When the San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks in the 1999 NBA Finals, it was considered a championship coronation for long-time Spurs center David Robinson. With plenty of help from second-year power forward Tim Duncan, that title validated Robinson’s career. But more importantly, it spawned a run of sustained success that is incredibly unique in the NBA, especially for a small-market franchise like the Spurs. [Read more…]
One of the most intriguing elements of the NBA playoffs is what the spotlight reveals about certain players – especially those who weren’t expected to be in the spotlight at all. We expect established superstars such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant to welcome the pressure of the postseason and elevate their play. That is part of the reason they are among the game’s best players. It is also not that surprising to see very good players such as Stephen Curry and
While most of the national media attention continues to go to the Chicago Bulls and Derrick Rose, whether or not he will play against the defending champion Miami Heat, quietly the San Antonio Spurs are preparing for their second round series against the upstart Golden State Warriors. Granted, the Spurs have never needed fanfare to get up for a playoff series. And, considering that they boast an impressive 29-0 home record against the Warriors in the Tim Duncan era, internally they
The San Antonio Spurs are in the second round of the playoffs. That’s pretty much the biggest non-story of the postseason, given that they’ve failed to move past the first round just three times in the Tim Duncan era. For the Golden State Warriors, it’s nearly uncharted territory – they’ve made it to the conference semifinals only twice in the last 22 years: once back in 2007, when they upset the Dallas Mavericks as an 8th seed, and once back in 1991,
The Celtics aren’t done yet. Despite blowing a 20-point lead, Boston hung in there to pull out an OT win and send the series back to New York for Game 5. The Bucks and Lakers, on the other hand, are done. The Lakers never had much of a chance without Kobe Bryant, and the Bucks got stuck by the wrecking ball known as the Heat. Speaking of the Bucks, here’s a column from Chris Sheridan that questions whether Brandon Jennings is
The often monotonous 82-game NBA regular season has come and gone. The worst teams have finished playing and the best 16 teams (yes, that is being generous to the Bucks) advanced to the postseason, guaranteeing high quality, spirited basketball. The seedings and schedules have been set, and each conference has matchups that are incredibly intriguing. For each team in the first round, there is one player who has to emerge and play a key role for that club to advance. Let’s have a
The biggest game on Monday night was the match between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs – a clash between two of the very best teams in the Western Conference. It was expected to be a dog fight, but the Spurs ran away with the game with a big push in the fourth quarter to lead by as many as 18 points, despite playing without point guard Tony Parker. For the Thunder, who had previously lost five consecutive games
It’s that time of year in fantasy hoops. When a player gets injured, there’s a risk of them being shut down entirely. I happened to be at the game where Kyrie Irving got hurt, and after he shot two free throws — using only his ‘wrong’ hand — stood to applaud his exit without knowing that a sprained left shoulder will keep him out for the next month, if not the rest of the year. [Read more…]