The Guangdong Southern Tigers and the Shandong Gold Lions met in Game 1 of the Chinese Basketball Association Finals last night, with the Southern Tigers taking an 88-81 win to go up 1-0 in the best-of-seven series. Despite it only being the first game, the result was crucial: In the CBA’s 1-2-2-2 setup where the lower-seeded team hosts the first game, the Tigers now head back home with a chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead if they can hold serve.
Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan are becoming timeless figures in the NBA. Actually, that statement could have been made for at least the past five seasons. The two have teamed up to dominate the league for 15-plus seasons, and every time you start to wonder if age – at least for Duncan – would finally catch up to him, he somehow manages to come back even stronger. [Read more…]
In sports, and especially life, it’s not uncommon to begin with one problem and discover another. The hits just keep coming for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who keep discovering problem after problem in this trying season. What was supposed to be the season that saw the T-Wolves return to the playoffs has been nothing short of a nightmare. At 23-43 and at the bottom of the Western Conference, the T-Wolves faithful surely wishes they could hit the reset button on this season.
The NCAA Tournament is underway and day one did not disappoint. The theme of the week so far: you can’t just bring your name, you have to bring your game. We’ll be tracking Friday’s best all day long and updating you throughout. If you missed some of today’s action and want to see which players helped their teams advance to the next round or pull off the major upset, be sure to check back throughout the night. [Read more…]
When J.R. Smith joined the New York Knicks back in February 2012, the Knicks were 15-16 and Mike D’Antoni was still trying to figure out how to win with Jeremy Lin. Today, the Knicks are in position to win the franchise’s first division title since 1994 and still have a chance to win 50 games for the first time since 2000. For that, Smith deserves an immense amount of credit, and – despite the recent struggles of the Knicks – deserves serious
In the fifth and final installment from his new book The History of the San Antonio Spurs (© Whitman Publishing, LLC), Sheridanhoops columnist Jan Hubbard (twitter: @whyhub) writes about what is arguably the greatest Spurs’ team ever – the only championship team that included Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. (You can order the book here.) The story in 2003 wasn’t Parker or Ginobili. It wasn’t even Duncan, who was the first player since Michael Jordan to win
A month of the regular season remains. There is still plenty of basketball to be played and still plenty of chances for teams around the league to solidify their playoff positions. On the other hand, there is a handful of teams whose executives may be forced to look at the draft lottery and beyond, even with about 15 games remaining for most teams. The key players off the bench around the NBA are all over the league. They play for teams competing
