How concerned should the Los Angeles Lakers be right now? One day after edging out a win against the Brooklyn Nets, the team went into Arco Arena on Wednesday and lost to the Sacramento Kings – the team with the worst record in the Western Conference. You can’t blame the loss on Kobe Bryant, who continued his torrid pace on offense – scoring 38 points on 11-of-20 shooting – despite playing on a sore foot. [Read more…]
The return of Kevin Love from his hand injury was a well-kept secret until most of us had set our daily lineups. [Read more…]
Before we recap last night’s games and preview a busy Wednesday, don’t forget to check out my FanDuel Diary for details on two great contests. [Read more…]
We’re launching this new daily feature with a special Freeroll weekend. Friday’s one-day tournament has no entry fee, but $250 will be paid out in 17 cash prizes, including $50 to the winner. Join FanDuel (if you haven’t already) with no deposit or credit card required, find out for yourself how much fun it is to pick a team, and maybe take home some free money. Tomorrow there will be a “winner take all” contest, again absolutely free to enter. FanDuel 15 Nov.
Harden has been unavailable twice in 3 days; Asik for 3 straight weeks. This on a team in which Hakeem did every interview for 17 years. — Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 11, 2012 I expect the folks at NBA Communications are going to raise a little fuss with the Rockets. The league actually has media access rules, and although they are openly flaunted by a majority of the 30 teams, a crackdown can happen if it gets out of control. Harden isn’t doing
Special mention atop this column is deserved for Andre Iguodala, Nicolas Batum and Tony (SLJW) Allen, three of the league’s best man-on-man defenders who all had a chance to guard James Harden over the past week. Not that Harden is a marked man or anything, but after going for 37 and 45 in his first two games — and earning the No. 1 ranking in last week’s edition of these rankings — the guy should strike a personal endorsement deal with
How could the Thunder possibly think that signing Serge Ibaka was a higher priority than James Harden?!? Well, we have recent evidence. If you’ve heard the phrase “Defense wins championships,” then you might have some idea as to why the Thunder decided to re-sign Ibaka to a four-year, $48 million deal that helped to ensure James Harden was shipped out of town to the Houston Rockets. ‘Defense’ is the word that helps people to understand Ibaka’s value to the Thunder, but his work
When the NBA is doling out suspensions for flagrant fouls and fights, Commissioner David Stern has said that a player’s previous track record factors into determining the penalty. For example, during a nationally televised regular-season game last season, Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace received a seven-game suspension for elbowing James Harden in the head, flooring the Oklahoma City Thunder guard and leaving him with a concussion. World Peace was clearly caught up in the emotion of the moment – which