The worst night of Paul Pierce’s career had a hangover. It wasn’t enough that the future Hall of Famer was held scoreless Monday for the first time since 1999, when he was a rookie. It also wasn’t enough that the Brooklyn Nets forward’s scoreless night ended with an ejection for a flagrant-2 foul on Pacers guard George Hill. On Tuesday, NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn – apparently not in any sort of holiday spirit – fined Pierce $15,000 for his clothesline
Kobe Bryant returned to the court tonight, eight months after tearing his Achilles tendon. So of course, there had to be an accompanying commercial from Nike. Yes, that’s Ice Cube on the voice over.
While the NBA Finals series between the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat has been close, nearly all of the games had not. Until Game 6, which became one of the memorable games in NBA Finals history. [Read more…]
The NBA Finals are leaving the pizza oven of San Antonio and headed back to the cut-with-a-knife humidity of Miami with the Spurs holding a 3-2 lead. So which team faces more pressure entering Game 6 on Tuesday night? Are the Spurs – who absolutely had to win Game 5 and did – under the gun because they have to win Game 6 in order to avoid the specter of winning a Game 7 on the road, which no team has done
It used to be that the path from player to coach in the NBA required at least a couple of years as an assistant, executive or broadcaster. Not anymore. Jason Kidd has shattered that notion, making the switch from player to coach in less than a month when he was hired by the Brooklyn Nets, the same franchise he led to consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals 10 years ago. Kidd is one of the smartest players in league history, and has
We know the Miami Heat have to be better in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night. But can the San Antonio Spurs be better? The Heat’s issues have been well-documented. LeBron James needs to be more of a scorer. Role players such as Udonis Haslem and Norris Cole have to contribute more than the collective 6-of-15 showing they managed in the opener. [Read more…]
Chris Paul is being blamed for the dismissal of Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro and isn’t happy about it. Paul has spent the last two seasons with the Clippers, which not coincidentally have been the best back-to-back seasons in the history of the once-woebegone franchise. Now Paul is approaching free agency, the timing of which at the root of the blame. Is he ticked off enough to leave the Clippers over it? [Read more…]
Any of the residual gratification felt by the New York Knicks and their fans was quickly erased Sunday when the Indiana Pacers came into Madison Square Garden and manhandled the Knicks to take away home court advantage. Indiana’s top-ranked defense protected both the rim (eight blocks, five by Roy Hibbert) and the arc (the Knicks made just seven 3-pointers, one less than the Pacers) as they led for the entire second half and took away many of New York’s secondary weapons.