nba-playoff Page 7 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
It's make or break for the Los Angeles Clippers
Curses run deep. They fester in bloodlines, foundations and scorched Earth and are lamented in prose, lyric and declaration. From Shakespeare to Dostoevsky, curses are a part of the canon of human creativity. After the Boston Red Sox broke theirs in 2004 and LeBron James brought a championship to Cl...
Turns out America loves the Denver Nuggets
Most of the state of Colorado can’t watch the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets. However, the rest of America is enjoying the show. NBA insider/analyst Ethan Strauss dove into some viewership data for a recent post on his substack....
NBA defenses can't keep up with the record-setting highest-scoring offenses
Complaints about NBA defensive intensity have littered sports debate television, podcasts, and columns all season. As of Tuesday, the top five teams in offensive rating will have the five highest marks in that category in NBA history. Six players have scored 60 or more points this season. Luka Donči...
Minnesota is giving off that sham No. 1 seed vibe that the Utah Jazz had a few years ago
Next to the OKC Thunder, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been one of the biggest surprises of the NBA campaign. They’ve been in control of or hovering near first place in the Western Conference for much of the season. But we may have seen a little bit of foreshadowing brought to us by Clippers star ...
The ghost of Golden State is starting to make some noise
Steph Curry’s high-arcing game-winner to sink the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night only strengthened his runaway case as The Association’s Most Clutch Player of the Year. An ensuing win over Utah on Monday positioned the Warriors back above the .500 mantle for the first time since Dec. 23. ...
Philly should shut down Joel Embiid for the rest of the season
A meniscus injury might be the most dangerous of all knee injuries for the simple fact that it’s not treated like a major knee injury. Reigning MVP Joel Embiid just underwent a procedure to repair a meniscus injury in his left knee, and will be reevaluated in four weeks, but for someone with his his...
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP heist is nearly complete
Joel Embiid’s departure from the MVP race while he undergoes minor surgery to repair a displaced flap in his meniscus has created a vacancy. His coronation has now become a vastly different two-man heat. With due respect to Luka Doncic’s gaudy numbers, he’ll be a long shot as long as the Dallas Mave...
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown need a two-man game
The best duo in the NBA put on a show against the best team in the East on Friday night. Denver’s 102-100 win over Boston snapped the Celtics’ perfect mark at TD Garden this season, and 27-game home-winning streak overall. Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray combined for 69 points, 20 rebounds and 14 assi...
Darvin Ham is not the reason the Lakers are losing
News flash: The Miami Heat are a better coached team than the Los Angeles Lakers. It showed in the fourth quarter of their Wednesday night matchup. Erik Spoelstra has been with the Heat organization since 1995 — its head coach since 2008. Following nine seasons as an NBA player, Darvin Ham was an as...
Dear Santa: All I want for Christmas is my sports suggestions taken seriously
By and large, sports are pretty awesome. I have learned to keep my childhood favorite teams at a healthy distance and I advise all Chicago sports fans to do the same. I spend most of the year in awe of the artistic displays of the most brilliant athletes in the world. ...
The Cowboys getting beat down by the Bills might help them in the long run
Taking an ass-whooping can is a part of life. Whether getting physically dominated or simply enduring a hard loss, that moment is eventually almost unavoidable for most people. The Dallas Cowboys got their ass kicked in a physical sense all throughout their Week 15 matchup against the Buffalo Bills....
The Bucks-Pacers rivalry is now spectacular. Thank you, NBA's In-Season Tournament
The NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament has been worth it for all involved. For the Los Angeles Lakers, many men who could use a $500,000 direct deposit got it. Tyrese Haliburton emerged from the tourney as the newest NBA superstar. Also, a real inter-division rivalry is budding. The Indiana Pacers...
How to hate-watch the rest of the NBA's In-Season Tournament, Part 2
Human nature drives us to dump on new concepts and the IST has inspired a whole host of reasons for the NBA Cup to receive hate. There’s a lot not to like including the scoring differentials playing a role in who advances, sneakers sliding around on the NBA’s personalized ice rinks, the 30-team fiel...
The NBA's In-Season Tournament is broken. Here's how it can be fixed
Nobody expected the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament to have it all figured out right away. However, there are some drastic changes that need to be made. Friday night marks the final portion of the NBA In-Season Tournament’s Group Stage. After this week, the tournament whittles down to eight tea...
NBA Weak Links: Milwaukee‘s 2-guard position could be a sinkhole on their road to a title
A great team is only as strong as its weakest link. At least that’s the consensus among every motivational coach I’ve ever heard. But for the sake of this space, it’s true for NBA contenders as well. I’ll examine the weak spots in some of the most iron-clad lineups in the NBA entering the 2023 seaso...
Anthony Davis says he wants to play all 82 games this season — how long until he sits?
Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis is ready to rock and wants all the smoke with the defending NBA Champion, Denver Nuggets, and their MVP Nikola Jokić. Davis also claims to have a goal of playing 82 games this season. Neither of those things are likely to end well for the eight-time All-Star....
Jrue Holiday could be on the move again
In the aftermath of the Damian Lillard trade to Milwaukee, all the pieces involved still aren’t secure in their places. It’s being reported by multiple sources that former Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday is highly likely to be continuing his NBA journey with an team other than the Portland Trail Blaz...
The NBA script is already rolling as the writers’ strike ends
Ding-dong, the strike is dead. The Deadspin staff’s WGA brethren have come to an agreement with the AMPTP that financially acknowledges the importance of the brains and fingertips that are part of the foundation of entertainment. ...
After the ESPN shakeup, we still have Hubie Brown to keep teaching us basketball
Following its highest-rated NBA Playoff in two decades, ESPN decided to take a hatchet to its game coverage of the league. Gone from the network entirely are Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. Replacing them on the No. 1 commentator team alongside Mike Breen are Doris Burke and Doc Rivers. Ryan Ruocco...
Kenyan Middleton told his truth about the White Sox, and suddenly his name was off the scoreboard
Keynan Middleton gave his opinion about his time with the Chicago White Sox. He told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers that he felt the organization lacked discipline and personal accountability. His stories about players napping in the dugout and missing practice sessions were corroborated by teammates. Now a me...