While four teams are still left to battle for a championship, the rest of the league looks to shore up for next season with coaches, executives and free agents. Here’s what’s going on around the league today. A couple of things stood out in the Thunder’s victory over the Spurs in Game 3: a change in defensive scheme with Thabo Sefolosha handling Tony Parker, and a bigger emphasis on sharing the ball. An excerpt from J.A. Adande of ESPN: They found an
While the Heat, Celtics, Spurs and Thunder have been slugging it out chasing an NBA title, teams from all over Europe have been battling to win their domestic league championships. With a stable of recent NBA draft picks, former NBA players and former NCAA stars currently playing high-pressure playoff games in Europe, now is a good time to check and see who has been stepping up this time of year. Spain (ACB) – Semifinals Regal Barcelona took a 2-1 advantage over Valencia
At some point, the unbeatable aura surrounding the San Antonio Spurs had to come to an end, no matter how nasty they wanted to be. That point came on Thursday night when the team finally had its almighty 20-game winning streak snapped in a 102-82 blowout loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 (Boxscore here). Tim Duncan had another off night, scoring just 11 points while shooting 5-of-15 from the field (he is shooting 31.7 percent overall in the
The Oklahoma City Thunder were facing a postseason ultimatum: Figure out a way to slow down the red-hot San Antonio Spurs, or meekly bow out of the Western Conference finals for the second straight year, well short of the stated, realistic goal of winning a championship. Through the first two games in San Antonio, Oklahoma City had very few answers, surrendering more than 110 points per game while losing twice. A 3-0 deficit to a team that had not lost in
Today’s news around the league was dominated by the results of Wednesday night’s draft lottery. Some seem to believe in conspiracies, while others laugh at the notion. You can find all kinds of opinions about it below. The New Orleans Hornets acquired the No. 1 lottery pick on Wednesday night, giving the franchise an opportunity to draft a franchise-level player in Anthony Davis, and perhaps draw up a new logo as well. The problem? Though they are in the process of selling
Just a great piece of writing today by Zach Lowe on SI.com that should quiet all the conspiracy theorists (although, of course, it will not). Among the details reported by low were the winning ping-pong ball combination (6-4-9-7), and the fact the Cleveland Cavaliers were in the mix to win the lottery for the second straight year. But they needed a 3 to come up on the final ping-pong ball, and when “7” came up Hornets general manager Dell Demps initially
Yesterday, we ran down the top 20 unrestricted free agents. Today, we look at the top 10 restricted free agents, which is a little trickier. By and large, restricted free agents are all on their rookie contract, which provides guaranteed money that can establish the starting point for negotiations. And that’s where it gets tricky. JaVale McGee made $2.46 million this season and has a qualifying offer for $3.49 million next season. Both figures are well below what starting centers receive. But how
