The Portland Trail Blazers (15-3) are surprisingly tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the Western Conference. The Indiana Pacers (16-2) are currently the best team in the entire league. The two teams collided on Monday for the first time, and the competition did not disappoint. Paul George continued his rise to stardom, scoring a game-high and a career-high 43 points, including seven 3-pointers made. Roy Hibbert was also a factor with 16 points and 14 rebounds. With
Remember that streak of games hot-shooting LeBron James put together last February? Well, he’s doing it again. Much earlier in the season. And for a longer stretch. And if he keeps it up, it will become historic. Because since the ABA-NBA merger, no wing player or point guard has scored this much while shooting this well. Not Dr. J. Not even Michael Jordan. Yes, really. Through the first month of the season, James is third in the league in scoring at 26.2 points per
If you’re anything like me, you still can’t shake the Derrick Rose injury. It sticks with you like a gas station burrito, refusing to leave you alone no matter how badly you want to forget it. Every time I turn on League Pass, I’m reminded that one of the most explosive and entertaining players of this era is gone, and his career is probably never going to be the same. It’s pretty depressing. Fortunately, in times like these, we’ve got the Most Improved Player
New York sports fans are very protectively delusional with players they consider stars or superstars. Just look at Mark Sanchez. Or 2013 Derek Jeter. The same thing seems to be happening with Carmelo Anthony, who New Yorkers remarkably revere as a megastar. In reality, Anthony is only average defensively and, so far this season, inefficient offensively. As we’ve seen throughout this season, Melo is certainly no Paul George. Just consider this sequence over the last five minutes and nine seconds of Wednesday
Not much is going well in New York — for the Knicks or the Nets. Both are at the bottom of the Atlantic Division, both have been underwhelming to an alarming degree, and both have been hit hard by injuries to key players. (Much more on that in this column from Monday — before the Nets lost at home to the surging Portland Trail Blazers). Michael Scotto covers both teams for SheridanHoops. In this podcast with Fox Sports Radio he lays
There aren’t many professionals in this country — young or old — that ever wake up regretting that they took advantage of the rare opportunity to get a good night’s rest. Despite last night’s Thunder-Warriors game on TNT, I decided to take a night to catch up on some sleep. [Read more…]
Give me the beat, Obie! Time to channel Eminem. Guess who’s back. Back again. Dayton’s back. Tell a friend. Guess who’s back … guess who’s back … guess who’s back … I’ve created a monster. ‘Cause nobody wants to see MVP’s no more, they want the Most Improved Player Rankings. Well if you want most improved, this is what I’ll give ya. A little bit of me mixed with some hard Snickers. (They’re stale. But I need the sugar rush). These rankings will jump-start your heart quicker than
The first thing you notice watching the undefeated Indiana Pacers is their intensity. More than the other seven teams this writer has seen in person this season, Indiana plays hard and aggressive basketball for 48 minutes. Indiana remained unbeaten at 8-0 after Monday’s 95-79 home win over Memphis. “We are just trying to play our style of basketball,” Pacers forward David West said after Indiana’s hard-fought 96-91 win over the Nets on Saturday in Brooklyn. That tough, tenacious style includes going hard on every