Live from Staples Center, it’s the Next Great Team! No, of course, it’s not the Lakers. They’re the Last Great Team. If the next great one is busy being born here, it’s the Clippers, who are already spectacular and aiming for bigger things. If you want to know what the Clippers could be, it’s no longer a problem because they just turned it all loose, for one night, anyway, routing West-leading Oklahoma City. After rolling up 38 points in the first quarter, or as
Where did everyone go? It was great working from Los Angeles the last 12 years when all the good times were in the West, which meant short flights and short series. West teams won the first five titles after Michael Jordan left the Bulls in 1998, by a combined 20-4. East teams won three Finals in the last decade (Pistons in 2004, Heat in 2006, Celtics in 2008), all as underdogs, beating the Lakers (in the final tumult-filled season of Shaquille O’Neal and
LOS ANGELES — Some news for Knicks fans pining for the lost glory days of 1970 and 1973. We have the scoop on whether Phil Jackson is about to return, assume Red Holzman’s mantle and restore the greatness they last glimpsed 39 years ago. Nope. That’s “nope” as in, I don’t think it will happen now, and it’s not likely to happen any time this season. After that, we’ll have to see what happens to coach Mike D’Antoni, in the event he lasts the
The Bulls and Thunder continued to show this 66-game, 123-day exercise is no season for old men, sprinting even farther ahead of their respective packs on young legs. Meanwhile, the Lakers aged a decade in a week, going on the road after their 10-5 start, getting waxed in Miami and Orlando, then coming home and losing by 10 to Indiana. Of course, we knew the Lakers were old, or too old to miss it, last season. On the other hand, there are teams that
I feel you, Stan Van Gundy. Whenever I type “Dwight Howard,” I can feel it getting relayed to you in the form of endless questions about the “distractions” facing Dwight and his teammates. I can see you doing a full eye-roll complete with backward head tilt. I can hear you from here: “Would it be possible for us squeeze in our season between rumors about something that may not happen and if it does, won’t happen for months?” I’ve been on the beat. I understand
Showing the Thunder is truly on its way, they just rose to to No. 1 in the prestigious SheridanHoops power rankings (Wednesday edition) for the first time! Of course, we’ve only been doing our rankings for a few weeks, but it’s still a good sign. It’s also in keeping with today’s “No season for young men” theme, in which we note the impact of jamming 66 games into 123 days on older players, as in “I just ran down here, now I’m
Jerry Buss is playing a different brand of poker with the Lakers
Our founder, Chris Sheridan, hereafter to be known as OFCS, had the Heat at No. 1 in his rankings before they lost to the Warriors, which shows what he knows. Just kidding. We may have a lot of years covering the NBA between us, but if we were clairvoyant, we’d be selling our rankings to, uh, investors at $1,000 a pop. With the teams at the 9-10-11-game mark, the great ones have yet to pull away from the pack, although some bad teams