Here’s what’s been good about the 2015 NBA playoffs: 1. LeBron James. 2. Stephen Curry. 3. Paul Pierce in the clutch. 4. Clippers-Spurs, especially Game 7. Here’s what’s been bad about the 2015 NBA playoffs: Everything else. [Read more…]
Every time someone summons up the nerve to ask, “What’s wrong with the Spurs?” the defending NBA champions have provided an emphatic response: Nothing. They did it in November, beating the Clippers and Warriors on the road on consecutive nights after losses to Houston and New Orleans. They did it again in December, beating the Clippers to end a four-game losing streak that included back-to-back excruciating triple-overtime losses. And they did it again last night, beating the Rockets for the first time
With NBA training camps now open, every team will be using October to try to answer questions about their rosters. But for teams with injured stars, the questions have greater significance. Like, how long can the Lakers stay afloat without Kobe Bryant? Is Danny Granger going to come off the bench for the Pacers? Are the Warriors really a better team without David Lee? No less than nine current or former All-Stars will start the 2013-14 season with doubt swirling around them because they
The past week of WNBA action has been one of memorable and gut-wrenchingly painful proportions. From breakout performances to tragic injuries, we’ve seen every end of the spectrum come to fruition as the regular season begins to take shape. [Read more…]
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the controversy engulfing Derrick Rose is that he has been supported by the majority of journalists who expressed an opinion. (For example, here.) That’s not to say his continued absence from the Bulls’ lineup has been universally endorsed. Some have ventured into the dangerous territory of suggesting that Rose should be playing after undergoing surgery on his left ACL, and certainly the Bulls encouraged such criticism in March when they announced that Rose had been
Danilo Gallinari’s season-ending injury this week put the Denver Nuggets in a club whose membership seems to get larger every day. Playoff teams missing key players. There are very few teams who will be at full strength when the playoffs start two weekends from now. But two of those teams are last year’s NBA Finals combatants, which could make for a relatively mundane postseason. [Read more…]
All season, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has rested his players during tough stretches of the schedule to have them healthy for the postseason. A sound strategy, no doubt. But it may not be working. The Spurs announced Monday that do-it-all guard Manu Ginobili – who already has missed most of the last two games with a hamstring injury – will be out three to four weeks with a strained right hamstring. [Read more…]
All Star Weekend begins today. Starting off with the NBA Rising Stars Challenge, most NBA players will finally get some time to recuperate and prepare for the home stretch of the regular season, where much more than a spot in the All Star festivities will be on the line. It couldn’t come at a better time for some of the top bench players in the NBA. With injuries, streaky play, or sometimes a combination being a factor, a number of players have