He just coached the Chicago Bulls to a very impressive Game 1 win in Cleveland. He finished off the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6 of the first round with a 54-point victory. He has had a surprising level of success the past two seasons despite being without Derrick Rose. He is widely regarded as one of the best tacticians in basketball. Yet Tom Thibodeau appears to be on the way out in Chicago. Even if he wins a championship. How can this be? Is there
The mix of beige and off white dominating DeAndre Jordan’s post-game wardrobe was appropriate. All the color, after all, had drained from the Los Angeles Clippers following a critical, emotionally brutal 111-107 loss to the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night at Staples Center, giving the Spurs a 3-2 lead in this titanic opening round matchup. At this point, you sympathize with Clippers fans who must feel like they’re being trolled. San Antonio isn’t the dominating force of last season, but even beat
Kevin Love’s left labrum has torn away from the bone and needs at least 4-to-6 weeks to heal, reports Bleacher Report‘s Howard Beck. As a result, there’s “virtually zero chance” that Love plays again this postseason, even if the Cavaliers make the Finals. Moreover, if the labrum tear doesn’t heal on its own, offseason surgery is a possibility as well, according to Beck’s sources. “I want to make it clear that’s highly unlikely,” Cavs general manager David Griffin said, in comments transcribed
BROOKLYN – You can’t spell Brooklyn without “Brook,” and the Nets couldn’t win Game 3 without Lopez. The big question after this big game: What will the big man do this summer when he has a chance to become an unrestricted free agent? It remains an open question. The 7-footer led the Nets with 22 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks in 42 minutes with the season essentially on the line. By getting the win, Brooklyn avoided the daunting task of attempting
How many of the 16 teams in the NBA playoffs have a legitimate shot at the championship? It is a fair question, and it was posed to me this morning on NBC Sports Radio by host Erik Kuselias. Just to give you a preview, I did not answer “Trail Blazers,” “Pelicans” or “Celtics.” But I did give an answer that reflects what an odd situation we have on our hands after the first two days of the NBA playoffs. Clearly, the Los
Everyone knows that the Eastern Conference is nowhere near as good as the Western Conference. But that doesn’t mean that the first round of the East playoffs won’t be compelling. As everyone knows, all you need is one road team to win to make a series interesting. Can the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks rediscover their rhythm? Did the Boston Celtics build confidence with two late-season wins over Cleveland? Is Chicago’s Derrick Rose returning to form or just an accident waiting to happen again? Do
Last November a young 19-year-old lady by the name of Lauren Hill made headlines for scoring a basket in a NCAA Division III women’s college basketball game. Her team, the freshmen squad of Mount St. Joseph, won the opening tip against Hiriam College and she received the pass leading to an uncontested layup, which she made with her left hand — as her right (dominant) hand had lost some of its coordination due to the treatments she had been receiving for
Back in the preseason, I predicted the San Antonio Spurs would be returning to the NBA Finals, where they would defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers for that elusive second straight championship. Nothing I have seen over the past month and a half has convinced me that my prediction was faulty, and San Antonio’s demolition of the Golden State Warriors over the weekend only reinforced my belief in the Spurs. If you give a read to Chris Bernucca’s column on Kawhi Leonard and