The original 10-game NBA schedule is down to eight, with postponements due to snow in Philadelphia and Washington. All eyes are on Cleveland, where LeBron James $9700 will break in new coach Tyronn Lue. The best value might be Kyrie Irving $6800, as it remains to be seen whether Kevin Love $7200 will be featured or forgotten. The Bulls dropped a 9-point decision in Boston last night despite 28 from Jimmy Butler $8500 and 27 from Derrick Rose $5800. Fatigue could be a
One of the main reasons so many fans were shocked by Cleveland’s decision to fire head coach David Blatt was that he and his players were guarded in their media commentary. [Read more…]
There are four high-salaried superstars to consider in daily fantasy on a five-game NBA Thursday. With a $50,000 salary cap for an eight-man roster, we can afford to use two studs and still assemble a strong lineup. [Read more…]
After the rather meek events of Monday’s showcase game, we can safely say the current NBA season has become sadly boring. All the elements of something monumental seemed in place with another matchup between the Cavaliers and Warriors, this time in Cleveland. Still aggravated that injuries left them shorthanded in their NBA Finals loss last season, the Cavs had even more motivation because of their loss on Christmas Day in Oakland. Also, the once-perfect Warriors had shockingly been defeated two times in their
We have two pieces of news to pick apart today: The announcement that USA Basketball has released a list of 30 finalists for the 2016 Olympic team, and the “non-commitment” from LeBron James regarding whether he will be part of the party. And yes, it will be a party. The games are in Brazil, after all. And LeBron, whose non-commitment is disingenuous at best, does not miss a good party. So let me tell you a little story about the Brazilians. [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
It’s a great day to be a basketball fan, with ten NBA games, highlighted by the Warriors in Cleveland for a Finals rematch (and possible preview.) If both clubs have a playoff-level intensity, Draymond Green $9600 will try to contain LeBron James $9800 while Stephen Curry $10500 and Kyrie Irving $6900 make each other work hard for every point. The fascinating nightcap has Houston visiting the Clippers. James Harden $9900 scored 31 points in just 27 minutes last night in a romp over the Lakers.
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