There’s some sort of event called the Pac-12 Conference tournament being held in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. I think it has to do with college basketball. Anyway, it has forced the facility’s regular tenants – the Lakers and Clippers – to hit the road for a stretch. And things are not going well for either team. The Lakers were dispatched on a brief three-game sojourn and already have lost the first two, dropping to an abysmal 6-14 on the road.
Eight days until the trading deadline. Eight days for the Indiana Pacers to find the missing piece for a legitimate run at the conference finals, or for the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire the player that makes them a playoff team. Eight days for the Orlando Magic to go all in on Dwight Howard or blow it up and start over. Eight days for the Atlanta Hawks to avoid the luxury tax or the Los Angeles Lakers to add to it. Eight days to
MIAMI – OK, he did it again. LeBron James, the talented and tormented Miami Heat forward, declined to take a late-game shot Friday at Utah. He saw a double-team coming and passed to forward Udonis Haslem, who missed a jumper. The Heat lost, 99-98. You’d be tempted to think it was the All-Star game all over again. It wasn’t. This wasn’t some made-for-TV pickup game. It was a regular-season game. It mattered. Now, the LeBron debate can continue. “At the end of the
A closer look at the top 3 leading scorers in the NBA: Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Kobe Bryant. James is the more efficient scorer. He attempts fewer shots per game (18.6 compared to Bryant’s league-leading 23.7 and Durant’s 19.7, which rank second), yet shoots a higher percentage from the field (.549) and from beyond the arc (.397). James also boasts a superior Plus-Minus Score Differential. The Heat enjoys +9.0 ppg advantage with James on the court; the Thunder is +5.4
The runaway NBA leader in 20-20 games is Dwight Howard. The runaway leader in triple-doubles is Rajon Rondo. And since the All-Star Game, they have been the runaway leaders in trade rumors. But while Howard’s name will remain at the head of the list, Rondo took a huge step Sunday toward taking his name out of sourced stories. Last week, Rondo reportedly was headed to Golden State for Stephen Curry before Celtics president Danny Ainge said it was highly unlikely his All-Star
Do the Oklahoma City Thunder have a toughness complex? One of the reasons the Thunder have the NBA’s second-best record is because they have three young, explosive players – Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden – who simply cannot be contained off the dribble. When defensive schemes cannot prevent a player from getting to the basket, teams usually resort to rough stuff as discouragement. Michael Jordan went through it. So did Allen Iverson. Tony Parker still gets thrown to the floor
“I know the chatter will begin,” LeBron James said. Is that chatter” as in talk? Or “chatter”as in “chattering” teeth? Just five nights after he was taken to task (by some harder than by others) for not attempting the game-tying shot in the All-Star game, LeBron James had a brilliant fourth quarter until that quarter came to an end. With the game on the line in Utah, James passed to Udonis Haslem for an open 17-foot jumper that missed, and Miami’s winning
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