SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Los Angeles Clippers Vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

by Marcus Van Diver | Dec 14, 2019 | Featured, NBA

The other LA team will get some air time on ESPN tonight as they visit their Western rivals up north beyond the great lakes, as the Clippers will do battle against the 10-14 Minnesota Timberwolves inside the Target Center at 9:30 p.m. EST.

The Clips are firing on all cylinders during their 3-1 road trip this week, nights removed from an ascendant return home for Kawhi Leonard in the Clips’ 20-point win over the Raptors despite losing Patrick Beverley to a concussion. They may have begun their frigid road trip to those states up north by being dealt with a despondent 28-point blowout at the hands of the Bucks, but have taken over the rest of the trip in dominant fashion and have a chance to finish strong with a win over a western foe that’s peaking into the playoff picture.

Lou Williams and Terrance Mann are more than likely to replace PatBev in the starting lineup tonight and Doc Rivers will diversify their minutes and Jerome Robinson will his burn in place of the injured Landry Shamet, who is still dealing with a sprained ankle.

As for the Minnesota Timberwolves, expect Jeff Teague to get the bulk of minutes at the guard spot. For the remaining Wolves, the Clips will obviously have their hands full in guarding Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns is averaging a relatively quiet 25.9 points (to his standards) 11.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, and he has really improved his effort on the defensive side of the floor over the past couple of seasons.

He’s no longer a laughingstock on that end, which is an upgrade. Ivica Zubac will have his hands full tonight in guarding Towns, as chasing bigs out from beyond the 3-point line isn’t a part of his repertoire. It’ll be interesting to see how Doc Rivers tries to combat Towns’ size from a rotational standpoint, considering the Clippers’ tendency to go small.

Minnesota has lost six straight games all against teams that aren’t close to cracking the final playoff seeding at season’s end. Starting their homestand against the second-best team in the West is certainly a step up, but definitely something the 22nd-best defensive team in the NBA can’t handle (that sounds like sarcasm, doesn’t it?)

It’ll be interesting to see how Zubac and Montrezl Harrell deal with Towns tonight since they impressively held KAT to 6-for-17 shooting in their final meeting last season. Wiggins should get the Kawhi/PG-13 treatment tonight, while it’s to be displayed if Minnesota has enough wing defenders to deal with the Clippers’ star duo on the other end.

Game two of ESPN’s doubleheader tips off at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Dec 14, 2019 No Comments

Nike Air Ship x Air Jordan 1 “New Beginnings” Pack

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by admin | Dec 13, 2019 | Featured, NBA, Sneaker Releases, Sneakers

After decades of rumors, Nike and Jordan Brand are finally acknowledging the historical Nike Air Ship and its role in building the Jordan mythos. For years it has been widely believed that the legendary shoe banned by the NBA was the Nike Air Ship and not the Nike Air Jordan 1 as branded by Nike. Outside of a mysterious teaser on Twitter back in 2014, not much else had been heard of the Air Ship. With 2020 being the 35th celebration of Air Jordan, Jordan Brand and Nike are finally set to bring back the Air Ship.

Fragment designer originally Hiroshi Fujiwara unveiled the double pack that includes an Air Jordan 1 in a new Red/White colorway with an OG style hangtag. The pack comes in an oversized box with design split with a blueprint style grid on the Air Ship side and the classic black and red box on the Air Jordan 1 side. The Air Jordan “New Beginnings” Pack is set to release in February 2020.

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Air Jordan “New Beginnings” Pack

Release Date: Feb. 2020

Color: Multi-Color/Multi-Color

Style #: CT6252-900

Price: $350

Dec 13, 2019 No Comments

SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Portland Trail Blazers Vs. Denver Nuggets

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by Marcus Van Diver | Dec 13, 2019 | Featured, NBA

The second game of the Thursday NBA on TNT doubleheader features a rematch of an epic 2019 Western Conference semifinal series back in May as the Portland Trail Blazers visit the site of their humongous upset over last year’s No. 2 seed in the West, the Denver Nuggets at 10:30 p.m. EST.

This matchup captures more storylines than one. Carmelo Anthony returns to the very building and organization he gave all of his efforts to for eight years, as he’ll duel with the Nuggets for the first time this season and for the first time as a Blazer. Crazy stat: he’s never won a game in Denver while wearing an opposing jersey. After the Nuggets’ sketchy 1-3 road trip, they return to the Pepsi Center to make sure that stat stays that way.

Though the Blazers are always a strong team with the tedious-to-guard trio of Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Anthony, so far this season they have struggled getting out of the gates at just a middle-of-the-pack 10-15 record. That first loss came by way of Denver on opening night.

Luckily for the Denver Nuggets, their sharpshooting aficionado Jamal Murray returns. That will definitely offset some of the offensive issues the Nugs have been undergoing as of late, especially with their struggling backcourt. Will Barton has definitely eased some of the burn of not having their 17.4 ppg. scorer in Murray on the floor, but the erratic play of Torrey Craig and Gary Harris has done them in during their rough road trip.

As for the Blazers, They’ve gone 1-2 in their past couple of games but look to right the ship in Melo’s return to his old stomping grounds. He’s been averaging over 15.9 points while shooting 39 percent from downtown. Solid numbers, and he’ll have an opportunity to raise those numbers against a team that, although might be 2nd in the league in total defensive rating, are susceptible to getting into some shootouts against offensively gifted teams in the West.

Game two tips off in a few on TNT.

Dec 13, 2019 No Comments

SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Philadelphia 76ers Vs. Boston Celtics

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by Marcus Van Diver | Dec 13, 2019 | Featured, NBA

Tonight’s TNT action takes place inside the TD Garden for an Eastern battle and possible revenge match between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics. This is the second time these teams have met; the first being the two teams’ season openers back in late October, which saw the Sixers plow the new-look Celtics by a score of 107-93.

What won’t be of occurrence, unfortunately, will be the on-court return of Al Horford, the ex-Celtic barred from re-joining his former team due to complications in signing a new, stay-put deal. Horford hasn’t been overtly exceptional for his new team, averaging a pedestrian 13.8 points per game off 48 percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds per contest.

Philly enters this game in fourth place in the Eastern Conference at 18-7, while the Celtics may be a measly win behind but ahead on the Eastern standings at 17-6, which is good for third in the East. Both teams are just four games behind the intimidating Milwaukee Bucks who just so happened to run all over the Zion-less Pelicans on primetime television without Giannis Antetokounmpo even suiting up. However, Boston has the edge with two games in hand. The Sixers have won eight of their past ten games, while Boston has gone 6-4 over that same stretch.

This is also a battle of two teams who have a perfect home record, so Boston will have an extra challenge and incentive to beat their good old buddies in their own house.

The Celtics offense is one of the league’s most efficient (15th overall), averaging a total of 110.6 points per game and are led by their new big three, composed of Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown.

Boston has been led in scoring by their gracious offseason pickup (and to their prerogative, puzzle-like perfect fit) Kemba Walker who is averaging around 22 points per game. Walker also supplies a team-leading 5.5 assists per game and is backed up by Tatum’s 21 points per game and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per contest as well.

As for Philly, their multifaceted big three of nimbly-gifted big man Joel Embiid, 6’10 natural mismatch and point guard Ben Simmons and efficient forward Tobias Harris have led the charge for Philadelphia. Embiid leads the team in both points with 22 and rebounds with 12.4 per game, and for good reason; on Tuesday, he dominated his sole competition in big man Nikola Jokic for all four quarters, further silencing prognosticators about who was the best big man in the NBA.

Simmons running the point averages a team-leading 8.4 assists and adds 14 points and 7 rebounds per contest. Harris averages the second-most points on the team with 19.2 and adds 7 rebounds per game.

These two teams boast a top-5 defensive rating en lieu to both of their dangerously effective offensive attacks, and on top of that, we all know the contentious relationship between these two historic franchises has been anything but sunshine and rainbows. Expect a physical, smashmouth war for four quarters with both squads appearing nearly at 100 percent. The only exceptions are that of Boston’s Marcus Smart as the guard is recovering from an eye infection.

Sixers/Celtics tip-off at 8:00 p.m. ET on TNT.

Dec 13, 2019 No Comments