The Memphis Grizzlies are one of the less glamorous teams in the postseason party. They shoot 3-pointers about as poorly as any team in the NBA. They don’t have many high flyers offering up highlight-reel dunks a la Blake Griffin. They have not one but two ground-bound post players in Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. The Grizzlies simply defend like mad, play through their big men and try to make hay in transition and at the free-throw line. And for the last
The Coach of the Year was announced Tuesday, with Gregg Popovich coming out on top by a wide margin. It was certainly well-deserved, but there were plenty of other coaches that warranted attention as well. Thirteen coaches received votes, including Frank Vogel, Lionel Hollins, Tyrone Corbin, Stan Van Gundy and Vinny Del Negro – mid-season crisis and all. The work of these fine coaches will be on display tonight as we look into the preview of three playoff games on Wednesday night. Utah (0-1) at
You had to enjoy watching the Jazz fight off the Suns and the Rockets for the West’s final playoff spot. They have been playing playoff-atmosphere basketball for the better part of April, but they are about to go up against a machine of a team that Tim Duncan described as the deepest he has ever played on. That’s a mouthful right there. Here are five things to watch for in the first-round playoff series between the San Antonio Spurs and
So we finally come to the conclusion of the regular season. In terms of who’s making the playoffs, anyway. With only one spot – the eighth seed of the Western Conference – still left for grabs, the Utah Jazz sealed the deal on Tuesday night by defeating the Phoenix Suns for their fourth consecutive victory, on national television, and clinched the final available seed. They are not done either, as they still have a chance to move up to the seventh seed, albeit
With the wild race for a playoff spot in the Western Conference reaching its final days, the Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz have yet to settle the score to claim the final seed. Fittingly in terms of timeliness, they will match up against against each other tonight in the most important game of the season for both teams to determine which team will make the playoffs or go home. The Suns (33-31) look to sweep the season series for the second
NEW YORK — LeBron James of Miami and the Utah Jazz’s Al Jefferson today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week for games played Monday, April 16, through Sunday, April 22. James helped Miami to a 4-1 week, averaging 31.0 points on 58 percent shooting, while grabbing 7.5 rebounds and dishing out 5.5 assists per game. He did not play in Miami’s only loss of the week, an 86-84 defeat against Washington. He scored at least 25
As we all saw coming, it looks as if the race for the last seeds in the West may very well come to the final game of the season. The benefits of winning this game vary for both teams, however. Denver (34-28), 1 1/2 games ahead of the Suns (33-30), could clinch a playoff berth with a win. They would seal the 7th seed, leaving the Utah Jazz (33-30) and Phoenix Suns to fight for the last spot. If the Suns win,
// csprtContainer(); // ]]> Out of the four teams currently fighting for the eighth spot in the Western Conference, who would be most gratified to earn that berth? The Houston Rockets? In their post-Yao era, they tried to trade half their team before the season started to rebuild around Pau Gasol. That didn’t happen after the original Chris Paul trade was vetoed, and the two players who would probably be most gratified are Luis Scola and Goran Dragic, who were a part of