theeasternconferencefinals Page 5 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
NBA playoff matchups we’d love to see (and one we wouldn’t)
The 2022 NBA playoffs is an annual garden of forking paths. Teams don’t know who to expect awaiting them in the next round or when their season will end. One injury can swing momentum in the other direction. What we do know is that there are particular matchups that are more palatable than others. C...
We forgot about Trae
Led by Trae Young, the Atlanta Hawks began this season with more buzz than the city’s best lemon pepper wings. They were a quality young League Pass team who’d matured into an Eastern Conference heavyweight overnight. The 2021 postseason served as the setting for Young’s glow-up from empty calorie s...
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...
Anyone banking on a Milwaukee Bucks championship repeat is in for a rude awakening
The Milwaukee Bucks took one on the chin Saturday night in prime time against the Golden State Warriors, falling in defeat 122-109. What’s even more concerning than the loss is that Warriors superstar Stephen Curry scored just eight points. Curry was on the floor for a total of 35 minutes. That stat...
Nate McMillan’s tenure with the Hawks is downright Thibs-ian
The Hawks are lucky the Knicks are so disappointing or Stephen A. Smith would be melting down about them instead. The team that ended the Ben Simmons era in Philly, banished Julius Randle to a place from which he has yet to return, and competed with eventual NBA championship Milwaukee in the Eastern...
Hate Tom Wilson all you want but he deserves to be an NHL All-Star
There are few names that drum up hockey fans at large with such visceral rage as Tom Wilson. His introduction to the league has been well-documented as a young, tough, ultra-physical, trash-talking specimen Capitals’ fans adore. The rest of the league’s fans, not so much. Especially in Boston and Ne...
Tyler Herro told us he was a bucket and we should have listened
The Miami Heat have been playing lights out recently, with an 8-2 record in their last 10 games. Amid their hot streak, the Heat have taken over sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. Wednesday night, Miami had even more firepower added to the lineup with the return of Tyler “I’m ...
Three possible trade scenarios for John Collins
What the hell is happening in Atlanta? They went on a Cinderella-esque run in last season’s playoffs, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. This year? They currently sit 12th in the East, out of the Play-In Tournament, and 22nd in the entire NBA. During the summer of 2020-21, the Hawks happily wen...
Scottie Pippen is still angry and bitter, but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong
Scottie Pippen is still angry about that contract. It didn’t take up much time in “The Last Dance,” which is what the released excerpt in GQ of Pippen’s autobiography entitled “Unguarded” focused on, but it’s been the guiding light for most of Pippen’s life. It filters through the article in the New...
Celtics’ struggles less about style of play, more about players
I don’t blame overconfident NBA players for attempting to take over a game when the only people excited for the Austin Rivers experience are opposing fans. I think it’s less, “I got this,” and more “I want to do the fun thing, too.” Who wants to watch someone play video games when you could have the...
Is a small-market, slow-build dynasty even possible in this era of basketball?
A single championship does not a dynasty make, despite Kevin Durant’s comment this summer that the Bucks were “forming somewhat of a dynasty.” ...
Trae Young feels disrespected — and that’s a good thing
The Atlanta Hawks blasted the Dallas Mavericks in their season opener, 113-87, with Trae Young racking up 14 assists and Deandre Hunter holding Luka to 18 points on almost as many attempts (17). Afterward, Young had a message for the haters:...
2021 NBA Southeast Division Preview: The Hawks are going to break your heart
The Atlanta Hawks appeared in the franchise’s second Eastern Conference Finals last season, and their fans are preparing for what they think could be another long playoff run this year. In 2015-16, the Hawks ran into LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East Finals, resulting in a 4-0 Cav...
Dominique Wilkins is owed an apology and the only asterisk I’ll accept in sports
Dominique Wilkins is owed apologies from a lot of you people. ...
Hear me out: Ben Simmons for Kyrie, straight up
Ben Simmons has attempted 34 three-pointers in his four-year NBA career, which is about how many shots from downtown Kyrie Irving attempts in five games. As point guards go, the two former No. 1 overall picks could hardly have more different games....
Read 'em and weep: Here are the worst droughts in modern sports, non-title edition
The White Sox have won their first division title since 2008, which doesn’t really feel right, because they’ve only had two truly awful seasons in the last decade and a half, and power in the Central is rarely concentrated anywhere for too long, but it’s true. It would be a weird thing to lie about....
Julius Randle’s extension is perfect for both sides
The perfect contract: You rarely get that in sports. Of course, we may revisit this down the line and think otherwise, but for now, for this moment in time, Julius Randle’s extension with the New York Knicks is perfect for business....
Let’s pick apart this list of the NBA’s 22 best point guards
It’s time to break down and analyze the latest sports ranking list. This time we have the top 22 (??) point guards in the NBA as ranked by hoopshype.com. Wondering why hoopshype chose to rank the top 22? ...
Sixers had no choice but to 'supermax' Embiid, but they just blew their shot at a title
As great as Joel Embiid has been thus far in his career, he hasn’t exactly been an iron man of any sort during his time in the NBA. That didn’t stop the Philadelphia 76ers from cashing out the player that many think is the best center in the league, with a four-year, $196 million extension....
Viral photo depicting entire ‘AAU team’-turned-pro is fake news, but here’s the real story behind the squad in it
Ever heard the one about the entire AAU team that made it to the NBA? Of course you haven’t, because this isn’t the beginning of some corny joke....