nikola Page 12 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

It’s not looking good for Steph Curry, or the Warriors’ playoff hopes
Unfortunately for the NBA, this playoff run may be without the Golden State Warriors very quickly. They have been battling injuries all season, and the most recent one might stretch into their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets. While the Nuggets are an interesting story for NBA-heads, th...

It’s 2022, we don’t need positions on the All-NBA ballots anymore
Positions in basketball are entirely different than almost every sport. In baseball a pitcher is required to stand at the mound until he decides to throw a pitch, make a pick-off attempt, or step off to take a break. In football, a play cannot be called for an offensive lineman to receive the ball u...

The Mavericks had better pack some vaseline and boots if Luka isn’t full strength for their first round series against the Jazz
Bless the Dallas Mavericks’ hearts, they went for it on Sunday. They were one game behind the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference standings. If the Warriors — sans Stephen Curry — had lost to the New Orleans Pelicans and the Mavericks defeated the San Antonio Spurs, the Mavs would have j...

Why Embiid’s scoring title is a BIG deal
Joel Embiid capped off his chase for the scoring crown on Saturday night by summoning a brilliant 41-point, 20-rebound outing in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 133-120 win over the Indiana Pacers. A dazzling 40/20 game was the perfect way to secure the best individual accomplishment of his career....

Stop laughing at the Lakers for two seconds and give the Phoenix Suns a standing ovation
For those of you who were still awake when the Los Angeles Lakers sandcastle of a 2021-22 season finally washed away, we had a good time didn’t we? The jokes have been piling up all season with this new roster that improved on none of their weaknesses from last season and also had none of their stre...

Breaking down the logjam for the No. 2 seed in the East
With three games remaining for Boston, Philly, and Milwaukee, and the three teams all squared up at 49-30 for the two through four seeds, The Race Not to Finish Fourth in the East has massive implications on who plays Phoenix in the Finals, who wins the MVP, and who likely faces Toronto in round one...

There are several reasons Joel Embiid isn’t the MVP, but the biggest one is availability
I’m already on the record as pro Nikola Jokić for NBA MVP, so don’t take this article as me piling on Joel Embiid — I know, says the person who is expressing more negative thoughts about him. With the regular season in its final week, the Philadelphia 76ers struggled with three consecutive losses, t...

The NBA MVP race is headlined by three international players, but we should’ve seen this coming
This year’s NBA Most Valuable Player award race is coming down to the regular season’s final days. We’re almost a week into April with a handful of games remaining, and the pack leader seems to change by the day. There is no clear-cut leader, but one thing we do know is the winner is almost assured ...

Luka Dončić took down Giannis Antetokounmpo yesterday, and scored big in the best NBA player argument
Remember when Luka Dončić was overweight, complaining to officials too much, and the Dallas Mavericks’ record was under .500? That was the story of Dončić and the Mavericks in December. Four months — and a Kristaps Porziņģis trade— later, the Mavericks are one of the hottest teams in the NBA. They a...

The top 10 clutch scorers in the upcoming NBA Playoffs
The NBA playoffs are just around the corner, and we’ve got tight races in each conference heading down the stretch. Most top teams are usually led by players who can take a game over, especially in the fourth quarter/crunch time. Some players have been left off the list for various reasons like inju...

If Giannis wins his third MVP this year we can put the best player on the planet debate to rest
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo can join some elite company, should he take home his third NBA MVP award at the end of the regular season. If he can edge out Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić, we can finally lay the best player in the world debate to rest. We can’t continue to deny Antetoko...

ESPN’s latest MVP straw poll...explain yourself
This year’s NBA MVP Award has several contenders: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ja Morant, Devin Booker, Luka Dončić, etc. However, most fans and analysts would agree that the award is really a two-horse race between Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and the reigning MVP, Denver’s Nikola Jokić. It’s been that way...

Giannis outshines Embiid in latest installment of the best rivalry in the NBA
Joel Embiid learned a valuable lesson in Tuesday night’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the waning seconds. When you come at the king, you best not miss. Or at least go up for game-tying shots more aggressively when the king of weakside blocks is prowling....

The Miami Heat feel like Riley’s ’90s Knicks
The Miami Heat are the only NBA contender built like a UFC promotion. Knowing that it was inevitable that Heat culture nearly turned that energy inward during a lousy loss to the Golden State Warriors. Udonis Haslem threatening to beat Jimmy Butler’s ass and Eric Spoelstra asking if Butler wanted to...

Be patient, but more importantly, not cheap, Chicago
If Zach LaVine and Demar DeRozan thought backup was coming in the form of Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, or Patrick Williams, they might want to try buddy-copping their way out of the jam Chicago is in now. Fake argue like Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, or mix karate with charisma like Chris Tucker and J...

A tribute to the omnipresent NBA stars who never played a minute
Let’s pour one out for the lost souls of the 2021-22 NBA season. This season was a void on their resumes for a select few stars. An entire missed season can be an opportunity to step back, reevaluate and return for a bounce-back campaign. Or they can smack into the 2023 season like porcelain against...

The Fictional Hooper Bracket: Western University Region
The regional sites worked out well for Monica Wright McCall. Western University and USC are on different sides of L.A., but she’s still at home. However, if she advances to the regional final, as expected, another hometown hero might be waiting for her, the trash-talkingest king of the Venice Beach ...

The 76ers won last night, but their problems remain the same
The Philadelphia 76ers held on Wednesday night, on the road, to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers. It would be an impressive win against a playoff-bound team, except the Cavs were without their all-star center, Jarrett Allen, and the 76ers fouled Caris Levert on a layup with eight seconds left which pu...

HEAR ME OUT! Maxey, Harden, and Embiid make up the best Big 3 in the NBA
The term “Big 3” gets tossed around like nothing nowadays. I mean, prior to the season, Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr. were being considered a “Big 3" by some outlets. To say any team in the NBA has a true “Big 3” is questionable, but in just six games with James Harden Philadelp...

Joel Embiid is deserving of the MVP, but the award should go to Nikola Jokić
Nikola Jokić and Joel Embiid showed on Monday night why they are the two front runners for MVP in the NBA. Embiid scored 43 points and tallied 14 rebounds and three blocks while leading the Philadelphia 76ers to an important 121-106 victory over the Chicago Bulls that vaulted them past the Milwaukee...