If you are Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos, what are you thinking as you wake up this morning? For one thing, you’ve got to be grateful to be walking the earth for another day, still having your wits about you. But on the other hand, your team just had its most embarrassing loss of the season, your coach sounds apoplectic, your superstar’s intentions are unclear, and there is no way in hell you can convince yourself that your team is capable of
Rajon Rondo had 18 points, 17 rebounds and 20 assists Sunday against the Knicks. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last player to record a triple-double with at least 17 in each category was Magic Johnson, who had 24 points, 17 assists and 17 rebounds on April 18, 1989. The last player to exceed Rondo’s performance in each category was Wilt Chamberlain, who had 22 points, 25 rebounds and 21 assists on Feb. 2, 1968. With performances like the one
When Josh Smith is in the right frame of mind, meaning attack the basket and not settling for perimeter shots, the Atlanta Hawks are a difficult team to beat. In fact, when Smith scores at least 20 points, the team is undefeated. They improved to 11-0 in such situations as Smith scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder — the team with the NBA’s best record coming into the game — 97-90 Saturday night. It was an
Insiders say that David Stern is planning to tell NBA owners at their April Board of Governors meeting that he’s good for two more seasons, and that he’ll step down as commissioner then. “At one point, he had talked about doing it for one more season, but it looks now like two more,” said a league source. New York Daily News Josh Robbins: Dwight Howard did acknowledge his whole situation has worn on him. Tough to block it out even during games, he said. Twitter But
The Oklahoma City Thunder head to Atlanta on Saturday to play their one game against Hawks this season and may be without All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook. Westbrook rolled his ankle with 5:46 remaining against the Orlando Magic on Thursday, but didn’t leave until 20 seconds remained to ensure Thunder’s 105-102 win. “Russell has a heart of a lion. That’s the bottom line.” said coach Scott Brooks. Westbrook was a little more candid. “I don’t know. I was just playing, man, trying to find
As much as I enjoy fantasy hoops, the real games are way more interesting. The Heat had won nine in a row by 10 points or more, but lost to the fired-up Jazz. With Chris Bosh away for a funeral, Shane Battier was an effective fill-in starter, notching 18 points on 6-7 shooting, with four blocked shots. Paul Millsap was back for Utah, Al Jefferson was stellar and the bench was very helpful: another good game from C.J. Miles, with
Rudy Gay’s career high in rebounds is 13, done three separate times. Memphis is 10-0 when scoring 100 points. The Hawks are 10-0 when Josh Smith scores 20 or more points. The Bulls are 16-0 this season when leading at halftime on the road. Brian Scalabrine hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of the game, followed by a roar of cheers from delighted Chicago fans. Dallas played their third game in a stretch of nine games in their next twelve days. The Rockets have been
Adrian Wojnarowski: Atlanta had talks with Minnesota during draft on Josh Smith for No. 2 pick, but Hawks haven’t been aggressive in trying to trade Smith. Twitter Rajon Rondo might be leaving, too, with the Lakers and Utah seen as possible destinations. New York Daily News Adrian Wojnarowski: Atlanta did express an interest to Boston about Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett, but purely exploratory conversations, sources said. Twitter Gasol did acknowledge to ESPN.com that he has received a level of clarification about his status from Lakers general manager Mitch