Can a team win with its star player only scoring one point per shot? It’s not going so well over the past few games for Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks. Which players drive the Pacers in its incredibly volatile series against Atlanta? Can Oklahoma City win with Reggie Jackson as its second option on offense. We’re going behind the numbers from Wednesday night’s trio of Game Fives in today’s StatBox playoff breakdown. Knicks won’t win with VoluMelo The Knicks let a veteran
Before Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series against the San Antonio Spurs, the Los Angeles Lakers handed out white towels to fans at the Staples Center. Apparently, someone in the marketing department didn’t understand symbolism. By halftime, those towels had become flags of surrender for the Lakers, the biggest underachieving team in the history of the NBA. Dwight Howard offered his own symbolism, figuratively throwing in the towel midway through the third quarter. Unwilling to grit his teeth and bang
The Celtics aren’t done yet. Despite blowing a 20-point lead, Boston hung in there to pull out an OT win and send the series back to New York for Game 5. The Bucks and Lakers, on the other hand, are done. The Lakers never had much of a chance without Kobe Bryant, and the Bucks got stuck by the wrecking ball known as the Heat. Speaking of the Bucks, here’s a column from Chris Sheridan that questions whether Brandon Jennings is
HOUSTON — Mother Nature spent most of the Rockets do-or-die playoff Saturday drenching the Houston downtown area and beyond. And when it came time for the out-of-town Thunder to come down one final time inside the sold-out Toyota Center after blowing every last bit of a 26-point lead, the city’s hoopdom community was left high and first-round dry once again. Sure, it was a valiant spunky comeback from the Kiddie Corp. aiming for a sudden reversal of fortune against the resident Western Conference
The worst news – OK, the second-worst news – that could have struck the Oklahoma City Thunder hit with lightning force today with the announcement that Russell Westbrook needs knee surgery and could be out for the remainder of the playoffs. So what does this mean for the Thunder? Other than the obvious – they are losing their highest-volume shooter, second-leading scorer and primary facilitator? It’s welcome to the big time, Reggie Jackson. You are about to replace a player who averages
This week, Damian Lillard set an NBA rookie record for 3-pointers, passing Stephen Curry’s mark set three years ago. But that is not his most impressive number. For virtually the entire season, Lillard has led all rookies in scoring, assists and free throws. But those are not his most impressive numbers, either. As this version of our Rookie Rankings is published, Lillard leads in minutes played. Not all rookies. All players. [Read more…]
Early next week, Rookies of the Month for March will be handed out. It is possible that Anthony Davis could end Damian Lillard’s stranglehold on the Western Conference honor, while the East will be a toss-up between Moe Harkless and Jonas Valanciunas. Davis, Harkless and Valanciunas have yet to win the award. But as we approach the season’s final month, it is the time where many previously unheralded rookies make a name for themselves. Last year, Atlanta’s Ivan Johnson broke through in