Late yesterday after noon I tweeted a link to our preview column on Thursday night’s games, asking (rhetorically) whether we would see another epic meltdown from LeBron James and the Heat — you know, something resembling going the final 2:41 without scoring a single point, or missing 15 of 16 3-pointers as they had done in Game 2. The tweet was not well received by Heat broadcaster Tony Fiorentino, who was coaching Gus and Ray Williams at Mount Vernon high school
It has now been 22 1/2 months since LeBron James abandoned his home state to take his talents to South Beach. He did so in the hope of winning championships with a better supporting cast. What he didn’t anticipate was how much weaker that supporting cast would become if one of the big three were to miss time due to injury, which is exactly what the Heat are going through right now. Unfortunately for King James, no one is feeling sorry for
Larry Bird signed David West as a free agent, traded for George Hill, removed the interim tag from Frank Vogel and picked up Leandro Barbosa for next to nothing. And over the longer haul, he finally reaped the rewards of waiting for dead weight to be cleared from the Indiana Pacers’ salary cap, and for drafting Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough and Paul George in consecutive years. For this, Bird was honored by his peers Wednesday when he was named the NBA’s Executive
It’s a beautiful morning in Indiana, along with every other place where folks drink Haterade. You see, there is no disliking the Heat. It’s not that simple. You either like them, or you hate them. (At least that’s what the folks in South Florida, especially the superstars, would have us believe.) So if you rejoice in the fourth-quarter failures of LeBron James, you have something to celebrate today — plus you get a second helping of Hater Tots because you get to
The Lakers looked tired and got absolutely manhandled by the Thunder on Monday night. If that game was any indication, the Clippers may be in for a long night in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal vs. the Spurs. After just one day of rest since eliminating the Grizzlies on Sunday, the Clippers will go head to head against the well-rested San Antonio Spurs. We just saw what happens when a team with one day of rest goes up against a
First of all, props to Kyrie Irving for winning Rookie of the Year. When he and Anderson Varejao were playing together, the Cavs were one of the best watches on League Pass. There was never any doubt Irving was going to win it, and the best debate was over who was most worthy of 2nd place. I cast my 2nd place vote for Kenneth “Manimal” Faried of Denver, but the second-place winner was Ricky Rubio — who also provided a helluva a
It was just a couple months ago that the “Save Vinny’s Job” homestand began for the Los Angeles Clippers. They returned home reeling from a seven-point road loss against New Orleans, the worst team in the West, and had lost eight of 12. What has happened since has been the second renaissance of the former laughingstocks of Los Angeles, and Del Negro coached his kiester off in Game 7 of the first round against the Memphis Grizzlies, riding the players
