The Los Angeles Clippers have come a long way. Once the laughingstock of the NBA, they are on national TV for the second straight night as they welcome the Denver Nuggets in Thursday’s best game. This is a rematch of the Clippers’ 109-105 victory on Sunday. This time, the Nuggets will have back speedster Ty Lawson to run with the Clippers’ star guard trio of Chris Paul, ex-Nugget Chauncey Billups and Mo Williams. It will also be the first time Timofey Mozgov
The first reader with the correct answer to last week’s edition of The Bernucca List was Sam Millner, who noted that the seven players had played for both the Lakers and Clippers and were active. Nice job, Sam. When we put together these lists, those sort of qualifiers are kind of important, so you have to include them in your answer. This week’s list is below. I sense it may be too easy. But there is that all-important qualifier. As always, post a
Who deserves the props today? The Clippers? Or the Sixers? It’s a toss-up. Sort of like that lob pass Chris Paul threw to Blake Griffin for a dunk seven seconds into their latest quality win, 107-105 on the road against Utah, where they hadn’t won since Saddam Hussein was running Iraq. And sort of like that scoop pass Andre Iguodala tossed out to Jrue Holiday after going around his back, one of several highlight-reel plays Iguodala made before exiting to a standing
Detractors of the Philadelphia 76ers point to their easy schedule thus far. On Wednesday night, they have an ideal opportunity to prove those folks wrong. The Chicago Bulls visit Philadelphia in Wednesday’s best NBA game and should be one of the toughest tests the 76ers have faced thus far. Philadelphia (15-6) is just 3-4 against teams with winning records, and one of those wins came Monday night vs. floundering Orlando. The 76ers have lost to Portland, Utah, Denver and Miami. The Sixers have
// // Carmelo Anthony returned, and the Knicks finally won a game. Forgive the cynical New York media if it wasn’t that impressed. The Knicks were back home and hosting the Detroit Pistons, who would have trouble winning games if they played in the Big Ten Conference instead of the Central Division. In a season of awful performances, this one may have been the worst. Detroit established season “highs” for points allowed and margin of defeat, which is saying something when you
Thus far, the Boston Celtics have been riding a rollercoaster of wins and losses. As the ride begins another plunge, they would like to stop and get off. The Celtics visit the Cleveland Cavaliers in Tuesday’s best NBA game, hoping to avenge their inexplicable last-second home loss Sunday. Boston held an 11-point lead with 4 1/2 minutes to play and appeared to be headed for a fifth straight win. However, the ride took an unexpected sudden turn as the Cavaliers scored the
Nominations for dunk of the year are now closed. (See video above). Well, check that. With Blake Griffin, you never know when the next mind-blower might be in his wheelhouse. Griffin turned Kendrick Perkins into Timofey Mozgov 2.0 with an astoundingly athletic slam Monday night during the Los Angeles Clippers’ 112-100 rout of Oklahoma City, just the Thunder’s fourth loss of the season. “I’m going to go home and watch it again. It’s probably going to be the screensaver on my phone,” said Clippers
The playoff rematch of Chicago and Miami on Sunday certainly lived up to the hype. So we’re going to stay in the postseason mode with the San Antonio Spurs heading to face the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies were the No. 8 seed team the Spurs faced in Memphis’ stunning upset over number one-seeded San Antonio in last year’s playoffs. The Grizzlies were also the first team the Spurs met this season, earning some mini- revenge with a 95-82 win at home. Emphasis