After a few rebuilding seasons, the San Antonio Spurs are back to being a serious force in the NBA. The team, led by Mitch Johnson, finished the regular season second in the West, just two wins behind OKC and comfortably ahead of the third-place Denver Nuggets. A clear statement: the Spurs matter again. Compared to…
The Los Angeles Lakers head into the first round of the NBA Playoffs facing what looks like an uphill battle. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will both be unavailable, with no clear timetable for their return. Head coach JJ Redick didn’t sugarcoat the latest injury update: They’re out indefinitely. I won’t have any further updates…
Bookmakers in Vegas and across the nation have the same conundrum every year when it comes to NBA playoff odds: They want the Lakers to be good but not too good. Win a series or two, maybe three, and preferably in six or seven games each time. Then get out of the way. So as…
Basketball Jones — I got a Basketball Jones. Sure, there are two more NBA postseason play-in games on Friday night, but sportsbooks have prices posted for six of the eight first-round series, along with conference markets, a title market and tons of exotics. There’s plenty of candy in the candy store. I’ve made my case…
The aftermath of the Charlotte Hornets-Miami Heat game has turned into a disciplinary matter. The NBA has fined LaMelo Ball a total of $60.000, combining two separate incidents that occurred during and after the Play-In game. Contact on Bam Adebayo and Flagrant 2 The first penalty, worth $35.000, concerns contact deemed “unnecessary and dangerous” against…
A rough blow for Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic, who fall 109-97 to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the NBA Play-In Tournament. Orlando never truly controlled the game: the Magic failed to win a single quarter, with their best stretch being a 31-31 tie in the second period. The biggest issue…
With the end of the NBA Regular Season, it is time to draw some conclusions ahead of the start of the postseason, with the Play-In Tournament beginning tonight. In the Western Conference, there was rarely any doubt about who would finish first: the Oklahoma City Thunder dominated from the very beginning. In the East, the…
The Blazers come out of the play-in with momentum and confidence, while the Spurs arrive carrying far different expectations built over the course of the regular season. The growth of the group led by Victor Wembanyama has changed the outlook in San Antonio: from young, inexperienced team to legitimate dark-horse contender with meaningful ambitions. Their…
The curtain closed on the regular season with a loss for the Golden State Warriors (115-110 to the Clippers), but the real show is just beginning. The Dubs’ season once again runs through Los Angeles: a win-or-go-home Play-In matchup with everything on the line. And with the stakes rising, Steve Kerr has already turned his…
In an NBA where the three-point shot has become the primary offensive weapon for virtually every franchise, how many people at the start of the season could have realistically imagined that the league’s leading shooter from beyond the arc would be a rookie? The No. 4 overall pick in the most recent NBA Draft, elite…
