It’s no fun to talk about the struggled of the hurting, reeling, futile Chicago Bulls. They shot roughly 25 percent and scored 65 points without three leading players (if you include Derrick Rose). It almost seems like the Heat feel bad for the Bulls. A more interesting story is of a long-overlooked franchise seizing its window of opportunity to advance further than it ever has before: the hard-nosed Memphis Grizzlies. With Russell Westbrook out for Oklahoma City, Memphis knows it can move on
Monday brings with it two crucial second round Game 4s—with games between Miami and Chicago as well as Oklahoma City and Memphis—and the NBA announcing the All-Defensive Team. [Read more…]
Hello and welcome to the Evening News. As the playoffs continue, we’ll keep you updated every evening. What’s happening today? Here’s the latest news from around the league: [Read more…]
Just in the nick of time, Memphis found its elite defense on Thursday night. But where was it hiding? Should the Nets reconsider its contract extension of its general manager after its offensive performance against the Bulls? How can Brooklyn get back in this series? Is Milwaukee’s backcourt worth keeping? The answers to all these questions and a whole lot more in today’s StatBox breakdown. Milwaukee’s backcourt problems continue There are very few teams that could survive a poor night in the
We all know at this point that Grizzlies center Marc Gasol is this season’s Defensive Player of the Year, but how many were unsatisfied by the results? Players will always be unhappy when their best defensive player doesn’t get the award, and some will go on record about it. Manu Ginobili openly wondered how Tim Duncan didn’t win, and Dwight Howard thought the results were funny. [Read more…]
The NBA regular season awards continue to trickle out. The latest award, Defensive Player of the Year, was handed out Wednesday. [Marc Gasol wins Defensive Player of the Year] Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol sent his younger brother, Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, a congratulatory tweet after the news broke. [Read more…]
Memphis’ Marc Gasol, who anchored the league’s stingiest defense, is the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. Gasol becomes the first player in Grizzlies history to earn the honor. His teammate, Tony Allen, who received my first-place vote (along with eight other first-place votes), finished fifth. Gasol received 212 of a possible 1,089 points, including 30 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Miami’s LeBron James (149 points, 18 first-place votes) and
If you enjoy the weekly StatBox column that analytically breaks down some of the NBA’s most pressing and important topic, you’re in luck. Every Tuesday through Thursday during the postseason, the StatBox is expanding into playoff game analysis. You’ll not only find out why each team won and lost, but how different statistical trends can play out over the course of the series and the playoffs as a whole. First up: why the Bulls and Clippers are looking good in their quests