A knee injury was not enough to keep Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy from missing the playoffs. Eight days after undergoing knee surgery to fix a torn meniscus on his right knee, Roy returned to the basketball court and played in a pivotal playoff game at the Rose Garden. OK, maybe it wasn’t quite … [Read more…]
LITTLE MAGIC IS ORLANDO’S BIG PLAYER
Jameer Nelson is on a mission. His poor performance in the 2009 NBA Finals against the L.A. Lakers has fueled his desire to get back to the Finals and atone for his disappointment. In fairness to Nelson, he wasn’t healthy during the Finals and it showed. He failed to cover Derek Fisher late in Game … [Read more…]
KENNY SMITH: ‘DURANT WILL BE THE BEST IN 3 YEARS’
LeBron James will likely collect his second regular-season MVP trophy in a few days, but according to TNT’s Kenny Smith, Kevin Durant will take away LeBron’s crown as the game’s best player three years from now. “In three years, he’s going to be the best player in basketball,” Smith said of the 21-year-old All-Star, who … [Read more…]
IS THERE TROUBLE IN LAKER LAND?
Trouble in Laker Land? If you decode Phil Jackson’s recent comments after Game 2 of the Lakers’ first-round series against Oklahoma City, you get the sense that there is a certain discord between the Lakers coach and superstar Kobe Bryant. When reporters asked Jackson if Bryant’s shooting performance – 12-for-28 in Game 2 and finished with 39 points … [Read more…]
JOAKIM NOAH: CAVS’ PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1
Chicago Bulls forward-center Joakim Noah is not shy about his disdain for the city of Cleveland, and because of his recent comments he now has a big bullseye on his back. All throughout Game 2 of the Cavaliers-Bulls first-round series, a game won by the Cavs 112-102, Noah was showered with boos and chants of … [Read more…]
LAKERS NEED A HEALTHY BYNUM
With one thunderous dunk, Andrew Bynum served notice to Oklahoma City and the rest of the league that his strained Achilles’ tendon is doing just fine. Bynum posterized Nenad Krstic in the first half of Game 1 in the Lakers’ first-round series against Oklahoma City, highlighting a strong start for the defending world champions that … [Read more…]
J.R. SMITH IS NUGGETS’ WILD CARD
Carmelo Anthony may be Denver’s best player and Chauncey Billups is Denver’s unquestionable leader, but J.R. Smith may be the Nuggets’ difference-maker. Anthony dropped a playoff career-high 42 points in Game 1 against the Utah Jazz, but it was Smith who turned a close game into a 126-113 blowout in favor of the home team … [Read more…]
GARNETT HIT WITH 1 GAME SUSPENSION
Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics fired the first major blow in the NBA playoffs, but it’s not the kind of big blow the Celtics had in mind. The Celtics defeated the Heat, 85-76, in Game 1 of their first-round series, but it came with a heavy cost as Boston won’t have one of its … [Read more…]
2010 NBA PLAYOFF PREDICTION: CAVS, MAGIC IN THE EAST
The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic are without a doubt the two best teams in the Eastern Conference and it will take a monumental upset if both did not make the conference finals. The Cavaliers ran away with the best record in the NBA at 61-21, but the Magic was arguably the best team … [Read more…]
2010 NBA PLAYOFF PREDICTION: ARE LAKERS STILL BEST IN WEST?
Since the NBA All-Star break, the heaviest talk revolved around what was wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers. Is this Phil Jackson’s last dance in L.A.? Does Kobe Bryant have dead legs? Is Kobe’s finger injury hindering his shooting? Is Derek Fisher on his last legs? Is Pau Gasol still too soft? Can Andrew Bynum … [Read more…]