NBA on Any Sport Any Time
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013
Tim Duncan (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)
The San Antonio Spurs found out they will have to play a full 48 minutes to beat the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA playoffs.
On Tuesday night in Texas, the Spurs had a 72-54 third quarter lead, only to see the Grizzlies march back and force overtime with a great fourth quarter. The Spurs however hung on to win with a 93-89 victory to take a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final.
Three-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 17 points. It wa a bounce back game for the two-time NBA MVP who will be a future first ballot Hall of Famer, as Duncan only scored six points in game one of the series.
The big news however is regarding the health of Spurs star point guard Tony Parker, who is having a MRI on his calf. The injury didn’t effect Parker’s passing ability last night as he had a career-best 18 assists.
Tags: memphis grizzlies, san antonio spurs, tim duncan, tony parker
Posted in NBA |
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
Vinny Del Negro (KeIth Allison, Wikimedia Commons)
Despite leading the Los Angeles Clippers to 56 wins this season, it appears the Clippers do not plan to bring back their head coach Vinny Del Negro in 2013-14.
According to a report by Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday, Del Negro will not be offered a contract. Quite simply, the Clippers are making a decision they are notorious for making throughout the history of their franchise–a decision that sets them considerably back rather than forward. Apparently just finishing 30 games above .500 during the regular season is not good enough to keep your job.
There is no question that Del Negro is the best coaching candidate on the market right now and the Raptors to get him, they will have to act fast.
Today the Raptors announced that general manager Bryan Colangelo will no longer make basketball decisions and named him team president. New Chief Executive Officer Tim Leiweke now has the responsibility to find a new general manager. However the decision may have to come sooner rather than later if it means bringing in Del Negro and firing Dwayne Casey.
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Tags: bryan colangelo, Los ANgeles Clippers, tim leiweke, Toronto Raptors, vinny del negro
Posted in NBA |
Sunday, May 19th, 2013
The San Antonio Spurs were the dominant team on Sunday in the Western Conference Finals.
Five Spurs scored in double digits in a convincing 105-83 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in game one of the series.
French point guard Tony Parker led the Spurs with 20 points. The game was basically over after the first quarter when the Spurs outscored the Grizzlies 31-14. The Spurs were equally as dominant in the fourth quarter offensively when they scored 32 points.
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Tags: memphis grizzlies, san antonio spurs, tony parker
Posted in NBA |
Sunday, May 19th, 2013
The Indiana Pacers got production from an unlikely source Saturday night against the New York Knicks.
It was simply shooting guard Lance Stephenson’s night to shine. Stephenson, who had the weakest resume of all of the Pacers’ starting five heading into the game, had a career night. The product out of the University of Cincinnati who grew up in Brooklyn, had a career high (regular season or playoffs) 25 points in a 106-99 Indiana win in game six of the Eastern Conference semi-final.
With the win, the Pacers eliminated the New York Knicks 4-2, and will now have the extremely difficult challenge of trying to beat the Miami Heat in the Eastern Final. That series will start Wednesday evening on TSN.
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Tags: indiana pacers, lance stephenson, Miami Heat, New York Knicks
Posted in NBA |
Saturday, May 18th, 2013
Sidney Crosby (Michael Miller, Wikimedia Commons)
Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all-time. Heck, he is also the greatest athlete of all-time. But I think it is safe to say that right now Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins is the best hockey player in the world right now.
On Friday night, Crosby showed just why he is so great. In a dominating performance, Crosby had a hat trick by the early portion of the second period in a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators in game two of the Eastern Conference semi-final that put the Penguins up 2-0 in the best-out-of-seven series.
Crosby will now have the opportunity to showcase his skills north of the border this weekend as Pittsburgh travels to Ottawa for game three of the Eastern Conference semi-final (Sunday, CBC, 5:30 p.m.). I know the Penguins are loaded with talent that includes Evgeni Malkin and Jarome Iginla, but the bottom line is when healthy Pittsburgh is Crosby’s team.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching:
Saturday–MLB–New York Mets @ Chicago Cubs–WPIX–11:00 a.m.–Two teams in fourth place in their divisions play today at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are 17-24 in the National League Central, while the Mets are 16-23 in the National League East. First baseman Anthony Rizzo, who represented Italy at the World Baseball Classic, with nine home runs, 29 runs batted in and a .522 slugging percentage. While so far this season, the Mets have been led by third baseman David Wright, who leads the team with a .312 batting average, .418 on base percentage and a .536 slugging percentage.
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Tags: anthony rizzo, boston bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, chicago cubs, david bolland, david west, david wright, departing, detroit red wings, evgeni malkin, frank vogel, george hill, goldencents, henrik lundqvist, indiana pacers, jarome iginla, jhonas enroth, los angeles kings, loui eriksson, mylute, New York Knicks, new york mets, new york rangers, orb, Ottawa Senators, paul george, Pittsburgh Penguins, preakness, roy hibbert, San Jose Sharks, Sidney Crosby, Wayne Gretzky, world hockey championship
Posted in Amateur Sports, MLB, More, NBA, NHL |
Friday, May 17th, 2013
Tony Parker (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)
The San Antonio Spurs will play the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs.
On Thursday, the Spurs defeated the Golden State Warriors 94-82 to win the Western Conference Semi-Final series 4-2.
The game was extremely close with about 3:46 left and the Spurs only leading the Warriors 77-75. Then the Spurs showed their experience by outscoring the Warriors 17-7 down the stretch, headlined by 10 points from Tony Parker, including two baskets from beyond the arc.
The Spurs also went with a smaller lineup down the stretch in the game interestingly enough. Head coach Greg Popovich elected to put Tiago Splitter in the game rather than his star Tim Duncan. The move paid off.
In other action, the New York Knicks have forced a game six Saturday night in their Eastern Conference semi-final against the Indiana Pacers. Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points as the Knicks defeated the Pacers 85-75. Indiana still leads the series 3-2.
Tags: carmelo anthony, golden state warriors, greg popovich, indiana pacers, New York Knicks, san antonio spurs, tiago splitter, tony parker
Posted in NBA |
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
We now know half the teams who have qualified for the National Basketball Association’s conference finals.
On Wednesday night, the Miami Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference Final with a 94-91 win over the Chicago Bulls to win the Eastern Conference semi-final series 4-1, while the Memphis Grizzlies advanced to the Western Conference Final with a 88-84 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the Western Conference semi-final series 4-1 as well.
The Heat win over the Bulls I think I can safely say was expected. However the fact the Grizzlies beat the Thunder is significant. It just proves how much the Thunder were missing their point guard Russell Westbrook, who needed knee surgery after suffering an injury against the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference quarterfinal.
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Tags: chicago bulls, marc gasol, memphis grizzlies, Miami Heat, mike conley, oklahoma city thunder, quincy pondexter, russell westbrook, tayshaun prince, tony allen, zach randolph
Posted in NBA |
Thursday, May 9th, 2013
The Golden State Warriors have broken one of the most dubious losing streaks in all of sports. Wednesday evening the Warriors broke a 30 game losing streak in San Antonio, with a 100-91 win over the Spurs to tie the Western Conference Semi-Final at one game apiece.
The Warriors had not won in San Antonio since Valentine’s Day of 1997.
The Warriors should actually be up 2-0 in their Western Conference Semi-Final series, but blew a 15 point lead with four minutes remaining in a 129-127 loss to San Antonio in game one.
The Warriors got a double double from guard Klay Thompson. The second year player out of Washington State had 34 points and 14 rebounds.
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Tags: chicago bulls, golden state warriors, klay thompson, miam heat, ray allen, san antono spurs
Posted in NBA |
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
When you think of the San Antonio Spurs, you think of great defense. Well, overtime things change and the San Antonio Spurs are no longer just a great defensive team. Monday night was a great example, as the Spurs defeated the Golden State Warriors 129-127 in game one of the Western Conference semi-final.
Sure the game did go into double overtime, but a decade ago, it was more common to see the Spurs win easily by only posting double digits in total points.
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Tags: chicago bulls, danny green, golden state warriors, indiana pacers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, san antonio spurs, tony parker
Posted in Home, NBA |
Monday, May 6th, 2013
P.J. Carlesimo (Mark Runyon, Wikimedia Commons)
The standards and expectations are getting higher and higher in the National Basketball Association. Just making the playoffs has become not good enough in order for head coaches to keep their job.
On Sunday the Brooklyn Nets fired head coach P.J. Carlesimo, despite the fact the Nets qualified for the postseason and the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference.
Carlesimo becomes the second head coach this season to take his team to the playoffs and then to find out he would be out of a job once his team was eliminated. Last week the Milwaukee Bucks fired Jim Boylan after the Bucks were swept by the Miami Heat.
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Tags: brooklyn nets, jim boylan, milwaukee bucks, p.j. carlesimo
Posted in NBA |
Sunday, May 5th, 2013
Three lower seeds have advanced to the conference semi-finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs.
Last night, the fifth seeded Chicago Bulls defeated the Brooklyn Nets 99-93 in game seven of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal. Former Toronto Raptor Marco Belinelli led the Bulls in scoring with a playoff career high off 24 points. The Italian native now has 46 points in his last two games.
The Bulls will now play the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semi-finals with the New York Knicks facing the Indiana Pacers.
In the Western Conference, the Memphis Grizzlies will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in one conference semi-final with the Golden State Warriors facing the San Antonio Spurs in the other series.
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Tags: andrew bogut, chicago bulls, golden state warriors, marco belinelli, memphis grizzlies, stephen curry
Posted in NBA |
Thursday, May 2nd, 2013
James Harden (Derral Chen, Wikimedia Commons)
When the New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder went up 3-0 in their respective series, it just seemed inevitable before they would close out the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets respectively.
However times have changed. In the Thunder/Rockets series, Oklahoma City just seems completely out of sync without point guard Russell Westbrook, and it is clear that James Harden is feeling more and more comfortable knocking down three-pointers, as he did last night when he recorded seven shots from beyond the arc in a 107-100 win over Oklahoma City.
All of a sudden, the Rockets are only down 3-2 in the series and have the momentum heading into Houston for game six.
Meanwhile in the New York/Boston series, the Celtics beat the Knicks 92-86 last night to pull within one game in that series (3-2 Knicks). The Celtics are showing great experience at the moment. Kevin Garnett does not seem like a player who is about to retire. Garnett delivered a double double last night (16 points and 18 rebounds).
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Tags: boston celtics, houston rockets, james harden, kevin garnett, memphis grizzlies, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, oklahoma city thunder, san antonio spurs
Posted in NBA |
Sunday, April 28th, 2013
About a week ago while watching Sportscentre, TSN’s Darren Dutchyshen disagreed with the NHL’s plan to have the Boston Bruins play the Ottawa Senators this evening. He recommended that the game be cancelled rather than rescheduled because of the traumatic events in Boston this month.
In the NBA, a game between the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers was cancelled, and the game would have had seeding implications if played. However the NBA thought it was in their best interest, just to cancel the game.
However, I am very pleased to see that the game between Ottawa and Boston is played tonight. The Bruins will win the Northeast Division with a win, and the Senators will move from eighth to seventh with a victory. Not to mention, but the game has huge implications for thousands of hockey pools across the globe.
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Tags: boston bruins, boston celtics, Edmonton Oilers, indiana pacers, nail yakupov, ottawa sentors, Vancouver Canucks
Posted in NBA, NHL |
Sunday, April 28th, 2013
On Saturday, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Brooklyn Nets 142-134, in what will go down as one of the greatest basketball games ever played.
The Bulls not only won in triple overtime, but made a remarkable comeback to get by the Nets, to take a 3-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal.
With just under three minutes left, the Nets were leading 109-95. But the Bulls simply didn’t give up, and were led by their backup point guard Nate Robinson, who had a game for the ages. Robinson recorded 12 straight points himself in a span of 1:43 to pull the Bulls within a bucket. Then with 23 seconds left Joakim Noah tied the game at 111 to force overtime.
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Tags: chicago bulls, joakim noah, Nate Robinson, nazr mohammed
Posted in NBA |
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