0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/16/2016
The Oklahoma City Thunder, should they lose to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals, would absorb another memorable disappointment. The franchise would have to face another stinging setback, a moment reminiscent of the 2012 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. Another failure against LeBron James — after rallying to defeat the San Antonio […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The 10-game upset is a term which isn’t firmly embedded in your mind. This marks the perfect time to internalize the term, and to begin to absorb a specific part of NBA postseason history. The 10-game upset is something the Oklahoma City Thunder have already achieved in 2016, and will try to replicate in this upcoming […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The Miami Heat died honorably on Sunday in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat pushed up the hill as long as they could. Having trailed by 17 points midway through the third quarter, they sliced their deficit to six in the early stages of the fourth quarter. They were right there, somehow […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The Toronto Raptors spent much of the past month — much of two fortnight-long series against the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat — fumbling, bumbling and stumbling. They watched DeMar DeRozan shoot them out of games in their losses, and into more precarious positions in their wins. The erosion of DeRozan’s game, relative to the […]
0 comments by John Cannon
With some time to reflect on the Golden State Warriors’ series against the Portland Trail Blazers, one thing kept coming back to me: Man, it’s a good thing they won that Game 5! Much has been said and written about the closeness of the series and how it didn’t feel like a 4-1 series at […]
REUTERS/Brent Smith (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/14/2016
Game 7 of a messy, cluttered Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors doesn’t merely give every player a last chance to get it right. Game 7 offers one more opportunity to each head coach, one more chance to leave a positive imprint on this series after six erratic games over […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The words “Game 7” might not stir the soul on Sunday afternoon in Canada as much as they ordinarily would in a second-round NBA playoff series, but the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors won’t care. They shouldn’t. The reality of sports contains an always-present disclaimer: An event might not live up to the hype or […]
SAN ANTONIO, TX – MAY 21: Tim Duncan #21 of the San Antonio Spurs before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Two of the Western Conference Finals during the 2014 NBA Playoffs on May 21, 2014 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/13/2016
It is easy — very easy — to think or say that any argument advocating Tim Duncan’s return for another NBA season is selfish and emotional. That’s undeniable and inescapable. When a giant of a sport comes closer to the end of a decorated career — a two-decade-long journey which established a remarkably elevated standard […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The Spurs lost because they’re old. The Spurs are done. The Spurs couldn’t match the athleticism of the Oklahoma City Thunder. All of those statements have been uttered before. The first two have already been refuted multiple times. The third is reasonable and fundamentally accurate, but it still doesn’t tell the whole story of another […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Billy Donovan didn’t coach his team all that well in his first-ever NBA playoff series in late April. The Dallas Mavericks might have lost a 4-1 series to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but Rick Carlisle coaxed so much more out of the resources available to him. The talent disparity between the two teams was too […]
Oklahoma City’s Enes Kanter (11) and San Antonio’s Tim Duncan (21) chase the ball during Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Thursday, May 12, 2016. Oklahoma City won 113-99. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Oklahoma City shook down the Thunder against the San Antonio Spurs, but unlike the 2012 series in which Gregg Popovich was outmaneuvered by an unheralded opposing coach, Oklahoma City rallied from a 2-1 series deficit with its defense. In 2012, the Scott Brooks Thunder captured Games 4 through 6 because they scored at least 107 […]
during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2015 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena on May 24, 2015 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.
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/12/2016
Frank Vogel and David Blatt already had a lot to think about in the first place. The Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, and Indiana Pacers all need a head coach. The New York Knicks’ coaching situation has not been fully or formally resolved, but Phil Jackson is carrying himself in a way which suggests that he’ll […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
We’ll eventually learn more about Scott Skiles’s abrupt resignation as the head coach of the Orlando Magic. Eventually. A press conference later on Thursday might tell us something. Subsequent reportage will unearth more details. In time, we should be able to fill in at least some of the blank spaces created by this shocking move. […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Bismack Biyombo didn’t carry the burdens which have weighed down so many of the participants in the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Toronto Raptors and the Miami Heat. DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, and Joe Johnson were all expected to be far better than they’ve been in this series — if not by […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/11/2016
San Antonio Spurs general manager R.C. Buford will make the Basketball Hall of Fame as an executive. Buford’s been that great in his role over the past two decades, making the Spurs the best-run organization in the NBA over the longer march of time in the 21st century. The relentless consistency attained by the Spurs […]
