0 comments by Matt Zemek on 1/6/2016
Let’s be candid here, everyone: We know that the Cleveland Cavaliers remain the overwhelming favorite to win the Eastern Conference this season. If a clear alternative, a compelling contender, should emerge in this half of the NBA, you’ll know about it. You’ll get a resounding moment laden with clarity and resonance. Obviously, we haven’t arrived […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 1/5/2016
The Sacramento Kings are the emergent Jekyll-and-Hyde ballclub in the 2016 NBA. The team which lost at home to the Philadelphia 76ers not too long ago was then able to roll into Oklahoma City on Monday night and thump the Thunder by 12 points, 116-104. It’s true that Kevin Durant was out for the Thunder, […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
It’s time for another check-in with the NBA’s most mysterious team, the Los Angeles Clippers. Where does Doc Rivers stand after the first weekend of the new year? It’s definitely a much better place than two weeks ago, when this team was barely over .500 and languishing in the mushy, broad middle section of the […]
at Pepsi Center on November 5, 2015 in Denver, Colorado. The Jazz defeated the Nuggets 96-84. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/31/2015
The 2015 portion of the current NBA season has reached the end of the line. The Roman god Janus looks back at the year which is in the history books, and forward to the coming 365 days. As January arrives, the All-Star break comes into distant view. We are confronted with the reminder that as […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/26/2015
It’s fascinating to see the Chicago Bulls make their way through this NBA season (with most of the journey still ahead). Though Fred Hoiberg is dramatically different in style and outlook from his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls are so strikingly similar to their 2014-2015 incarnation. First of all, the Bulls still depend on defense […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
So much hype accompanied the Christmas Day showdown between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, to the point that for many, the game represented a referendum on the Cavs and what they had learned since the 2015 NBA Finals. This viewpoint is entirely understandable. Cleveland knows that the Warriors are the league’s gold […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/24/2015
When the Cleveland Cavaliers face the Golden State Warriors in a Christmas Day showdown, the headline label for the game is that it’s a likely NBA Finals preview. This is not an inaccurate analysis of Cavs-Dubs. The Warriors are the favorite in the West, and no team has yet shown that it is likely to […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Ebenezer Scrooge, before his moment of conversion — that’s today’s NBA. It used to be that Christmas Day featured two NBA games. In the 2006-2007 season (likely due to the television restraints posed by the presence of Monday Night Football), the NBA played only one game on Christmas Day. Going dark on Christmas Day is […]
Mar 29, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (11) celebrates a three point shot by making a gun with his finger aimed at the Oklahoma City Thunder bench in the first quarter at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The Phoenix Suns — at least one of them — threw in the towel Wednesday night. Literally. The Suns suffered one of their worst losses of the season Wednesday night at home to the Denver Nuggets. The result didn’t just put the Suns seven games below .500; it didn’t just push Phoenix beneath Denver in […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/23/2015
My colleague here at Crossover Chronicles, senior writer Joe Manganiello, wrote a piece last week in which he argued that the Eastern Conference, though deeper than the past few seasons, is not necessarily better. Joe appears to be right, but the specific point of emphasis is that in the days since his article was published, […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/22/2015
The larger theater of sports offers us cliches, truisms, and tidy expressions, assorted ways in which to capture the significance of various moments during a long and grueling season. One such expression is this: Teams can afford to lose some games more than others. Every game matters in a context of competition. Winning 55 games […]
San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9), of France, drives to the net as Indiana Pacers guard George Hill defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
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How do you smother the criticism that your wins are empty-calorie conquests? Smother a team with legitimate conference championship aspirations. * Not too long ago, the San Antonio Spurs throttled the Utah Jazz by 37 in a game they had led by 44. Naturally, a blowout on that scale gets the attention of a lot […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/21/2015
The Washington Wizards’ playoff fate this season won’t be decided in the next few weeks… but it will be shaped. Entering play on Monday morning, the Wizards sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. In terms of a games-back differential, the Wizards aren’t that far out of a playoff spot. At 11-14, they’re only […]
Photo by Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/20/2015
If there was a good and convincing reason to think that the Los Angeles Clippers would “get it” this season and address their shortcomings, it was that Paul Pierce would be a player-coach on the floor, guiding the supporting cast through the season while being a cohesive presence in conjunction with the superstars. Bill Russell […]
PHOENIX, AZ – JANUARY 30: Jimmy Butler #21 of the Chicago Bulls handles the ball during the NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center on January 30, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Bulls 99-93. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The intent behind Jimmy Butler’s remarks after Saturday’s Chicago Bulls-New York Knicks game was appreciably clear… at least on the surface. The Bulls are failing to capture hearts and imaginations in the first few months of Fred Hoiberg’s tenure in Chicago. Broadly viewed, this isn’t surprising. More to the point, it shouldn’t be seen as […]
