Heat at Cavaliers (8pm ET Friday, ESPN) The Miami Heat (1-0) saw their win total drop from 54 to 37 in Year One of the post-LeBron era. In an effort to help fill the hole left by James, GM Pat Riley brought in ex-Knick fixer-upper Amar’e Stoudemire, fresh off his scene-stealing turn in Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck.
As good as Stoudemire was in the movie, the Heat are still hanging their hats on three guys – Stoudemire, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade – who as a unit have missed 74 games a year over the past four seasons and are going to reach a collective age of 98 this season. Stoudemire has gotten off to an inauspicious start, having started the season on the inactive list with a cranky knee, causing... Read More
There are worse ways to kick off an NBA season than showcasing four of the league’s eight most watchable teams, but fortunately, we needn’t worry about them.
Cavaliers at Bulls (8pm ET Tuesday, TNT) The evening begins with LeBron James & LeBron-naires beginning their Eastern Conference title defense in the Windy City, where they’ll face Derrick Rose, one of the league’s most snake-bitten and tone-deaf superstars, and the Bulls.
The Cavaliers’ title quest last season was derailed when Kevin Love suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first round of the playoffs, and then point guard Kyrie Irving went down with a fractured kneecap in Game 1 of the Finals. Love has spent the summer paddle boarding and hiking in Park City, Utah, and has been playing... Read More
Still, the Cleveland Cavaliers have emerged as favorites versus the higher-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals, which begin tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
This despite the Hawks’ amazing 19-game winning streak in the regular season, and despite being the only team in the regular season to beat the Cavs three times.
However, two of those wins came before the trade that landed J.R. Smith, Timofey Mozgov, and Iman Shumpert in Cleveland. After that trade, the Cavs went 34-10.
Also: LeBron.
Doesn’t it always seem to come down to that? Here’s a headline... Read More
LeBron James couldn’t let Derrick Rose and Paul Pierce have his spotlight for long. The King nailed a shot at the buzzer Sunday night to lift the Cavaliers over the Bulls, 86-84, and tie the series at 2.
Consider it returning a favor. Rose banked in a 3-pointer for the win Friday night – and, no, he did not call glass.
“I was supposed to take the ball out,” James said. “I told Coach there was no way I’m taking the ball out unless I could shoot it over the backboard and go in. So I told him, ‘Have somebody else take the ball out.’ The play that was drawn up,... Read More
Atlanta took the NBA by surprise this year and had a playoff spot secured so soon that it made the end of their regular season anti-climatic.
Most people refuse to pick a team to win the Eastern Conference that doesn’t have a player named LeBron James, but the Hawks went 3-1 against Cleveland in the regular season and have home court advantage.
But that’s getting too far ahead. Atlanta has to get through Brooklyn first (which, let’s be honest, shouldn’t be hard) and the Cavs have to put down a Boston team that surprised many by slipping into the playoffs despite a sub-.500 record.
The East, however, isn’t a two-horse race. Chicago is easing Derrick Rose back just in time for the playoffs. It’s not easy recovering... Read More
Are LeBron James and Kevin Love really buds or not? Can’t they get it together and beat the King’s former team? Let’s keep it 100: it shouldn’t be that hard. Yet the Cavs lost in Miami the last time these two squads met.
Maybe there’s a little intrigue there but not as much as there is with the two Golden State games this week on Sling TV.
The Warriors travel to L.A. to face the Clippers on Tuesday, and while Golden State sports the best record in the league, L.A. has been on a roll recently, winning eight of its last 10 as of this writing.
Oh, but that might sound a little too hopeful because guess what? The Warriors have won nine in a row. Fancy that.
