ATLANTA –If the Hawks intend to live up to their reputation as the Spurs of the Eastern Conference, they will need Al Horford to be Duncan-esque throughout the playoffs. On Wednesday night, Horford fulfilled the tall task with arguably his best game of the season. Horford scored 20 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and tallied five assists as the Hawks maintained the lead from the start of the game and edged out the Nets by a final score of 97-87. For the first time
BROOKLYN— Barclays Center may never have been louder than it was on Monday night. Normally, the Brooklyn arena is filled with many fans of Nets opponents and it would take something extraordinary or abnormal for the crowd to really get to a decibel level worthy of the postseason. After a three-game stretch that signified one of the lowest points in his disappointing tenure with the team, Deron Williams energized the Brooklyn Nets and this arena like nothing before seen in this
NBA free agency is still over two months away, but rumblings are already starting that the top realistic name available is very ready to explore the market come July. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported last week that LaMarcus Aldridge was more likely to leave the Blazers than most folks around the league realize, while The Oregonian‘s Jason Quick quoted an anonymous Portland teammate as estimating the chances of Aldridge returning to Portland are 50-50, at best. The rumor mill picked up even more steam
How many of the 16 teams in the NBA playoffs have a legitimate shot at the championship? It is a fair question, and it was posed to me this morning on NBC Sports Radio by host Erik Kuselias. Just to give you a preview, I did not answer “Trail Blazers,” “Pelicans” or “Celtics.” But I did give an answer that reflects what an odd situation we have on our hands after the first two days of the NBA playoffs. Clearly, the Los
Everyone knows that the Eastern Conference is nowhere near as good as the Western Conference. But that doesn’t mean that the first round of the East playoffs won’t be compelling. As everyone knows, all you need is one road team to win to make a series interesting. Can the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks rediscover their rhythm? Did the Boston Celtics build confidence with two late-season wins over Cleveland? Is Chicago’s Derrick Rose returning to form or just an accident waiting to happen again? Do
It’s that time of year again. After all of the laughs, other-worldly performances, and misguided declarations that someone was dead, we’ve arrived at the end of the season. It’s time to pick a winner for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. As always, I told myself I wasn’t going to cry. As always, I lied to myself. (Sniffle) We saw a lot of improvement in the NBA this season. The Atlanta Hawks went from Eastern Conference Playoff Team With a Losing Record™ to The Spurs
BROOKLYN – A string of poor play may cost the Brooklyn Nets a playoff spot in the pathetic Eastern Conference. Their inability over the last several games – and throughout the season as a whole – to consistently beat winning teams could end up being the back-breaker for this ballclub. Despite being without Joakim Noah, the Chicago Bulls outscored the Nets 30-15 in the third quarter and ran away with a 113-86 laugher that cost Brooklyn the eighth spot in the East,
BROOKLYN — Not so long ago, what defined a tumultuous day for the Atlanta Hawks would have had something to do with ownership. Or management. Not a perp walk. So for the Hawks to do what they did Wednesday night — a gutsy road win over a probable playoff team — speaks to their fortitude as a team, a darned good team. Just hours after reserves Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antic were released from police custody – the pair was arrested outside a