nba Page 216 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

This Is Boston's Chance To Get Anthony Davis, As Long As They Don't Fuck It Up
Annoyingly, the vile Boston Celtics might get what they wanted after all. While the draft lottery ended in the most frustrating fashion for every team involved except New Orleans, the Boston brain trust had to be ecstatic to see the main Anthony Davis trade asset (Zion Williamson) off the board. Tho...

The Knicks' Woes Have Taken Unexpected Forms
Shockingly, it wasn’t actually worth it in the end. ...

If The Pelicans Don't Deserve Zion Williamson, Every Other Team Deserves Him Less
When the New Orleans Pelicans landed the right to seize the beginning of Zion Williamson’s basketball career, the reaction was swift, predictable and consistent: “What did those people do to deserve such a prize?”...

Terry Stotts Has To Do Better Than That
There is no great shame in losing to the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry, and no matter how the Western Conference final shakes out, the Blazers should be proud of their season. But if there’s one thing that should have them feeling a bit embarrassed in the aftermath of their 116-94 Game 1 los...

Steph Curry Reminds The Trail Blazers Just How Terrifying He Can Be
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals had a familiar look for anyone who’s watched many Golden State Warriors home games during the Steph Curry era. The Warriors held the tough and determined Trail Blazers at a comfortable arm’s length for most of the night, and then just sort of cruised out of vi...

The NBA Would've Been Better Off Rigging The Draft Lottery
The NBA’s new odds format did the job of scrambling the draft order. Four teams played especially horrendous basketball last season, and of those four teams, three were bounced out of the draft’s top four selections. This was satisfying. The Cavaliers, represented by Nick Gilbert, dropped to fifth,...

Zion Williamson Is The Pelicans' Reward For Wasting Anthony Davis
The Knicks, Pelicans, Grizzlies, and Lakers all had a shot at Zion Williamson heading into the final reveals of the NBA Draft Lottery, and the sensational Duke forward might have gotten stuck in the most disastrous possible situation. The New Orleans Pelicans—who had a six percent chance of winning ...

There's A 14 Percent Chance That A Generation Of Accursed Knicks Fandom Has Been Worth It
In tonight’s draft lottery the Knicks have a 14 percent chance of obtaining the first pick and Zion Williamson. They were the worst team in the NBA, but this year, odds have been flattened out at the top of the lottery to disincentivize tanking. So the three worst teams all enjoy a 14 percent chance...

Kawhi Leonard And Joel Embiid Co-Starred In The Greatest Photo Of The NBA Season
Experienced live, Kawhi Leonard’s Game 7 buzzer-beater was an agonizing bounce-bounce-bounce-bounce. As a still image, all the drama on the floor could be frozen in time. Toronto-based photojournalist Mark Blinch masterfully captured the full spread. This shot appears to have been taken at some poin...

Do The Blazers Have A Chance Against The Warriors?
Now that we have entered the dog days of the Western Conference playoffs, it is incumbent upon us to find ways to caricature the Portland Trail Blazers to keep up our interest in what most folks fully expect to be a desultory series against the Golden State Warriors....

The Raptors' Defense Was Outrageous In The Clutch
The Sixers hit their last field goal in the half-court—a long, and-one leaner by J.J. Redick—with 3:29 remaining in Game 7. Then the Raptors put the clamps on. Philly would only even hit the rim one more time, off a heroic Jimmy Butler transition play. As stagnant and deferential as the Raptors have...

Boy, Aaron Rodgers Was Everywhere On Last Night’s <i>Game Of Thrones</i>
When Nashville radio personality Sam Alex interviewed Aaron Rodgers at a party before the Kentucky Derby, he thought Rodgers was just joking around. “We gotta get you into a TV show or movie,” Alex told the Packers QB. “Is that gonna happen?” Rodgers had a quick reply before running away: “Episode f...

C.J. McCollum's Older Brother Is The Blazers' Best Hype Man
After the Blazers came back from 17 down to knock out the favored Nuggets, Portland hero C.J. McCollum told reporters that his 37 points, 9 rebounds, and game-saving chase-down block was fueled in part by a text from his brother Errick: “He told me not to settle, told me to get to the midrange, get ...

Kawhi Leonard Wins Game 7 With Insane Buzzer-Beater, Sends Joel Embiid Home Sobbing
The Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers just got done with a ragged and at times infuriating Game 7 to end the Eastern Conference semi-finals. The Raptors won the game, 92-90, thanks to this buzzer-beater from Kawhi Leonard. Hooooooooly shit, wait until you see this shot:...

The Trail Blazers Tried And Succeeded, Jennifer
Playoff games have a way of allowing narratives to fully bloom in the best possible ways. The latest example of this came on Sunday, when the man who almost single-handedly dragged the Portland Trail Blazers kicking and screaming into the franchise’s first Western Conference Finals appearance since ...

Rodney Hood Leaves Game After Injuring His Knee On A Screen From Torrey Craig
About halfway through the third quarter, Denver’s Torrey Craig set a screen on Rodney Hood to free up Jamal Murray. The screen caught Hood with his legs in an awkward position and he immediately went down clutching his knee. Portland staff members were able to get to Hood once play was stopped a few...

Which Humiliating Rockets Elimination Loss Was Worse?
For the second year in a row, the Houston Rockets’ efforts to try and defeat the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs came up just short. Normally, a postseason loss to the greatest team of this generation wouldn’t mean much more than “the significantly better team won four games before we did.” Ye...

Losing-Ass Rockets, At Long Last, Please Remove Yourselves To The Fraud Bin Immediately
I’m sure most Rockets fans are lovely people. The Rockets have a fine basketball organization, as creative and nimble and determined as any in the NBA. And James Harden genuinely is one of the most unstoppable offensive players in modern basketball history. Now. Can that team please get all the way ...

