nba-playoff Page 36 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Warriors Are Math
The old-timey wisdom goes: Basketball is a matchup sport. I think I’ve heard Kenny Smith or various other Kenny Smiths say some version of this more than 200 times in my life. That is, basketball outcomes are not determined neatly along gradients of pure talent and/or skill, but rather by how varyin...
Steph Curry Gave LeBron James The Runaround
It’s sort of hard to crystallize a Warriors attack that could only be described as “relentless”—in both games so far, the Cavs have survived for a half, then understandably given way under a barrage that just doesn’t let up, and comes from so many different angles. (Seriously, how many times did a C...
Stephen Curry Beating LeBron James, In Extreme Slow Motion
Boy, this was fun to watch, wasn’t it? ...
The Cavs Were Scared Enough Of Steph Curry That They Let Kevin Durant Destroy Them
The Cavs, who have to play perfect basketball to beat the Warriors, did not play perfect basketball last night in Game 1, so they did not beat the Warriors. They turned over the rock 20 times and ceded 27 fast break points, which is not all that shocking given their piss-poor transition defense duri...
No Mistakes Allowed
Close one eye and squint with the other, and last night’s Game 1 box score starts to look like a positive one for the Cavaliers: The Warriors only had two players score in double figures; Klay Thompson and Draymond Green combined to shoot 6-of-28; LeBron James and Kyrie Irving did their thing. Open ...
I'm Just Here For The Rihanna-Kevin Durant Feud
After waiting roughly 50 weeks for basketball that was both close and meaningful...we did not get that. We got destruction, a 113-91 Warriors win led by Kevin Durant’s 38-8-8. What we did get was the start of a pretty great athlete-celebrity beef, and neither is going to fold as easily as the Cavali...
Warriors Look Disgustingly Unstoppable In Game 1 Blowout Victory
For the better part of a quarter, the Cavaliers and Warriors gave us the gloriously competitive game these playoffs have so been lacking. Then Cleveland suddenly became unable to defend Kevin Durant in any capacity, Golden State looked every bit as unstoppable as they’re supposed to be, and it all w...
How Does Kyrie Irving Do It?
Yeah, the Cavs are barely holding on in a game that’s seeing Cleveland pushed around by the likes of... JaVale McGee? Still, this four-point play by Kyrie Irving is our highlight of the first half....
Tonight's NBA Finals Game 1, Simulated In NBA Live '96
We updated the rosters in NBA Live ‘96 on a Sega Genesis to simulate tonight’s NBA Finals game 1 between the Cavaliers and the Warriors. Can Draymond successfully injure someone? Can the Cavs overcome the oddsmakers? We’re LIVE:...
An NBA Finals Preview For People Who Want LeBron To Dunk The Warriors To The Core Of The Earth<em></em>
It’s that time of year again: 364 days and 23 hours since the end of the conference finals, the NBA Finals are here! The brave Cleveland Cavaliers will seek to defend their championship from the vile and heavily favored Golden State Warriors, whom they vanquished in last season’s Finals by coming ba...
Steve Kerr Might Return During The Finals
Warriors coach Steve Kerr only coached two games of the Warriors’ playoff run before complications from his 2015 back surgery forced him to leave the team and seek treatment. Mike Brown took over and the Warriors have yet to drop a game in the playoffs, but Kerr has been hurting. He went to Duke Med...
Have You Talked Yourself Into The Cavs Yet?
I think we can all agree that last year’s NBA Finals was one of the best sports things to ever happen, and that it would be maximally good if the same thing—by “same thing” I mean LeBron and the Cavs banishing the Warriors to hell—happened again this year. If you disagree with this, then you are pro...
Old Man Deron Williams Can Still Play A Little!
Here is a lovely bucket from Deron Williams, in last night’s Eastern Conference clincher between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics:...
LeBron James Took Care Of Business
The Cavaliers had zero interest in prolonging what’s seemed to be inevitable since Game 1 here, if not since Game 1 of the regular season. They were going to win the Eastern Conference Finals, and they didn’t want to have to go back to Cleveland to do it—and no one seemed to feel that more strongly ...
Show Me Your Favorite Marcus Smart Highlight
While watching the Cavaliers beat the Celtics in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals last night, I sent a rude tweet:...
Shaq And Charles Barkley Bicker On Live TV, Call Each Other Bums And Fat Asses
After the Cleveland Cavaliers’ comeback win over the Boston Celtics, the TNT NBA crew of Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith were on hand to offer up some post-game insights. Ostensibly. ...
Kyrie Irving Put The Celtics In The Toilet
The Boston Celtics got real feisty tonight in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals and went on a decent little run at the start of the game. Despite not having Isaiah Thomas for a second straight game, Boston defied its true home (the trash can) and won the first quarter by 10 points. They saddle...
LeBron, NOOOOO
In the third quarter of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Kevin Love heaved an incredible outlet pass the length of the court to a waiting LeBron James, who reared back for dunk, ready to shatter the backboard, and then doinged it off the rim....
The Boston Celtics Have A Moral Obligation To Get The Fuck Out
The conference finals have been crud. In the West, what should have been the Golden State Warriors’ first true test became a joyless, perfunctory mercy-killing a little over halfway through Game 1, thanks to a goon doofus’s misplaced foot. In the East, meanwhile, what should have been a deliciously ...
The Warriors Are Playing As Well As They Have All Year And The Finals Await
The Warriors last lost on April 10, when the desperate Utah Jazz beat Golden State by six points in the final week of the NBA regular season. Since then, they have swept their way through three consecutive series, only ever running into occasional trouble and spending most of their time protecting h...