The gambling life ain’t easy, folks — which is where today’s tale begins. But by the time you get to the end of today’s column, hopefully you’ll be amused by my personal adventures and enlightened by my leaguewide analysis. We are at the quarter-pole of the NBA season, and trends have emerged. First, to truly appreciate what it means to gamble on the NBA on a daily basis, you had to experience what it was like to bet on the Philadelphia 76ers
Looks like we’ve got a good old-fashioned rookie duel on our hands. Tuesday’s showdown in Philadelphia between 76ers guard Michael Carter-Williams and Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo was more than just a spectacular display by two future stars. It was a microcosm of this season’s race for Rookie of the Year. In case you live in an igloo, both Carter-Williams and Oladipo had their first career triple-doubles in a wild double-overtime affair won by the Sixers, 126-125. MCW had 27 points, 12
First, the good news, Derrick Rose does not have another torn ACL. Now, the bad news. Rose does have a medial meniscus tear in his right knee that requires surgery and is out indefinitely. The superstar guard of the Chicago Bulls somewhat dodged a bullet Saturday as an MRI taken in Los Angeles revealed torn cartilage but not a torn ligament. The difference could shorten his absence considerably. [Read more…]
The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 11, through Sunday, Nov. 17. James averaged a league-best 34.0 points in leading the Heat to a 3-0 week. He led Miami in scoring in all three games and shot .702 from the field (fifth in the league), .625 from three-point range, and .810 from the foul line. On Nov. 15,
Things got tense between the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday when Blake Griffin and Serge Ibaka got tangled up near the end of the second quarter. After getting fouled by Ibaka on a shot attempt near the rim, Griffin got a hold of Ibaka’s arm and held on tight. The natural reaction by Ibaka was to set himself free from the hold, but it appeared as if he had shoved Griffin from the back in the process.
Over the years, bashing the Clippers has hardly been an art form primarily because if anyone can do it, it’s not art. As lousy of a history as the Clippers have had, they have always been an underground favorite of writers. At certain points of the season, most writers have some sort of burnout. When that happens, Clips owner Donald Sterling will inevitably do something absurd and, boom, you’ve got a column. The wacky Sterling stories are so numerous that it’s
It’s exactly 10 days into this NBA regular season, it feels like 10 weeks for those who cover the league on a regular basis, and a whole hell of a lot has already happened. Few things have gone as expected, of course the undefeated start for the Pacers is an exception, and surprises abound across the league. Here are 10 that immediately came to mind, including a pair of dazzling young point guards, one major market team in big trouble and
On a night in which 13 games transpired, three players managed to rise above the rest as the stars of the evening: Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans, Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers and Vitor Faverani of the Boston Celtics. Davis, Faverani and Griffin may not be the first names to come to mind when it comes to elite statistical production, but each of those rising big men found a way to dominate on Day 4 of the