There is a school of thought that after a slow start, the defending champion Dallas Mavericks are starting to figure things out. There also is a school of thought that after a quick start, the Philadelphia 76ers are coming back to the pack. Both of those notions will be tested when the Mavericks visit the 76ers in Friday’s best NBA game. The Mavericks (19-11) have matched a season high with five straight wins, and there’s not a bad one in the bunch.
Steve Nash, at 38, is about to play in his seventh career All-Star Game. 2012’s oldest NBA All-Star — he joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Karl Malone as the only All-Stars 38 years or older — is leading the league in assists (10.3 apg) and is third overall in field goal percentage (.563). Nash is on pace to lead the league in assists for the sixth time. Only Hall of Famer John Stockton has accomplished that feat, having led the NBA in that category nine times.
Kobe Bryant needed 22 points to pass Shaquille O’Neal on the all-time scoring list and got them in the first 21 minutes. He looked like he was on his way to 50, a great way to celebrate his annual trip to his hometown. The Lakers held a 55-30 advantage in rebounds. Andrew Bynum (20 points, 20 rebounds) and Pau Gasol (16 and 11) looked like they were playing against children. And LA held a seven-point lead with less than five minutes to
Detractors of the Philadelphia 76ers point to their easy schedule thus far. On Wednesday night, they have an ideal opportunity to prove those folks wrong. The Chicago Bulls visit Philadelphia in Wednesday’s best NBA game and should be one of the toughest tests the 76ers have faced thus far. Philadelphia (15-6) is just 3-4 against teams with winning records, and one of those wins came Monday night vs. floundering Orlando. The 76ers have lost to Portland, Utah, Denver and Miami. The Sixers have
Should the Philadelphia 76ers be taken seriously? Here’s why they should: In a season where continuity counts, they have virtually the same roster as last season’s. They have terrific depth to handle a relenteless schedule. They value the basketball. And they have no individual agendas. “They’re a very underrated team,” Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut said after his team became another double-digit victim earlier this week. “They move the ball well, they’re very well-coached and they showed it.” Here’s why they shouldn’t: They
Kobe Bryant failed to drop another 40 last night in an appallingly low-scoring victory over the Dallas Mavericks, which means one of Wilt Chamberlain’s other records (his mark for most free throws in a game fell last week when Dwight Howard shot 39) should remain intact for the foreseeable future. The record for most consecutive 40-point games is 14 by Chamberlain in 1961. He did it 63 times in the ’61-62 season. So although Kobe is not chasing Wilt, everyone else in
On the NBA’s six-game slate Monday night, the matchup of Spanish point guards Ricky Rubio and Jose Calderon is tempting. But a battle of top-ranked defenses should be the best game as the Pacers take on the 76ers in Philadelphia. Indiana is off to a 6-2 start and right behind Chicago in the Central Division. It will be facing a Philadelphia team off to a 5-2 start, its best since winning the first 10 games of the 2000-01 season – when
The answer to last week’s edition of The Bernucca List was “Members of the Knicks during the Mike D’Antoni era.” The first correct answer was given by Dan, who wins … a mention in this week’s edition. Congratulations. Now, if you really want to win something while perusing SheridanHoops – like, say, NBA game tickets – then click here and follow the instructions. On to this week’s list, which is short but sweet, like Salma Hayek, and more difficult than figuring out