While the Golden State Warriors chase their 73rd win and fans and pundits around the NBA fantasize about a possible Western Conference finals matchup against San Antonio or Oklahoma City, there’s only really one Eastern Conference finals matchup people are looking forward to: Cleveland vs. Toronto. After being swept by Washington in last year’s first round and having not won a playoff series in 15 years, most Raptors players had little to no interest in discussing a potential clash with the
With just 10 days left in the NBA regular season, there’s still a lot to be determined and decided. Records can be broken, playoff fates will be sealed and the season will be mercifully be over for several hopeless teams around the league. With the regular season reaching its last days, we give you the 10 most important questions that needs to be answered before the postseason begins. It’s going to be YUGE. [Read more…]
LeBron James supposedly unfollowed the Cavs on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. And this is major news. You know, in this business all journalists are supposed to be neutral. Sportswriters go to practices, attend games, speak to the players in locker rooms and tell stories based upon that special access. Once everyone has fulfilled their obligations, the players and the media get to go about their normal lives until reconvening again the next day … then the next … and the
There are only six NBA games tonight, with the highest scoring potential in the two late starts. Damian Lillard $9600 and John Wall $9400 clash head-on, then the Magic visit the Lakers in a “meaningless” tilt that has more significance in fantasy hoops. [Read more…]
After 55 games, the Toronto Raptors have the same 37-18 record that they had last year. So why will this team avoid the disappointment the Raptors had a year ago? The 2014-2015 Raptors finished the regular season 12-15 and were mercilessly swept by Washington in the first round. Toronto hasn’t won a playoff series since the 2000-2001 season, when this columnist was in the seventh grade. So why and how is this Toronto team a legit contender, perhaps the only contender, who
For the first time in roughly two decades, the Eastern Conference is better than the Western Conference from top to bottom. Nine East teams are at .500 or better – nearly twice as many teams as last season, when sixth-seeded Milwaukee finished 41-41. And the East actually has a winning record against the West this season at 100-98 What changed so quickly from last season, when articles were written about how there was the greatest disparity in conference strength in recent memory? “I
If you are like many Americans – middle-class, middle-aged males not unlike myself – and watched your first NBA games this season on Christmas, then you probably think the Chicago Bulls are just fine. If you have watched at any other time this season, then you know otherwise. On Christmas, the Bulls played perhaps their best game of the season. They went into Loud City without injured emotional leader Joakim Noah and never trailed against the Thunder, leaving with a convincing 105-96
If you’ve noticed that this year’s rookie class is being talked about and praised around the league and in the media, there’s good reason for that. This year’s top five picks— Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns, the Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell, Philadelphia’s Jahlil Okafor, New York’s Kristaps Porzingis and Orlando’s Mario Hezonja— are making a larger early impact than any top-five group in at least a half decade. A detailed statistical analysis of top five picks over the last five years shows that over the first two