The Chicago Bulls could inch closer to securing the best record in the league while locking up the number one seed with a win against the second best team in the Eastern Conference. Whether they might actually want to secure the number one seed is another story. Holding the best record in the league, the Chicago Bulls (44-14) play host at the United Center to the visiting Miami Heat in Thursday’s best game on TNT. The two teams split the first two games of
Shall the focus be on the individuals or the teams this morning? Well, the individual part takes less explanation, so let’s start there: Andrew Bynum grabbed 30 rebounds, yes, 30, in San Antonio on Wednesday night as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Spurs 98-84 to become only the fifth visiting team to win at the At&T Center this season. The 30 boards were the most in an NBA game this season, shattering the mark of 25 shared by Dwight Howard and
The New York Knicks have yet to lose two consecutive games since Mike Woodson took over as the interim head coach. A loss tonight would end that run, and more importantly, they would surrender the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. New York (29-28) looks to even up the season series as they visit the Milwaukee Bucks in Wednesday’s best game. The first two games between the teams were taken by the Bucks, but playing for the fourth time in five nights, they
Could the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat in a playoff series? Well, they couldn’t a year ago, when they managed more than 91 points just once in five games and looked a tad long in the tooth. If Boston was to beat Miami, it appeared it would have to find a way to stall LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in transition and make every game a walk-it-up, grind-it-out affair, where the Celtics excel and the Heat are not exactly comfortable. The Celts
After looking old and uncertain at various times during the season, the Boston Celtics have hit their stride just in time to take a convincing Atlantic Division lead as the playoffs draw near. As usual, defense has been the key. They have allowed just 89.3 points per game this season, good for third best in the league. Since the insertion of Avery Bradley in the starting lineup nine games ago, they have been even better, giving up an average of 81.7 on
As the truncated season winds down, teams are jockeying for playoff positioning and home-court advantage. One of those teams should be the San Antonio Spurs. But coach Gregg Popovich is playing a different game. Popovich, the silver-haired, long-tenured guru who is among the frontrunners for Coach of the Year Award, decided to sit out three of his top three players – Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili – for the second time this season. The result was the same as the last time
Since their previous meeting on March 24, when Vinny Del Negro’s job was in the balance, the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers have lost a combined three games. Needless to say, they have been two of the hottest teams in the Western Conference. They collide again for the third and the final time this season as Chris Paul and the Clippers visit Rudy Gay and the Grizzlies in Monday’s best game. The Clippers (34-22) hosted and won the first two meetings between
We could drone on and on in today’s roundup about what a huge victory it was yesterday for both Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks, being that this Web site is based out of the Big Apple. But we shall spare you. You know why the Knicks won Sunday in overtime? Three words: Derrick Rose choked. By my count, Rose is now 0-for-4 on game-deciding free throws in the final minute of the fourth quarter of Sunday afternoon ABC games, having gagged similarly