NBA
LaMelo Ball wins NBA Rookie of the Year honors
LaMelo Ball is the 2020-21 NBA Rookie of the Year. The Charlotte Hornets guard got 84 of 99 first-place votes and was named the top rookie on Wednesday night. Reacting to the news, Ball noted that he set lofty ambitions for himself this season. “Honestly, way before the league when I was playing basketball and…
Read MoreDallas Mavericks part ways with Donnie Nelson
The Dallas Mavericks said they have mutually parted ways with Donnie Nelson, the team’s long-time president of basketball operations. Nelson, who had been with the Mavericks for 24 seasons, oversaw a franchise that made the playoffs in 17 of the last 21 seasons. But despite Luka Doncic’s emergence as an NBA star, the Mavericks have lost in…
Read MoreOnly two Americans in 1st Team All-NBA
NBA basketball has been an international game for a while. Nothing emphasizes that more than the recently announced 1st Team All-NBA, which had a record three international players on it to go along with Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard: Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), and Nikola Jokic (Serbia). That makes 2020-21 the first time an All-NBA 1st Team has been made up of mostly…
Read MoreMonster performance by Kevin Durant gives Brooklyn a 3-2 lead over the Bucks
Kevin Durant wasn’t planning to play all 48 minutes, but the two-time NBA champion did just that en route to a historic performance on Tuesday night to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a Game 5 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at Barclays Center. Durant recorded a game-high 49 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals, and two blocked…
Read MorePhoenix Suns complete sweep of Denver Nuggets
The Phoenix Suns won the first three games of the Western Conference finals by a combined 56 points. Game 4 against the Denver Nuggets wasn’t a double-digit rout, but coach Monty Williams’ Suns finished off the hosts with a 125-118 verdict in the Mile High City. Phoenix point guard Chris Paul had a banner performance…
Read MorePeter Vecsey blasts Michael Malone after Nuggets coach lambastes players
Peter Vecsey, a legendary basketball columnist who has followed the NBA for more than 50 years, believes Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone overstepped his boundaries in the aftermath of the team’s Game 2 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. With a 123-98 defeat, the Nuggets now face an 0-2 hole against the Suns in…
Read MoreLuka Doncic needs help if the Mavericks are going to take the next step
Luka Doncic joined the Dallas Mavericks via a draft-night trade back in 2018. And in each of the last two seasons, Doncic has helped lead the Mavericks to the postseason. That’s the good news. On the flip side of the narrative, Luka Doncic and the Mavs have been eliminated in the first round both times.…
Read MoreNikola Jokic wins NBA MVP award
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has won the NBA regular-season MVP, marking the first time in 21 years that a definitive center won the award. “I’m not objective certainly, but he’s having a historic year,” Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim said in April. “I’ve never seen a more difficult player to guard. He’s the best passer…
Read MoreJames Harden to miss Game 2 against Bucks
James Harden, who left the Brooklyn Nets’ last game early in the first quarter, won’t play in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series on Monday at Barclays Center. The star guard is nursing a right hamstring injury that limited him to 43 seconds of playing time in the Nets’ 115-107 victory over the…
Read MoreLos Angeles Clippers beat the Mavericks and move on to the next round of the playoffs
The Los Angeles Clippers secured a 126-111 win in a decisive Game 7 against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday afternoon at Staples Center. By doing so, they avoided, at least for now, a second consecutive short postseason run for stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Clippers will face the top-seeded Utah Jazz in the Western…
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