MIAMI – I’m through doubting Dwyane Wade. I’ve done it a few times over the years for various reasons – knee surgery, shoulder surgery, ankle injury, etc… — and Wade, the Miami Heat’s superstar guard, always comes back strong. We saw it after his injury-shortened 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, we saw it in last year’s playoffs, we saw it in the second half of this season. We saw it again Wednesday in the Heat’s 94-91 Game 5 second round series-clinching victory over
Mark Jackson is the coach of the Golden State Warriors. If you ask him, though, he will probably tell you that he is, first and foremost, a pastor. Generally speaking, Jackson is a good man. He respects all of his players and treats them as equals. He would never speak ill towards any of them and never utters a curse word – not easy to do when you’re involved with the game of basketball. [Read more…]
When I cast my Coach of the Year vote for George Karl, I had no idea so many others would do the same. More than half the voters made the same choice. The final individual award given out by the NBA was announced this morning, and Karl was the Coach of the Year in a runaway. with Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat second and Mike Woodson of the Knicks third. [Read more…]
MIAMI – There’s no worry among the Miami Heat over their 93-86 Game 1 loss to Chicago on Monday. But on the Day After, there did seem to be some steely resolve from the defending champions to do better in the “effort” areas. Blend that with a healthy mix of “we’ve been here before,” and you have the tone of the chatter that followed the Heat’s practice Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena. [Read more…]
The 1,230-game NBA regular season ends Wednesday. The following morning, editor-in-chief Chris Sheridan will submit his ballot for the season-ending awards. I don’t have a vote but I am hoping to influence his thought process with my choices, which are below. If not, I am hoping I will make him laugh with my snotty remarks. Let’s get to it. [Read more…]
We have already covered this topic in detail in our latest around-the-NBA column, and it bears repeating here: Everybody who is an NBA fan — and that includes you, too, Celtics Nation — should be hoping the Milwaukee Bucks can catch the Celtics and finish in a tie, at the very least, for seventh place in the Eastern Conference. [Read more…]
MIAMI – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat are riding high on their historic-but-not-yet history-making 27-game winning streak. What every NBA follower wants to know now is which the game the Heat is most likely to lose — Chicago tomorrow? San Antonio over the weekend? The Knicks in the game after that? Those are the toughest obstacles in the way of the Heat eclipsing the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers’ record 33-game winning streak. I’m not sure whether the Heat will
MIAMI – Once again, the defending champion Miami Heat – the favorites to win the title again this season, winners of 18 consecutive games, owners of best record in the NBA, darlings of media and fans alike – find themselves walking a high wire without a safety net. Almost everybody expects the Heat, led by superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, to repeat as champions. They look unbeatable in a best-of-seven series. Heck, they look unbeatable every night, something they’ve been