Over the weekend, we saw a trio of buzzer-beaters from Derrick Rose, Paul Pierce and LeBron James win NBA playoff games. All three were certainly fantastic moments that ended intense, exciting postseason games. But before we get too excited about them, let’s consider these two factors. 1. The shots by Rose and Pierce were lucky. Yes, lucky. The next NBA player who actually tries to bank in a straightaway shot will be the first. Was some experience and skill involved in finding
Donald T. Sterling Sterling World Plaza Beverly Hills, Calif. 90210 Dear Donald, How the heck are you? Long time, no see. Oh gosh, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. We miss you, or at least I do. After decades covering you as Clipper owner, where will I ever get another one like you? It’s a year since you, uh, left. I know how badly you must miss your guys. As to whether anyone ever asks about you, uh, well, not really a lot. I’m sure they they remember you
For Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard, even a simple smile or laugh can be enough to fuel his legion of critics. We found that out before Wednesday’s Game 2, when Los Angeles Times reporter Ben Bolch tweeted this while watching Howard during his team’s shootaround. “Dwight Howard was laughing while teammates shot free throws during shootaround, as if this was a midweek game in January,” Bolch wrote. “It doesn’t matter if Howard played well in a Game 1 LOSS,” Bolch continued. “His team
The Houston Rockets had every opportunity to run the Los Angeles Clippers out of the gym on Monday in Game 1 of the conference semifinals. The Clippers were just two days removed from the most emotional win of their season in Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs and played without Chris Paul, who sat out the contest due to a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, the Rockets had five days of rest after taking care of the Dallas Mavericks in just five
With about two minutes remaining in Saturday night’s Game 7 between the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers and still no clear indication regarding which team was moving on and which team was going home, Tim Duncan gave himself a break from the magnitude of the moment and offered some candid perspective. The All-Star forward and face of one of the handful of NBA dynasties approached Doc Rivers, who was in his 12th Game 7 as a coach. With one
LOS ANGELES — No NBA star has spent this season in the “put up or shut up” crosshairs more than Chris Paul. Among fans and media, the overriding narrative has been that of an hourglass quickly losing sand when it comes to accolades butting up against a limited playoff resume. It seemingly no longer matters that Paul is certainly still among the best guards — “point” or otherwise — in the NBA. It no longer matters if the second half of
Last I checked, soccer was a pretty popular sport around the globe. More popular than basketball, I might add. And if you’ve ever sat on the sofa and watched a soccer match, you’ve probably noticed that there are no TV timeouts. You get 45 minutes of action, then you can get up and make a sandwich, and then you go back and get 45 more minutes of non-stop action, commercial-free. Why can’t the NBA be quite as enjoyable? Don’t get me wrong …
The mix of beige and off white dominating DeAndre Jordan’s post-game wardrobe was appropriate. All the color, after all, had drained from the Los Angeles Clippers following a critical, emotionally brutal 111-107 loss to the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night at Staples Center, giving the Spurs a 3-2 lead in this titanic opening round matchup. At this point, you sympathize with Clippers fans who must feel like they’re being trolled. San Antonio isn’t the dominating force of last season, but even beat