0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/20/2016
The Golden State Warriors really can’t feel too bad about life on Sunday, as they settle in Minneapolis before Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Sure, the Warriors lost to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. A game that was winnable in the final few minutes slipped away. Just a few accurate jump […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/19/2016
Before unpacking and expanding this discussion to any real degree, let’s get this much on the record: Jae Crowder means a ton to the Boston Celtics. The nuances of the debate are worth exploring at the edges, but the core of the matter can’t be denied: Crowder’s value to Brad Stevens as a wing defender […]
Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) shoots next to Indiana Pacers center Jordan Hill (27) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Thursday, March 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/18/2016
The Toronto Raptors know that when the NBA playoffs begin, home-court advantage and an accordingly high seed won’t matter all that much if their stars don’t shine at crunch time. Thursday night in Indianapolis, the Raptors found their true North when they stood oOf n the precipice of defeat. As a result, they realize that […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/17/2016
No one in and around the NBA is surprised whenever the Houston Rockets display a pronounced Jekyll-and-Hyde volatility. Yet, even by the Rockets’ trolling and teasing standards, this past week — a seven-day stretch which started last Friday in Boston — might have been their most typically bipolar week of the season. Wednesday night, the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The Atlanta Hawks have performed a Dikembe Mutombo-style finger wag at idiots the past few weeks. Back on February 21, one idiot had the temerity to write that the Hawks’ hopes of putting together a successful season were shrinking to the point of being little more than a sliver. The path to the No. 3 seed? […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/16/2016
It’s been a very long and taxing campaign — no, not the presidential primary race, but the NBA season. This journey to the NBA playoffs has been cleaner and clearer in the Western Conference, where the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs have lorded themselves over the rest of the conference and the league […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
For the San Antonio Spurs, it’s hard to be troubled by anyone or anything other than the Golden State Warriors right now. The Spurs have just dispatched the Oklahoma City Thunder and, more recently, the Los Angeles Clippers. More precisely, they’ve dominated the fourth quarter in each home game over the past five days. They […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/10/2016
The buzz in the Eastern Conference might revolve around the Toronto Raptors, the team with the best chance of knocking off the Cleveland Cavaliers. Buzz for coach of the year is primarily focused on the Western Conference, but in the East, Brad Stevens has done the most with a given set of resources. One could […]
0 comments by Bart D on 3/3/2016
Sometimes, you spend years flirting with the girl and eventually, after a few crusty relationships, she comes available and isn’t the firecracker she was at 22, but it doesn’t matter because you still have those eyes for her all the same. Ty Lawson’s acrimonious-at-best stop in Houston, which happened this past off season with much […]
NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 25: Ty Lawson #3 of the Houston Rockets goes to the basket against Dante Cunningham #44 of the New Orleans Pelicans on January 25, 2016 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images)
0 comments by Bart D on 3/2/2016
Someone put sugar in the Rockets’ gas tank from the beginning, and it sputtered somewhere before it even got out of the atmosphere. Ty Lawson reached a buyout settlement Monday, meaning a productive point guard is on the market late in the season free to go where he wants. Lawson is not the easiest piece […]
CLEVELAND, OH – FEBRUARY 29: Monta Ellis #11 of the Indiana Pacers shoots over LeBron James #23 and Timofey Mozgov #20 of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half at Quicken Loans Arena on February 29, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. 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. Mandatory copyright notice. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
0 comments by Bart D on 2/29/2016
Two teams entered, not 24 hours removed from being called out by teammates for not having the requisite toughness and lamenting how other playoff teams do. So one of them was going to look “tougher” by default, which means “one would win because they have to.” In what was a mildly controversial ending only if […]
0 comments by Bart D
Rarely is there a phrase in the English language more disagreed upon than “it’s all messed up” or some variation of that phrase. To one guy, the car just needs new tie rods and brake pads and she’ll be up and running in no time; to someone else, the car needs new tie rods and […]
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 28: Joe Johnson #2 of the Miami Heat in action against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on February 28, 2016 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: user expressly acknowleges and agrees by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
0 comments by Bart D on 2/28/2016
As far as national sports news goes this past week, “Joe Johnson signs with the Miami Heat” probably registered just slightly below whatever Johnny Manziel ate for lunch on Wednesday and several notches below “holy hell, did you see what Steph Curry did THIS week?” but probably, there was no more significant event in the […]
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – FEBRUARY 24: Myles Turner #33 of the Indiana Pacers high fives fans after the win against the New York Knicks on February 24, 2016 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Rob Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
0 comments by Bart D on 2/24/2016
I was one of them, I’ll admit. You probably were, too. If you weren’t, congrats, but understand that you are rare. When the Indiana Pacers selected Myles Turner in the 2015 NBA Draft, if you were like most of us, you scoffed. If you were a Pacers fan, you face-palmed. If you were me, you […]
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – FEBRUARY 19: The Indiana Pacers celebrate after the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on February 19, 2016 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)’
0 comments by Bart D on 2/19/2016
The fist pump from Myles Turner as the clock ran to triple-zeros said it all. Finally, in a close game, the Indiana Pacers decided it was in their best interest to close it out, against the team with the third-best record in the league, no less: 101-98 over the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’s important not […]
