You know you’ve arrived as a legitimate superstar in the NBA when LeBron James gives you a dap in the heat of battle. Paul George followed his 27-point performance in Game 1 with an even better all-around effort in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against defending champion Miami. His loudest play came with … [Read more…]
The NBA slogan “Go Big or Go Home” definitely applies to the 2013 playoffs because three of the four teams left have one thing in common: They’re big. The Indiana Pacers are in the Eastern Conference finals thanks in large part to 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert. The Memphis Grizzlies are in the Western Conference finals … [Read more…]
Playing defense is more than just racking up impressive numbers in steals, blocks, and rebounds. A great defender can go unnoticed because you don’t see the spectacular block or steal on SportsCenter or NBA Game Time. And more often, the best defenders come from teams that put a premium on defense. Of the 15 teams … [Read more…]
When Larry Brown arrived in Detroit in the 2003-04 season, he inherited a team that couldn’t get over the hump and get to the NBA Finals. In one season he turned them into the best team in the Association, knocking off the heavily favored and loaded Los Angeles Lakers in The Finals. After Phil Jackson … [Read more…]
Kevin Durant won’t admit it, but he’s tired. And when you’re tired, you don’t have the same lift on your shots. That was the case in Game 4 of the Thunder-Grizzlies series when Durant missed all five of his shots in overtime, including a layup in the final seconds. He went 2 of 13 in … [Read more…]
Joe Johnson seems like a really good guy – humble, low-key, not prone to idiotic statements or actions. A quiet professional who goes about his business, doesn’t make stupid plays on the court, and in his prime, was a very good shooting guard … five times over 20 points per game, three times at least … [Read more…]
Led by Euroleague MVP Vassilis Spanoulis, Olympiakos Piraeus used a dominant second half to defeat Real Madrid, 100-88, to capture Europe’s premier basketball trophy for the second year in a row. The game was a stark contrast to last year’s final when it took a game-winning shot from Georgios Printezis at the buzzer to overcome … [Read more…]
When you have sharpshooters like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson on your roster, it’s hard to identify the Golden State Warriors as a defensive team. But somewhere beneath all the swishes and splashes, the Warriors have become a hard-nosed team that doesn’t mind rolling up its sleeves and getting dirty. The stats won’t show it … [Read more…]
The Miami Heat are 41-3 in their last 44 games, an incredible run that makes you wonder if anyone can beat the Heat in a seven-game series. Don’t tell that to the Chicago Bulls. The Heat have lost just three games in the last four months, but two of those losses came against the Bulls. … [Read more…]
The Los Angeles Lakers completed a very difficult season in a most embarrassing way by getting swept out of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs. Now, the organization has to figure out how to remake this team on the fly and try to stay competitive in the stacked Western Conference. They need to start … [Read more…]