NEW YORK – When you’re the New York Knicks, you’ll take any piece of positive history you can get. And after the Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, 100-84, on Sunday afternoon, they have opened a season with back-to-back victories for the first time this century. That the two victories came against two quality opponents in the Miami Heat – whom the Knicks defeated Friday night – and the 76ers should give Knicks fans more gooey feelings of positivity. Mike
If Steve Nash had a different set of skills, it wouldn’t be a reach to suggest he might have been David Copperfield. Nash is perhaps the most unlikely looking franchise player in NBA history – a 6-3, 195-pound guard who seems much shorter and slighter when mingling with the giants who usually dominate NBA games. Nash is so slick that he makes us forget how good he is. It seems, for example, that a long time has passed since the Phoenix Suns
The Nets are undefeated in their new home thanks to Brook Lopez, who scored 27 points. He used his size to get Jonas Valanciunas in early foul trouble, then his speed to beat Aaron Gray, after Toronto coach Dwane Casey showed his prize rookie some tough love at the end of the bench. Deron Williams (19 PTS, 9 AST) did a nice job of facilitating, and C.J. Watson got 28 minutes; he’s the backup PG but played off the ball with D-Will quite a bit and could be
Some call it superstition. Some call it luck. Everyone knows an athlete that has a lucky charm or a meticulous ritual to help them feel confident of victory. Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan was known for wearing his North Carolina shorts under his game shorts throughout his entire career. Boston Celtics guard Jason Terry has a ritual of wearing the game shorts of his next opponent as pajamas the night before playing them. Los Angeles Lakers small forward Metta World Peace…he has Twitter
All the attention in the NBA right now is on the Lakers, who lost again last night. Unlike the first two losses, to the Dirk Nowitzki-less Mavericks and the projected also-ran Blazers, this one was to the Clippers, who are a likely playoff team and potential title contender. But that’s not a whole lot of consolation to the Lakers, who are now 0-11 including preseason games. And amidst all the discussion of Mike Brown and the Princeton offense, the Lakers got
If you were thinking things couldn’t get any worse for the Lakers, well, you’re wrong. Point guard Steve Nash had an MRI on Saturday that revealed a fracture in his lower left leg that will keep him on the sidelines for at least another week. The team said Nash has a small fracture in the head of his left fibula, the result of a collision with Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard in Wednesday’s loss. Nash sat out Friday’s loss to the down-the-hall Clippers
Despite only a handful of games the opening week of the NBA season wasn’t short of headlines. First there was the James Harden trade, then were some controversial extension decisions, the Lakers have started 0-3 and Danny Granger and Eric Gordon were shut down. Every Saturday afternoon, we’ll examine the Week That Was, then review our Depth Chart Updates, the Upcoming Schedule and our picks for Sits and Starts. The Week That Was Lesson #1: The James Harden trade In my Northwest Division preview,
What would James Harden do for an encore? How about a career-high 45 points? On deadly shooting (14-19 from the floor and 15-17 from the line, the newest Rocket led his team to a road win over Atlanta. Jeremy Lin provided excellent support with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, and while Omer Asik was scoreless on seven shots, he grabbed 19 boards. Patrick Patterson (9 PTS, 7 REB) made his first start at PF, with backup Marcus Morris