If there was one lesson Danny Granger learned earlier this season about saying something to fire up the other team (he did it after losing two straight games to the Knicks), it was this: Don’t. Yet, that’s exactly what Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo did in his recent interview after his one-game suspension. “The end result is all that matters,” Rondo said. “If there had been a different result, it would have been very difficult. But since we won, it felt like we
Every night, another knee injury. Or so it seems. This time, it was the best player on the Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith, walking off the court in disgust with just over four minutes left. Unlike Iman Shumpert (Knicks), who was carried off the court, and unlike Derrick Rose (Bulls), who was helped to the locker room by teammates, Smith walked of the court under his own power, and later exited the arena on his own two feet, according to the team. But
Is it safe to say that NBA teams always enjoy home court advantage? It may actually be an understatement when it comes to home court in this postseason. All but two games in the playoffs so far have been won by the home team, and the lone two teams that won on the road basically needed to pull off miracles to get their victories. Of course, there’s the simple fact that the home teams are also generally the better teams, which is why
Like the June gloom, there is one thing you can count on in May in Los Angeles — panic from Lakers Nation. And all it usually takes is one loss. This year, the panic is beginning already with Metta World Peace suspended for the first six games of the series, further depleting a roster that is not as deep as last year when Lamar Odom was bringing a little of everything off the bench. Lest we forget, those deeper Lakers
It’s that time of the year. With only two days left in the regular season, the playoff teams are set in stone, and many teams are limiting the minutes of key players or resting them altogether. That makes for many meaningless games, with players simply going through the motions. Still, some questions remain heading into the playoffs, which begin Saturday. Who plays the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls in the first round? Is Derrick Rose ready? Will the Clippers get home-court advantage? Do the Denver Nuggets
The Magic are pretty much locked in as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference; but that doesn’t mean they have nothing to play for. Sitting two games behind the Atlanta Hawks with three games remaining, and leading the Knicks and Philadelphia by three games, one would assume they finish as the sixth seed, barring a a crazy turn of events. But the Magic need to not only prove to the world they can win without Dwight Howard, but to themselves. Howard
As we all saw coming, it looks as if the race for the last seeds in the West may very well come to the final game of the season. The benefits of winning this game vary for both teams, however. Denver (34-28), 1 1/2 games ahead of the Suns (33-30), could clinch a playoff berth with a win. They would seal the 7th seed, leaving the Utah Jazz (33-30) and Phoenix Suns to fight for the last spot. If the Suns win,
// csprtContainer(); // ]]> Out of the four teams currently fighting for the eighth spot in the Western Conference, who would be most gratified to earn that berth? The Houston Rockets? In their post-Yao era, they tried to trade half their team before the season started to rebuild around Pau Gasol. That didn’t happen after the original Chris Paul trade was vetoed, and the two players who would probably be most gratified are Luis Scola and Goran Dragic, who were a part of