If there was one lesson Danny Granger learned earlier this season about saying something to fire up the other team (he did it after losing two straight games to the Knicks), it was this: Don’t. Yet, that’s exactly what Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo did in his recent interview after his one-game suspension. “The end result is all that matters,” Rondo said. “If there had been a different result, it would have been very difficult. But since we won, it felt like we
Every night, another knee injury. Or so it seems. This time, it was the best player on the Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith, walking off the court in disgust with just over four minutes left. Unlike Iman Shumpert (Knicks), who was carried off the court, and unlike Derrick Rose (Bulls), who was helped to the locker room by teammates, Smith walked of the court under his own power, and later exited the arena on his own two feet, according to the team. But
The unfortunate injury to Derrick Rose is awful for him, the Bulls, their fans and the league. It also hurts some fantasy owners in postseason tournaments, like the guy who drafted him third overall at Fantasy Postseason. I’m leading the Sheridan Fantasy league there after one day, thanks in part to 9 PTS on 6-7 shooting by Richard Hamilton. We’re counting total points through the entire playoffs but FP also offers H2H leagues. Suddenly, C.J. Watson is worth a lot more and
Like the June gloom, there is one thing you can count on in May in Los Angeles — panic from Lakers Nation. And all it usually takes is one loss. This year, the panic is beginning already with Metta World Peace suspended for the first six games of the series, further depleting a roster that is not as deep as last year when Lamar Odom was bringing a little of everything off the bench. Lest we forget, those deeper Lakers
The San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers did not play each other one single time in December, January, February or March. They’ve played twice in April, and strangely have blown each other out on the other’s home court. The series will get even more interesting as Kobe Bryant is set to return for the Lakers (40-23) from a seven-game absence to face the Spurs for the first time this season in Friday’s best game. Bryant leads the league in scoring with 28.1 points
If you’re reading this, you are probably still alive in one or more leagues. I’m in two Head-to-Head finals — so far, so good in both — and still trying to improve on third place in our Elimination Roto league with just seven days remaining in the season. LAL @ GSW: Although Kobe Bryant (shin) didn’t play, he looks close to a return on either Friday or Sunday. Andrew Bynum (31 PTS, 9 REB) and Pau Gasol (22 PTS, 11 REB,
There were so many games last night (14) in the NBA, your fingers go calloused from switching the remote and your brain got scrambled by considering all the playoff possibilities. Bottom line: There are still eight nights left of regular season basketball, a lot can happen over those eight days, and we need to find a way to give you a synopsis of what’s up. To do that, we’ll focus today on the teams with 32-30 records. There are three of them, they
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