The Cavaliers are one season into a lengthy rebuild to return to relevance. What do they need to accomplish in this first offseason? After four consecutive 50-win seasons with and NBA Finals appearances, the Cavaliers unsurprisingly dropped off in their first season-post LeBron. They fired coach Ty Lue after six games and finished the year
Month: May 2019
8:02 AM ET DENVER — NIKOLA JOKIC is sitting on a leather couch in the Denver Nuggets‘ player lounge, an ice pack attached to his right side. There’s a five-inch scar that runs across the top of his left arm near his shoulder and several other claw marks that come in all different sizes and
The Houston Rockets finally broke through, beating the Golden State Warriors in overtime in Game 3 and getting a toehold in their second-round series. The Rockets have had some things go right in the first two games of this series but ultimately came up empty both times. With the series shifting back to Houston, and
3:02 AM ET HOUSTON — One of the enigmas that demonstrates the historic greatness of the Golden State Warriors is when their star players have a slump. It is both concerning for the Warriors and frightening for opponents. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have not been themselves in the high-stakes Western Conference semifinal series with
Each week, four of Basketball Insiders’ top writers will break down the latest news and notes surrounding the 2019 NBA Draft. Each week you’ll see an updated mock draft that reflects how each writer sees the draft landscape based on the latest news, workouts, and information from the pre-draft process as well as a notebook,
9:00 PM ET The New York Knicks are back in the championship mix heading into a summer that could shake up the NBA. The SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas on Saturday opened the Knicks at 16-1 to win the 2020 NBA championship. New York is behind only the Milwaukee Bucks (9-2), Boston Celtics (7-1) and
Saturday’s DraftKings slate: 8:30 p.m. ET: Golden State at Houston My favorite plays of the day can be found on the following slides in FanSided’s DraftKings daily picks. Each day in order to offer a variety of price points at each position, you can find two slides for each position–one for high-salary options and one for
The Brooklyn Nets came out with energy and execution, stealing Game 1 on the road from the Philadelphia 76ers. This was not the way the 76ers were hoping to kick off their postseason experience. Ben Simmons was bottled up by the Nets defense, Joel Embiid struggled from the field, J.J. Redick fouled out, the supporting
9:46 AM ET The Houston Rockets deserve a massive amount of credit for uncovering and implementing the most analytically correct strategies in professional basketball. Whether it’s their shot selection or offensive design, the team has aligned its on-court behaviors with the game’s most efficient actions. However, as Houston continues to chase the efficiency dragon farther
PORTLAND, OR – MAY 3: CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers reacts against the Denver Nuggets during Game Three of the Western Conference SemiFinals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs on May 3, 2019 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and
Each week, four of Basketball Insiders’ top writers will break down the latest news and notes surrounding the 2019 NBA Draft. Each week you’ll see an updated mock draft that reflects how each writer sees the draft landscape based on the latest news, workouts, and information from the pre-draft process as well as a notebook,
BOSTON – APRIL 14: Former Boston Celtics great and Hall of Famer John Joseph “Hondo” Havlicek was honored on the anniversary of his immortal steal by Celtics by Robert Epstein. Wycliffe Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca are also pictured. The Boston Celtics took on the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden. (Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe
Giannis Antetokounmpo had his best game of the series, finally finishing in the paint and camping out at the free throw line, as the Bucks took Game 3 from the Celtics. The Bucks seem to have regained some of their identity and mojo after that discouraging Game 1 loss to the Celtics. Game 3, the
3:58 AM ET PORTLAND, Ore. — Despite aggravating his separated left shoulder during the first overtime period of Friday’s Game 3 against the Nuggets, Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter continued to play through the injury as Portland outlasted Denver 140-137 in quadruple OT, the longest NBA playoff game since 1953. “First overtime, I think I
If the tension between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets wasn’t thick enough for you, the Warriors think James Harden is faking his eye injury. Midway through the first quarter of Game 2 Tuesday night, Houston Rockets guard James Harden left the game with an eye injury after being inadvertently hit in the face
8:43 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — The Boston Celtics came out for pregame warmups wearing T-shirts bearing the No. 17 to honor Hall of Famer John Havlicek. The crowd also observed a moment of silence Friday night before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the Celtics’ first
Russell Westbrook’s legacy has been questioned of late, especially since the Thunder lost to Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers in dramatic fashion – but that shouldn’t necessarily fall on Westbrook’s shoulders. In a vacuum, Westbrook looks like an all-time great. He’s one of two players to ever average a triple-double and the only one
12:00 PM ET NBA referees will host a question-and-answer session on Twitter for games Sunday and Monday, interacting with fans in real time over calls in playoff games. The referees have done this periodically over the past year, but this is the first time they will operate the “Ref Watch Party” during this postseason, which
It started innocently enough. It’s not that there wasn’t anticipation for their arrival. How could there not be? Stories had already been told, books had already been written, feats had already been accomplished… There was buzz. But it’s one thing to come along and make an impact; it’s another to show up and change everything.
Joel Embiid couldn’t be contained in a crucial Game 3 win for the Philadelphia 76ers, dominating the paint, draining 3s and capping it off with a windmill dunk. Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam channeled their inner Michael and Scottie in Game 1, combining for 74 points in Raptors victory. The 76ers closed out a tight
2:41 AM ET PHILADELPHIA — With his Philadelphia 76ers taking a 2-1 series lead over a Toronto Raptors team led by Kawhi Leonard and his 37.7 points per game so far in the Eastern Conference semifinals, coach Brett Brown was asked a simple question. When Joel Embiid is healthy, does Brown believe he has the
In this week’s 2019 NBA Mock Draft, we shuffle things up at the top and see how the dominos fall. This week’s draft order is based upon a randomized sampling from Tankathon, where the Cavaliers, Pelicans and Timberwolves launched into the top three and threw the draft out of whack. A simulation via Tankathon.com on
The Golden State Warriors are in unprecedented territory. They’re attempting something only four other teams (Minneapolis Lakers, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers) in NBA history have done — win three straight championships. They’re off to a good start so far. After a tough, competitive first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers, they’ve
The first round is still technically ongoing, but the second round of the NBA playoffs begins in earnest tonight with the matchup between the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers. These are two teams that have spent the season progressively one-upping each other with all-in moves. First,
6:26 PM ET Milwaukee Bucks point guard Malcolm Brogdon is listed as out for Friday’s Game 3 of his team’s playoff series against the Boston Celtics, according to the NBA’s injury report on Thursday evening. The team could still update his status prior to the game. Brogdon is looking to return from plantar fasciitis in
Jamal Murray’s jumpshot is his totem, his power object. He will score in other ways, he has layups, flips, little push shots and the occasional dunk. But the jumper is the spring from which his basketball id flows forth. For modern jumpshooters with a modicum of ball-handling ability, Stephen Curry serves as an inevitable point
Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs are close to a deal that will see the 70-year-old coach return for the 2019-20 season. The San Antonio Spurs franchise is in a period of transition, but one thing is staying the same and that’s Gregg Popovich as head coach. Popovich is close to signing a new
12:14 PM ET Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge suffered a mild heart attack in Milwaukee on Tuesday night, the team announced. According to a release from the team, Ainge received immediate medical attention, is expected to make a full recovery and will return to Boston shortly. Ainge, 60, also suffered what was described as
The first game in all except one of the conference semifinals is officially in the books. In a second round in that many hyped to be one of the most all-around intense in history, we’ve seen two blow-outs and one nailbiter. No matter what happens or what reactions show themselves following the first game of
2:38 AM ET DENVER — Damian Lillard sat on a stool in a ballroom in sweatpants and sliders at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown on Tuesday with an iPad on his lap, about to head to a film session to comb through Game 1. The Portland Trail Blazers felt like they had played well,