Folks are not panicking in Miami just because the Heat are not atop the Eastern Conference standings. But they are taking a closer look at the Indiana Pacers, who entered Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls as the last remaining unbeaten NBA team. Heat fans remember that the Pacers took the Heat to seven games, and they realize that Indiana’s new, deeper roster is going to make the Pacers a much tougher out next spring — especially if a Game 7
Back in 2008, I covered the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing, where Jason Kidd was the No. 1 point guard, Chris Paul was No. 2 and Deron Williams No. 3 — but it was a close contest between CP3 and DWill. They were considered equals then, but Paul is already having the type of season that shows why he has grown into the better player — and why he is the more popular of the two (having Blake Griffin as a
The D-League is holding its draft tonight at 7 p.m. EDT at NBA headquarters, and there are some pretty interesting names. Especially when it comes to last names, that is. [Read more…]
The Indiana Pacers have the best record in the NBA, 2-0, after defeating the New Orleans Pelicans and the Orlando Magic. So my suggested plan is working perfectly for them. In our massive season preview package, I picked the Pacers to win the championship but said they MUST have homecourt advantage for a possible Game 7 against Miami. Only way they can do that is by making Miami chase them throughout the season. So far, so good. [Read more…]
Nobody plays a make-or-break game in their season opener. The Clippers are not broken just because they lost to a bunch of journeymen wearing Lakers uniforms last night. The Bulls will be fine — but they got another taste of how far they have to go in order to be able to compete with the Heat. But that was last night. What about Wednesday? The Grizzlies-Spurs game represents Dave Joerger’s first game at the helm of an NBA team, and we’re going to
Yeah, baby. We waited all summer for this night to arrive, and the fun doesn’t end until the middle of June … at which time the fun begins anew with the strongest draft class since 2003 and the most star-studded free agent market since 2010. In the meantime, can the Miami Heat “three-peat?” Who is their strongest challenger — Brooklyn? Indiana? Chicago? And how will again Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett be different this season — other than having “Brooklyn” or “Boston” written across
Tonight is the night, folks. We waited a long time to see some real basketball (unless, like me, you spent part of September watching Eurobasket), and the only thing missing right now is a trip to the bodega for some popcorn and a call to the bookie for some Clippers action. If things go well over the next couple of weeks in that latter category, the temporary relocation of the home office to Las Vegas will be closer to coming to fruition.
I was taping an appearance on the BBC the other day, which of course means that we were breaking everything down to the most basic of basics. “Will the Miami Heat three-peat?” was the first question. And you can’t blame the Brits for asking the same question everyone in the basketball universe is asking. (Aside from “Who will win the Andrew Wiggins lottery?”) Resisting the urge to use the words “bollocks” and “crikey” (keeping those in the vault), I dispensed my wisdom to