0 comments by Matt Zemek on 3/21/2016
The NBA playoff pushes in both conferences are slowly beginning to acquire more moment-to-moment urgency. In light of plot twists such as the Cleveland Cavaliers declaring that they really don’t care about the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the final arrangement of postseason matchups becomes ever more intriguing in the East. In […]
0 comments by Crossover Chronicles
There will be plenty of time for Warriors fans to anticipate the future made possible by the decision Kevin Durant announced on the 4th of July, but let’s take a moment to acknowledge that this is not solely a continuation of what the Warriors have built to this point. It’s a new beginning, and also, […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Sunday afternoon in the American Airlines Center, the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers played one of the more thrilling and remarkable games of the 2016 NBA season. The considerable importance of the game only magnified the proceedings. Mavs-Blazers was packed with fun, craziness and intensity, offering something for fans with wildly disparate tastes. The game […]
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 […]
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry sits on the bench during a timeout in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs, Saturday, March 19, 2016, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 87-79. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
0 comments by John Cannon
The Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs came into Saturday night’s game under very different circumstances. Accordingly, they had different needs and wants. The Spurs have been rolling, were as healthy as they’ve been all year, and were playing at home. They had Friday off, and had enjoyed a blowout win on Thursday night […]
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 3/12/2016
Michael Beasley is, in a sense, the quintessential Houston Rocket, even though he’s been with the team for only four games. Beasley fits right into the Rockets’ overall pattern of being… well… largely free of patterns. Houston is just about impossible to neatly slot into any kind of pattern or category other than one: It […]
0 comments by Zac Voynow on 3/11/2016
Anthony Bennett was the number one overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. You could make the argument that he’s been the worst No. 1 draft pick in the history of the NBA. It is pretty tough to top Greg Oden and Kwame Brown, but Bennett is in the process of earning this dubious distinction. […]
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 Matt Zemek on 3/9/2016
The Utah Jazz needed the Washington Wizards to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday night in Oregon. Know who else needed the Wizards to beat the Blazers in the Northwest? The Wizards. It was a bad night for two teams trying to chase down one of the final playoff spots in their respective conferences. Tipping-point […]
