season Page 26 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
No more encores for LeBron James and the Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers and their fan base have been hit with a heavy dose of reality in the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets. They’ve been a nice “redemption” story after bouncing back from a horrible start to the season, but it’s all over. On Saturday night, the Lakers fell into...
James Harden wants to escape the NBA title rat race
In his prime, James Harden was the star of the show. His ball dominance was unparalleled. Harden’s expression of basketball is a sublime experience. His ball handling and passing artistry are one of a kind. During his penultimate season in Houston, Harden’s 40.3 usage rate in 2018-19 nearly set an N...
Jamal Murray’s excellence forces Lakers into a must-win Game 3
In an NBA playoff series, Game 2 is usually the forgotten game. A series usually needs a location change before bold predictions are made. After dominating the Los Angeles Lakers for most of Game 1, the Denver Nuggets’ fourth-quarter performance left much to be desired in a victory that they almost ...
After winning the Victor Wembanyama lottery, San Antonio’s work is only just beginning
The conventional thinking is that Victor Wembanyama will be in safe hands with Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. But there’s no guarantee that the Wembanyama era will be anywhere as fruitful as Pop’s last dynasty or that he’ll have the best career out of any prospect in this draft, but I wouldn’t bet a...
Denver defense nearly spoils Nuggets' greatest offensive performance in franchise history
What will always jump out most on the screen when watching the 2022-23 Denver Nuggets is their offense. Through three quarters against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, it looked like they reached the level of special that Keanu Reeves reached in The Matrix when he s...
Jonathan Marchessault’s natural hat trick cements Golden Knights as Stanley Cup favorites
The Edmonton Oilers’ potential to turn back the clock officially stopped on Sunday night. Despite having two of the top five players in the league, a deep playoff run wasn’t in the cards, again. Three straight uninterrupted goals came in the second period off the stick of Jonathan Marchessault in th...
Joel Embiid is right
Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić are starkly different people. Yes, they are MVP centers who were not raised in America, but the similarities largely stop there. One player is from Africa and the other is from Europe. One player is the most physically dominant in the NBA, the other combines size, court ...
Joel Embiid’s play in Game 7 said more than all the pressers in the world
There isn’t really anything Joel Embiid could have said after his Game 7 beer belch that would have made up for it. He could have laid out all the mea culpas in the world, and Sixers fans are going to be pretty sharp-eyed and tongued (pardon for making you think about Philadelphian tongues) come nex...
The idea of Kevin Durant was always better than the real Kevin Durant
Whenever someone talks about Kevin Durant, they bring up what he is capable of doing a lot more than they bring up what he actually does. I could retire if I had a dollar for every time Stephen A. Smith has said “6-foot-11, can pull up from 30.” But he doesn’t actually get the job done very often....
Bengals-Chiefs, Jets-Bills, and the most impactful 2023 NFL matchups
The 2023 NFL season is set up to be a doozy. The schedule was released on Thursday night to much fanfare, and the best games of the season have already been picked out. However, the 2023 season is set to be impactful in a variety of ways. The narrative lovers will have a field day and the implicatio...
The Detroit Lions having almost as many primetime games as the Philadelphia Eagles is crazy
Sometimes, things are so insanely true that they seem false....
Aaron Rodgers in primetime, a Super Bowl LVII rematch, and the best 2023 NFL regular season games
The NFL schedule is here. All 17 games for your favorite teams now have a when, as opposed to the who and where that was decided months ago. This all really could’ve been an email, Roger. But we have to draw this out like American Idol in the mid-2000s, releasing more parts of the schedule … after t...
Jamal Murray has been instrumental in Nikola Jokić’s playoff transcendence
Nikola Jokić’s first two MVP seasons were snapped short by title contenders with heavier artillery in the lineup. A year ago, Golden State broke their spirits by targeting Jokić defensively. In 2021, a shorthanded Denver Nuggets team got trounced in a four-game sweep by the Phoenix Suns. ...
In star-studded matchup, it was Lonnie Walker IV who led the way late for Lakers
Lonnie Walker IV had found himself going from the Los Angeles Lakers’ starting five to the bench, as he missed 14 games earlier this season due to knee tendinitis, and L.A. overhauled its roster during the trade deadline. Having lost his spot in the rotation in February, he made a post on his Instag...
The NBA is incentivizing flopping
NBA players have cause to be upset with the officiating in the playoffs. Just last week a ball clearly bounced off of a rim and the Miami Heat still were called for a crucial shot clock violation. I am never inclined to defend Scott Foster, but maybe his brain was fried from a flop fest that night b...
It’s never too early to laugh at the last-place Cardinals
Frustratingly, it doesn’t happen all that often, so when it does you kind of have to eschew the normal protocols of being guarded due to sample-size, and randomness in baseball. When the St. Louis Cardinals are in last place, you simply shoot that fucker right into the vein and kiss the sky. In our ...
James Harden actually rose to the occasion with Joel Embiid out
James Harden deserved to take a bow on Monday night, even if he decided to wait until he put back on his enormous pants to do so. In a game in which the Philadelphia 76ers were undermanned with their MVP candidate dealing an injury more serious than what was first made public knowledge, Harden was t...
How the NBA provides injury updates shows a lack of regard for fans
NBA injury reports have turned into politician media availability. Expect everything except for a straight answer. The Philadelphia 76ers reportedly ran an MRI on Joel Embiid’s knee 10 days ago. He was expected to be able to play early last week if necessary and most certainly be available for the s...
Credit the Warriors for their resilience as much as their shooting
Stephen Curry signed his rookie contract extension with the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 30, 2012. That day was the start of the 2012-13 NBA Regular Season. At that time Curry had never been named an NBA All-Star or to an All-NBA Team. The Warriors went on to make the playoffs for the first time si...