SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: New Orleans Pelicans at Portland Trail Blazers

SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: New Orleans Pelicans at Portland Trail Blazers

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by | Feb 22, 2020 | Featured, NBA

Injury concerns have been the prevalent topic of the Blazers’ season, and now the Lillard-less Portland Trail Blazers look to defend home court against Zion Williamson — A.K.A the 19-year-old human bulldozer — in their first game back from the All-Star Break. With Lillard expected to be out for at least 1-2 weeks, the Blazers are now expected to piece together a winning formula against teams without their flamethrowers at the guard spot. What better test to see how far they have to go to look the part of a multidimensional faction than to play against a multifaceted team like New Orleans?

The Pels are no stranger to untimely ailments to their star pieces, especially since their coveted No. 1 pick and purveyor of hope for the franchise’s future, Williamson, was forced to miss the first three months of the regular season due to him rehabbing a knee after meniscus surgery. But, now that he is perfectly healthy and spry, he’s reaching unmarked heights in his first couple of weeks in the NBA.

Zion Williamson has played in ten NBA games, and he’s already averaging 22.1 points and 7.5 rebounds. Crazy, we know. In the last time these two teams faced off before the break, Williamson went off for 31 points and snatched nine rebounds off the glass in the Pelicans win as they inched closer to challenge for the eighth seed in the West. Of course, the main point of emphasis on the defensive end will be to shut Williamson down to the best of their ability, but on offense, it’ll have to be the CJ Mccollum show if the Blazers want to make things interesting tonight.

Where Portland gets their Lillard fill-ins on offense is to be determined, but if they are to go 2-1 on the season series against New Orleans, they cannot replicate their abysmal 13.8 field goal percentage and 24.1 percentage from deep, that for sure.

Tip-off for ESPN’s second Friday night game is at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Feb 22, 2020 No Comments
SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: Denver Nuggets at Oklahoma City Thunder

SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: Denver Nuggets at Oklahoma City Thunder

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by | Feb 22, 2020 | Featured, NBA

For the first NBA competition on ESPN since the conclusion of the All-Star Break, prime time cameras will go live from the rural city of Oklahoma as the sixth-seeded Thunder attempt to defend Loud City against the second-best team in the West, the 38-22 Denver Nuggets, live at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Coming into this one, both teams have undergone a seismic transformation into playoff contenders that surely didn’t happen overnight. Oklahoma City was dealt with the hand of reality that involved starting anew without Russell Westbrook for the first time in franchise history as they entered an uncharted zone of the rebuilding process, and for the first time as outsiders of the playoff hunt. This year, however, has been nothing nearly equivalent to that batch of early-season divinations.

As the sixth-best team in an unforgiving conference that is the West, this Thunder team has clawed, scratched, and fought with grit en lieu to their 33-22 record. And astonishing as that record sounds, it’s justified the same way on the court. Danilo Gallinari is sniping the three-ball at a 40.7 percent clip, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (19.5 ppg.) is worthy of being trusted as the Thunder franchise cornerpiece of the near and ever-present future, Steven Adams is still impossible to box-out and out-rebound, and the ageless wonder Chris Paul (17.4 ppg.) can still ball.

Frankly, it was not supposed to be this way, and Thunder fans can attest to that. After undergoing that tectonic shift of emotions that regarded the selling of Paul George to the Goliathic Clippers OKC started their fire sale after acquiring a wheelbarrow of picks this past Summer as a result of the trade, which kickstarted the campaign to get brand new pieces and reshape the entire philosophy of the organization, which many speculated would take years.

Now, with less than three full months of regular-season competition, OKC is in a tight throttle with Dallas for the sixth seed, but that’s not the point. The fact is that, they’re in the conversation of sliding into the playoff picture without hassle for another year, and all they did was rid themselves of two (three, if you count Carmelo Anthony) All-Stars in a matter of a couple of seasons.

Tonight, Denver’s first task out of the break is no easy, kind-of-welcome-back-to-NBA-action type of affair. They find themselves playing a division rival on the road Oklahoma City after resting up and getting all of their players healthy, and since both teams will be on the positive side of the injury spectrum, intriguing matchups like Jamal Murray vs. Chris Paul, SGA vs. Gary Harris, and Steven Adams vs. Nikola Jokic will all go down tonight in the first of two ESPN games on Friday night.

Feb 22, 2020 No Comments
SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors

SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors

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by | Feb 21, 2020 | Featured, NBA

Houston (34-20) makes their second appearance in San Francisco and this time, look for some redemption as they go head-to-head with the Warriors (12-43)  for the third time this year, tipping off at 10:30 p.m. ET on TNT.

It’s really a shame we as NBA fans won’t get the treat of seeing Steph Curry have yet another duel with James Harden and the Houston Rockets since that formalized into being one of the finer regional rivalries that this league has seen in the past five years. And for another year, most media prognosticators traced every step and action that both Curry and Harden have made, often circling advantages that the more physically-gifted Harden has over a 2x MVP.

And of course, we know how the story has gone: James Harden, as the starting guard of the Houston Rockets, has yet to beat Wardell Stephen Curry in a single playoff series. Ignoring the goliath-like rosters that Curry has had created around him in the past half-decade, the tables may have finally turned in Harden’s favor, as he will be graced with the blessing of going against a talent-deficient Warriors roster that will be without the likes of Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant for the foreseeable future.

And for this season, though only suffering one weird, uncharacteristic loss to the Warriors on Christmas Day, Harden is likely to smell blood in the water, as he and Russell Westbrook not only lead the NBA in backcourt scoring as a starting duo but have somehow revolutionized the game overnight, it seems, with this improvised brand of positionless, small-ball offense. Now, 5-out sets are harder to mirror on the defensive end if oppositions roll out both zone and man coverage schemes.

Tonight’s game will feature another test for this brand of ball: the healthy Warriors play with grit and have multiple skill positions filled by guys like improving rookie Eric Paschall, tenacious rebounder Omari Spellman, team leader and defensive savant Draymond Green, and new Warrior Andrew Wiggins (who came by way of Minnesota via the D’Angelo Russell trade) who has almost rebirthed his game after seeing greener — and much, much warmer –pastures in the Bay.

Ex-Rockets like Marquese Chriss will get another chance to prove that the Rockets were wrong for not wanting to keep him on the roster. And Damion Lee certainly remembers his Christmas Day game against the Rockets when he dropped 22 points and 15 rebounds to go with a perfect night from the free-throw line.

So though the Warriors aren’t without their stars in Curry, Thompson, and Russell, the Rockets are still looking for their first win against Golden State that won’t be inside the defunct Oracle Arena. If it comes tonight, this will positively kick-off a soft spot on the Rockets schedule, as their next nine opponents will have losing records, and what better way to start it against the team that terrorized them with the small-ball offense with a taste of their own medicine.

Feb 21, 2020 No Comments
SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: Brooklyn Nets at Philadelphia 76ers

SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: Brooklyn Nets at Philadelphia 76ers

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by | Feb 21, 2020 | Featured, NBA

In what will be a game with as little star-power than recently expected, the 25-27 Brooklyn Nets resume basketball activities with a trip out East to the City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia in a prime-time battle of two Atlantic Division rivals, tipping off at 8:00 p.m. ET in the first of two games tonight on TNT.

The news that broke for the Nets was all too harrowing to swallow: for the remainder of their 2019-20 campaign, Kyrie Irving will miss out on the rest of the season from a shoulder procedure he has yet to undergo, and as a team, they’ll have to scourage together a pliable scheme that will effectively space the floor off the dribble, and produce offense from their backcourt at the same time, which, ironically, isn’t something that the Nets aren’t too privy of shying away from.

In the 20 games that they’ve played with Irving as the starting quarterback of the offense, they won 8 games and proceeded to lose the rest, regardless of whatever high numerical amount Irving would put up on the scoring sheet by himself. But, Nets fans shouldn’t fret, at least not that much, for they’ve done a well-enough job without the two-time All-NBA selection to gauge top-8 playoff positioning within the 16 teams in the East.

Led by Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie, who have carried what feels like a sinking ship in Brooklyn above sea level, both guards have done just that, averaging a combined 36.2 points per game in the 28 games they’ve played together this year. And yet, this ship they’re supposedly keeping afloat is going to have to hold the mast high against a home-court-favored juggernaut in the Philadelphia 76ers who, through after four months of play, still possess the best home record in the NBA at 25-2.

The fifth-ranked squad in the East is still trying to work out the kinks as this season reaches its conclusion and ahead of the penultimate season-ending month of March, higher seeding, snapping back into playoff shape, proper floor spacing, better understanding of Brett Brown’s offense and not having such an ugly road record have all become an imperative emphases as we inch closer to the postseason. Tonight, however, expect the roles of guards and forwards like Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson to broaden as Ben Simmons sits this second-half opener out with some back tightness issues.

As for everyone else, it’s yet to be seen who wins in the third matchup between Joel Embiid and Jarrett Allen go to war, and if the Nets can garner enough offense to keep up with the fast pace and pesky wingspan that Philly shows to all who oppose them inside the Wells Fargo Center. The All-Star break is up, and it’s time to get back to work. That goes for every team scattered throughout this league and for both teams tonight, that starts with a W to kick things off on the right foot.

Feb 21, 2020 No Comments
BREAKING: Nets’ Guard Kyrie Irving To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

BREAKING: Nets’ Guard Kyrie Irving To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

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by | Feb 21, 2020 | Featured, NBA

It has been unanimously reported that Brooklyn Nets star Point Guard Kyrie Irving will have to wait out the 2019-20 offseason alongside new teammate Kevin Durant, for the former Cavaliers and Celtics standout will be sidelined for the rest of the season after deciding to undergo arthroscopic shoulder surgery that’ll likely keep him out of all basketball activities for the rest of the season. This news comes less than a year removed from him signing a four-year, $136.5 million contract with Brooklyn.

Irving, 27, is no stranger to the parks of missed time in a Nets uniform. What legacy started out as a minuscule shoulder “impingement” has kept the former All-Star MVP and one-time champ out of commission for over 26 games, and this procedure will keep him on the shelf for an undisclosed amount of time.

“That’s about all I can tell you,” Nets Head Coach Kenny Atkinson exclaimed. “His shoulder continues to bother him. That’s about the extent of it now.”

Though not a result of one particular play, but rather Irving’s shoulder muscle accumulating more damage over time probably caused the superstar guard to seek second and third opinions on his ailment, as Atkinson explains.

“The shoulder is a tough thing,” Atkinson said. “I just don’t think it was an on and off thing where it’s bothering you. Some days you feel good, some days you don’t feel good. But I think it got to the point it was, ‘Hey, let’s see another specialist.”

Upon recency, however, this Nets team has managed to scrape out a 4-1 record in the games that Irving has been out of since February 1, and as a whole have gone 17-16 in the games that Irving didn’t suit up for. And the ironic fact? Brooklyn’s record with Irving on the court peaked at a mediocre 8-12.

Picking up a majority of the two-time All-NBA member’s slack has been the consistently hot performance of both guards Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris Levert, who were handed the responsibility of compensating the Nets with Irving’s scoring output of 27.4 points per game off 47 percent shooting. A tall task, indeed, but nothing the homegrown talents in Levert and free-agent Dinwiddie acquired back in 2017 haven’t handled yet.

As a backcourt duo, they’ve averaged a little over 36 points in the 28 games they’ve played together, and with some venerable contributions from a litany of other guards in Atkinson’s rotation like Garrett Temple (10.2 ppg., 32.6 3PT%), they’ve fared to the best of their ability, clawing away some key wins over top-tier teams in the Sixers and Celtics without Irving on the active roster this year.

And yes, the Nets are a playoff-bound team if they can keep things together when crossing the proverbial finish line of the 82-game marathon that is the regular season. And the silver lining, though it’s effect temporary, justifying considering how hard Brooklyn plays on defense and how aggressive they can be on offense without their lone all-star on the floor.

But looking past that, the way that this roster is pieced together right now can all but heighten the mood for Nets fans who are now acquiesced into undertaking the grand scheme of things in Brooklyn as Gospel, simply because it’s unclear whether both Irving and Durant’s extended absence from their lingering injuries could provide further doubt for future seasons as the Eastern Conference, and the rest of the league for that matter, grows stronger as the years go by.

Feb 21, 2020 No Comments