It has been a down year of sorts for Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks. After coming off a year in which they were the second best team in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks have struggled mightily to a 16-27 record – fifth-worst in the conference. With news that offseason acquisition Andrea Bargnani would be out indefinitely due to a torn elbow ligament, some wondered whether the team’s fortunes would turn for the better. The reason? Anthony would return to the
As I watched the Knicks-Nets game the other night I marveled at the Knicks. It was the middle of the 4th quarter and they had amassed a whopping 68 points, getting drilled in the process by the juggerNets. ‘Melo is a drop-dead scorer, right? His Madison Square Garden-record 62 last night proves it. He draws so much attention that the other guys are usually open, right? J.R. Smith can light it up, shoot you in and shoot you out, right? I keep
After months of anticipation, the All-Star voting results finally came in on Thursday, courtesy of NBA on TNT. There were plenty of expected names on the roster like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and (gulp) Kobe Bryant. There were also plenty of first-timers like Stephen Curry – receiver of the fourth most votes in the league – along with Kevin Love, Paul George and Kyrie Irving. [Read more…]
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is on an indomitable scoring tear while leading his team to five consecutive wins. Over the course of that stretch, he has averaged 40.4 points per contest—including a 54 point outing against the Golden State Warriors. Additionally, Durant has scored 30 or more points in nine consecutive games. Not only is he putting up big numbers, he is being exceptionally efficient at it. He is shooting 52.6 percent from the floor and over 39 percent from
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
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
Kobe Reminiscences on Celtics-Lakers Rivalry You and I weren’t the only ones that were disappointed when the Boston Celtics shipped off Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett this past summer. Kobe Bryant was right there with us. Their departure not only had a domino effect on the competitive landscape of the Eastern Conference, but the entire NBA. The Celtics would no longer be a threat, and that would mean the revived Celtics-Lakers rivalry that this generation finally got to experience to the fullest would also
Not for the faint of heart among two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat fans, Wednesday night—after a two-day trip that included a stop by the White House—the “Heatles” fell to the Washington Wizards in disastrous fashion. The loss was their third straight. Many have insinuated that the Heat have been coasting through the early part of the season. Prior to Wednesday’s game against the Wizards, reigning MVP LeBron James addressed the coasting talk, “We’ll see Wednesday how I’m coasting. You’ll see the