Looks like we’ve got a good old-fashioned rookie duel on our hands. Tuesday’s showdown in Philadelphia between 76ers guard Michael Carter-Williams and Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo was more than just a spectacular display by two future stars. It was a microcosm of this season’s race for Rookie of the Year. In case you live in an igloo, both Carter-Williams and Oladipo had their first career triple-doubles in a wild double-overtime affair won by the Sixers, 126-125. MCW had 27 points, 12
Remember that streak of games hot-shooting LeBron James put together last February? Well, he’s doing it again. Much earlier in the season. And for a longer stretch. And if he keeps it up, it will become historic. Because since the ABA-NBA merger, no wing player or point guard has scored this much while shooting this well. Not Dr. J. Not even Michael Jordan. Yes, really. Through the first month of the season, James is third in the league in scoring at 26.2 points per
Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin, one of the NBA’s top reserves this season, is out at least two weeks with a knee injury. According to the team, Lin has a Grade one sprain and contusion of his right knee suffered in Wednesday’s home win over the Atlanta Hawks. He will be sidelined two weeks before being re-evaluated. It is not the same knee in which Lin had surgery to repair a meniscus tear during the 2012 offseason, when he left the New
That was an expensive drink Brooklyn Nets coach Jason Kidd spilled on the court Friday night. The NBA fined Kidd $50,000 on Thursday after determining that Kidd intentionally spilled his cup onto the floor to delay the game and buy his team some huddle time.
We’ve come up with a well-deserved nickname for the Class of 2013. The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight. The perpetual clanging coming from this group makes an auto body shop sound like a library. Among rookies averaging 10 minutes per game, Brooklyn big man Mason Plumlee is the only one making more shots than he misses. Cody Zeller, who is 7 feet tall, has gone 11 straight games making less than half his shots. Not one of the top eight scorers is shooting
Kyle Korver won’t tie Dana Barros’ record for most consecutive games with a 3-pointer. At least not tonight. Korver is one of three members of the Atlanta Hawks who did not make the trip to Houston to play the Rockets on Wednesday night. He remained in Atlanta to receive treatment for a bruised rib. So why are we giving you an injury report on an otherwise ordinary player with a fantastic shooting stroke? Because the last time Korver didn’t make a 3-pointer in a
Kobe Bryant has signed a two-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, which means he likely will have a 20-year career. The Lakers did not announce financial terms. Bryant is the highest-paid player in the NBA this season, making $30.4 million. He and Michael Jordan are the only NBA players to make $30 million in one season. Bryant was eligible to receive 105 percent of his current salary, which would put his 2014-15 earnings at almost $32 million. However, reports out
We are all familiar with the Spurs and their uncanny efficiency. Are you familiar with AAU basketball? I have coached it at the high school level for the last three years. And one thing I have learned is that with just four hours of weekly practice time followed by four games every weekend, if you don’t have definitive, well-drilled schemes on both offense and defense, you have no chance to compete. However, if you have a group that is committed to a