Over the last two weeks, Doc Rivers the coach has done a fantastic job of covering for Doc Rivers the GM. The Los Angeles Clippers have won nine straight games, the last eight without superstar forward Blake Griffin, who – in case you hadn’t noticed over the past couple of seasons – has overtaken Chris Paul as the team’s best player. When Griffin got hurt, the Clippers appeared to be in trouble. They had just lost three straight games to San Antonio,
As a personnel man, Stan Van Gundy has broken a lot of the so-called contemporary rules. Since being lured back to the NBA by Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores in May 2014, Van Gundy has not exactly followed the usual NBA blueprint in rebuilding the once-proud franchise, which has not been to the playoffs in six years. Van Gundy has flat-out waived four veterans with fully guaranteed contracts, accumulating nearly $32 million in dead money to be paid over the next five
In Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series between the Clippers and defending champion Spurs, San Antonio was overwhelmed by the energy of the home team. Los Angeles, even when making mistakes in defensive rotations, did so with so much speed and commitment that it often didn’t matter. The Clippers, with an assortment power dunks from Blake Griffin and power spikes from DeAndre Jordan, had the capacity crowd at Staples Center in a frenzy all night. The Spurs didn’t have an
Toronto Raptors basketball was non-existent for a long time. There was more booing than cheering, the word “retooling” became too familiar, and games rarely gathered genuine excitement. That was their identity, or lack thereof. I went to my first Raptors game at the age of 13. Toronto had a good team that year, they won 47 games and finished first in the Atlantic Division. The Raps were hosting the Denver Nuggets at Air Canada Centre, a hot team with Carmelo Anthony and
Talk about a fresh start … When the freshness starts in the ownership suite — or his courtside seat, as may be the case here, it is truly a new beginning. After a determined and gutty yet ultimately unsuccessful run in the 2014 postseason, the Los Angeles Clippers entered the offseason with a ton of questions regarding the future of their franchise. Although the Donald Sterling story died down a bit nationally a week or so after the initial TMZ audiotapes were released in
Rajon Rondo and the Boston Celtics are no strangers to the occasional trade rumors that surround the NBA, and it appears that their latest situation is no different. According to ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan, Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo will not re-sign with the team. [Read more…]
It’s been an eventful few days in the NBA. First, the Warriors got better and the Celtics got worse, which seems like a win-win. Then Greg Oden played in an NBA game, which makes me pretty dang happy. [Read more…]
If you haven’t been watching Golden State basketball recently, why? Seriously, why? They’re just as fun to watch as they were last year, only now they play defense as well (fourth in defensive efficiency). They just knocked off two of the East’s three decent teams in the space of two nights. The Blazers have made the West a little more crowded at the top, but Steph Curry and Co. are showing that they belong right up there with those top teams.