The Boston Celtics head into Staples Center on Sunday to play the Los Angeles Lakers where the heated rivals finally have a mutual enemy: the NBA rumor mill. Thursday’s trade deadline is fast approaching and both Boston’s Rajon Rondo and L.A.’s Pau Gasol have been linked to multiple trades. On Friday, Gasol’s name was mentioned as a done deal to the Houston Rockets, for the second time this season. Gasol will suit up for Sunday’s marquee matchup, just as he did Friday, scoring
This is all on Carmelo Anthony. Enough excuses have been made for a so-called superstar whose one-dimensional game arrived in New York over a year ago. There has been an initial acclimation period, an abbreviated training camp, a hole at point guard, an injury and another acclimation period due to a revamped roster. In and of themselves, those excuses had some legitimacy when they arose. But there has been one consistent thread through Anthony’s tenure with the New York Knicks: When he
The Philadelphia 76ers have had the Atlantic Division lead for much of the season and looked ready to run away with it by taking advantage of an easy early schedule. Since then, they have taken a tumble, and the Boston Celtics may be ready to reclaim the throne as the best team in the division, which has been the case since the arrival of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in the 2007-2008 season. The streaking Celtics (20-17) visit the reeling 76ers (22-17)
A closer look at the top 3 leading scorers in the NBA: Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Kobe Bryant. James is the more efficient scorer. He attempts fewer shots per game (18.6 compared to Bryant’s league-leading 23.7 and Durant’s 19.7, which rank second), yet shoots a higher percentage from the field (.549) and from beyond the arc (.397). James also boasts a superior Plus-Minus Score Differential. The Heat enjoys +9.0 ppg advantage with James on the court; the Thunder is +5.4
// csprtContainer(); // ]]> What can people take from the Lakers’ decisive victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday? How about the difference Metta WorldPeace made, both defending LeBron James and putting up one of his better stat lines of the season (17 points, seven rebounds, four steals). It also tells you the Lakers aren’t all that bad, but it also can’t mask the fact that they eventually need to get some younger pieces and some production off the bench — which is
The runaway NBA leader in 20-20 games is Dwight Howard. The runaway leader in triple-doubles is Rajon Rondo. And since the All-Star Game, they have been the runaway leaders in trade rumors. But while Howard’s name will remain at the head of the list, Rondo took a huge step Sunday toward taking his name out of sourced stories. Last week, Rondo reportedly was headed to Golden State for Stephen Curry before Celtics president Danny Ainge said it was highly unlikely his All-Star
As expected, Rajon Rondo was on a mission against Jeremy Lin, with a triple double (18 PTS, 20 AST and an amazing 17 REB) and Paul Pierce was superb with 34, as the Celtics needed overtime to beat the Knicks. Lin had 14 & 5, Carmelo Anthony (25) and Amare Stoudemire (16 & 13) were solid and the New York bench outscored Boston’s 45-15, only to fall short. It was a great tipoff to a Sunday of hoops on TV. Elsewhere NJN
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Rajon Rondo became only the third player in NBA history to record 15 points, 20 assists, and 15 rebounds in a single game. The other two? Oscar Robertson and Wilt Chamberlain. Only two other players have had a 15-15-15 line in the past 25 season, being Magic Johnson and Jason Kidd. Rajon Rondo has 10+ assists in five straight games. The Lakers held the Heat to just 83 points, more than 17 points below their average