When the New York Knicks started their season full of hope and expectations, they probably did not circle March 26 on their calendars as an important night. Yet, they hold just a 1 1/2-game lead for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as they prepare for one of the most critical games of the season against the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden in Monday’s best game. Looking to reach .500 for the first time since beating Sacramento on February
Things have officially gone wild in the Wild Wild West. Over the past five seasons, at least one team with a winning record has failed to make the playoffs in the Western Conference as the competition has always been fierce and close until the final day of the season. It may never have been this close, however. Currently, 1 1/2 games separate the fourth seed and the ninth seed. Two teams — the Clippers and the Mavericks — are tied for the fourth seed
The Boston Celtics can probably see the end of their monstrous eight-game road trip. But this is not the time to look ahead. The Celtics have two games remaining on their 13-day trek, which began with a marquee matchup in Los Angeles against the Lakers on March 11. But Thursday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks – and, for that matter, Friday’s trip finale in Philadelphia – are probably the most important games on the trip. The Celtics are 3-3 on the trip
Brandon Jennings had 34 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 blocks in their win over the Nets. The lats player to post such a line was Alvin Robertson on January 16, 1990. Kris Humphries scored a career-high 31 points, as well as pulling down 18 rebounds. His previous career-high is 25 points, and he also had 19 rebounds earlier this year. A team has not scored 73 on the road and won since April 6, 2008. Every point scored by Charlotte
As dominant as the Oklahoma City Thunder have been this season, they seem to get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to late controversial calls. The Thunder trailed by a point with 46 seconds remaining Tuesday night when Dallas center Ian Mahinmi appeared to cleanly block Serge Ibaka’s shot, but the whistle was blown for a foul, much to the dismay of Mahinmi and Rick Carlisle. Ibaka made both free throw attempts and the Thunder never looked back as they
As much as I enjoy fantasy hoops, the real games are way more interesting. The Heat had won nine in a row by 10 points or more, but lost to the fired-up Jazz. With Chris Bosh away for a funeral, Shane Battier was an effective fill-in starter, notching 18 points on 6-7 shooting, with four blocked shots. Paul Millsap was back for Utah, Al Jefferson was stellar and the bench was very helpful: another good game from C.J. Miles, with
Update: ESPN released an apology. Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 am ET. The headline was removed at 3:05 am ET. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake. The Big Lead Oklahoma City Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha is expected to be sidelined for at least another month with a foot
