Like the June gloom, there is one thing you can count on in May in Los Angeles — panic from Lakers Nation. And all it usually takes is one loss. This year, the panic is beginning already with Metta World Peace suspended for the first six games of the series, further depleting a roster that is not as deep as last year when Lamar Odom was bringing a little of everything off the bench. Lest we forget, those deeper Lakers
Rudy Gay’s career high in rebounds is 13, done three separate times. Memphis is 10-0 when scoring 100 points. The Hawks are 10-0 when Josh Smith scores 20 or more points. The Bulls are 16-0 this season when leading at halftime on the road. Brian Scalabrine hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of the game, followed by a roar of cheers from delighted Chicago fans. Dallas played their third game in a stretch of nine games in their next twelve days. The Rockets have been
The Rockets have struggled offensively out of the gates after the All-Star break. Facing the Nuggets at home may just be the cure they needed, because Denver is the worst defensive road team in the league. The Houston Rockets (21-15) look to regain their offensive form against the Denver Nuggets (19-17) as both teams fight for playoff positioning in the Western Conference in Friday’s game of the night. The odds favor Houston (the line is 3.5) as they sit 15-4 at home this
Several of the dinosaur staffers here at SheridanHoops remember when Sunday mornings used to be spent reading NBA columns. Some of us are old enough to recall reading them in newspapers – Dan Shaughnessy in the Boston Globe, David Moore in the Dallas Morning News, Dave D’Alessandro in the Newark Star-Ledger and – of course – Mark Heisler in the Los Angeles Times. Nowadays, it’s hard to find a Sunday NBA column. Newspapers have gone hyperlocal, with more copy on high schools
The highlight of the night once again involved Blake Griffin. But it was not the type of Griffin highlight you are accustomed to seeing. As friend and former colleague Beth Harris of the Associated Press described in four perfectly succinct words, Blake Griffin got Mozgov’d. Or to put it in words that would never be seen on the AP wire, Timofey Mozgov knocked Blake Griffin on his ass. It was one heck of a hard foul, and it came during one heck of a
The Los Angeles Clippers have come a long way. Once the laughingstock of the NBA, they are on national TV for the second straight night as they welcome the Denver Nuggets in Thursday’s best game. This is a rematch of the Clippers’ 109-105 victory on Sunday. This time, the Nuggets will have back speedster Ty Lawson to run with the Clippers’ star guard trio of Chris Paul, ex-Nugget Chauncey Billups and Mo Williams. It will also be the first time Timofey Mozgov
By Chris Sheridan KAUNAS, Lithuania — This city is the birthplace and/or childhood home of Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Sarunas Marciulonis and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and by the end of next weekend it will be the metropolis (to use that word loosely) where the latest European champion is crowned. Eight teams have made it to the quarterfinals of EuroBasket, and the do-or-die portion begins Wednesday night with Spain-Slovenia and Macedonia-Lithuania. Thursday’s games are France-Greece and Russia-Serbia, and the semifinals — which will determine which two teams qualify for the 2012 Olympics
By Chris Sheridan VILNIUS, Lithuania — Once upon a time in mid-February of this year, Timofey Mozgov was the only thing holding up the blockbuster trade that sent Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks. Once the Knicks relented and agreed to give up the 7-footer, the deal went forward. But Mozgov went backward, spending most of the rest of the season on the end of Denver’s bench. “It was hard. What I take from last season was the waiting game, how to keep