Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving is set to play in tonight’s crucial Game 5 between the Cavaliers and Bulls despite injuries to both of his legs. Irving’s right foot has been strained since Game 2 of Cleveland’s first round series against Boston, and now he’s said to be truggling with tendinitis in his left knee after overcompensating for the sore right foot. From Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com: “If the consideration is now, then, I mean, I should have been sitting out maybe about
The Houston Rockets haven’t lost three games in a row all season long. But if they’re going to keep that streak alive in Tuesday’s Game 5 — and with it, their season — they’re going to have to overcome a tidal wave of momentum in favor of the Clippers. [Read more…]
For Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard, even a simple smile or laugh can be enough to fuel his legion of critics. We found that out before Wednesday’s Game 2, when Los Angeles Times reporter Ben Bolch tweeted this while watching Howard during his team’s shootaround. “Dwight Howard was laughing while teammates shot free throws during shootaround, as if this was a midweek game in January,” Bolch wrote. “It doesn’t matter if Howard played well in a Game 1 LOSS,” Bolch continued. “His team
The Bulls are continuing to win playoff games, yet the behind-the-scenes drama involving the front office and head coach Tom Thibodeau continues to escalate. In an Adrian Wojnarowski column filed after Chicago’s Game 1 win in Cleveland, the Yahoo! reporter says management still “can’t wait to rid itself” of Thibodeau. Furthermore, Wojnarowski cited some fairly disturbing examples of the lengths to which the relationship between the coaching staff and front office has been broken. In one such case, an assistant coach actually feared his
Kevin Love’s left labrum has torn away from the bone and needs at least 4-to-6 weeks to heal, reports Bleacher Report‘s Howard Beck. As a result, there’s “virtually zero chance” that Love plays again this postseason, even if the Cavaliers make the Finals. Moreover, if the labrum tear doesn’t heal on its own, offseason surgery is a possibility as well, according to Beck’s sources. “I want to make it clear that’s highly unlikely,” Cavs general manager David Griffin said, in comments transcribed
NBA free agency is still over two months away, but rumblings are already starting that the top realistic name available is very ready to explore the market come July. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported last week that LaMarcus Aldridge was more likely to leave the Blazers than most folks around the league realize, while The Oregonian‘s Jason Quick quoted an anonymous Portland teammate as estimating the chances of Aldridge returning to Portland are 50-50, at best. The rumor mill picked up even more steam
It’s been less than a month since Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale laughed at media questions over additional playing time for rookie big man Clint Capela. In fact, exactly three weeks before Tuesday’s Game 2, McHale said the idea of meaningful postseason minutes for Capela would mean that “a lot of guys are hurt”, adding that the Rockets would be “in trouble” if that happened. Yet there Capela was on Saturday night at Toyota Center, running the floor like a gazelle while playing
The NBA regular season ends tomorrow, and as of now — even with most teams having played 81 of their 82 games — not a single first-round matchup is locked in. It’s an incredibly rare situation that promises to bring loads of drama both Tuesday night and especially Wednesday night, as the 2014-15 slate comes to a close. In the West, the complex playoff picture was reasonably summed up in one tweet on Tuesday morning from San Antonio’s star guard Manu Ginobili: So,