Two days after having their eight-game winning streak snapped, the Chicago Bulls host the Utah Jazz tonight in a game that should feature a lot of hard drives to the rim. Derrick Rose, one of the most athletic guards in the league, is mired in a mini-shooting slump in his last two games and may be feeling the burn of the lockout-shortened season. That, or being a part-time member of an injury-riddled backcourt. Rose shot just 6-for-22 against in a 99-94 loss to
A few nights ago, the Orlando Magic somehow managed to blow a big lead to lose to the worst team in the NBA. On Thursday night, they visited the best team in the league and found a way to come out with a victory. Such have been the ups and downs of a roller coaster season for the Magic and Dwight Howard, who continues to face questions about what may happen by the trade deadline. Against Derrick Rose and the Bulls, the Magic
Dwight Howard just wants to win, according to him. It remains to be seen if he stays in Orlando, but games like the Magic’s previous outing won’t be very convincing for the best center in the NBA. With the trade deadline approaching, Howard and the Magic suffered their worst loss of the season when they allowed Charlotte — the worst team in the league — to turn a 20-point deficit into a 100-84 win. The Magic (25-15) now have the daunting task
There’s some sort of event called the Pac-12 Conference tournament being held in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. I think it has to do with college basketball. Anyway, it has forced the facility’s regular tenants – the Lakers and Clippers – to hit the road for a stretch. And things are not going well for either team. The Lakers were dispatched on a brief three-game sojourn and already have lost the first two, dropping to an abysmal 6-14 on the road.
MIAMI – OK, he did it again. LeBron James, the talented and tormented Miami Heat forward, declined to take a late-game shot Friday at Utah. He saw a double-team coming and passed to forward Udonis Haslem, who missed a jumper. The Heat lost, 99-98. You’d be tempted to think it was the All-Star game all over again. It wasn’t. This wasn’t some made-for-TV pickup game. It was a regular-season game. It mattered. Now, the LeBron debate can continue. “At the end of the
As dominant as the Oklahoma City Thunder have been this season, they seem to get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to late controversial calls. The Thunder trailed by a point with 46 seconds remaining Tuesday night when Dallas center Ian Mahinmi appeared to cleanly block Serge Ibaka’s shot, but the whistle was blown for a foul, much to the dismay of Mahinmi and Rick Carlisle. Ibaka made both free throw attempts and the Thunder never looked back as they
The Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the Denver Nuggets’ Ty Lawson have been named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week for games played Monday, Feb. 27, through Sunday, March 4. Rose led Chicago to a 4-0 week with averages of 28.8 points, 7.5 assists and 1.75 steals. Rose tallied 30-plus points twice, including a high of 35 to close the week on March 4 during a 96-91 win at Philadelphia. With three of their four wins coming away from
The runaway NBA leader in 20-20 games is Dwight Howard. The runaway leader in triple-doubles is Rajon Rondo. And since the All-Star Game, they have been the runaway leaders in trade rumors. But while Howard’s name will remain at the head of the list, Rondo took a huge step Sunday toward taking his name out of sourced stories. Last week, Rondo reportedly was headed to Golden State for Stephen Curry before Celtics president Danny Ainge said it was highly unlikely his All-Star