As the truncated season winds down, teams are jockeying for playoff positioning and home-court advantage. One of those teams should be the San Antonio Spurs. But coach Gregg Popovich is playing a different game. Popovich, the silver-haired, long-tenured guru who is among the frontrunners for Coach of the Year Award, decided to sit out three of his top three players – Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili – for the second time this season. The result was the same as the last time
Miami’s LeBron James and Houston’s Goran Dragic were named NBA Players of the Week on Monday. James won for the Eastern Conference. He averaged 30.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.3 steals as Miami went 3-1. He led the Heat in minutes and scoring in all for games. James scored a season-high 41 points – including 14 straight Miami points in the fourth quarter – in a 99-93 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday. Dragic won for the Western Conference. He has been
Derrick Rose was impressive in his long-awaited return, with 29 points, but he did miss 19 shots and turned the ball over eight times, showing a bit of rust. Carmelo Anthony was even better, scoring 43 including the clinching 3-pointer in overtime. Tyson Chandler (8 PTS, 16 REB, 3 BLK) was a huge factor and Iman Shumpert (15 PTS. 6 AST, 9 REB, 3 STL) made up for a quiet day from the hobbling Baron Davis. Luol Deng played almost
The Houston Rockets currently share an identical record with Utah and Denver. That will change tonight — as the other two teams have the night off — when the Rockets look to avenge their recent overtime loss against the well-rested Dallas Mavericks in Tuesday’s best game. The two teams faced off last Saturday in a game filled with playoff intensity. The game featured 15 ties, 17 lead changes and four stitches above the right eye of Dirk Nowitzki, but his team ultimately
There are a variety of ways to quantify a player’s worth to his team, with a myriad of variables with which to play. One way is by utilizing NBA.com/Stats’ PIE (Player Impact Estimate)*, which measures a player’s overall contribution to his team. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Miami Heat’s LeBron James leads the league in PIE at 23.2 percent, and is the lone player in the league with a PIE above 20 percent. James is on pace to set new career
The bottom of the Western Conference playoff race just opened up a bit wider. The Houston Rockets, who currently hold the eighth and final spot in the West, announced Monday that will be without do-it-all point guard Kyle Lowry for two to four weeks due to a bacterial infection. The Rockets played New Jersey over the weekend, and Lowry was taken to a New York hospital with an illness. He underwent tests that revealed the infection and will remain hospitalized until Tuesday,
