Photo by Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Philip Rossman-Reich on 6/4/2014
We know that Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will be key to this series. They are the stars and the guys that the Spurs and Heat will turn to game after game. The defenses will be locked in on these guys. As it goes with every series, […]
0 comments by Philip Rossman-Reich on 6/3/2014
Ever wanted to be one of the best mascots in the NBA? You now have your chance thanks to this latest job posting with the NBA: Basketball Jobs : The Official NBA Team Jobs Board via kwout These jobs open up as someone has to be the man in the mask entertaining everyone at NBA […]
0 comments by Philip Rossman-Reich
The WWE rolled into Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Monday night for Raw. And the WWE being the WWE, it needed a reason for the fans to hate their heels and love their baby faces.
This time around, it was a wrestler coming out in a Lance Stephenson jersey talking a whole bunch of junk and admitting that LeBron James is the best player in the world and the Pacers are a losing team. That did not go over well.
When it came time for the “Stephenson” to show his skills, the Big Show had him blowing in his ear and flopping all over the place.
Chris Copeland was not amused.
[h/t William Lou of The Score]
Gregg Popovich motivated his team by showing them their failure in Game Six. Photo by Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Philip Rossman-Reich
Gregg Popovich’s in-game interviews are often terse and reveal far less information than even the usual in-game interview provides. This has become his schtick and it is his way of showing up the NBA and their media requirements for coaches. Popovich sees, really, all media obligations it seems as pointless and distracting from that over-arching […]
“Probably the biggest reality check I’m in the NBA was in practice. That was probably the biggest ones. There would be a day, Perk, he was there. And we were like scrimmaging or whatever and we kinda got into it like we clashed. I’m innocent, I didn’t do anything, I accidently hit him. And then like, he turned around and elbowed me in the ribs and I’m like ‘oh my God’ (holding ribs). Then he just yelled at me: “I’m the only silverback!” I was like “What the…?” So that was a big check, it was like, “We got some animals in the NBA.”
—Thunder center Steven Adams as told to Anthony Slater of NewsOK.com
It is good to know Kendrick Perkins is good for something.
Adams, a rookie from New Zealand, had a lot to learn about life in the NBA from Oklahoma City winters (termed “ridiculous” by the affable Kiwi) to tables on the team’s private charters.
What Adams became known for this year though was his ability to get under his opponent’s skins and become a pest and nuisance really without ever trying. It sounded like Kendrick Perkins gave him that lesson early on in the season.
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Photo by Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Philip Rossman-Reich on 6/2/2014
The Spurs and Heat have achieved something already that has not been accomplished for 16 years — an NBA Finals rematch. Yes, it is not easy to get back to the Finals in back-to-back years — the Heat are the first team since 1987 to make it four straight years when the Celtics accomplished that […]
“Friday morning was the big Sager meeting we’ve been waiting for with the doctors on whether or not he would need the bone marrow transplant and when that would be. We found out I was a 100% match last week, which is rare, so we were anticipating a transplant sometime next month. The meeting confirmed and my Dad will start another round of chemo next week. He’ll get a week off and then he’ll do one more week of chemo leading up to the transplant. The purpose of the chemo is basically shutdown his immune system so he can take mine and regrow a new one. It will be a long recovery and a tough one, but my Dad seems ready. His first chemo did it’s job and he’s A+ according to the doctors heading into this stage of the recovery.”
–Craig Sager Jr. to Stephen Anderson of Project Spurs
To say the least, this is very very good news in Sager’s recovery from the acute leukemia that has kept him off the sideline for the Playoffs. Meanwhile, his great foil, Gregg Popovich, is in the Finals where Sager, Jr. is predicting a Spurs win in six.
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Need to see these guys together @kevinlove @RajonRondo #collectingdimes #breakingbackboards pic.twitter.com/aJz1aEvEqJ
— Big Dub (@BigDub74) June 1, 2014
Hey, was that Kevin Love we saw at the Red Sox game yesterday? Is that Kevin Love shaking hands with Rajon Rondo?
Is that Kevin Love pretending to smoke a cigar with the Red Auerbach statue? Or sharing some words with former Minnesota Twin David Ortiz?
That is some vacation to Bean Town for the NBA’s most available trade target and that started the rumor mill flowing that Love was eyeing a move to Boston.
It is a pretty well-known secret that Love is not happy with the Timberwolves right now. They have failed to make the Playoffs in his five-year career. They have not really even sniffed it with injuries and poor decisions derailing them. With Love’s free agency coming up, Love has more or less privately put down an ultimatum for the team to turn that corner or expect him to walk in free agency.
That has the sharks circling. And his recent trip to Boston is not helping.
[h/t Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston]
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0 comments by Jeff Garcia
The Spurs and Heat will once again face off in the NBA Finals but this time, the Spurs will be seeking a measure of payback after losing to Miami in last season’s Finals in seven games.
To break down the rematch, Bloguin’s own Project Spurs previewed the Finals. From who is the Spurs’ x-factor, which Miami player needs to step it up to what should the Spurs do to slow down LeBron James, the panel breaks it all down.
Check it out.
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/1/2014
How old are the San Antonio Spurs? No, really — how old is this team? Tim Duncan, 38, continues to produce with the relentless consistency of his 20s, because his career has been nothing but a study in machine-like regularity at a high level of competition. Kawhi Leonard is only 22, but he often plays […]
0 comments by Jeff Garcia
The Spurs will once again make a return to the NBA Finals for the sixth time in franchise history after defeating the Thunder in six games in the Western Conference Finals.
This marked the Spurs second West title in a row and a chance for revenge against the Heat who defeated San Antonio in last season’s Finals.
0 comments by Philip Rossman-Reich
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7I6iC_st0k
They fought all year for this opportunity. This moment of redemption. This opportunity to win a title once again.
Game Six still haunts the Spurs. You could see it in Tim Duncan’s response to a David Aldridge question about playing the Heat once again: This time they are going to do it.
Rarely, teams get a chance for redemption in the NBA’s highest stage: the NBA Finals. It has not happened since the 1998 Finals with the Bulls facing the Jazz. We will get to those as we get set for Thursday’s Game One.
For now, the Spurs did what they needed to do. Even with Tony Parker missing the second half with a sore left ankle. Even with the fact the Spurs had been blown out in two previous trips to Oklahoma City in this series. This was going to be the Spurs statement.
A halftime deficit was gone quickly with Cory Joseph taking the reigns. The Thunder came back and forced overtime. The balance and execution won out over Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook’s assault on the basket. That matters in a seven-game series, I guess.
San Antonio got 26 points off the bench from Boris Diaw. Yes, that Boris Diaw. Tim Duncan added 19 points and 15 rebounds. The Spurs pulled together once again.
The Thunder got 34 points from Russell Westbrook and 31 from Kevin Durant. They forced overtime and extended their season five more minutes. But down three points, Durant missed a 3-pointer. And then down four, Westbrook flung a wild 3-pointer over the backboard.
Scott Brooks took out his stars for one more appreciative applause. The Spurs mastery is simply too breathtaking. And they have one more series to go.
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/31/2014
On the next to last night of May, every NBA writer is cranking out an obituary for the Indiana Pacers. You will read, in some form or fashion, the first of many words about this team, words such as “unpredictable,” “volatile,” “erratic,” “immature,” and “unprepared.” You’re going to read about a team that reached Game […]
0 comments by Philip Rossman-Reich
The Pacers wanted the chance for a Game Seven in their building. Their whole season was built toward that goal. They felt they could topple the defending champions after last year’s classic series.
Indiana will not even get that chance. The Pacers are going home. No championship. No Game Seven. No certainty about their future.
The Heat are moving on to their fourth straight NBA Finals, becoming just the third franchise to accomplish that feat — joining the vaunted Celtics and Lakers — and becoming the first team to reach four consecutive Finals since the Celtics from 1984-87. It is an incredible accomplishment.
To get there, the Heat completely dismantled the Pacers from start to finish. All the in-fighting and squabbling from the Pacers seemed to bubble over and those are questions they will have to answer in the offseason. Their window is dangerously close to being shut.
Miami’s window remains wide open. A chance tow in a third straight title is four wins away. So tantalizingly close.
LeBron James was his typical brilliant in Game Six with 25 points and six assists. Chris Bosh wrapped up a fantastic series with 25 points and eight rebounds. Miami shot 57.9 percent from the floor and made 11 of 26 3-pointers. The Heat were advancing and there was nothing the Pacers could do about it.
Paul George scored 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds in his team’s finale. The Pacers though just fell behind. Their opportunity to beat the Heat ended with a thud. Miami still has Indiana’s number.
0 comments by Philip Rossman-Reich on 5/30/2014
Thursday night it was reported the NBA, the Sterling Family Trust and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reached an agreement to sell the Clippers for a whopping $2 billion. The number alone is staggering and shows just how valuable even a toxic NBA franchise can be. There is still no word whether Sterling will continue […]
