The Los Angeles Clippers have won two straight games by a total of eight points. Both wins, which allowed the Clippers to shave one game off of the L.A. Lakers’ lead in the Pacific Division, came down to late-game heroics by Chris Paul. Late in Saturday’s 95-91 victory over the Houston Rockets, Paul scored 10 consecutive points in less than 2 1/2 minutes, beginning with a 16-foot jumper at the 2:42 mark of the fourth quarter, to bring the Clippers
The race for playoff positioning is a day-to-day adventure in the ultra competitive Western Conference, and two teams in the thick of it all look to gain ground against each other — despite some separation in Sheridan’s most recent Power Rankings. The Dallas Mavericks — on a three-game winning streak including an impressive win over the Spurs — look to snap their seven-game road skid as they visit the Denver Nuggets in Monday’s best game. It has been a tale of home
If there were rankings for the NBA’s overlooked and underestimated, the San Antonio Spurs would be No. 1. They are the contender people love to forget. That’s not to say they aren’t respected. Four titles since 1999 and the potent management duo of Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford translates to a substantial bottom line. But the last few years, it seems that when championship aspirants are rated, any mention of the Spurs is followed with “yeah, well … but … they
Milwaukee Bucks forward Drew Gooden and Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum were named Players of the Week for the period ending Sunday. Gooden won for the Eastern Conference, leading the Bucks to a 3-0 week by averaging 18.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 8.0 assists. He had a triple-double with 15 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in three quarters of a 115-105 win over Cleveland. Bynum won for the Western Conference, helping the Lakers go 3-1 and reclaim first place in
Hot lingo among the internet world when discussing a player similar to one from years past is to refer to said player as “so-and-so 2.0.” It is a tech term for an upgrade. Well, Draymond Green of Michigan State seems to be Anthony Mason 2.0. Green is not left-handed, and it took a long time before Mason became a trusted jump shooter. But Green is an excellent combination of size and skill. He possesses the rare combination of post-up ability at the
When he met reporters before Sunday night’s game, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was asked if the Orlando Magic are a title contender. “Absolutely,” the coach replied. “There is no doubt about it. Anytime you have an MVP candidate like (Dwight Howard) and then personnel that fits, you’re a contender.” Writers covering both teams took that quote and ran with it, but not in the way you might expect. In Orlando, Spoelstra was taken with a grain of salt. From Josh Robbins of the
The kids are alright. We could have guessed Enes Kanter (17 & 8 in 23 min.) would play well off the bench as Derrick Favors (12 & 10) got the tough start vs. Andrew Bynum (33 & 11 with 2 BLK). Another Jazz rookie to watch is Alec Burks (17 PTS in 19 min.) but the story of this shocker was a miserable 3-20 shooting night by Kobe Bryant, with seven turnovers. Starting PG Steve Blake went scoreless; backup Ramon
In a rematch of last year’s Euroleague Championship, Maccabi Tel-Aviv is set to take on the Greek team, Panathinaikos, in the first round of the Euroleague playoffs. With both teams possessing several NBA-caliber talents, and Maccabi rolling with two of the top Greek players in Theo Papaloukas and Sofoklis “Sofo” Schortsanitis, this promises to be among the more exciting playoff battles. While two of the premier coaches in Europe, Zeljko Obradovic and David Blatt, will face off, this matchup contains some of