Basketball is a team game, but it is also a game that can easily be altered by a single player, moreso than any other major sport. And that player doesn’t even have to be a starter. In many games this season, there has been a fairly strong correlation between the success of the Los Angeles Clippers when Jamal Crawford is doing well – and when he isn’t. The same can be said for J.R. Smith in New York. With two weeks in the
The Denver Nuggets were supposed to prove this season that a superstar is not needed to find great team success in the postseason. They were supposed to do it with chemistry and depth, but both of those things may have taken a huge hit on Thursday, when Danilo Gallinari suffered what appeared to be a devastating knee injury while driving to the basket against the Dallas Mavericks: [Read more…]
If you are an NBA fan, you should start rooting for the Milwaukee Bucks to snap out of their stupor and the Boston Celtics to stumble down the stretch. Because that will set up the first-round playoff series we all want to see. A slump by the Celtics and a boost from the Bucks over the last 10 or so games would drop Boston into eighth place in the Eastern Conference and a first-round matchup with the Miami Heat. And to paraphrase
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. As cliché as that may be, it’s something that NBA coaches tend to live by in terms of player rotations. However, sometimes things break, and it’s the coach’s job to fix the mess. The Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics both have had to deal with adversity of late and have had to make the tough choice to put their most productive sparks off the bench – Gordon Hayward and Jeff Green, respectively – into the
When J.R. Smith joined the New York Knicks back in February 2012, the Knicks were 15-16 and Mike D’Antoni was still trying to figure out how to win with Jeremy Lin. Today, the Knicks are in position to win the franchise’s first division title since 1994 and still have a chance to win 50 games for the first time since 2000. For that, Smith deserves an immense amount of credit, and – despite the recent struggles of the Knicks – deserves serious
A month of the regular season remains. There is still plenty of basketball to be played and still plenty of chances for teams around the league to solidify their playoff positions. On the other hand, there is a handful of teams whose executives may be forced to look at the draft lottery and beyond, even with about 15 games remaining for most teams. The key players off the bench around the NBA are all over the league. They play for teams competing
It’s amazing what an injury to a single player, especially a star player, can do to the entirety of a 15-man roster. Recent injuries to the likes of Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo and Knicks forwards Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire have raised serious questions about how these teams cope without indespensable players. Some of the NBA’s best sixth men are trying to take full advantage of these very situations. What can be especially amazing about a star-driven
