For the Miami Heat, the story of the night will be how LeBron James went into Quicken Loans Arena and dropped 43 points on 14-of-19 shooting from the field to help his team come out with a 100-96 victory. The Cleveland Cavaliers will largely wonder how Dion Waiters didn’t get a foul call when it mattered the most. Down 95-90 with just under 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Waiters saw an opening and drove to the basket past Ray Allen.
The Golden State Warriors sure have been an unpredictable bunch this season, and that’s usually not a good thing when you’re talking about a team that’s supposed to be considered one of the more dangerous teams in the league. They have struggled with inconsistencies for various reasons, be it injuries, lack of bench production, or simply failing to execute the way they are capable of doing when the going gets tough. The advanced stats will tell you that they are the
For second-year guard Dion Waiters, it has been a mostly-tumultuous season with all the rumors surrounding his negative attitude in the locker room and his unwillingness to get along with star point guard Kyrie Irving. With the Cleveland Cavaliers holding a 21-33 record, the team appeared certain in wanting to trade the disgruntled shooting guard. They are, however, on a season-best five-game winning streak after easily beating the Philadelphia 76ers 114-85 on Tuesday, and there have been talks of the two
I’ve never been huge on the All-Star Game. Sure, the novelty is great. I mean, all the stars are there. But that wears off pretty quickly, and then I remember that what I really like about basketball is seeing players stand out above the rest, and that doesn’t usually happen in an all-star environment. I also like defense sometimes. Speaking of players standing out above the rest, if you haven’t seen John Wall’s dunk from last night, go do that right
The annual Rising Stars Challenge on Friday between chosen rookies and sophomores was pretty much what most expected it to be: An offensive showcase with not a whole lot of defense being played (although the Plumlee brothers may disagree). Playing in front of his home crowd in New Orleans, Anthony Davis was expected to make some serious noise in this game. However, it was the unlikely shootout that broke out between Dion Waiters and Tim Hardaway Jr. in the second half
Poor Anthony Bennett tried to keep his head up. His right shoulder was heavily wrapped after a 31-point loss to the Knicks, and there was disappointment in his eyes. Bennett had another empty, unremarkable game just two days after a seemingly encouraging 15-point performance against New Orleans. It turns out that it was just a blip in a season of disappointments for both player and team. [Read more…]
You could be forgiven for not thinking too much about basketball today. With the Super Bowl taking all of the sports-related attention, and only one game (and that Orlando-Boston) on the schedule, it’s one of the quietest days of the NBA season, right up there with Christmas Eve. I, on the other hand, would not be forgiven if I didn’t think too much about basketball, because it’s my job to bring you the latest news from around the NBA every weekend.
You have to be in a special kind of mess as a franchise to be playing the Knicks and be considered the more dysfunctional team in the matchup. That’s what happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday. The Cavs may be in the worst situation among any NBA team, a hot mess and a dumpster fire in a frigid North American winter. [Read more…]