Points will be at a premium in Wednesday’s best NBA game when the Philadelphia 76ers host the San Antonio Spurs, who are in the midst of club record-tying nine-game road trip. Philadelphia’s top-ranked defense is allowing just 86.6 points a game. The 76ers have won six of their past seven games, beating contenders Orlando, Chicago, Atlanta and most recently, the Los Angeles Lakers. The Sixers (18-7) are even better at holding onto the ball. With four turnovers against LA and only 42
In big media companies, you are not allowed to write or speak about the Memphis Grizzlies. “Nobody cares,” is the common refrain. Well, it’s time to start caring, and we are going to bend over backwards to explain why that should be so. First, the basketball part: The Grizzlies play in a division that is home to the NBA’s two hottest teams, the other being the Houston Rockets, who also have won seven straight games. Memphis pulled off an amazing comeback last night
Prior to last night, nine of the 30 NBA teams had won at least two-thirds of their games. Now, there are 10. Welcome to the club, Paul Millsap and the Utah Jazz. When you think of players who can reel off 14 consecutive fourth-quarter points for their team in the hick of a tight contest, certain names come to mind: Kobe, D-Wade, LeBron, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki. It is what they do and what they’ve done, which is why all of them
Russell Westbrook was under the microscope earlier this season, and rightfully so. Like many players who have been recent All-Stars, he needed to step up his game. As a player with a seemingly limitless ceiling, Westbrook was coming off a pair of firsts – his first All-Star berth and first deep playoff run, which made the Oklahoma City Thunder look like legitimate championship contenders entering this season. Westbrook was also coming off his first major controversy, having bickered with superstar teammate Kevin
A pair of first-place teams who figure to be upwardly mobile in the next edition of Mark Heisler’s power rankings meet Saturday night in San Antonio when the Spurs host the Denver Nuggets. Neither team has a top 20 scorer, a top 20 rebounder or a top 10 assist man. However, both have established themselves as one of the league’s better teams in the early going. The Spurs are fourth in Heisler’s rankings. They have won two in a row, including Thursday’s demolition
That video is Exhibit A in the case for why Kevin Durant is going to be the MVP. Five of the eight columnists here at SheridanHoops.com selected Durant as their choice for the league’s most prestigious individual award, and that buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave him his fourth 30-point game of the season and moved the Oklahoma City Thunder to 4-0 as they stunned the defending champs from Dallas 104-102. It was the only close game on a night when there were six games played
A strange phenomenon has occurred in the supersonic world of information that is currently embodied by Twitter. Everything is faster now – information, reaction, criticism and analysis. There used to be a 24-hour news cycle. Now it sometimes does not last 24 seconds. There seems to be, however, an unintended consequence. The faster the world; the quicker people forget. A few years ago, there was measured reaction to subjects of the day; now the norm is overreaction. And that’s fine. No complaints here.
By Chris Bernucca We all remember last year’s free agency extravapalooza – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh heating up South Beach, Amar’e Stoudemire making the Knicks relevant, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce making career commitments to their teams and Joe Johnson landing the biggest contract of them all. Next year could be a quality sequel, with a star-studded cast that includes Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Ray Allen, Jason Terry, possibly Jameer Nelson and Gerald Wallace, and oldies but goodies Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Steve