LAS VEGAS — Quite the scene at the Hard Rock Hotel last night, where it seemed a whole bunch of people had taken the Portland Trail Blazers and 6 1/2 points as they played the second night of a back-to-back at Oklahoma City. (Bernucca warned me against playing it, so I stayed away and didn’t gamble a nickel). The party never stops at the Hard Rock, but Kevin Durant managed to momentarily stifle it. And damn, it was something to see. So I
Kevin Durant has been single-handedly putting teams away on offense since Russell Westbrook’s knee surgery, and his performances are starting to become historically good. No really. This is starting to get ridiculous, even for him. The forward was having another terrific season heading into January, but one could argue it was not necessarily much better than what he did last season. Through the month of December, Durant averaged 28.3 points per game – in line with the 28.1 points he averaged last
Martin Luther King Day is more than a day of celebration and reflection for the NBA, which probably has done more positive things for race relations than any other sport in the Civil Rights Era. It also has become the unofficial midway point of the season. By the completion of Monday’s action, more than half of the league’s 30 teams will have played half their games. With that in mind, we present our midseason awards with this reminder from the bookie of hopeless
NEW YORK — The Indiana Pacers’ Paul George and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Jan. 13, through Sunday, Jan. 19. George helped the Pacers to a 3-0 week, with all three victories coming at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, behind a conference-best 30.7 ppg. George posted two games of 30-plus points as Indiana outscored opponents by an average of 20 ppg. He collected 36 points on
First up, there was a small but potentially significant trade today, with the Bulls dealing Marquis Teague to Brooklyn for Tornike Shengelia. I wrote up the report on it, so go read it and then tell me whether or not I’m an idiot. My Twitter link is at the end of this article. Seriously, do it. [Read more…]
It looked as though Kevin Durant may have a big night against the Golden State Warriors on Friday when he started the game shooting 10-of-11 from the field. It ended up being a career night. He ended up with 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting after the first half, and continued his hot shooting through the second half to end up with 54 points – a career-high – on 19-of-28 shooting to go with four rebounds and six assists. In the fourth quarter
Adam Silver is a nice guy, or so I’ve come to believe. There are those who will tell you the exact is opposite, but they say so in a whisper. They are not what is known in NBA headquarters as an FOA (Friend of Adam), and thus they fear and loathe him the same way so many basketball fans fear, loathe … and hate, yes hate, outgoing commissioner David Stern. Fairly or unfairly, Stern has become a lightning rod for every grievance
After a double overtime loss to the Brooklyn Nets, LeBron James took to Twitter and did a questions and answers session. Becoming a regular of the Twitter Q&As, James was having trouble sleeping after his 5 a.m. arrival in Miami. That restlessness can likely be attributed to watching the last overtime on the bench in Brooklyn. James fouled out of a regular season game for the first time since 2008. Miami fell 104-95 to the Nets and were outscored 11-2