Over the weekend, we saw a trio of buzzer-beaters from Derrick Rose, Paul Pierce and LeBron James win NBA playoff games. All three were certainly fantastic moments that ended intense, exciting postseason games. But before we get too excited about them, let’s consider these two factors. 1. The shots by Rose and Pierce were lucky. Yes, lucky. The next NBA player who actually tries to bank in a straightaway shot will be the first. Was some experience and skill involved in finding
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
He just coached the Chicago Bulls to a very impressive Game 1 win in Cleveland. He finished off the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6 of the first round with a 54-point victory. He has had a surprising level of success the past two seasons despite being without Derrick Rose. He is widely regarded as one of the best tacticians in basketball. Yet Tom Thibodeau appears to be on the way out in Chicago. Even if he wins a championship. How can this be? Is there
ATLANTA — With less than two minutes left in the third quarter, Washington forward Drew Gooden hit a baseline jumper to put the Wizards and Hawks in a 73-73 deadlock. It marked the sixth time in eight postseason games that Atlanta had blown a double-digit lead, and the once-jovial Philips Arena crowd let out a collective groan. “Here we go again.” On the ensuing play, however, Dennis Schroder drove to the rim on a pick-and-roll and kicked the ball out to the left corner to an
With about two minutes remaining in Saturday night’s Game 7 between the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers and still no clear indication regarding which team was moving on and which team was going home, Tim Duncan gave himself a break from the magnitude of the moment and offered some candid perspective. The All-Star forward and face of one of the handful of NBA dynasties approached Doc Rivers, who was in his 12th Game 7 as a coach. With one
ATLANTA- The last time the Hawks played the Wizards in the regular season, John Wall finished with a double-double. Unfortunately for Wall, that double-double included double figures in the turnover category. [Read more…]
OK, so we didn’t all post perfect records in the first round. You find me someone who did, and I’ll personally call the guy and offer him a job. But everyone here at SheridanHoops had Floyd Mayweather winning in a yawnfest decision over Manny Pacquiao, and we all took the American Pharoah-Dortmund exacta in the Kentucky Derby. Check the Yonkers Raceway surveillance footage if you don’t believe me. All of us also hit the daily number yesterday, and we all came home
LOS ANGELES — No NBA star has spent this season in the “put up or shut up” crosshairs more than Chris Paul. Among fans and media, the overriding narrative has been that of an hourglass quickly losing sand when it comes to accolades butting up against a limited playoff resume. It seemingly no longer matters that Paul is certainly still among the best guards — “point” or otherwise — in the NBA. It no longer matters if the second half of