Once again, the Bulls had to dig deep, requiring overtime to get by the stubborn Raptors. C.J. Watson scored 23, Carlos Boozer 24 and Luol Deng 23 to make up for the ejection of Joakim Noah after just 12 minutes. For the Raptors, DeMar DeRozan (ankle) couldn’t go, so Gary Forbes (12 PTS, 13 REB) made the most of a rare start. Jose Calderon had 20 & 10 in 45 minutes and James Johnson (20 PTS, 8 REB, 4 BLK)
Things have officially gone wild in the Wild Wild West. Over the past five seasons, at least one team with a winning record has failed to make the playoffs in the Western Conference as the competition has always been fierce and close until the final day of the season. It may never have been this close, however. Currently, 1 1/2 games separate the fourth seed and the ninth seed. Two teams — the Clippers and the Mavericks — are tied for the fourth seed
The Clippers finally got a win Saturday, and everything is hunky-dory again in Lob City. Yeah, right. The issues in Clipperland run too deep to be fixed by a matinee mauling of Memphis, which has problems of its own. It is hard to believe that a team boasting both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin may not make the playoffs, but that remains a distinct possibility. Didn’t someone around here say that a while ago? There are plenty of problems on offense. New faces are
The Los Angeles Clippers re-signed free agent forward Bobby Simmons, whose second 10-day contract with the Clippers expired on March 18, the team announced Saturday. In 13 games played for the Clippers this season, Simmons has tallied 3.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 37.1 percent from behind the three-point line. ESPN.com Carmelo Anthony’s shot is officially lost. But after his 6-for-15 performance in Toronto, he said it was his rhythm that is missing. “I’m looking for it,” he said. “So
When looking at the Kentucky Wildcats, year in and year out, you’re looking at a breeding ground for NBA talent. Every year they have a handful of first round picks and “one and dones.” A player who decided to bypass the draft last year and return to Lexington to help his stock is forward Terrence Jones, who, to me, is one of the most polarizing players in the nation. I spoke to an NBA executive and asked a simple question. Which NBA players,
Eric Dawson’s 82 seconds of garbage time for the San Antonio Spurs ended up being a going-away present. After knocking down three jumpers on three attempts in Friday night’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks, the Spurs released Dawson from his 10-day contract Saturday and announced the signing of Justin Dentmon from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League to a 10-day contract. A 6-0, 185-pound guard, Dentmon has appeared in 38 games with the Toros this season, averaging a team-best 22.9 points,
Two teams separated by percentage points jostle for playoff position Saturday when the banged-up L.A. Clippers host the finally healthy Memphis Grizzlies at the Staples Center. The outcome of this game is huge. Memphis (25-20) and the Clippers (26-21) are fourth and fifth respectively in the tight Western Conference playoff race, but just half a game ahead of 9th seeded Denver. The Clips have lost three straight games for the first time this season, falling three-and-a-half games behind the Pacific Division leading Lakers
Who has time for the NBA during the NCAA Tournament? We do. And on Friday night, you should have made time, too. From John Rohde of the Daily Oklahoman: “Inside one locker room sat a player who had just set a single-game franchise record for points scored, while four chairs away sat a teammate who had collected his first career triple-double with 25 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. And this was on the losing team. Inside the victorious locker room across