Tuesday NBA Roundup: Joel Embiid Continues March Toward Rookie of the Year
January 3rd, 2017 by Adam Fromal No comments »
Whether on or off the court, Joel Embiid isn't the least bit boring, so we should've expected him to celebrate his second consecutive Rookie of the Month selection in style.
And that's exactly what he did, sparking his Philadelphia 76ers in a 93-91 victory over reigning Rookie of the Year Karl-Anthony Towns and the rest of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The win wasn't always pretty: Philadelphia squandered a 26-point second-half lead, allowing Minnesota to complete the monumental comeback when Ricky Rubio hit a game-tying triple with 1.6 seconds remaining. But then Robert Covington happened while two Wolves surrounded Embiid, who was acting as a mere decoy:
That might have been the first time Embiid failed to take center stage.
The rookie center showed off some of his warts against Minnesota, forcing a few ill-advised shots in the face of heavy defensive pressure and turning the ball over at inopportune times. But he still finished with ...
Chad Ford NBA Mock Draft 2017: Notable Picks from ESPN Guru’s 2nd Mock
January 3rd, 2017 by Joe Pantorno No comments »
ESPN.com NBA draft guru Chad Ford released his second mock draft of the season on Tuesday despite the year being less than halfway completed.
But it's never too early to start thinking ahead, as Ford's predictions can be seen below:
Notable Picks
Markelle Fultz, G, Washington
Ford's Prediction: No. 1
It's difficult to decipher a clear-cut No. 1 pick for the June 22 draft, but Ford believes that the Philadelphia 76ers will have the top selection and will go with Markelle Fultz.
The 6'4" Maryland native is one of numerous highly touted freshmen who will likely head to the NBA next year, but he is one of the best.
In 13 games this season, Fultz has averaged 22.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game as a versatile athlete who can play the 1, 2 or 3:
He can shoot from distance with a 45.5 three-point field-goal shooting percentage but isn't ...
Best Potential 2016-17 NBA Trade Deadline Targets for Boston Celtics
January 3rd, 2017 by Brian Robb No comments »
The Boston Celtics are a top-three team in the Eastern Conference, but there are still a couple glaring flaws on the roster.
The biggest issue is Boston ranking 29th in defensive rebounding rate, a problem that comes as no surprise to president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.
“My biggest concern even before the year started was defensive rebounding,” Ainge told the Boston Herald back in November. “I think that we are a small team and a quick team, and we have to do it collectively. We don’t have one of those guys that gets all the rebounds, and that was our problem last year, and it’s going to be a problem this year, too.”
With an undersized frontcourt and a couple of veterans (Al Horford, Amir Johnson) showing declines in their boarding numbers, look for Ainge to be on the hunt for a big man with size who can hold his own on the ...
Post to Post: Detroit Red Wings’ Playoff Streak Will End Without Pavel Datsyuk
January 3rd, 2017 by Jonathan Willis No comments »
It isn’t news that the Detroit Red Wings are a struggling hockey club.
The 24th-ranked team in the NHL may be even worse than the standings indicate. Since opening the year 6-2-0, the Red Wings have lost nearly twice as many games as they’ve won, and even that undersells matters.
Detroit is 3-14-13 through regulation over its last 30 contests, and while the good news is that the team is keeping scores close, the bad news is that if it weren’t for three-on-three overtime/shootout, things would be even bleaker.
What might be a little more newsworthy is the fact that, despite the team’s streak of 25 straight playoff appearances, the Red Wings have actually been bad for a while now. The key difference is that Detroit used to be a deteriorating team that still had Pavel Datsyuk. Now it doesn’t.
The chart above shows the team’s hourly five-on-five performance in two key metrics with ...
Donatas Motiejunas to Pelicans: Latest Contract Details, Comments and Reaction
January 3rd, 2017 by Rob Goldberg No comments »
Donatas Motiejunas appears to have finally found a home after agreeing to a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans.
New Orleans announced the deal on Tuesday but did not disclose terms of the agreement.
It was first reported by ESPN's Marc Stein on Sunday that the Pels were working toward inking Motiejunas to a one-year deal for the veteran minimum.
When healthy, the 26-year-old represents an offensive mismatch as a 7-footer who can step outside and hit jump shots. His best season came in 2013-14 when he averaged 12.0 points and 5.9 assists per game while shooting 36.8 percent from three-point range.
"He's skilled, 7 feet, knows how to really play basketball, a hard worker," Houston Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said of Motiejunas, per Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. "Above all, just his basketball intelligence will be great for any team."
This signing will hopefully conclude what has been a whirlwind of a process for the player since the end of ...
The NBA’s 25 Most Memorable Moments of 2016
January 3rd, 2017 by Dan Favale No comments »
Not so fast, 2017. The NBA's 2016 calendar year has some unfinished business.
There are plenty of unforgettable basketball moments for us to look back and reflect upon before we wholly dive into what awaits us in 2017. It's almost unfair that we're narrowing the scope to 25 heartwarming, attention-grabbing and/or inescapable occasions.
Moments are presented in chronological order and can draw our attention back to anything. Team accomplishments, player accolades, broken records, shattered dreams, inspiring stories and everything else you can think of is on the table.
Some of these flashbacks will have been captured in a single moment. Others are noteworthy distinctions that unfolded over longer periods of time.
All of them will be ingrained in our memories for the foreseeable future—perhaps forever.Begin Slideshow
Russell Westbrook and James Harden Are Close, but LeBron James Is MVP So Far
January 3rd, 2017 by Greg Swartz No comments »
CLEVELAND — Some would consider the 2016-17 NBA MVP race a two-candidate competition between Houston Rockets guard James Harden and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook.
Both have been fantastic, but only familiar force LeBron James deserves the title of the league's most valuable player right now.
We've never seen anything like this No. 23 before. Now in Year No. 14, the three-time NBA champion may be putting together his best overall season, averaging 25.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from three.
LeBron's also putting up career-best assist numbers while sporting his second-highest rebounding and three-point shooting marks.
Only Oscar Robertson has averaged at least 25.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists over the course of a season in league history. While Westbrook and Harden are also checking all three boxes, James and Robertson would be the only two to do ...
James Harden Says Eric Gordon Is an ‘All-Star for Sure’; Does He Have a Case?
January 3rd, 2017 by Maurice Bobb No comments »
HOUSTON — The definition of "NBA All-Star" can sometimes be a moving target.
Superstars like LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and James Harden are no-brainers; they're all locks for a ticket to New Orleans.
But for the other roster spots, especially the reserves, it can be tricky trying to figure out who is deserving of a nod.
Stat lines, overall production and team records are all great arbiters in the selection process, but sometimes, it helps to have the support of a perennial All-Star.
After Eric Gordon finished with a season-high 31 points in the Houston Rockets' 101-91 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night at the Toyota Center, he got a strong recommendation from Harden, the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week.
As the saying goes, it takes one to know one.
"All-Star for sure," Harden said, who racked up his third straight triple-double. "...Especially with the record that we ...
Raptors Dream Big, but NBA Reality Says Toronto’s Title Hopes May Be a Fantasy
January 3rd, 2017 by Kevin Ding No comments »
One-and-a-half players away.
That's how one NBA insider with a thorough understanding of the Toronto Raptors put it.
Not just one player away.
And that mystical half player is what has placed the Raptors in a truly devilish quandary as they straddle the blurry line between good team and who-knows-what-more-they-could-become.
It also makes for a fascinating study of what it's like to be considered a contender in an era when the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors are such heavy favorites to meet in a third consecutive NBA Finals.
The hope is real. The contending isn't.
It's too bad, because the Raptors make for a lovable underdog.
They've got two self-made stars in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, guys who work for everything they have and whose drives are evident in the Raptors' 23-10 record—especially in the plus-145 scoring differential Toronto has accumulated during the fourth quarter this season thanks to the 13.6 points the two have ...
The Best NHL Rookies Nobody Is Talking About
January 3rd, 2017 by Jonathan Willis No comments »
One of the joys of any new NHL season is watching rookies make their debuts at hockey’s highest level. 2016-17 hasn’t been an exception to the rule, and this year, we’ve been treated to a duel between Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine—both currently on-pace for 40-goal seasons—at the top of the Calder ranks.
Toronto’s adroit rebuild has leaned on Matthews but also on fellow Calder-eligible players like Mitch Marner and William Nylander, both of whom are having strong campaigns. Matthew Tkachuk in Calgary is playing a key role in the Flames’ resurgence this year. Meanwhile, defenceman Zach Werenski is logging 20-plus minutes per night for the stunning Columbus Blue Jackets, this season’s most surprising team.
This piece, though, isn’t about any of those players. Rather, it’s an attempt to highlight some other players that are easy to miss outside their home markets, rookies who deserve more attention for their strong debuts than ...