So the playoffs began on Saturday afternoon, and they could not have gotten off to a worse start. A much anticipated day of postseason action turned absolutely tragic when two key players for the Bulls and the Knicks – Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert – each suffered devastating knee injuries – a torn ACL. Chicago was well on its way to the first postseason win of the season. Then, with less than two minutes remaining in the game, the reigning MVP jumped up
After 66 games of the wildest schedule the league has ever seen, the lockout shortened regular season has finally come to a close. No more four games in five nights or back-to-back-to-backs. The demanding schedule saw many key players suffer devastating and nagging injuries throughout the season. The Hawks and the Clippers will surely feel those losses as they head into the playoffs without Al Horford and Chauncey Billups, respectively. Without a real training camp and preseason, teams with new coaches and players were
The travails of the Sixers have been well-chronicled here, partly because we have a big Sixers fan on the staff, partly because everyone likes to watch a train wreck. The Bulls, meanwhile, have been at the top or near the top of Sheridan’s Power Rankings and Heisler’s Power Rankings since this truncated season began on Christmas Day, and no number of injuries could knock them from their perch. Five things to watch for in the first-round playoff series between the
Well, they’re in. The Philadelphia 76ers are in the playoffs. They might not be there very long, and once they exit, their leading scorer might be leaving as well. But for now, all is well in the City of Brotherly Love. The Sixers won a game they were supposed to win, had to win, needed to win, pulling away for a 105-87 road victory over the shorthanded New Jersey Nets that clinched their second playoff berth in as many years under coach
April is supposed to be the time of the NBA season when the best teams gear up for the playoffs and head into it playing their absolute best basketball. The Heat must have missed that memo. And the Bulls’ starters, too. With the NBA regular season slowly but surely winding down, two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference are heading into the postseason with plenty of uncertainty and several important questions to still resolve. For the Chicago Bulls, the team with
The Chicago Bulls could inch closer to securing the best record in the league while locking up the number one seed with a win against the second best team in the Eastern Conference. Whether they might actually want to secure the number one seed is another story. Holding the best record in the league, the Chicago Bulls (44-14) play host at the United Center to the visiting Miami Heat in Thursday’s best game on TNT. The two teams split the first two games of
Could the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat in a playoff series? Well, they couldn’t a year ago, when they managed more than 91 points just once in five games and looked a tad long in the tooth. If Boston was to beat Miami, it appeared it would have to find a way to stall LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in transition and make every game a walk-it-up, grind-it-out affair, where the Celtics excel and the Heat are not exactly comfortable. The Celts
The D-League had a record 50 players called up to the NBA this season, the league announced Tuesday. The D-League also set a record with 64 NBA player assignments. The records are pleasant news for the D-League but not surprising given the abbreviated NBA training camps and the proliferation of injuries in this truncated 66-game season. The previous records were 40 call-ups in the 2009-10 season and 56 assignments in the 2010-11 campaign. All 30 NBA teams currently have at least one player