J.R. Smith made noise Sunday night, but it sure wasn’t for his performance in the Knicks uninspiring 102-95 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Like many of the Knicks, Smith was frustrated by the Pacers suffocating defense, which allowed the second-fewest points per game and the lowest field goal percentage in the league during the regular season. [Read more…]
Who cast a first-place vote for Carmelo Anthony for Most Valuable Player, denying LeBron James the honor of being the first unanimous selection in NBA history? It was Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. [Read more…]
And just like that, the second round is upon us. If that felt a little abrupt, don’t worry: it was. Somehow the first series to be set is the last to get underway, which I’m sure Gregg Popovich and the Spurs won’t mind. Mark Jackson and the Warriors probably won’t mind too much either, with Andrew Bogut and Steph Curry’s ankle troubles. For more on the Warriors and Spurs, check out Jan Hubbard’s latest column. The other series that starts tomorrow
If lessons have been learned, we should not expect the Knicks to dress in all-black, we should not expect Mike Woodson to be kept in the dark about his players’ pre-game plans, and we should not know what to expect — good or bad on any given night, no telling which will come when — from J.R. Smith. We also should not expect a suspension for Smith for throwing a flagrant elbow. But then again, when you are playing against a team
The first round of the playoffs has turned out to be as tense as could have been hoped, with six of the eight series going six games and at least one going the full seven. Meanwhile, the other 14 NBA teams are getting ready for next season, and for quite a few, that means new coaches, or possibly new management. While the Raptors continue to court Phil Jackson, Jackson himself is signing on with the Pistons in what is described as
Can a team win with its star player only scoring one point per shot? It’s not going so well over the past few games for Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks. Which players drive the Pacers in its incredibly volatile series against Atlanta? Can Oklahoma City win with Reggie Jackson as its second option on offense. We’re going behind the numbers from Wednesday night’s trio of Game Fives in today’s StatBox playoff breakdown. Knicks won’t win with VoluMelo The Knicks let a veteran
As we head into an all-important Game 6 between the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets on Thursday, lets first get whatever happened in Game 5 out of the way and hope that nothing dumb – like players getting ejected or face suspensions over unnecessary physical play – happens. The word, at least according to Mark Jackson and his “source”, is that Denver’s game plan was to go after Stephen Curry, who had completely lit them up in the previous three
If I had to rank the top four players in the NBA at the current moment, my system for ranking those players would look a little something like this: 1. LeBron James 2A. Kevin Durant 2B. Chris Paul 2C. Carmelo Anthony If any other team than the Miami Heat or San Antonio Spurs win the NBA Finals at this point it will seem like a big surprise across the league. They are the two teams with the most experience not only in the playoffs, but