National Basketball League News and Rumors
Barea lifts Timberwolves, lose Love to injuryAssociated Press, ESPN.com J.J. Barea scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter while All-Star forward Kevin Love sat on the bench with a sprained finger, lifting the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 101-97 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. |
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Stephen Jackson sprains ankle falling over waitress in front of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (VIDEO)Jan 3
Dan Devine, yahoo.com It's been less than three weeks since Stephen Jackson returned action after losing nearly a month to a fractured right pinky. Now, the San Antonio Spurs small forward could find himself back on the shelf, thanks to an unfortunate foot-fall, a possibly i… |
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Ramona Shelburne, ESPN.com Phil Jackson may not have signed on for another run as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, but he's about to join the Laker family nonetheless. |
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Associated Press, ESPN.com Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points, J.R. Smith kept up his surge with 20 and the New York Knicks snapped the San Antonio Spurs' seven-game winning streak with a 100-83 victory Thursday night |
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Andre Miller scored the 15,000th point of his NBA career on a mid-range jumper in the first quarter against Minnesota, becoming the eighth player to score that many and dish out at least 7,500 assists. |
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Amare' Stoudamire added 10 points off the bench in his second game back from injury, but the team's stifling defense was key to ending the Spurs' seven-game win streak. |
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Erik Malinowski, deadspin.com First of all, it makes no sense because Bowser doesn't come anywhere near World 1-1, and Mario could never carry any cool stuff on his back, like, say, an NBA championship trophy. But that's fine, Dallas Mavericks CGI worker bees. You have fun with your… |
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Associated Press, ESPN.com An autopsy has been conducted on the body of Scott Ashley Sterling, son of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. |
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Brian Windhorst, ESPN.com San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will play all his stars despite facing a fourth game in five nights Thursday against the New York Knicks on Thursday. |
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Dave McMenamin, ESPN.com When the Los Angeles Lakers play the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, all 16 championship banners hanging from the Staples Center rafters will belong to the team in the purple and gold. |
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Most wins in the Eastern Conference, fewest rebounds in the NBA. |
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Eric Freeman, yahoo.com If you have any interest in movies, you're probably familiar with "Django Unchained," the new film from the hyperactively cinephilic filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. In a little more than a week, the movie — which concerns a freed slave (Jamie Fox… |
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Kelly Dwyer, yahoo.com You’d probably make the call, too, whether your experience with college hoops either meant watching hours on end of the stuff from Midnight Madness onward or cramming in the days leading up to the NBA draft. Do you take the studly power forward with the… |
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Experts are giving the Mavericks a slim chance of making the playoffs. But Rob Mahoney argues that with Dirk Nowitzki back in the lineup, no one can count out the 2011 champs. |
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Dan Devine, yahoo.com When Amar'e Stoudemire made his 2012-13 season debut with the New York Knicks in the team's New Year's Day loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, he didn't exactly look great on defense. This is not surprising; as NBA.com's John Schuhmann (among others) no… |
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Spencer Lund, dimemag.com There are a lot of stars at power forward in the NBA. You have your Nowitzkis and Gasols, your Amar’e Stoudemires and Paul Millsaps; your Josh Smiths and Zach Randolphs and the newer stars like Blake Griffin, Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge set to take… |
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ESPN.com, ESPN.com Whose early-season success is a sign of things to come? |
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Andrew Greif, dimemag.com Tonight isn’t just about two games on national TV, because that happens every Thursday. Tonight, and specifically New York vs. San Antonio, is something in the making for much, much longer. The Knicks and the Spurs’ matchup feels like a big game becau… |
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Kelly Dwyer, yahoo.com Fresh off his work re-tooling the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns after disappointing turns at the hands of Jason Kidd and Stephon Marbury, Bryan Colangelo was a hot commodity in 2006. The GM was rumored to possibly have enough basketball sway to take over … |
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Beckley Mason, nytimes.com Eric Bledsoe's shooting percentage and assists are down, and his turnovers are up, after a hot start in which he was seen as an early contender for most improved player. |
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Sean Sweeney, dimemag.com From the weird injuries to his awful shooting numbers to the reports of his unhappiness to even Minnesota’s slow start, this year must be trying Kevin Love‘s patience. Coming off his best season, as well as his experience at the summer Olympics, pundi… |
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Michael Wallace, ESPN.com LeBron James sat out of Thursday's practice to receive extensive treatment for his bruised right knee but hopes to play in Friday's game against the Chicago Bulls. |
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Dan Devine, yahoo.com Greg Smith has come a long way in a relatively short period, going from undrafted out of Fresno State to D-League All-Star to winning a roster spot in a crowded frontcourt and becoming the backup center on a Houston Rockets team that's become both an aw… |
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Barry Petchesky, deadspin.com Former Rutgers standout and Kings first-rounder Quincy Douby had the game of his life yesterday, putting up 75 points for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in the Chinese Basketball Association. This is an awful lot of points for someone who average 4.1 ppg in … |
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Barry Petchesky, deadspin.com It's sort of inexplicable how Toronto's Amir Johnson was able to get away with this. He takes the pass, dribbles to just outside the lane, picks up his dribble, pump fakes, pump fakes, and drives for a short jumper. By the game clock, it took him nearly… |
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Dan Devine, yahoo.com It's a point I've made after both the first and second round of ballot results in the fan voting for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game — the lack of recognition that Stephen Curry and David Lee are getting for their sensational early-season play with the Golde… |
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The reeling Boston Celtics are struggling at league-low levels with Kevin Garnett off the floorJan 3
Kelly Dwyer, yahoo.com On Christmas day, the Boston Celtics absolutely and utterly waxed the Brooklyn Nets in full view of a national TV audience and the Nets’ home crowd. Playing an energetic style of ball, the C’s took Brooklyn out of their offense, only ceding buckets to… |
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Spencer Lund, dimemag.com The season isn’t even halfway done, and Kobe Bryant has still uttered enough to reporters to fill a top 10 list. He’s not pulling any punches with his rhetoric concerning the disappointing early season for the Lakers, and on Wednesday night, after a t… |
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Jim Cavan, nytimes.com The Knicks on Thursday night will host the San Antonio Spurs, who got 28 points and 13 rebounds the previous night from the consistently terrific Tim Duncan. |
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Dan Devine, yahoo.com For a while now, I have believed that Kris Humphries' sweat game is underrated. Whenever the topic of the sweatiest players in the NBA comes up (and it comes up kind of a lot, which seems weird but also makes sense considering how much exposed skin the … |
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Carl Lamarre, dimemag.com DeMarcus Cousins is an interesting individual. He’s obviously a very talented player. At 6-11, he’s shown off his tremendous skill set as a premier big man since his days at Kentucky. With a knack for scoring around the basket, rebounding at an alarmi… |
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With two months of the season in the books, five contenders have separated themselves from the field. Ian Thomsen examines them and more as he resets the 2012-13 season. |
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Dan Devine, yahoo.com It had been a frustrating Wednesday night for Kevin Durant. He'd watched his Oklahoma City Thunder — once again perched atop the Western Conference and boasting the NBA's best record, after the Denver Nuggets snapped the Los Angeles Clippers' 17-game wi… |
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Winning back-to-back NBA championships is the most difficult challenge a superstar will ever face. How do you stay motivated when you already have experienced the biggest highs and lows that the game has to offer? You are the best player on the best tea… |
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Wrong Kind Of StreakJan 3
The Clippers suffered their second straight blowout in a 115-94 loss to the Warriors. With Steph Curry on fire and L.A. cooling off, Golden State shined in the rout, says Rob Mahoney. |
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Dime Magazine, dimemag.com How often do you see it happen: a visiting team takes control in the fourth quarter before squandering a late chance to grab a W, and then end up getting pounded into submission in the extra session? Dallas is feeling the pain now after letting the Heat… |
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Associated Press, ESPN.com Gordon Hayward scored 17 points, Enes Kanter had 15 and the Utah Jazz beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-84 on Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak. |
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So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You'll find takes on moments you might've missed from... |
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I handed out mid-season awards for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Sixth Man of the Year on Wednesday. Now it's time to address the other thr... |
