Monday night’s triple-overtime thriller in Salt Lake City simply was one of the best games of the season. It was a three-hour commercial for why League Pass is worth every penny and Exhibit A for why I walk away laughing when some fool tries to explain why the college game is better than the NBA. We will get to that game in some detail. But the first matter of discussion is the Houston Rockets, whose late-season freefall gives North Korea’s space
Centers Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics and Andrew Bynum of the Los Angeles Lakers were named NBA Players of the Week on Monday. Garnett won for the Eastern Conference, leading the Celtics to a 4-1 record. He played in four games and averaged 20.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals – not bad for a guy forced to play out of position. Garnett had 22 points, 12 rebounds and three steals in an 88-86 home win over Atlanta. During
The banged-up Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies will both try and rebound from costly losses as the playoffs draw near in Saturday’s best game. After upsetting the Spurs as the eighth seed in last year’s playoffs, Memphis (34-24) lost to San Antonio for the fourth time this season on Thursday, 107-97. Forward Rudy Gay said the team remains confident, “I still feel like we can match up with them or anybody.” They’ll have to prove it by not letting the Jazz sweep them
Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Isaiah Thomas of the Sacramento Kings maintained the point guard stranglehold on the NBA Rookie of the Month award. Irving won for the Eastern Conference for the fourth straight month and Thomas earned his second straight Western Conference honor, the league announced Monday. There have been eight monthly rookie awards this season, and point guards have won them all. Irving has swept the East honors and Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves won the first
The playoff hopes of the Phoenix Suns took a hit Friday when forward Grant Hill underwent surgery on his right knee. He is expected to return before the end of the regular season, the team said. According to the team, Hill was under the knife less than 30 minutes for a procedure performed by Suns orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Carter, who repaired a medial meniscus tear. Hill had an MRI on Thursday that revealed the tear. He sat out games Tuesday and
The (mostly) young Oklahoma City Thunder have been the most consistent team in the Western Conference this season. The Lakers — a team full of veterans (with the exception of the one they’ll have a reunion with tonight) — are trying to get back to a level of consistency they once held over the Thunder. In a meeting between two of the top scorers in the league, Kobe Bryant and the L.A. Lakers take on the visiting Kevin Durant and the Western
Jim Buss made an appearance in Los Angeles last week and apparently did not see his shadow because he said he will no longer play hide and seek. Which is good because now that he has ventured into the public, he can get himself familiar with the Thunder, Spurs, defending champions and … the potential shadow cast by Larry Brown? If only the basketball gods will cooperate. But first, let’s address Buss – a man who has been a shadowy figure, unwilling to
You have to wonder what criteria the NBA is using to determine its Players of the Week. Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, who averaged 33.5 points, 15.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 54.9 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from 3-point range, somehow did not win Western Conference Player of the Week honors announced Monday. That honor went to Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant, whose numbers were 29.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting under 50 percent (42-of-86)