0 comments by Joe Mags on 1/8/2016
On Wednesday, the New Orleans Pelicans, then 11-22, played the Dallas Mavericks, a team they had beaten twice this season and played three times overall. Dallas elected not to play four starters — Deron Williams, Wes Matthews, Zaza Pachulia, and the wizard Dirk Nowitzki — as their old legs were still reeling from a comeback […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 12/17/2015
After their mind-melting third quarter against the Suns on Wednesday, the Warriors moved to 25-1 on the season — we are not worthy. Golden State sits 3.5 games ahead of San Antonio in second place in the West, and 7.5 games separate the Warriors and Thunder, who’s 17-8 mark is third-best in the conference. The […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 12/14/2015
Watching the present iteration of the Dallas Mavericks, I’m distracted by what could have been. The final vestiges of Deron Williams, former Utah Jazz superstar, and earlier than that, consensus All-American out of Illinois, have brought the ex-All-Star back to his hometown to team up with another thirty-something in their closing stanzas as a professional athletes. Williams, only […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 12/8/2015
After losing its first trio of games, there hasn’t been a better team in the Eastern Conference than the Indiana Pacers. Larry Bird’s reengineered contender — once a behemoth bruiser trading blows with LeBron James in the conference finals, now a sleek, offensive powerhouse — has hit a groove. Indiana owns the league’s third-best net […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 12/4/2015
The Spurs beat the Grizzlies down on Thursday, 103-83. For the umpteenth season in a row, San Antonio is very, very strong — its ever-ready offense now equipped with a bronzed defense that is holding opponents captive in a straight jacket as they sing for Brazil. It might be a three-team league this season. Golden State […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 12/1/2015
The Hornets have won 10 of their last 14 games, inserting themselves into the suddenly deep Eastern Conference playoff picture after a preseason injury to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist turned many critics against them. What skeptics couldn’t anticipate was a swift change in offensive philosophy that would enable Charlotte to become one of the more adventurous shooting […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 11/23/2015
Indiana opened the season dragging on the floor, averaging 92.7 points per game in three losses to Toronto, Memphis and Utah. The team-wide small ball movement, mandated by team president Larry Bird, failed in a multitude of ways. The Raptors (41-32) and Jazz (47-34) crushed the Pacers on the glass, and Indiana surrendered 39 fourth […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 11/20/2015
The Warriors are the best team in the NBA on both ends, scoring 111.7 points per 100 possessions while placing the majority of their opponents in a chokehold. For much of the first half against the Clippers on Thursday, however, their in-state adversary got the better of the Warriors. Chris Paul, a game-time decision with […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 11/19/2015
On Wednesday, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said his starting backcourt is questionable for Thursday’s marque matchup in L.A. against the reigning champion Warriors. Chris Paul, always in the discussion for MVP, and J.J. Redick, the team’s best shooter, have both missed multiple games in a row with injury. The contentious rivalry between the NBA’s premiere offensive […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 11/17/2015
The first Blazers possession of the season was pure magic: Damian Lillard tosses the ball to Meyers Leonard, who seals his man and pitches to CJ McCollum. Moving right to left above the break, McCollum hands off to Al-Farouq Aminu, who uses a Mason Plumlee back screen above the nail to drive toward the basket. […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 11/13/2015
Phoenix rode Eric Bledsoe’s near triple-double (26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists) and Brandon Knight’s 14 for 22 shooting (including 6 for 10 on 3s) to victory on Thursday. The Suns were up 20 over the Clippers heading into the fourth quarter and eventually won, 118-104, behind the 63-point explosion from their starting backcourt. The victory, […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 11/10/2015
When Oklahoma City is truly humming, something the NBA has seldom seen the past three years, it is the scariest team in the NBA. If you slipped truth serum into Golden State’s cup, the Warriors would admit the Thunder’s combination of unrivaled star power, length, and explosiveness is the true antidote to the Splash Brothers’ poison rain. […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 11/3/2015
Giannis Antetokounmpo was called for stepping out of bounds twice in the first six minutes of his season. That’s right — guys, he can barely fit on the court anymore. Soon enough, the other players will start making fun of Giannis for being “a big foot freak.” The Greek Freak, as he’s affectionately called, has broken out […]
0 comments by Joe Mags
Lance Stephenson hit his first shot of his first possession as a Clipper — a 3-pointer no less — as the shot clock wound down against the Kings. The much-maligned wing was acquired on the cheap by Los Angeles to inject youthful athleticism to a dusty roster, and maybe, just maybe, he’d regain some of […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 11/2/2015
There’s a palpable nostalgia seeing LeBron James on the floor alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Mike Breen and Hubie Brown, calling the game for ESPN, certainly noticed it on Friday night: the announcers were perplexed by LeBron and Dwyane, great friends and companions on four straight Finals teams this decade, performing a tried-and-true handshake […]
