We waited all season for an Eastern Conference finals between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers. Yet when the time came for the two talented teams to finally meet in late May, only Miami showed up. Indiana finds itself down three games to one, and more blame is being passed around than a Benghazi hearing on Capitol Hill. A lot of that blame is being placed on the referees, an easy target since Miami took twice as many free throws
The NBA conference finals normally bring out the best that the game of basketball has to offer. More often than not, the four best teams remain, and if we’re lucky, the best players on the planet. We are treated to some combination of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu and Paul George every night. These players give us performances to praise night in and night out. And sometimes they don’t. And it’s when they don’t that we
Nobody in America is going to bat quite as hard for David Blatt as myself and my staff. An open letter to Phil Jackson was part of our push, and in this interview on 1280TheZone in Salt Lake City the subject came up again. Now, I do not know if the Jazz have interviewed or plan to interview Blatt. But I would bet the mortgage that Kevin O’Connor and Dennis Lindsay of the Jazz front office know who he is, and as
We have decided to bring back the Three-Man Weave, which we did for a while back in the day before the guest authors turned their answers into SAT essays. While emphasizing no extra page clicks and answers around 100 words or so, we address Paul George’s whining, Frank Vogel’s future and Serge Ibaka’s impact. [Read more…]
During the conference finals, prime time TV viewing in my living room is pretty much monopolized by me. In fact, this was an actual conversation a couple of nights ago. LOVELY WIFE: Is there a game on tonight? SNARKY HUSBAND: Yeah, it’s only about the 10th or 11th-most important game of the season, so I’ll probably be watching. Believe it or not, there is other programming I watch. And most of it has nothing to do with sports. Just not at this time of
Right now it seems like LeBron James will play for the Miami Heat forever, winning title after title after title … And if the Heat close out the Pacers on Wednesday night, it’ll seem even more that way — and the Heat will undoubtedly enter the NBA Finals as the favorite. But what happens if they lose? What happens if the three-peat that denotes a dynasty fails to happen? Will LeBron be back for another go at it next season? Will Dwyane
Lance Stephenson made headlines after Game 3 when he claimed that LeBron James was showing signs of weakness by talking trash to him. James, of course, refused to make that into a story. Instead, he came out in Game 4 with a sense of urgency, and dominated throughout the contest, finishing with 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Stephenson wasn’t nearly as good, as he struggled to an ordinary night with nine points,
Over the weekend, Memphis Grizzlies owner Robert Pera and coach Dave Joerger apparently worked out their differences. Despite Joerger’s visit to Minnesota and Pera’s willingness to let him do so, the two communicated in a way they have not in the past, and the coach went as far as saying that the two are basically “married” at this point. So for the time being, it appears everything is back to normal for the Grizzlies with the exception of Jason Levien’s absence.