Johnson, Durant Earn Weekly Honors The Atlanta Hawks’ Joe Johnson and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played March 19-25. Johnson led the Hawks to a 4-1 week with averages of 23.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Johnson hit game-tying three-pointers vs. Cleveland on March 21 and Utah on March 25, as well as the game-winning three-pointer at Washington on March 24. Durant’s 29.5 ppg
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 Clippers finally got a win Saturday, and everything is hunky-dory again in Lob City. Yeah, right. The issues in Clipperland run too deep to be fixed by a matinee mauling of Memphis, which has problems of its own. It is hard to believe that a team boasting both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin may not make the playoffs, but that remains a distinct possibility. Didn’t someone around here say that a while ago? There are plenty of problems on offense. New faces are
The marriage started out so beautifully. Chris Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers from the New Orleans Hornets as Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan jumped for joy and proclaimed themselves as “lob city.” The team got off to a tremendous 19-8 start and looked destined to be an immediate contender. Soon after losing Chauncey Billups to a torn Achilles tendon, however, the team’s lack of cohesion became more apparent by the game. Caron Butler fell off the map, Griffin’s offense proved to be limited
There’s another Freeroll tonight on DraftStreet. Even if you haven’t been following my daily adventures there (scroll to the bottom of this page) you should give it a try. Just click the link to enter. Bragging rights against Chris Sheridan are valuable enough, but there’s also $350 in cash prizes and it’s completely free to enter. You just have to pick eight players who fit under a $100,000 salary cap. The rules are easy; winning is a challenge. Thursday Recap LAC @
Donald T. Sterling Sterling World Plaza Beverly Hills, Calif. 90210 Dear Donald, Well, you said to write again when I found work! As you may have heard, I’m no longer with the large, if not as large as it was once, metropolitan paper in Los Angeles. Of course, times are even tougher in newspapers than David Stern said they are in the NBA, although in our case, we have the casualties to show it’s not just woofing. But enough about moi, look at you! After all those years
The new-look Nuggets had their hands full because Ben Gordon couldn’t miss. Starting for Rodney Stuckey, Gordon was 13-22 from the floor — including a perfect 9-9 from deep — and hit 10 of 11 free throws for a 45-point outburst. However, Ty Lawson (25) and Arron Afflalo (23) played well, Wilson Chandler double-doubled in his first start since last April and JaVale McGee came off the bench for 15 PTS, 7 REB, 3 BLK and the winning putback dunk
Perhaps it is time to re-examine two beliefs that have mostly gone unquestioned during the first three months of this 66-game NBA season. No. 1: The Los Angeles Clippers are going to the playoffs. No. 2: The Philadelphia 76ers are going to win the Atlantic Division. Don’t be so sure of either one. Let’s start with the Clippers, the darlings of December and January who were surpassed in the Pacific Division standings by the Lakers nearly a month ago. They haven’t won a road