NEW YORK — The Boston Celtics – the most storied franchise in NBA history – has competed in 593 playoff games over an illustrious 67-year history. Just twice has Boston managed to score 25 points or fewer in the second half of a playoff game, both of which have come in just the past three days at the hands of a New York Knicks team that has pressured the Celtics into bad decisions and rushed shots regularly in each of the latter halves
The difference between talent and skill is one of the most misunderstood concepts of the NBA – and sports in general, for that matter. Talent you have naturally. Every player in the NBA has some form of natural talent. But skill can only be developed by hours and hours of working on your craft. 10,000 hours, as Malcolm Gladwell has famously professed. This is as true for individuals as it is teams. [Read more…]
If you are an NBA fan, you should start rooting for the Milwaukee Bucks to snap out of their stupor and the Boston Celtics to stumble down the stretch. Because that will set up the first-round playoff series we all want to see. A slump by the Celtics and a boost from the Bucks over the last 10 or so games would drop Boston into eighth place in the Eastern Conference and a first-round matchup with the Miami Heat. And to paraphrase
No, I didn’t answer my own question. What fun would there be in that? That would be like throwing a surprise party for yourself. The previous edition of The Bernucca List was correctly answered by a reader named Chris, who offered, “NBA players who have been named MVP without winning a championship.” [Read more…]
Dwight Howard sure did open up a can of worms when he called out his former teammates in a recent interview with Kristine Leahy, saying he led a group of guys that no one else wanted on their team. Didn’t Howard say he has learned his lesson when it comes to discussing matters of this nature with the media? It’s well known around the league that the big man simply wants to be liked by everyone. Newsflash: no one is going to
The Los Angeles Lakers may be in big trouble again, as they were earlier in the season. During Tuesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, forward Pau Gasol went down after feeling a “pop” in his troublesome foot. The big man was concerned about the situation when it happened, and Wednesday’s MRI confirmed he had reason to worry, from Ken Berger of CBSSports: The Lakers’ forward is expected to miss at least six weeks with a partial tear of his plantar fascia and may
A forgettable season for Cleveland Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao somehow got worse on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Varejao, who has been out with a leg injury, will reportedly miss the rest of the season after developing blood clot in his lower right lung, from NBA.com: [Read more…]
BOSTON — What a week, what a week, in Beantown. From Rajon Rondo’s 17-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound performance in a win over the lowly Charlotte Bobcats on Monday, to the Doc-Austin Rivers father-son reunion on Wednesday, to the Marco Belinelli game-winning fall-away last night in overtime to give the Bulls a 100-99 victory, it was quite an entertaining week at TD Garden. [Read more…]