Despite holding a combined record of 8-26 heading into Thursday’s game on TNT, a crosstown “rivals” matchup between the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets was a must-watch. No one expected these two teams to be as bad as they have been over the first month of the season, but various factors – primarily injuries and adjusting to some new faces – have turned them into the laughingstocks of the league. Someone still had to win the game, and the Knicks took
Believe it or not, a quarter of the NBA season has already come and gone. What have we learned so far through the first 20 games of the season? Time flies, the Portland Trail Blazers are for real, critical injuries can derail any team, and the Eastern Conference may never have been worse. After another impressive 111-104 home win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, the Blazers are a conference-best 16-3 – something no expert or fortune teller could have predicted
Parity \ˈper-ə-tē\ — the quality or state of being equal or equivalent. Parity is what most professional sports leagues strive for. Parity, or competitive balance in the case of sports, is good for business. It means games are competitive. It gives fans—of all teams—hope and reason to fill arena seats. Unfortunately for the National Basketball Association, parity seems non-existent nearly 20 games into the 2013-14 season. Former Boston Celtics forward Antoine Walker took notice of the disparity between the NBA conferences.
The Knicks went the entire month of November without a home win and started December the same way. New York lost its ninth straight game and seventh in a row at Madison Square Garden in a tough 103-99 setback to New Orleans on Sunday night. For a team that was supposed to be at least on the fringe of contention in the Eastern Conference, it’s almost unfathomable that the Knicks are 3-13. Coach Mike Woodson told reporters before the game that
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
The New Orleans Pelicans got a big win in New York Sunday night. They defeated the reeling Knicks, 103-99 to improve to 8-8 on the season after a disappointing 3-6 start.
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
Trades happen. And when they happen, good things can follow. Need proof? How about Marcin Gortat’s 11-for-12 shooting performance Wednesday night? Granted, it came against the woeful Milwaukee Bucks. But Gortat is 17-for-20 in his last two games, and the Washington Wizards – who dealt the injured Emeka Okafor for him prior to the season – appear to be headed to the playoffs as they float near .500 in the woeful Eastern Conference – which has two, count ‘em, two! – teams