Tony Allen of the Memphis Grizzlies had eight steals last night. Eight! He is one of the league’s toughest on-the-ball defenders — the type of guy every contending team needs on its roster to sic on the opposing team’s best scorer. Lindsay Hunter made a living out of it for years. So did Bruce Bowen. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute of the Milwaukee Bucks has joined that select group, and Andre Iguodala has made his mark in the NBA and internationally (on the
// csprtContainer(); // ]]> When I first saw Metta World Peace throw that elbow to James Harden’s head, I thought he would draw a two-game suspension at a minimum. In the 24 hours since, I have been wondering whether I set the bar too low. There was no word as of Monday afternoon from the league office on how long the former Ron Artest will be banned for his most egregious act since going into the stands and fighting fans during the infamous
Sports is always in search of something special – rivalries, dynasties, the greatest. In so many ways, the rivalry between the Lakers and Spurs should qualify as classic. But the reality of the NBA is that there is one true lasting rivalry – Celtics and Lakers. One franchise has 17 titles, the other 16. They have met 12 times in the Finals with Boston holding a 9-3 edge. Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson was Lakers-Celtics. Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain is the NBA’s
What are you going to do, Stu? All eyes in Los Angeles and around the NBA will be on Olympic Tower in New York today, wondering how long Metta World Peace will be suspended for after he struck James Harden behind the ear with a vicious elbow that knocked the likely Sixth Man of the Year to the floor for a full minute. The initial guess here was 2 games, one of which would be a playoff game since the Lakers only have
NEWS Dwyane Wade is not playing when Miami hosts Houston on Sunday, one day after the All-Star dislocated his left index finger. Knicks center Tyson Chandler will sit out New York’s game against the Hawks to rest up for the playoffs. The Minnesota Timberwolves are shutting Kevin Love down for the final two games of the regular season to play it safe while he recovers from a concussion. Australian center Andrew Bogut will have arthroscopic ankle surgery next week and miss the London Olympics. NOTES Guard Lou
The San Antonio Spurs are healthy and playing their best basketball of the season as they gear up for the playoffs. They sit atop the Western Conference by percentage points, and a win tonight would provide a 1/2 game lead over the idle Oklahoma City. However, the team has been unable to solve one team in their recent meetings: the Los Angeles Lakers, who they play again in Tuesday’s best game. The Spurs (43-16) hope to avoid a fourth consecutive loss to the
Although Derrick Rose was able to start, he went 1-13 in 25 minutes and couldn’t finish. C.J. Watson, far from 100% healthy himself, played most of the fourth quarter and the overtime, scoring 16 points and adding 8 assists to spark the Bulls’ victory. LeBron James had 30, Dwyane Wade 21 and Chris Bosh 20 for the Heat, who moved Udonis Haslem into the starting lineup, sending Ronny Turiaf to the bench. As the Miami subs were outscored 47-7 by
