ATLANTA — Sometimes you can be close and still smoke your cigar. Take LeBron James’ Friday night against the Hawks, for example. Tonight marked the twentieth time in James’ career that he finished either an assist or a rebound shy of a triple-double. But with 13.7 second left, nine assists to his credit and his Miami Heat up 91-89, LeBron rose up for a jumper that hit nothing but white nylon on its way down. Another triple-double would have to wait. That’s
(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) The Atlanta Hawks spent the last seven years developing a contender in the Eastern Conference and the last five cultivating a core of Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford and Marvin Williams. Dubbed
NBA exhibition games have started, and we’re all counting down the days until Opening Night. In the meantime, we’re running a series of 30 guest columns on why fans of almost any team in the NBA can feel positive (we haven’t done the Bobcats yet. Or the Rockets. Both are coming this week) The latest installment covers the Pacers, and is written by Tom Lewis of Indy Cornrows. Also, Nick Gibson has his first Euroleague column of the season, as play has already
Deron Williams stayed. Jason Kidd left. Steve Nash was traded, and so was Kyle Lowry. Thus far, the NBA’s free agency season has been dominated by point guards, but as we count down the days to the end of the moratorium on July 11, there are plenty of other deals, signings, and trades being made. On Friday, the Celtics were dealt a crushing blow (exactly how crushing will be determined in part by Jason Terry) when Ray Allen decided to join the Miami Heat.
Free agency started Sunday midnight ET. On Monday, the Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks are expected to make an unrelenting push for All-Star point guard Deron Williams, who is clearly the best available player. The team that lands Williams also has the best chance of acquiring superstar center Dwight Howard, who is not a free agent but has said that he would like to play alongside Williams. In terms of flexibility, the Nets have the inside track. They can offer Williams more money
The Heat and Thunder tip off for Game 3 at 8:07 EDT, so if you’re looking for your NBA news fix until then, here’s the latest from around the NBA. Be sure to also check out Chris Bernucca’s column from earlier today on how Kevin Durant is the ideal NBA superstar and Chris Perkins’ Five Observations from Games 1 and 2 as well. Andre Iguodala is once again rumored to be on the move this summer, says Chad Ford in his ESPN
Tonight is the NBA draft lottery, which is one way to build a team. The other way is free agency, which starts in just over a month. Many teams positioned themselves for this summer, expecting Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams all to opt out and become free agents. But Howard and Paul opted in, and now there is money to spend on a significantly weaker but nevertheless strong class. A handful of teams could be very active this summer. Among playoff
