0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/20/2016
The Cleveland Cavaliers gained a lot of rest before the Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavs are rolling past the Toronto Raptors. The rested team is rolling. Why is it rolling? Because of rolling rest. * What’s rolling rest, you ask, and why the seemingly cute introduction to this story? Very simply, this is not a […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The NBA’s Eastern Conference playoffs have provided a number of timely reminders to sports fans. One reminder is that the playoffs need to be desegregated in terms of conferences, and ideally turned into a conference-free bracket. The NBA’s need for conferences no longer exists. The concept has outlived its usefulness. Another reminder is more specific […]
0 comments by Bart D on 5/17/2016
You probably could have drawn it up a little cleaner along the way, but as we drill down to four teams left in the NBA season, the ends are more likely to justify the means than they’ve ever been. The Eastern Conference Finals opens tonight in Cleveland, a tortured city only eight wins (and four […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/16/2016
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 Kevin Causey on 5/15/2016
Check out this awesome dunk from Bismack Biyombo is the fourth quarter of the Toronto Raptors game seven win over the Miami Heat. Biyombo finished the game with 17 points and 16 boards….. BIZ activates https://t.co/VjKRFUN295 — NBA (@NBA)
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 on 5/12/2016
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 Kevin Causey on 5/11/2016
With the Toronto Raptors up by three and less than a minute remaining, Kyle Lowry stepped up and nailed a clutch three-pointer to give the Raptors a six point lead. The Raptors would go on to beat the Heat and take a 3-2 lead in the series….. Big time shot by
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/10/2016
Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat — like the series itself — was painful to watch. Those of us who operate sports blogs traffic in the written word and the well-turned phrase, but once in a great while, the essence of a game — everything you […]
0 comments by Kevin Causey on 5/9/2016
Toronto guard Norman Powell got into the action early in game four with a steal and a dunk for the Raptors…. Norman Powell picked his pocket for the easy dunk. https://t.co/BqN4jI4T5c — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT)
0 comments by Kevin Causey
Check out this big-time dunk by Bismack Biyombo in the first quarter of game four between the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat…. FEROCIOUS.
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/8/2016
The inconvenient truth about Kyle Lowry’s breakout in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals is that it began not only before the fourth quarter, but before Dwyane Wade put the Miami Heat on his back. Yes, before D-Wade produced the surge which led the Heat to a flat-footed 68-all tie at the end of […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/6/2016
The Cavs have won every day of the Eastern Conference semifinals, if you think about it. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Four days have come and gone in the two East semis, and Cleveland has emerged the winner at the end of them. Let’s not pretend to ignore the larger reality behind the first two games […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/5/2016
The NBA playoffs are nothing if not a two-month seminar on the importance of having extra options at the offensive end of the floor. The NBA playoffs, one could say, are a uniquely American creature because they magnify the blessing this country has afforded to many of its citizens over time: the ability to take […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/4/2016
Kyle Lowry’s shooting stroke is a huge problem for the Toronto Raptors… well, unless we’re talking about halfcourt shots: Despite any public claims — from Lowry or anyone else — that his elbow injury is not affecting his shooting stroke, the numbers don’t lie in this instance. An established pattern is too entrenched to ignore […]
