Brain-twister for you today, folks. Go back to the start of the 2005-06 regular season, and try to name a superstar player who has represented the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. Your answer cannot include LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo or Ray Allen. It’s OK. Keep thinking … [Read more…]
What are the Brooklyn Nets right now, other than a pathetic underachieving ballclub? Brook Lopez is not coming back this season after breaking his foot, and the Nets dropped to 2-8 without him after Monday’s 103-86 loss to Indiana. Brooklyn is 9-18, a .333 winning percentage. “It’s certainly a big setback, he’s a great player,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. “One of the best centers in the league, so it’s obviously very difficult to replace what he gives on both ends.” What’s worse
The worst night of Paul Pierce’s career had a hangover. It wasn’t enough that the future Hall of Famer was held scoreless Monday for the first time since 1999, when he was a rookie. It also wasn’t enough that the Brooklyn Nets forward’s scoreless night ended with an ejection for a flagrant-2 foul on Pacers guard George Hill. On Tuesday, NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn – apparently not in any sort of holiday spirit – fined Pierce $15,000 for his clothesline
Doing a radio hit over the weekend, I was asked who has the best chance to upset either Miami or Indiana in the Eastern Conference playoffs. In reality, for either to lose a series before the conference finals will require injuries, a lack of attention to detail essentially unprecedented in postseason history, or both. For the record, we settled on Detroit as a potential apple cart upender, because the Pistons do have – for a sub-.500 team, that is – a lot
That was a foul! Shame on the officiating crew of Joey Crawford, Josh Tivin and Derrick Collins for swallowing their whistles on the final play of last night’s Miami-Indiana game when Paul George was obviously fouled by LeBron James as he went up for a tying 3-point attempt in the final seconds of the Heat’s 97-94 victory. The NBA has a practice, only a few years old, of admitting its officiating mistakes through a news release. The person in the league office
Remember back in October, when the handicappers in Vegas said the Philadelphia 76ers would win about 16 or 17 games? And remember in November, when the 76ers started their season with three straight wins, beating the Miami Heat, Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls with Derrick Rose? How are those 17 wins looking now? Without the Hubble telescope, the Sixers can’t see them. The small sample size of the season’s first week – three surprising wins, a rookie as Player of the Week – is
Where the hell has the time gone? It certainly flies as the days get shorter and darkness descends in the late afternoon. We’re already through the first quarter of the NBA season and almost at Christmas. The league has seen plenty of pleasant surprises, like the consistently stellar Portland Trail Blazers, and many disappointments, like the entire Eastern Conference besides Indiana and Miami. There have also been a whole host of players who have really progressed in a positive direction over the
Well, it happened. After speculating last week that Sacramento Kings guard Isaiah Thomas would fall out of our Sixth Man Rankings despite his impressive stats, Thomas fell out by default as he was elevated to starter. With Greivis Vasquez shipped to Toronto in the Rudy Gay deal, Kings fans can breathe a sigh of relief that Thomas won’t get screwed out of this year’s Sixth Man Award. [Read more…]