During the NBA lockout there were several — and you know who you are — basketball writers and so-called experts who said the NBA was headed for a dark spring because no one is going to watch a bunch of spoiled athletes paid by a bunch of greedy owners. Well, guess who’s watching? The hype … [Read more…]
The Oklahoma City Thunder drew first blood in the 2012 NBA Finals after defeating the Miami Heat, 105-94, in Game 1 Tuesday night. Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 36 points in his first Finals game, and he got plenty of help from Russell Westbrook, who nearly had a triple-double. The Thunder point guard had … [Read more…]
This is the dream matchup for the NBA. You have arguably the best team from the West playing against arguably the best team in the East. And each side boasts arguably the two best players in the game. The NBA Finals has not had this kind of salacious showdown since Magic Johnson’s Lakers faced Michael … [Read more…]
With all due respect to Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, LeBron James is the real MVP of the 2012 postseason. James proved it with 45 points and 15 rebounds in Game 6 of the epic Miami-Boston series to force a deciding Game 7. Surprisingly, he made 19 of 26 field goals and a lot of them … [Read more…]
Before Tim Duncan walked off Chesapeake Arena Wednesday night he took the time to hug Kevin Durant and whispered something in his ear. Durant said Duncan basically congratulated the 23-year-old Thunder star for reaching the NBA Finals and wished him good luck. It was a typical Duncan move. His whole NBA career has been one … [Read more…]
What a difference a week makes. Last week the San Antonio Spurs were on a historic roll, winning 20 in a row and were a perfect 10-0 in the postseason. Seven days later the unbeatable Spurs are going fishing after dropping four consecutive games to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Spurs’ season ended Wednesday night … [Read more…]
The San Antonio game plan for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals was simple. Crowd Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden and put the onus on the offensively challenged Oklahoma City big men. In theory it’s an excellent well-conceived idea by Gregg Popovich and the Spurs coaching staff. But what Popovich didn’t anticipate … [Read more…]
Forget about who is going to the NBA Finals. The bigger question is “can anyone win a playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs?” In case you hadn’t looked it up, the last time the Spurs lost a game was on April 11 against the L.A. Lakers. That’s more than a month ago and the … [Read more…]
The biggest mistake Oklahoma City head coach Scott Brooks made in the Game 1 loss to San Antonio was his decision to play “small ball.” Instead of sticking with his normally rotation, Brooks tried to match the lineup Spurs coach Gregg Popovich went with in the fourth quarter and it totally backfired. The nine-point lead Oklahoma … [Read more…]
Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden is the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, but Manu Ginobili showed Sunday night why he’s the best sixth man of all time. The San Antonio Spurs’ future Hall-of-Famer — yes, Manu is that good — put on a clinic on how to spark a basketball team as he … [Read more…]