LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard figure to be seeing a lot of each other over the next two weeks. That will be the small forward matchup in the NBA Finals. Just like last year, it should be a good one, because both players were named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team on Monday. Neither the Miami Heat nor the San Antonio Spurs have anyone on the All-Defensive First Team, which was voted on by the media and has Defensive Player of the
The picture above – The Oklahoman newspaper with the headline “Mr. Unreliable” to describe hometown hero Kevin Durant – caused a serious stir around the league on Thursday for obvious reasons. It’s one thing for anyone else to describe Durant with such a negative connotation, but for his hometown paper to do so for a guy that has done such incredible things for the organization? Naturally, many were upset, and it caused editor Mike Sherman of The Oklahoman to come out with
With the news that Mike Woodson and his entire staff have officially been fired by the New York Knicks, it’s natural to wonder what’s next for the team. The best candidate to take over as the new head coach appears to be Steve Kerr, who has been rumored as the favorite ever since Phil Jackson took over the front office. Given Kerr’s knowledge of the Triangle offense and his relationship with Jackson, it’s quite understandable. Kerr wouldn’t say much about the
I was listening to P.J. Carlesimo on the radio yesterday morning (how many of y’all remember that he guided the Brooklyn Nets last season?), and he made a good point. Almost never is there an upset in a 4 vs. 5 series. The teams are usually too evenly matched. In this case, we have two teams that finished with identical 54-28 records. Houston gets the home court by virtue of winning the season series 3-1. And if they get past the Blazers,
Dwight Howard, James Harden and Chandler Parsons are the big-name players, but the Houston Rockets would not be a top-four team in the Western Conference without Patrick Beverley. Houston is 36-16 when Patrick Beverley starts, but they will miss him for at least two weeks (and likely for the duration of the regular season) with a torn meniscus. His replacement is one Jeremy Lin. You remember him, right? Even if Beverley doesn’t have the best offensive and defensive numbers, it doesn’t seem likely that Lin has
When the Houston Rockets have their full starting lineup intact, they are capable of being one of the best teams in the league. Since late January, they have won 19 of the last 24 games and have established an identity as a team to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, their hopes of being a powerhouse in the West in the playoffs took a major hit on Friday with the news that point guard Patrick Beverley could miss the remainder of the season
It’s the time of year when everything is coming into focus. The big powers in the West are jockeying for the inside track to get to face the Heat in the Finals, and everyone else is trying to align their stars to attract the big free agent prize. This year, it’s Carmelo Anthony, and the Knicks desperately want to keep him, but the Lakers also want to team him with Kobe Bryant, and don’t rule out the Bulls, with a
Phil Jackson to the New York Knicks? That has been the talk for much of the day, and with good reason. Although Jackson doesn’t really have any experience in a front office position, he does, obviously, have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the game of basketball. It certainly would create quite an intrigue around the league to see if he has what it takes to help right the ship for this struggling Knicks organization with so many movable