On Saturday night, while most basketball fans were watching the Final Four, the NBA playoffs got under way. Not officially, of course. That doesn’t happen until April 16. But for the Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and other teams fighting for the bottom of the brackets, the postseason already has started. Detroit’s 94-90 victory at Chicago on Saturday wasn’t quite a Game Seven. The Pistons aren’t quite home free just yet, and the Bulls aren’t quite dead. But it sure looked an awful
With just 10 days left in the NBA regular season, there’s still a lot to be determined and decided. Records can be broken, playoff fates will be sealed and the season will be mercifully be over for several hopeless teams around the league. With the regular season reaching its last days, we give you the 10 most important questions that needs to be answered before the postseason begins. It’s going to be YUGE. [Read more…]
There is an NBA team that started this season with a roster that included an MVP winner from this decade; a recent Defensive Player of the Year; the runner-up in the most recent Rookie of the Year voting; and two All-Stars, including one deemed the league’s Most Improved Player. The roster also included some highly promising youngsters and a handful of savvy, playoff-tested veterans. The team seemed to be a lock for the postseason, having made the playoffs every year but
In fantasy basketball, the “silly season” is almost upon us. Over the final month, NBA teams that are out of the playoff picture will rest (or even shut down) veterans, audition youngsters and lengthen the bench. [Read more…]
Sunday seemed like the Bizarro NBA, an alternate universe where the Suns can win two straight on the road and the Lakers can beat the Warriors. My beloved Raptors, who had won 12 in a row at home, coughed up a 13-point lead. We did get a few things right, like another triple-double for Giannis Antetokounmpo $8200, but failed to cash. [Read more…]
The New York Knicks have run the Love Triangle offense off the court better than Phil Jackson’s version on the court thanks to coaches Derek Fisher and Kurt Rambis. Will this be the final straw for Carmelo Anthony to waive his no-trade clause and for the Knicks to scrap the Triangle offense for a proven winner in former Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, the best available coach on the market? Speaking of the Bulls, Derrick Rose is averaging 26 points, 5.7 rebounds
Marc Gasol (broken foot) is out indefinitely. Long-term, that’s a blow to the Grizzlies’ playoff chances. Short-term, we have seen many teams respond positively to such bad news. In daily fantasy, nearly every other Memphis player gains value until salaries adjust. [Read more…]
Guards Jeff Teague and Tyreke Evans have been added to the list of difference makers available on the NBA’s trade market with the deadline less than three weeks away. The trade market is loaded with forwards such as Rudy Gay, Ryan Anderson, Markieff Morris, Terrence Jones and Corey Brewer. Trades talks will heat up closer to All-Star Weekend in two weeks when all the general managers are on hand. Three players who won’t be making the trip are Damian Lillard, Pau Gasol and