LAS VEGAS — Quite the scene at the Hard Rock Hotel last night, where it seemed a whole bunch of people had taken the Portland Trail Blazers and 6 1/2 points as they played the second night of a back-to-back at Oklahoma City. (Bernucca warned me against playing it, so I stayed away and didn’t gamble a nickel). The party never stops at the Hard Rock, but Kevin Durant managed to momentarily stifle it. And damn, it was something to see. So I
It looked as though Kevin Durant may have a big night against the Golden State Warriors on Friday when he started the game shooting 10-of-11 from the field. It ended up being a career night. He ended up with 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting after the first half, and continued his hot shooting through the second half to end up with 54 points – a career-high – on 19-of-28 shooting to go with four rebounds and six assists. In the fourth quarter
Adam Silver is a nice guy, or so I’ve come to believe. There are those who will tell you the exact is opposite, but they say so in a whisper. They are not what is known in NBA headquarters as an FOA (Friend of Adam), and thus they fear and loathe him the same way so many basketball fans fear, loathe … and hate, yes hate, outgoing commissioner David Stern. Fairly or unfairly, Stern has become a lightning rod for every grievance
If you follow the Golden State Warriors at all, the words “hashtag full squad” should sound familiar to you by now. If it doesn’t, click here to find out how it all began, and here for the full explanation on how it now has a life of its own. To make a long story short, David Lee believed the Warriors were a darned good team when everyone in the starting lineup is healthy and playing together. He brought it up some
ERIC BLEDSOE OUT INDEFINITELY: The season of major injuries continued on Thursday, as news broke that guard Bledsoe will be out indefinitely due to expected surgery on his troublesome right knee. Marc Stein of ESPN broke the news: Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe, a top contender for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, is out indefinitely after the team determined he needs a surgical procedure to repair cartilage in his right knee, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. Sources told ESPN.com that the
Take it from one of the best emerging young players in the NBA, Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, about Mark Jackson’s impact as Golden State’s head coach. “It’s not a coincidence that as time goes on we’re becoming a better team,” Curry told Sheridan Hoops on Wednesday night. “And that’s in large part due to his approach to the day-to-day and how he manages every single guy in this locker room.” It’s very rare to see a team and its head coach
This is the final edition of the MVP Rankings that will be published from our corporate headquarters in New York this month. As I promised in the preseason, I am heading to Las Vegas to gamble on basketball and write about it on this site, diary style. Wish me luck. I know, I know … they build great big hotels in Vegas because of folks who head out to the desert trying to get rich quick. Myself? Not really trying to get
Mitch Kupchak I have already made my thoughts known on the Luog Deng-Andrew Bynum trade in a column, the gist of whih is that the big loser in this deal was the Lakers. Go ahead and click through and give it a read as you listen to this audio from the NBA’s Sirius-XM radio channel, in which I go into further detail about why Mitch Kupchak blew a golden opportunity to set the Lakers up for having