They were up by as many as 17 points, but these Knicks still found a way to end their 8 game winning streak and lose a very winnable game against a very subpar team. And the playoff season quickly approaches.
With the eighth-place Hawks coughing up a double-digit lead and losing to Toronto earlier on Sunday, the Knicks squandered a chance to move back within two games of a playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
They greatly damaged their playoff hopes by flushing a 17-point lead and falling to undermanned Cleveland, 106-100, at the Garden, halting their season-best win streak at eight games and putting their season back on red alert.
There have been too many of these squandered opportunities this season. With games like this, these guys don’t deserve playing in the playoffs.
It was well rumored, but the rumor will finally be being confirmed to be true.
According to this tweet from NY Post Marc Berman, the official announcement that the 2015 All-Star weekend will be split between Madison Square Garden in Manhattan and The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, will be made by the NBA in a press conference on Wednesday.
NBA is going to announce Wednesday the All-Star Game 2015 plans with Garden getting main event and Barclays getting prelim festivities.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard DeAndre Liggins has been jailed on domestic abuse complaints, according to Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office records.
He was taken to the Oklahoma County jail. He is being held on complaints of domestic assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and domestic abuse in the presence of a minor, a jail official said.
Oklahoma City police were called at about 4:40 p.m. to the 2300 block of NW 180th near North Pennsylvania Avenue. An official police incident report is not yet available, Lt. Arthur Gregory said.
“From what I understand it was a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship,” Gregory said. “And I don’t know who the child was, if it was theirs, her’s or his.”
Liggins averaged 1.5 points and 1.4 rebounds in 39 games with the Thunder last season, his first in OKC. He is on a non-guaranteed contract for the upcoming season. Training camp begins in late September.
Part of me cried a little today. Today marks the retirement of Tracy McGrady, this month marked the retirement of Allen Iverson as well. Goodbye Tracy McGrady. Goodbye Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson aka “The Answer”, a former first round pick for the Philadelphia 76ers, lived up to his high draft pick. Allen is historically one of the 76ers greatest players to ever wear their uniform, add to that his ROTY (Rookie of the Year) award, a NBA MVP, multiple:scoring titles, All Star selections and NBA First Team selections, lastly a 2001 Finals appearance; A.I has quite a nice resume for any NBA player.
“The Answer” will probably be best remembered for his “practice” rant that signaled his end in a 76ers uniform. Past that rant though, he’ll be remembered for his killer cross over, his one handed put back dunk, and his amazing Game 1 Finals performance in 2001.
Allen’s legacy will be an interesting one. He revolutionized the Point Guard position, proved a little guy can hang with the best, and brought about a cultural revolution in the NBA (tattoos, corn rows, oversized jerseys); on the flip side though he will be remembered for being selfish, a cancer to teams, and a coach killer.
Tracy McGrady aka T Mac was a former 9th round draft pick for the Toronto Raptors. He may have played up to his superstar potential but never achieved the success others did. T Mac was a prolific scorer and earned multiple scoring titles, All Star selections and NBA First Team selections as well; sadly T Mac never took his own team to the Finals, let alone past the first round of the playoffs.
T Mac will be best remembered for the classic performance he put on against the Spurs where he scored 13 points in 35 seconds! McGrady will also be remembered for his amazing dunks and his offensive dominance.
Tracy McGrady’s legacy is also an interesting one. He had the superstar potential to be one of the best, in his prime years he easily was the best. Sadly due to injuries he never was able to win it all.
This month marks the end of two of the great players in the NBA. While these two men have no rings between the two, their names are still talked about today and I will tell my kids about Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady. I hope to see both in the NBA Hall Of Fame as soon as they’re eligible.
…next year that is. Yes, the 2013-2014 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers seems more like a throw away season. The Lakers have lost their “next in line” player in Dwight Howard, have an aging Gasol, Kobe, and Nash, and have no cap space to sign any big name player this free agency. Heck, looking at the Lakers roster right now any person would laugh at it. This of course is all part of the Lakers plan for the 2014 free agency period.
Probably the Lakers biggest free agent signing, Center Chris Kaman
After this coming season, the Lakers will have around $40 million in cap space and only two players under contract, Steve Nash ($9.7 million) and Robert Sacre ($915,243). The Lakers can even waive Nash since he’ll be in his final season and stretch his money owed and only take a $3.2 million dollar salary cap hit in 2014-2015. Kobe Bryant will be the only big question mark considering he seems to want to play another three to four seasons, so let’s just pencil him in for around $10-15 million.
Lebron can become a free agent after 2014 and the Lakers are gearing up for a run at him
Let me read off some big names who will be free agents in 2014: Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Danny Granger, Loul Deng, Dirk Nowitzki and Dwayne Wade. The list continues if you want to add in the Restricted Free Agents which focus around up and coming stars like Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Eric Beldsoe, and Paul George; all of them though aren’t leaving their respected teams no matter what. The 2014 free agent class is massive in terms of star power to say the least and a team like the Lakers plan to take full advantage of it.
Teammates? It’s not as far fetched as you’d think
Let’s get this out of the way, Lebron James will not be taking his talents to L.A, that’s a total pipe dream. The same can be said for any of the young restricted free agents, especially Kyrie and Paul George. The only possible star the Lakers can land would be Carmelo Anthony. In his current tenure in New York, Melo hasn’t had incredible playoff success and coming to a town like L.A where he will be the man and be paired up with another super star is an intriguing offer to say the least. Plus, the Lakers can offer Melo a huge contract of four years and around $100 million dollars. It shall be a very interesting off season to say the least and the 2015 free agent class promises to be the same with players like Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo, and LeMarcus Aldridge becoming free agents. God I love the NBA.
Bynum was pursued by the Mavericks and Cavaliers this free agency
The Cleveland Cavaliers have officially signed Center Andrew Bynum to a two-year deal worth a total of $24.5 million. While this sounds like a risky deal for Cleveland, it’s actually a brilliant pick up.
A new team requires a new hair style
The details of the contract only guarantee Bynum $6 million dollars and one single year; Cleveland has given him an incentive heavy contract and holds the option for a second year. This ensures that Cleveland will have plenty of cap space come the 2014 free agency period to lure a big name free agent, Lebron James, and bring him back home. On top of ensuring plenty of cap space Cleveland now has, when healthy and engaged, easily one of the top five big men in the league.
Cleveland is clearly hoping for the Bynum who played in L.A to show up
Bynum, who didn’t play all of last season with the 76ers, was an up and coming All Star back in Los Angeles. In his final year in L.A he averaged 18.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and made his first NBA All Star appearance. On top of all that he was also part of two NBA Championship teams during his tenure as a Laker. Andrew Bynum is a very good, if not nearly complete basketball package; he has a good post game on offense and is a big body to deal with on defense.
The Eastern Conference is becoming much more interesting…
The NBA free agency period has only been open for two days now and while no serious star has moved yet, there is plenty of word of the stars realigning very soon. A report coming from Sam Amick of USA Today says that if Dwight Howard were to sign with the Houston Rockets, the team would then pursue adding Atlanta Hawks free agent Josh Smith as well.
The Houston Rockets want their own “Big 3” now
Let’s keep this paragraph based all upon “If ‘s“. If Dwight Howard were to sign with the Houston Rockets, he would be locked down for four years and earn around $88 million dollars. This in turn would create a very dynamic duo of up and coming superstar James Harden and All Star Dwight Howard. If that wasn’t enough, let’s say they land Josh Smith via a sign and trade, that’s the only way Smith can come over due to Houston’s financial situation. If this happens their starting line up would be James Harden, Patrick Beverley (Jeremy Lin will start if he’s not traded), Chandler Parsons, Josh Smith, and Dwight Howard; that right there is a line up you wouldn’t want to mess with. Or is it…?
Josh Smith loves to have the ball
Josh Smith loves his touches, loves to rack up a nice score sheet, and loves to shoot. James Harden loves to control the ball, loves to rack up a nice score card, and loves to shoot. Dwight Howard loves his touches, loves being the “go to guy”, and loves to be the number 1 option. See the problem yet? There aren’t enough basketballs in all of the NBA to satisfy all their selfish desires to be the number 1 guy. On top of their needs for more balls comes their immediate lack of depth at every position. Houston has already sent Carlos Delfino and Aaron Brooks packing and currently are offering Jeremy Lin and Omar Asik to any team for something in return. Why would Houston want to stack a heavy starting unit like that and leave a depleted bench, haven’t the 2012-2013 Los Angeles Lakers taught you anything?
Houston has it’s leader in James Harden. Why complicate it?
I am no Houston Rockets fan by any means but this idea of a Big 3 constructed with Dwight Howard, James Harden, and Josh Smith sounds horrible. Sure their talent level will be off the charts but I just cannot see them all meshing together. On top of that Houston shouldn’t rely on their starting core so heavily, we’ve seen that fail countless times before. If I were a Rockets fan, I’d be hoping Josh Smith takes his talents to Detroit rather than Houston.
Last night during the 2013 NBA Draft the Brooklyn Nets acquired the Celtics two biggest names, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett along with veteran shooter Jason Terry; in return the Boston Celtics got three first round picks (’14, ’16, and ’18), Kris Humphries (expiring contract), Gerald Wallace, Kris Joseph, Marshon Brooks, and Keith Bogans. Here’s a minute to let that all sink in.
The pressure is on for new Nets coach Jason Kidd
Right minute over, you alright? Looking at this trade it shows that the Brooklyn Nets have no problem with being way over the cap, love to be a center of attention, and have fully embraced the “win now” mind set. Overall their starting five: Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Brook Lopez, is pretty strong looking. With Paul Pierce they fill their need at Small Forward, with Kevin Garnett they bring a tested player and veteran into the locker room, lastly with Jason Terry they bring more perimeter shooting.
Will Brooklyn hoist a NBA Championship banner soon? Unlikely.
The trade puts Brooklyn in a tough position for the next few seasons. This team is walking into the 2013-2014 season with a new inexperienced coach, aging roster, weak bench, and as a whole way over the cap and into the luxury tax. If you ever wanted to see a team pull a “all or nothing” move, you’re looking at it. Brooklyn clinched 4th seed in the East last season and lost to an undermanned Chicago Bulls team. With the additions of Pierce, Garnett, and Terry they become more intimidating but still lack the punch teams like the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, and Chicago Bulls have to even contend for a championship. The Brooklyn Nets are stuck at the borderline of being mediocre and being a contender this season and will be stuck there for many years to come.
..well actually the Clippers were quite a force for the past two seasons really but now they’ve just landed an amazing coach, Doc Rivers, from the Boston Celtics. Yes, after eight days and what seemed like constant “on then off again” trade talks, the deal has been reached between both teams to let Doc Rivers out of his current Boston contract and be able to sign with the L.A Clippers; In return the Celtics will be given a future unprotected 2015 first round draft pick.
Welcome to the Western Conference Doc
It’s clearly obvious that the Clippers got the best end of this deal; with the experience and resume of such a coach this will surely secure free agent to be Chris Paul into signing a long term contract with the Clippers, word on the internet is that he really pushed to get Doc Rivers on board. Back on the East Coast the Celtics seem like a boat without a rudder now. The team now lacks a head coach with a roster not fit to compete but in a total rebuilding mode; Veteran Paul Pierce may be bought out by the Celtics or traded at the deadline, Kevin Garnett may also be traded away. They also need to find a head coach, I do hope they give Brian Shaw a call and a much deserved chance.
Doc Rivers loved coaching Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce
I can’t help but feel sad for Boston fans. While they knew a total rebuild had to happen sooner rather than later, to be on the verge of losing a lot memorable faces must be hard, especially in such a fashion. I wish the best for Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce this up coming NBA season. Things will sure be different…
The Big Three (From left to right: Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and Lebron James) were meant to be dominate for years to come
In today’s world of basketball a superstar cannot take his team to the Finals, or even deep into the playoffs for that matter, anymore. No longer will we see superstars like Allen Iverson take a cap strapped and D-League talent team into the Finals. In today’s basketball world it takes two superstars and one star to carry a team into the playoffs, that is what we know as “The Big Three”. The Spurs have Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobli and we’ve seen the Celtics have their own in Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. None though were ever as feared than Miami’s Big Three in superstars Dwayne Wade and Lebron James coupled with the star power in Chris Bosh. Around those core three a full team was built and made to win, no not just win, but to dominate the National Basketball League for years to come. Why then are the Miami Heat one game away from elimination? One game away from throwing away a season where the Miami Heat earned 66 wins and an almost record breaking 27 game win streak; One game away from what was suppose to be years of dominance being thrown away.
Rather the less famous of the Miami’s Big Three is Power Forward Chris Bosh
While Chris Bosh is not a superstar, he is easily the most important role player on the Miami Heat. His first two seasons in Miami he’s averaged around 18 PPG and around 8 RPG. In this series with Indiana though he’s come up small, so small he might as be invisible. His numbers suggest he’s in a slump (11.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and shooting 41.1%) and he’s even admitted he’s just not feeling his normal self. Granted Bosh is battling an ankle “injury” it can’t be that serious seeing how he has started all the games in the playoffs and only against Indiana has he really fallen off.
The Heat use to be Dwayne Wade’s team before Lebron
Oh the once athletic and high flying Dwayne Wade has started to show the wear and tear of playing basketball the way he does. We all knew Wade was hurting with his chronic knee problems but we never knew the extent of it until this series. His play vs Indiana has shown him miss open shots, easy lay ups, and just not the superstar caliber play we’ve seen Wade play with his entire career; he’s averaging only 14.0 points per game, a post season career low for him. Dwayne has been quoted by saying that the Heat cannot win with Lebron James playing hero ball and that James needs to trust the team and play the way the Heat did to win their last title.
The King is poised to either rise above the rest or watch the “Big Three” era crumble
Tonight all eye’s will be on Wade, James, and Bosh. Will we see a resurgence in Dwayne Wade’s ability to play like he use to? Will we see Bosh become that perfect complimentary piece to James and Wade? If those two continue to hide in the shadows when the spot light is on them, we can all safely say that the era of Miami’s “Big Three” is over and that King James now stands alone in his court.
I will just like to put this out there now, I’m a big Lakers fan so pardon me if this article has any bias based opinions.
Back in August of last year the Dwight Howard to LA trade went down and my beloved Lakers went to the top of the charts and instant favorites to be serious contenders for our next NBA Championship. Our front court had the most dominant center in the league in Dwight Howard, the best passing big man in Pau Gasol; add to that one of the greatest shooters in NBA history in Steve Nash and one of the best to ever play the game in Kobe Bryant. Fast forward to April of this year and we are swept right out of the playoffs, the ones we just barely crept into, by the San Antonio Spurs. Now Laker Nation awaits July 1st when our next “franchise superstar” in Dwight Howard marches his way into free agency. After watching him this season, I say let him go.
How Laker Nation last saw Dwight during game 4 against the Spurs
This years free agency class is highlighted by Dwight Howard (seeing that Chris Paul will most likely stay with the Clippers) and the teams measuring their interest in the big man revolve around Los Angeles, Houston, and Dallas. Only the Lakers though can offer him their franchise max contract of five years with $118 million dollars along with their history of storied big men and the tradition of winning no matter what. Houston can offer four years with $98 million dollars and their young up and coming star in James Harden. Dallas can offer Dwight the same as Houston. From a money point of view the Lakers are the clear-cut winners and from a historical point of view the Lakers also are clear winners; from a pure basketball point of view though Houston are clear winners as they only need a man like Dwight to contend in the West.
Dwight Howard received a lot of punishment from the media for leaving Orlando the way he did, is that bound to repeat?
Statistically Dwight Howard has been declining over, especially over the past season. Between 2008-2011 Dwight took his Magic team to one Final appearance and a 219-102 record; over the past two seasons with the Magic and Lakers he’s finished with a total 75-55 record. Wow. His offensive production has also dipped sharply; in 2011 he averaged 22.9 PPG, 14.1 RPG, and a 59% FG. In 2013 he was averaging 17.1 PPG, 12.4 RPG, while shooting %58 from the field. Dwight has clearly past his peak production and no team should commit such a large amount of their salary cap or build their team around a star who has already started dropping off. Of course..the Lakers are run by Jim Buss so that’s still possible.
Looking past the numbers it isn’t hard to see that Dwight just cannot handle the pressure of playing in L.A. Playing for the Lakers, especially to be the next franchise player, means you must live up to some huge names and live up to the Laker tradition of winning. The Lakers, since 1960, have sent 25 teams to the NBA Finals, won 11 championships, and have had our court graced by the likes of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal. To top that all off the L.A Lakers have had four of the ten best basketball teams ever (’72, ’82, ’87, ’01), have been run by one of the greatest owners in history by Jerry Buss, and have been coached by the future Hall of Famer in Phil Jackson. If all that wasn’t hard enough to live up to as the next franchise player in Los Angeles, Dwight Howard would be filling the void of the greatest Laker of all time in Kobe Bryant. It’s sad to say that faced with any type of pressure a man like Dwight Howard who stands six foot and eleven inches shrinks back to a normal height.
Perhaps the self-proclaimed “Superman” isn’t so “super” anymore
No matter what the media is saying about the pending free agency of Dwight Howard and no matter what team does land the big man, it will be a question if the team wants to roll the dice on Howard or chooses to pass. Houston is the clear basketball choice for Howard as that team is young and ready to make an even bigger splash next season than they did this past season. A James Harden – Dwight Howard combo would be a mighty force to reckon with no matter who they face. As for my beloved Lakers please Jim Buss do not even approach the table and pick up the dice.
There was hope for New York fans as the Knicks went up by 11 points early in the first quarter of game 5, but it turned out to be a false sense of security as the Boston Celtics just refused to let their season come to an end on the Garden floor. And at the end of the first quarter, that 11 point cushion quickly evaporated resulting in a 22 – 20 lead for New York.
And the evaporation continued with Boston playing their best basketball since this series started. Led by Paul Pierce and Jason Terry in the second quarter, Boston scored 25 points, while keeping the Knicks to only 17.
At halftime, Boston led 45 – 37.
It was a three-point expedition and Pierce was throwing them up all over the place. At one point, it seemed as if the Knicks players were all spectators, sitting on the bench as Pierce put up yet another uncontested three pointer. But Paul Pierce was not the only dagger in the Knicks sides, oh no. The Refs made some calls that had everyone scratching their heads. Reminded me of the NFL lockout when the temporary referees were the laughing-stock of all of sports.
But back to basketball.
Carmelo Anthony did not produce the MVP type game everyone expected. He played 45 minutes, shooting a dismal 8 of 24 field goals for a very quiet 22 points. J. Smith, the missing element in the Knicks loss in Boston was on the court for game 5, but did not produce the Sixth Man of the year caliber game either. Plagued by the constant whistle by the referees, Smith played a total of 36 minutes, shooting a horrendous 3 for 14 field goals, getting only 14 points for his troubles. At one point, he went took 11 straight shots, making zero.
Boston on the other hand couldn’t miss. They were led by J. Green with 18 points, followed by B. Bass who shot 6 of 7 field goals, in his 40 minutes of play. Bass got 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Jason Terry also had 17 followed by Pierce and Garnett with 16 each.
Final score in the game was Boston 92, Knicks 86. The series now heads back to Boston for game 6 on Friday. No other NBA team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series, but Boston is definitely giving it their best shot.
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