Kenneth Faried Injury: Nuggets PF Ruled Out vs. Spurs with Injured Back
January 5th, 2017 by Joseph Zucker No comments »
Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried suffered a back injury that will keep him out of Thursday's game against the San Antonio Spurs.
Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post reported Faried wouldn't be on the court for the Nuggets due to his back issue.
This will mark Faried's third consecutive missed game with pain in his lower back. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone doesn't appear concerned it will be a significant issue, though.
“I don’t think it’s anything of a long-term thing," Malone said, per Dempsey. "I think it’s more of a day-to-day.”
After his progress on the court had seemed to stagnate, Faried put together a strong season in 2015-16. According to Basketball-Reference.com, he averaged 17.7 points—the second-highest mark of his career—and grabbed 12.3 rebounds per 36 minutes. Faried's 55.8 field-goal percentage was also a major improvement from the 50.7 percent mark he posted in 2014-15.
Injuries dogged the 27-year-old, though, and he appeared in ...
Gary Payton Discusses George Karl, Playing Defense on ‘The Starters’
January 5th, 2017 by Alec Nathan No comments »
Gary Payton and George Karl spent seven seasons together with the Seattle SuperSonics, so The Glove is intimately familiar with the longtime NBA coach.
On Thursday, Payton discussed some of the controversial excerpts from Karl's upcoming book during an appearance on NBA TV's The Starters.
One of the main points Payton touched on revolved around Karl's controversial opinion that Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin, whom he coached during his time with the Denver Nuggets, were tough to get along with because they didn't have fathers in their lives:
I didn’t really like the way he came at Carmelo and Kenyon Martin. You don't go into peoples' parents and things like that. There’s a lot of people that are struggling like that out here now. I've been around a lot of my friends that only had...a mother, not a father. That was something that was off limits that I didn't really like that he did.
Payton ...
Zaza Pachulia Is No All-Star, but His Value to Golden State Warriors Is Clear
January 5th, 2017 by Erik Malinowski No comments »
Twitter can be a deplorable place where fun suffers a slow death as you're bombarded with a never-ending cascade of news ranging from simply bad to positively soul-crushing.
And then Zaza Pachulia comes along.
More precisely, Pachulia and his hilariously high All-Star Game vote totals. Suddenly, the sun is shining a little brighter, and there's a spring in your step. With the announcement that Pachulia received the second-most votes for any Western Conference frontcourt player, the internet lost its mind for a few hours Thursday, and it was glorious.
Of course, nothing good can ever stay as such. There was a contingent ready to pounce on the significance of Pachulia's voting bloc, what it all means and how we can't let this turn the All-Star Game into a mockery.
It's true, the NBA has made significant changes to the way All-Star Game votes are counted, and it's largely because of Pachulia's unexpected ascendance last ...
10 Things NHL Fans Have to Look Forward to in 2017
January 5th, 2017 by Steve Macfarlane No comments »
An NHL head coach recently told reporters in Calgary that he believes the months of January through March are the crux of any schedule. Things are getting tough.
And that means fans are in for a treat.
With the 2017 calendar now on your desktop, things are going to get interesting in the NHL. There is plenty to look forward to in the coming months—from the battle for 16 playoff positions to the individual awards up for grabs. Teams will do whatever they can to improve down the stretch, so there should be a great deal of entertainment ahead.
Read on for 10 things NHL fans have to look forward to in 2017. Begin Slideshow
Best Potential 2016-17 NBA Trade Deadline Deals for the Chicago Bulls
January 5th, 2017 by Kelly Scaletta No comments »
Having flipped the calendar to the new year, we’re getting clear on where the Chicago Bulls are headed.
Head coach Fred Hoiberg demonstrated as much by taking former starter Rajon Rondo out of the rotation and inserting third-year point guard Michael Carter-Williams as the starter. While that move works better for the present, it also bodes better for the future, in that it suggests the front office is finally thinking of one.
There are, however, problems with a fundamentally flawed roster. The Bulls still don’t have a point guard with range, and to build for tomorrow, they need to do so around Jimmy Butler. As Kevin Ferrigan of NBACouchside.com points out, that means surrounding Butler with guys who can shoot:
When Butler has played with space, he’s been even more remarkable. In 187 minutes he’s shared with (Nikola) Mirotic and Doug McDermott, this team’s two best shooters for their positions, Butler is scoring 50.8 ...
Lamar Odom Completes Rehab Stint: Latest Comments and Reaction
January 5th, 2017 by Tyler Conway No comments »
Former NBA forward Lamar Odom has completed a stint at a rehabilitation facility where he spent the last 35 days to prevent a relapse into drug abuse.
TMZ reported the news Thursday, adding Odom would return to his Los Angeles home following the stay. Odom, 37, checked himself into rehab in December, near the birthday of his infant son who died in June 2006.
The TMZ report indicated Odom was also having a difficult time following the finalization of his divorce from reality star Khloe Kardashian. TMZ reported Odom was originally planning on staying in rehab for 60 days.
The 2010-11 NBA Sixth Man of the Year struggled with substance-abuse issues in the latter part of his playing days and after his departure from basketball. In October 2015, Odom nearly died after being found unconscious on a cocktail of drugs at a Nevada brothel. He was placed on life support and was in a coma for multiple days before slowly recovering over the course ...
NBA All-Star Game 2017: LeBron James, Kevin Durant Lead 1st Voting Results
January 5th, 2017 by Alec Nathan No comments »
Voting for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans opened on Christmas Day, and early returns featured the usual suspects in front-running positions.
As seen in the following tweet, courtesy of the game's official Twitter account, the first voting returns were revealed Thursday:
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James leads all vote-getters, while Cavs teammate Kyrie Irving leads the Eastern Conference backcourt. Golden State Warriors superstars Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry lead the way in the Western Conference.
It's no surprise James, who is vying for his 13th straight All-Star selection, has already seized a voting edge in the East. The 32-year-old has been on a tear to start the 2016-17 season, averaging 25.8 points, 8.5 assists and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 51 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three.
Dating back to 1946, only Michael Jordan (1988-89), Oscar Robertson (1962-63) and James (2009-10) have maintained averages of at least 25 points, ...
Andrew Bogut Trade Rumors: Latest News, Speculation Surrounding Mavericks Center
January 5th, 2017 by Adam Wells No comments »
With the Dallas Mavericks in the unfamiliar position as one of the worst teams in the Western Conference, the future of center Andrew Bogut is uncertain.
Continue for updates.
Bogut Drawing Trade Interest
Thursday, Jan. 5
Per ESPN.com's Tim MacMahon, multiple teams have shown interest in trading for Bogut.
Bogut said he hasn't asked for a trade, but due to the team's 11-24 record, "there's a chance that I get traded."
The Mavericks acquired Bogut in the offseason after his previous team, the Golden State Warriors, signed Kevin Durant and needed to make roster moves to create cap space.
The transition to Dallas hasn't worked out well for Bogut or the team. He's played in 19 of the Mavs' 35 games and is averaging a career low 3.3 points per game.
Bogut's time with the Mavericks was likely to be short-lived anyway, as he's playing out the final year of his contract this season. If he was having ...
Updated 2016-17 Win-Loss Projections for Every NBA Team
January 5th, 2017 by Adam Fromal No comments »
It's no longer hard to differentiate between NBA bottom feeders and contenders.
A handful of teams has emerged in each conference with no shot to advance past the 82nd game of the 2016-17 campaign. At the same time, there are only a few squads with a realistic shot to move deep into the postseason and challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors for superiority.
It's sorting out the middle of the pack that's most difficult, just as was the case during our last set of record projections on Dec. 17.
This time around, the East has a mere six games separating No. 6 from No. 12. In the West, you're looking at an equivalent gap between No. 8 and No. 12. It's those teams that could easily finish in either the lottery or the postseason.
Don't worry. We're here to piece it all together for you.Begin Slideshow
Kiki Vandeweghe Confirms NBA Will Not Get Rid of Last-2-Minute Reports
January 5th, 2017 by Tim Daniels No comments »
Kiki Vandeweghe, the NBA's executive vice president of basketball operations, confirmed the league will continue to produce the last-two-minute officiating reports despite recent criticism.
Zach Lowe of ESPN.com reported Thursday that Vandeweghe said there's been no discussion about removing the controversial reviews. Instead, the NBA is considering an expansion of the efforts to release reports that feature the entire game in the future.
The league affirming its stance on the issue comes after a wave of anti-report comments in recent weeks by superstar players and officials.
Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com passed along remarks from Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant after one of the reports stated he should have benefited from a foul call late in the team's Christmas Day loss to the reigning champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
"The refs didn't lose us that game. We lost that game. We could have been better," Durant said. "I think it's bulls--t that the NBA threw the ...