nba Page 508 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Pacers Bench All Five Starters, Still Beat Bucks
When Pacers coach Frank Vogel announced he would sit all five starters for last night's game against the Bucks, it was like a thought experiment come to life. Can a good team's second unit beat the starters of a historically awful team? It was close, but...yes!...
Jeff Withey Completes The Rare Pass Off Of The Referee's Head
Pelicans center Jeff Withey's pass was swatted by Eric Bledsoe, right into the noggin of official Bennie Adams and back to Withey. You can hear the "doink!" sound in your head....
Paul George, In Two Charts
Kirk Goldsberry has a new post on Paul George over at Grantland, which you should go read. It includes the charts above, which tell the story of George's shooting numbers sinking like a bag of anvils, and some of that is hard to figure, like the numbers close to the rim. But some is really hard to e...
No, It's Not Just You: LeBron Really Has Been Bad On Defense
Tom Haberstroh has a post over on ESPN Insider going over the uses of ESPN's new stat, Real Plus-Minus, and how it bears out on things like the MVP race. Tucked inside are a few telling statistical bits about LeBron's defense this season. So we thought, why not go ahead and take a dive into the rest...
Mason Plumlee Stuffs LeBron On Buzzer-Beating Dunk Attempt
The Brooklyn Nets shocked Miami tonight and beat the Heat 88-87 thanks to LeBron James failing to get a buzzer-beating dunk attempt past the massive paw of Mason Plumlee. Here's the play in extreme slow motion:...
Dikembe Mutombo Says "Who Wants To Sex Mutombo?" Never Happened
Today is a very sad day. Dikembe Mutombo went on Highly Questionable and destroyed one of sports' greatest urban legends, emphatically denying that he ever walked into a club and yelled,"Who wants to sex Mutombo?"...
Your Stadium Timeout Diversions, Ranked
I'm on vacation next week, which means the Funbag will be commandeered by a MYSTERY HOST. Who will be the mystery host? Will it be someone famous? Someone unexpected? Or someone you've seen around here before and his (or her!) revelation will probably be a bit of a letdown for you? I think the ...
Hey Look, It's Kevin Ollie Going Super Saiyan
UConn won the NCAA men's basketball tournament last night, and coach Kevin Ollie made a cool face. Here's what it would have looked like if he was going Super Saiyan 3 instead. ...
Just What The Hell Is Real Plus-Minus, ESPN's New NBA Stat?
Just ahead of playoffs season, ESPN today announced a new stat for the NBA called "Real Plus-Minus." It's envisioned as furthering the idea of traditional plus-minus, except, that's sort of already been furthered. So what's going on here? ...
The Pacers Have Hit Rock Bottom
The good news for Pacers fans is that things can't get much worse than this. The team's month-long tailspin seems to have finally ended with a crash landing in Indiana last night. The Pacers lost 107-88 to the Atlanta Hawks while putting on a miserable performance that featured just 23 first-half po...
Aaron Harrison Strikes Again; Kentucky Goes To Final
Holy shit, Aaron Harrison. With about five seconds left, Harrison buried another huge three-pointer to give Kentucky a 74-73 lead and a spot in the NCAA title game. ...
Which NCAA Scorekeepers Give Out The Most Assists?
Over on FiveThirtyEight, Carl Bialik has an interesting article on how NCAA assist rates vary from court to court, since scorekeepers are given considerable leeway in deciding what counts as an assist and what doesn't. Ken Pomeroy tackled the same subject back in 2007, and both identified Sam Housto...
Brendon Ayanbadejo Implies Miami Traded Him For Taking Paternity Leave
The fuss about Daniel Murphy missing two games to be there for the birth of his son seemed like a total nontroversy—the Mets were OK with it, and their fans were OK with it. (Seriously. It's two games. And Daniel Murphy. And the 2014 Mets.) The only people upset were New York radio hosts. But the de...
J.R. Smith Says He'll Give The Pipe To Whomever He Chooses
J.R. Smith dropped a public service announcement to his followers tonight: He won't put up with dudes who are angry because their girls follow him on Twitter. Stop blowing up his spot....
Even When The Cubs Win, They Lose
The Chicago Cubs salvaged a win in their opening series against the Pirates with a rain-soaked 3-2 victory at PNC Park today, but it wasn't without some embarrassment. A botched bunt by Gaby Sanchez left pitcher Pedro Strop and catcher John Baker in what we might call a compromising situation....
Lawsuit: Rockets Players Called Gay Caterer A "Faggot"
A man named Rasean Tate has filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court alleging that he was called homophobic slurs by several members of the Houston Rockets while he helped cater the Rockets' locker room during a game agains the Brooklyn Nets on February 22, 2013....
This Is Betsy Ross Doing The Nae Nae
The Philadelphia 76ers are currently holding some kind of event in downtown Philly. Attending this event are oversized mascots that are supposed to be famous American patriots. One of these mascots is Betsy Ross. Betsy Ross did the Nae Nae....
Shot Clock Tricks Paul George Into Taking 37-Footer; Nothing But Net
The Pacers snapped a three-game skid—and stayed percentage points behind the Heat for first in the East—after pulling away from the Pistons for a 101-94 win. That late run got going with this comically long three, sunk by Paul George after the shot clock failed to reset on an offensive rebound, and...
Marcin Gortat Hangs Out With The Celtics In Their Huddle
Hey, get out of there, Marcin Gortat! That's not your team. Maybe he just really likes huddles....
LeBron James Ruins Ekpe Udoh With A Powerful Dunk
LeBron James dunked tonight. It was pretty neat....