the Nuggets, and the Clippers down 2-0 to the Jazz with no answers for Utah’s abilit...

Paul George has chance, and not by choice, to lead a team to new heights
The NBA playoffs have been a brutal war of attrition, with nearly every team left standing dealing with injuries to star players. The Los Angeles Clippers are no different — Kawhi Leonard reportedly has an ACL injury and is out indefinitely. Much like how Kevin Durant was thrown into the fray withou...