In Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series between the Clippers and defending champion Spurs, San Antonio was overwhelmed by the energy of the home team. Los Angeles, even when making mistakes in defensive rotations, did so with so much speed and commitment that it often didn’t matter. The Clippers, with an assortment power dunks from Blake Griffin and power spikes from DeAndre Jordan, had the capacity crowd at Staples Center in a frenzy all night. The Spurs didn’t have an
A funny thing happened on the Clippers’ way to continued ignominy. Imagine finishing the season on a 14-1 surge that takes you to the third seed in the brutal Western Conference and finding yourself facing the sixth-seeded booby prize, the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, who are favored in the series opener on your floor. What else is new? As one buzzard said to another, “I’ve been having Clipper luck.” Oh, you say the Clippers won? Fairy tales can come true; they just
I write this column every year two days before the regular season ends, and I usually get right to the point. But this year I am going to start a little differently. So let me get one item off my chest and out of the way: Michele Roberts is way off base. The new executive director of the NBA Players Association tried to reinvent the wheel this week when it was reported that she is instituting the Players Choice Awards, which will
The standings play a large part in our handicapping tonight. Miami’s loss at home (and their injury plague) leaves the other three contenders for the final two playoff Eastern Conference spots in much better shape. [Read more…]
What do James Harden, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James have in common? They’re all legitimate MVP candidates, of course. But what else does that Awesome Foursome have in common? In a potential playoff series against the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, they can all expect to see an individual matchup with Kawhi Leonard. In case you’ve been transfixed by March Madness, the Spurs are looking like a championship contender. Again. If you want some perspective, my son Andrew was born
The playoffs are approaching, and that means the San Antonio Spurs may be ready to put themselves into another gear heading down the stretch of the year. The question throughout the season had been whether they actually had another gear to turn on after taking home the championship trophy last season. It looked shaky at times and injuries to key players certainly didn’t help, but the Spurs have won 11 of their last 14 games and made an example out of the
Another six-game NBA slate gets under way at 7:30 ET, with the Westbrook Decision looming large in DFS contests. Russell Westbrook $13200 has been cranking out triple-doubles and averaging 65.3 FPTS over his last ten. It’s also been an incredibly consistent streak — only the Clippers kept him from dominating. [Read more…]
Despite approaching 39 years of age, Tim Duncan has been one of the most durable players on the San Antonio Spurs roster this season. The ageless power forward has only missed a total of six games, is second in both minutes per game and starts made for his team, and still leads everyone on his team with a 21.7 PER. The relatively injury-free season came to a bit of a halt on Tuesday, though, when Tiago Splitter bounced off an Amir Johnson