How good are the Phoenix Suns? Coming into the season, most wondered if they could win 19 games this year. After their 107-88 blowout victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, they are an impressive 19-11 – just one game behind the Clippers for the Pacific division lead. In comparison, they didn’t get to 19 wins until February 26 last season. [Read more…]
The National Basketball Association is entertaining new ideas for the draft to combat the problem of teams tanking (purposefully failing to compete for wins) to gain a greater chance at a high lottery pick. If you haven’t heard this already, you may be late to the party… However, considering that nothing will likely happen with this information, tardiness is a relative concept. The idea being entertained, as was first reported by Zach Lowe of Grantland and summarized here by our own Brett
It’s challenging to be a fan of a struggling team, but the real fans are able to do it. Bill Simmons has been a lifelong Celtics fan. He’s criticized his team many times over the years and has even butted heads with some of the top people in the organization. Though, after many losing seasons in the 2000s, the Celtics did have its championship run in 2008. This season, things weren’t looking very promising for the Celtics. After losing Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett
Bad news has been mounting over the past few days in the NBA with significant injuries to various important players around the league – some more serious than others. Of course, nothing was more devastating than when Derrick Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee over the weekend. He had successful surgery, but will miss the remainder of the season. Unfortunately, the bad news appears to be rolling right along. Bill Simmons of Grantland reported on Monday night that Washington Wizards
It was a big night for college basketball and general managers around the NBA, as Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins – two of the biggest prizes for the upcoming summer’s draft – went head to head against each other in a much anticipated contest between Kansas and Duke on Tuesday. With expectations sky high, the two made sure no one left disappointed. Parker scored 19 points in the first half, including this impressive dunk, to capture much of the attention and finished
When Chris Smith, the brother of J.R. Smith, made the New York Knicks roster a few days before the start of the season, there were whispers around the league that the move was made largely because of his family ties with J.R. Politics, as some would call it. Smith actually signed a contract with the Knicks last season, but was cut before the start of the season after suffering a knee injury. The 26-year-old guard has yet to see playing time this
Here’s something not many thought would happen in the opening night of the NBA on Tuesday: The bench of the Los Angeles Lakers ruled the starting lineup of the Los Angeles Clippers for a decisive 116-103 victory. This is not how things were supposed to go for the Clippers, who have been voted the favorites to come out of the West by various members of the media around the league. Most have expected the Lakers to miss the playoffs this season,
Two significant things will happen this NBA season: David Stern will step down as commissioner, probably five years too late. And for the first time in 20 years, the 76ers, Celtics and Lakers all will be out of the playoffs. We know the first to be true. The second is pure conjecture, but it’s more likely than not that three of the top NBA franchises in terms of tradition, history, titles and outsized personalities will be booking trips to ping-pong festivities