All the attention in the NBA right now is on the Lakers, who lost again last night. Unlike the first two losses, to the Dirk Nowitzki-less Mavericks and the projected also-ran Blazers, this one was to the Clippers, who are a likely playoff team and potential title contender. But that’s not a whole lot of consolation to the Lakers, who are now 0-11 including preseason games. And amidst all the discussion of Mike Brown and the Princeton offense, the Lakers got
Despite only a handful of games the opening week of the NBA season wasn’t short of headlines. First there was the James Harden trade, then were some controversial extension decisions, the Lakers have started 0-3 and Danny Granger and Eric Gordon were shut down. Every Saturday afternoon, we’ll examine the Week That Was, then review our Depth Chart Updates, the Upcoming Schedule and our picks for Sits and Starts. The Week That Was Lesson #1: The James Harden trade In my Northwest Division preview,
What would James Harden do for an encore? How about a career-high 45 points? On deadly shooting (14-19 from the floor and 15-17 from the line, the newest Rocket led his team to a road win over Atlanta. Jeremy Lin provided excellent support with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, and while Omer Asik was scoreless on seven shots, he grabbed 19 boards. Patrick Patterson (9 PTS, 7 REB) made his first start at PF, with backup Marcus Morris
ATLANTA — James Harden is warming up to this whole ‘foundational player’ thing. The Rockets’ new $80 million man spoiled Atlanta’s home opener by dropping a career-high 45 points on the Hawks in Houston’s 109-102 win on Friday night. Not a bad encore to his 37-point Rocket debut on Halloween. Working those mammoth stat lines into wins should be even more encouraging to Kevin McHale, Daryl Morey and everyone else (outside of Oklahoma City) who had a hand in making Harden so
The mixed messages coming from the Hornets and Eric Gordon about his knee are confusing. I’m not a doctor and haven’t seen the MRI, but my ‘diagnosis’ is, the desert heat in Phoenix would be a miracle cure. For fantasy purposes, he’s out indefinitely. Sorry about your luck, Gordon owners. You can’t cut him until there’s some tangible news, like another surgery. Tonight, it’s the first Sheridan Hoops Friday Freeroll of the season. It’s completely free to open a FanDuel account
Congratulations to the New Jersey Brooklyn Nets for resisting the urge to relocate tonight’s opener to the Meadowlands, or to the Prudential Center in Newark, or to the Teaneck Armory (if it still exists) — all places they used to call home. Their super-hyped opener against the New York Knicks has been postponed until Nov. 26 because of the effects of Hurricane Sandy, which caused more devastation than New Yorkers and NewJerseyans are accustomed to handling. Fistfights at gas stations? Check. An inordinate amount
In all, seven players from the 2009 draft class received contract extensions, with three – DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday and Taj Gibson – going down to the wire Wednesday night. Two players received maximum extensions – top overall pick Blake Griffin and No. 3 pick James Harden, who had to change cities to get the deal he wanted. By contrast, five 2009 first-round picks became unrestricted free agents before their four-year rookie deal was completed, including No. 2 pick Hasheem Thabeet. And
