// We can now safely say that James Harden has come back down to earth, missing two-thirds of his shots in each of the Houston Rockets’ last two games. He still is the only player in the NBA averaging more than 30 points (30.3), and he is shooting just a shade under 50 percent (.494) — although his 3-point accuracy is a mere 28 percent. He was certainly the buzz player over the first couple days of the season, even earning
It’s been one of ‘those’ seasons for the Dallas Mavericks. Already without Dirk Nowitzki (knee) and with assorted other injuries to key players preventing them from getting used to each other on the court, plus the Delonte West soap opera, they still got off to a 3-1 start. Now they have lost Shawn Marion to a sprained MCL. The initial prognosis is “at least three games” and the Matrix himself calls it “a minor little thing,” so his teammates and fantasy
Fire Mike Brown. That has been the sentiment of many Lakers fans after watching their super team open the season with three straight losses. Don’t believe me? Check out our “When will Mike Brown get fired” poll. It turns out, fans aren’t the only ones having an issue with the scrutinized coach’s methods, from Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld: Fans have already started calling for Brown’s job and many of his players have started wondering if he’s the right person to lead the team. Behind
Last week, James Harden did get a contract extension and Brandon Jennings didn’t. This week, both received NBA Player of the Week honors. Harden, who received a maximum five-year, $80 million extension from the Houston Rockets after being traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder, won for the Western Conference. Called a “foundational player” upon his arrival in Houston, Harden began living up to that billing by averaging 35.3 points and leading the Rockets to a 2-1 mark. Harden had 37 points and
Once upon a time, I discouraged any and all MVP talk until a quarter of the season (at the very least) had been played. Nowadays, I am a reformed man — and I have Sam Presti, Clay Bennett, Daryl Morey and Rob Pelinka to thank. After slightly less than one week of the NBA season, we find ourselves in a situation no one could have envisioned in the waning days of October. The game of poker between James Harden (repped by
You can point to a handful of reasons why the Los Angeles Lakers are on the verge of panic. Dwight Howard missed all of training camp and most of preseason recovering from back surgery. Kobe Bryant has a sprained foot that requires him to wear a walking boot. Steve Nash is out for a while with a fracture in his fibula. That lack of continuity led to 11 straight losses – all eight in the preseason, which the Lakers dismissed as games that don’t count,
The James Harden trade is a week old now, and while the book is obviously not yet written on what it’ll mean for everyone involved, we have a bit of a clearer picture than we did last Sunday. Harden has looked like a true superstar in Houston, dropping 82 points over his first two games, including a career-high 45. The outlook for the Thunder is a little more murky, but they haven’t shown a disastrous dropoff so far. We’ve got several
