nba Page 323 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Spurs Hang With Rockets For Less Time Than It Took To Write This Blog<em></em><em></em>
The ever-steady San Antonio Spurs were supposed to present a stiff challenge to the Rockets. Instead, they got cooked, broken down, and eaten by a ravenous Rockets team without putting up a fight....

The Cavaliers Are Still On Cruise Control
The Cavs may have had their troubles almost blowing leads against the Pacers, yet they still swept Indiana away and got a week off before their second round series against the Raptors. Indiana gave the Cavs more trouble than they anticipated, but LeBron James remains untouchable so it sort of didn’t...

The Warriors Seem More Worried About How Boring Utah Is Than The Jazz<em></em>
The Warriors recently put the finishing touches on a sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers, and they had to wait almost a full week to find out whether they’d be playing the Clippers or the Jazz in the second round. A Warriors-Jazz series is a much more interesting prospect, because even if the Clippe...

The Cavs Are Dunking All Over The Raps<em></em>
Are the Cavs a bit rusty after an eight-day layoff between the first round and the second?...

Is Gordon Hayward Good Enough To Give The Warriors Some Trouble?
Quietly, the Utah Jazz—the nominally starless, “quirky” squad, the basketblogger’s catnip—has birthed a star of its own. Despite a bout of food poisoning, Gordon Hayward led the Jazz past the Clippers in seven games, averaging 23.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, including a 40-point torrent in Ga...

Let This Be The End Of The Clippers<em></em>
The Los Angeles Clippers got eliminated on their home court by the Utah Jazz yesterday, in Game 7. The Jazz were the lower-seeded team, so nominally this qualifies as an upset—though of course it wasn’t really, in the dual sense that, A) even before the Clippers lost Blake Griffin to a season-ending...

Look At All These Crazy Stats From This NBA Season
Join me on a short journey through some neat NBA stats from the 2016-17 regular season....

So Much For Dwight Howard's Homecoming Season
The Atlanta Hawks had their exit interviews on Saturday, and wouldn’t you know, Dwight Howard spent his pouting....

The Wizards Absolutely Dominated In The First Quarter
The Wizards are not here to fuck around. They opened Game 1 of their second-round series against the Celtics with a ridiculous 16-0 run, starting things off with 7-of-10 shooting while outrebounding Boston 9-0. That was due in large part to Marcin Gortat, who scored nine and looked better than he di...

Isaiah Thomas Loses Tooth
Who knew that teeth hampered your offensive ability? Isaiah Thomas came alive after losing a front chomper, waking up the Celtics offense en route to a quick 12 first-quarter points....

Robin Lopez Brings His Extremely Chill, Fluffy Dog To Interview
The Bulls were eliminated from the playoffs last night, which meant exit interviews today. These are understandably but almost invariably boring, rehashed collections of clichéd athlete-speak. Unless you bring along your delightfully relaxed giant fluffer of a dog, Muppet, as Robin Lopez did this af...

LaVar Ball Sucks, But That Doesn't Mean He's Wrong
LaVar Ball—the supremely annoying father of upcoming lottery pick Lonzo Ball, and two younger basketball teens—is in the headlines yet again. Darren Rovell reports that Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour—the three companies that combined control 99 percent of the basketball shoe market—have all declined...

Report: Larry Bird Steps Down As Pacers President
Larry Bird has been with the Pacers organization on-and-off for 20 years. He coached the team for three seasons starting in 1997, took over as team president from 2003 to 2012, and then ran the team again from 2013 until this morning. According to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski, Bird has stepped d...

Last Night's Winner Was This Packers Fan At A Bears Draft Party
Last night, Chicago traded up to take North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky with the second overall pick, enraging Bears fans but absolutely delighting this Packers fan who turned up at the draft party to, presumably, mock his conference rivals....

Raptors Advance As Bucks Blow Fourth-Quarter Comeback
Midway through the fourth quarter last night, it looked as if the Bucks might pull off a nifty comeback and force a Game 7 after being down by double digits for much of the second half. They did not. ...

The End Of Pete Maravich, A Prisoner Of His Own Skills
This article originally appeared in the premiere issue of Inside Sports (April, 1980) and appears here with permission from the author’s estate....

Nobody's Buying Under Armour's Steph Curry Signature Shoes
Steph Curry’s shoes aren’t selling, and Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank tried to explain that with a heavy dose of corporate speak in an earnings call today, where the company reported its first-ever losing quarter:...

Does Isaiah Thomas Carry The Ball? A Fred Hoiberg Debate
After a Game 4 loss, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg accused refs of ignoring Isaiah Thomas’s carrying. “He had a hell of a game tonight. But when you’re allowed to discontinue your dribble on every possession, he is impossible to guard. He’s impossible to guard when you’re able to put your hand underneath...

What In The Damn Hell Were The Hawks Doing?
With a little less than a minute left in last night’s Game 5 between Washington and Atlanta, John Wall dribbled into some open space behind a Marcin Gortat screen and calmly sank a 21-foot jumpshot, giving the Wizards a four-point lead with 47 seconds left to play....

Dwyane Wade's Playoff Defense Is Awe-Inspiring
The Boston Celtics regained control of their first-round series against the Bulls last night, winning 108-97 and taking a 3-2 series lead. Who is to blame for the Bulls losing their grip? Not Dwyane Wade, who scored 26 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished eight assists, and played some inspired defen...