One night, both of last year’s NBA Finalists competing, both NBA Finalists going down. The Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Clippers turned in two of the top performances of the young 2012-13 NBA season, as they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat by 10 and 7 points, respectively, though the point differential isn’t an indicator of how well either team played: [Read more…]
Clippers backup guard Eric Bledsoe stands at 6’1″, but his freakish athleticism allows him to play like he is much bigger than he actually is. That was the case on Wednesday night when Heat guard Dwyane Wade went up for a slam dunk in the second quarter, only to be emphatically denied by the smaller Bledsoe. The block is especially impressive when you consider the number of times Wade has dunked over much bigger opponents throughout his career. The momentum-altering play left
MIAMI – LeBron James is averaging 23.9 points, 10 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. And all things considered, this might end up being the best statistical year of his career. James, the undisputed leader of the Miami Heat’s Big Three, has averaged more points and dished out more assists per game (it’d be a career-best in rebounds). He’s looking like a better player this season. The thing is, it’s tough to say for sure why he’s so good right now. Is
While all of the focus has been on the soap opera swirl around the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA’s other similarly storied franchise has its own set of issues. The Boston Celtics also raised expectations by adding some key pieces in the offseason, then promptly stumbled out of the gate. But there were no death stares, insurrections, coach beheadings or panic moves. But there are some problems in Beantown. Let’s allow team leader Kevin Garnett to explain. “You can’t speed chemistry up,” Garnett said.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have finished a combined 40-108 the past two seasons. Despite their growing pains following LeBron James’ departure, Cavaliers fans have an intriguing team moving forward. Cleveland won its first game of the season against Washington but arrived in Los Angeles after a two-game skid in which they lost to Chicago by 20 and to Milwaukee on Brandon Jennings buzzer-beating triple with 0.7 seconds left. Such is life for a talented yet youthful team: There will be surreal highs and
When we wrote last month that the Western Conference playoff picture would be filled in by the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves, it was assumed that both teams would have their alpha dogs at power forward. Now that Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Love are both out until at least December, that picture could be changing. Nowitzki and Love both are top-10 players whose presence instantly legitimizes their teams as playoff-worthy, regardless of the other 14 players sharing a locker room and airplane with them.
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) Heading into the 2012-13 season, the Clippers find themselves in unfamiliar territory: coming off a playoff appearance and a first-round series victory, with high expectations. After just five trips to the playoffs
Even for hoops addicts, watching NBA preseason games presents a challenge. The baseball playoffs are under way, the college football and NFL seasons are in full swing, and there is this small matter of a presidential election. There is no subscription package for the preseason. League Pass takes a pass until the regular season starts later this month. So the only way you can watch games right now is on NBA TV, which isn’t part of the basic package of a number