Sometimes the best way to evaluate the Most Valuable Player is to watch him ride solo for a while. Yes, stats count. So does his performance in close games, his output against the better teams, his showdowns with fellow candidates and his overall leadership. However, a true indicator can be how the player performs when he has to go it alone. This season, we have all marveled at Kevin Durant. The perennial MVP candidate has been truly spectacular. But what has elevated
The Suns and Warriors let down the home crowd, losing to sub-.500 Eastern Conference visitors. The Pacers took control of their game in the third quarter, holding off a furious Hawks rally in the final minutes. Both teams piled up the missed open shots and turnovers and will want to forget the game quickly. The Timberwolves were coasting to victory over the Lakers, but Los Angeles made things interesting enough that Kevin Love/MIN couldn’t get extra rest in preparation for
When Joakim Noah went into Half-Baked mode and cursed at all the referees before leaving the game against the Sacramento Kings on Monday, many expected the league to come down hard on the Chicago Bulls center. Interestingly, the punishment he received wasn’t as bad as some expected – a $15,000 fine. The pattern of fines given this season have been unique under Rod Thorn. Coach Mike Malone of the Kings was hit with a $25,000 fine for this tantrum, and Mark
The 2013-14 NBA regular season continued on Tuesday, February 4. Only eight teams were in action, but the headlines were ripe as a future Hall of Famer returned from injury, a fellow star broke a franchise record and a top contender snapped a surprising losing streak. Here’s everything that you need to know about last night’s action. [Read more…]
As the calm after the Super Bowl subsides, the sports world officially belongs to the NBA. Well, if the Winter Olympics in Sochi aren’t your thing that is. We are just under two weeks away from the 2014 NBA All-Star game and have already seen trade talks intensify. With February 21st’s trade deadline quickly approaching, the outcome of these next two weeks will largely shape the second half of the season. Is there potential for any conference to be swung by
O’Neal after having arthroscopic surgery. The Golden State Warriors hope to get some extra help from the bench Tuesday night as center Jermaine O’Neal is expected to make his return from wrist surgery. O’Neal played through the early part of the season with a sprained wrist before finally missing games and subsequently requiring arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn ligament. After the surgery, he remained optimistic that he would not need to miss much of the season. “I am
A busy night in the NBA went mostly to expectation. The Pacers easily handled the Magic, the Heat’s big two had great games, the Thunder won a defensive battle against the Grizzlies, and the Raptors continued their winning ways with another road victory. First Tiago Splitter/SAS and now Danny Green/SAS, San Antonio’s injured players are returning. It looked good for the Pelicans, but a disastrous fourth quarter handed the Spurs the road win. There are only four games on the
Welcome to the real season. Now that the Super Bowl is over and the NFL finally fades into the background of the American sports scene, many casual sports fans turn their attention to the NBA, as if the only sport that existed from Mondays to Saturdays in January was Herm Edwards and Ron Jaworski yelling hyperbolic nonsense at each other. Football’s bloated specter can be overbearing at times, especially with The Worldwide Leader making Daily Mail stories out of day-to-day NFL occurrences.