nba-playoffs Page 81 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Tracy McGrady Has His Alpha Dog Night
In the last three days, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and, uh, Antawn Jamison have been swept out of the playoffs, and Kobe Bryant, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson don't seem too far behind. (And don't get us started on Dirk.) The superstars are off to slow playoff starts, so it's encoura...

Heat Don't Make Much Of A Fuss About Leaving
A byproduct of the supposedly middling, uninspiring champions of the last year — the Colts, the Cardinals, the Heat — is the collapse to level soil the next season. A team that overachieves in the postseason one year is likely to return to equilibrium the next. We'll see what happens with the Colts,...

Bruce Willis Likes Him Some Jersey Beer
We are sad to report to Action Movie Star Bruce Willis that just because the television station interviewing you is Canadian doesn't mean you can't start throwing out your handy R-rated movie catchphrases, no matter how blasted you are....

That's It For The Mavericks, Folks! Please Drive Safely
How quickly we forget the last time the East Bay lost a major chunk of freeway: 1989, when the Loma Prieta earthquake performed the honors. The Oakland Athletics won the World Series a couple of weeks later, of course. On Sunday it was Cledus Snow, sans Bandit, jack-knifing his rig in a fiery crash ...

Alonzo Mourning Came Back For This?
The Miami Heat's comeback attempt down the stretch imploded because of a flurry of Dwyane Wade turnovers, and — of all things — Ben Wallace shooting free throws like Larry freaking Bird....

Grant Hill's Goodbye Party Was Not Much Fun
Out of politeness more than anything else, I thought maybe I should take a second to acknowledge that the NBA did still exist and actually operated on the NFL's special day. Its importance, obviously, is miniscule when in comparison to the issue of which college superstars will lead last year's 3-13...

You Believe? Well, Yeah, Why Wouldn't You?
It's a credit to the Golden State Warriors that those "We Believe" t-shirts have become a little bit redundant. It's not like it takes some incredible leap of faith to believe when your team is right in front of you, thoroughly embarrassing the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban should call Golden State's...

The NBA Is So Damned Cool Sometimes
You know what the NBA Finals needs more of? Douchebags!...

Lakers Make It Just Interesting Enough To Ultimately Disappoint
In a way, we kind of agree with what Free Darko wrote in their playoff preview for us: This could end up being the one playoff series in which, if the Lakers lose, Kobe Bryant might get a pass. But he's not gonna be able to pull it off if the Lakers, you know, actually make it close. A four-game swe...

Warriors Were Closer Than You Probably Think They Were
The final score might not have been indicative, but anyone who watched that Dallas-Golden State game last night knows that the Warriors had every opportunity to make this a 2-0 series last night. Something — whether it's pace, or just Avery Johnson being a bad playoff coach — about the Warriors fall...

The Heat Suddenly Look Rather Elderly
Never have we been more aware of how important, you know, not being old is in the sport of basketball than during this Heat-Bulls series. Or, as Blog A Bull puts it, "if the Bulls keep getting this open while an aged Heat defender flails away a few steps behind, the shots will likely keep falling." ...

More NBA Playoffs Tonight, If You Can Handle It
It's clear, after the first weekend of the NBA Playoffs, that much of what we thought might be wrong. The Heat look in trouble against the Bulls, and the Nuggets and the Warriors appear to want to get their 1994 Nuggets on. (We want to see Baron Davis and the Beard grabbing the ball at midcourt like...

NBA Blogdome: Ain't That A Kick In The Head?
What they're saying about Sunday's NBA playoff games ......

Someone Has The Mavs' Number
We find it fascinating when, for one reason or another, a less talented team/player finds a way to dominate a more talented opponent. Our favorite example is Barry Bonds and Mike Bielecki. No matter how outstanding Bonds has been — for whatever reason — he never could do anything against Mike Bielec...

This Is A Nice Little Sunday Night, Yes?
Phil Jackson was right. It was hard out there for a pimp, and it was also pretty hard out there for any Los Angeles Laker not named Kobe Bryant to touch the goddamn basketball down the stretch of that game. I think Sasha Vujacic's hands are going to be permanently frozen in the "ready to catch" posi...

Open Thread: Suns Vs. Lakers
Somehow, this manages to be an intriguing series, despite there being really only one possible outcome. It's overwhelmingly likely that the Suns will beat the Lakers, since all those animosity and bad feelings are probably going to go to waste....

Key Playoff Figures: Doris Burke & Terrence Howard
I tried to watch all four games yesterday. I got through Raptors/Nets, Bulls/Heat, and Pistons/Magic, but I accidentally caught the final score of the Jazz/Rockets game, and decided that I wasn't going to sacrifice another hour of sleep for another 84-75 game, no matter how many emotional interviews...

Free Darko Playoff Pants Party: Suns Vs. Lakers
Because we feel that no one understands the NBA more like the way we wish we understood the NBA than the gang at Free Darko, we've asked them to write up previews of every playoff series throughout the postseason. It will help us understand what's at stake in each series, what matters, what it means...

Open Thread: Bulls vs. Heat
This one might be my favorite of all the first round playoff series. Each team thinks they're championship worthy, and there's no shortage of hatred to go around. There's some hatred in Toronto/New Jersey, too, but it comes from the fans ... I doubt there are too many Toronto Raptors who can muster ...

Free Darko Playoff Pants Party: Spurs Vs. Nuggets
Because we feel that no one understands the NBA more like the way we wish we understood the NBA than the gang at Free Darko, we've asked them to write up previews of every playoff series throughout the postseason. It will help us understand what's at stake in each series, what matters, what it means...