Kawhi Leonard is 18% more efficient this season than last season. He ranks 5th in overall efficiency, behind Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and LeBron James. He’s the only player in the top-5 in both offensive (5th) and defensive win shares (1st). Leonard’s overall win shares are second in the NBA to Curry. [Read more…]
This is the time of year when we give out our midseason awards. But before we get to the drudgery of Sixth Man Award and Most Valuable Player, let’s start the festivities with a special award for individual achievement that goes to Rashad Vaughn. Vaughn is a shooting guard for the Milwaukee Bucks and the second-youngest player in the NBA. He is one of the dozens of rookies who have made virtually no impact in their first season. He is averaging 2.5 points
On the eve of a busy holiday Monday schedule, there are only five NBA games, with three different starting times for daily fantasy contests at DraftKings. [Read more…]
Welcome to another Gambling Guru column. The last few weeks in the NBA have had plenty of intrigue, including the news out of Brooklyn that the Nets – my team – fired coach Lionel Hollins and re-assigned GM Billy King. Chris Sheridan wrote a depressingly accurate Billy King obituary chronicling all of the disastrous decisions he made during his Nets tenure. For the record, I’m not as mad with the Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett trade as many fans, analysts and journalists were. It was aggressive and
After Monday’s 106-79 road win over the deliriously dysfunctional Brooklyn Nets, the 33-6 San Antonio Spurs have matched the team’s best start through 39 games in its storied franchise history. The Spurs have won five championships since Gregg Popovich took over as coach during the 1996-1997 season, but have never started the regular season with more wins than they have right now. And San Antonio isn’t just beating teams, it’s steamrolling opponents at a level not seen anywhere else in the league. The
Like millions of other Americans, I awoke this Sunday with a losing Powerball ticket. The $900 million jackpot will now move past the $1 billion mark by the time the next drawing is held in the middle of the week, and we all are going to have to wait to see if we become the next instant billionaire. Then, for someone, it will become a question of what to do with the winnings. Maybe become the next Mark Zuckerberg, and give 99
In case you didn’t notice, the transition into a new era for the San Antonio Spurs hit a milestone of sorts this past weekend. For the first time in 1,360 career games, Tim Duncan did not score. Coming off a three-game absence – one for rest and two due to knee soreness – the no-brainer Hall of Famer played just 13 minutes Saturday, missing all three of his shots and failing to get to the line. And it was no coincidence that in
It’s a busy Saturday in the NBA, with two matinees and nine evening games. [Read more…]