LeBron James is back everyone. Okay, so he’s been back for almost a week now, but I mean he’s really back. He helped lead the Cavs to an impressive win on the road over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night that could be a telling sign for their future. Cleveland had lost six in a row before their win over the Lakers on Thursday night in their first of a back-to-back in LA, and were 1-8 without the King. [Read more…]
The Detroit Pistons have been on an absolute tear since trading Josh Smith, and Andre Drummond has played an instrumental part during their 10-2 run on both ends of the floor. The center was at it again on Friday against the Indiana Pacers, collecting 16 points and 16 rebounds and coming up with the game-winning tip on a missed layup attempt by Brandon Jennings with the game tied at 96 apiece. That was after he came up with a defensive stop
We all knew that Josh Smith had become a detrimental player on the court – at least for the Detroit Pistons – with his inability to space the floor and the horrible shot selections that crippled the offense. What we didn’t know was just how capable the Pistons would be with him out of the lineup. [Read more…]
Young players having the best seasons in their careers right before they’re due a new contract is hardly a new phenomenon, but it takes on new significance due to the NBA’s current economic situation. A likely escalation in the salary cap this summer will allow free agents to obtain more expensive contracts from a larger pool of teams with newfound cap space. A quartet of these young, emerging stars— Milwaukee’s Brandon Knight, Chicago’s Jimmy Butler, Orlando’s Tobias Harris and Golden State’s
In today’s NBA, the formula for winning in recent years was simple: Accumulate as many maximum-salary stars as you can without breaking the bank. But when you start piling up eight-figure salaries against the luxury tax, the bank breaks pretty quickly. So teams fill out their rosters with minimum-salary veterans. And if you look at the top of the NBA standings right now, many teams are getting very productive seasons from veterans signed to minimum-salary deals. The Chicago Bulls added Pau Gasol to Jimmy
Sunday marked a tragic day in the sports world. Longtime ESPN anchor Stuart Scott passed away in the morning hours of January 4, 2015 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 49. The news is devastating to all those in the sports industry, including athletes, fans and viewers of ESPN. He brought something to the network and sports reporting that changed the game, and will continue to do so. [Read more…]
Every time someone summons up the nerve to ask, “What’s wrong with the Spurs?” the defending NBA champions have provided an emphatic response: Nothing. They did it in November, beating the Clippers and Warriors on the road on consecutive nights after losses to Houston and New Orleans. They did it again in December, beating the Clippers to end a four-game losing streak that included back-to-back excruciating triple-overtime losses. And they did it again last night, beating the Rockets for the first time
The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Detroit Pistons on Sunday evening and were blown out of the water. The Cavs lacked emotion, effort and chemistry throughout the entire game. Detroit went on to set a franchise record for three pointers made in a game in the 103-80 victory. They knocked down 17 of their 31 attempts from deep, a ridiculous 55% shooting. [Read more…]