SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics

by Marcus Van Diver | Jan 31, 2020 | Featured, NBA

TNT’s Primetime broadcast cameras flash on to the TD Garden for another time tonight as the Boston Celtics do battle with the Golden State Warriors for the second and final time this season, and tip-off will occur at 8 p.m.

Celtics fans better get used to enjoying this feeling of not having to worry about facing a stacked Western powerhouse for a full year in GSW’s momentary hiatus from league-wide domination, as this year’s iteration of a Warriors squad displays all but a mere fraction of the franchise previous lineups composed of all things intimidating. As a Boston Celtic, it must be nice to know that there’s no need to gameplan for the backcourt onslaught of the Splash Brothers for a whole year, even if you only face them twice (barring any potential NBA Finals meetups in June, of course).

As for tonight, they face a Warriors team that’s already looking ahead to the Draft Lottery in June and the offseason where they’re sure to stock up on some additional firepower to supply with Curry and Thompson’s return to the hardwood. And the last time they were on the Parquet, they skated by in a 115-111 win over the Celtics, where Steph and Klay combined for 45 and Kevin Durant eviscerated the Celtics front line in a 33-point performance that kept the Warriors afloat in the Western top-two team race last year.

Things changed drastically since the last time they visited Beantown, as you know already. The Celtics were pushed to their limits the last time they faced these tenacious Warriors back on November 15, and they needed a high-powered offensive showing from Kemba Walker to grab their first-ever win in the newly-erected Chase Arena. For their last contest, Golden State fought hard for three quarters but lost gas at the end in a 115-104 loss on the road in Philadelphia.

Boston in the meantime has been rolling, with exception to the loss to the Pelicans, becoming one of the only three teams this season to hand an L to the Miami Heat inside the American Airlines Arena. They’ve won four of their last five games and with Jayson Tatum being announced as an All-Star for the first time in his three-year career, there’s a little extra motivation for the former third overall pick to go off against a team that’s struggled on the defensive end, now ranking 23rd in the league in team defensive rating. Tatum returns from a thigh ailment and should expect to see a minutes restriction to get accumulated to NBA pace again.

The first game of the night will tip-off at 8 p.m. ET, on TNT

Jan 31, 2020 No Comments

SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: Houston Rockets at Portland Trail Blazers

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by Marcus Van Diver | Jan 30, 2020 | Featured, NBA

Game two of ESPN’s Wednesday Night Hoops showcase features the Houston Rockets prepare to do battle for the fourth and final time this regular season against Carmelo Anthony, Damian Lillard and the injury-rattled Portland Trail Blazers at 10:00 p.m. ET.

This is the second time these teams lace up since the passing of the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant, and though the grieving process hasn’t been the easiest for both teams, the show must go on. This game wasn’t supposed to be stapled onto the ESPN calendar, flexed into the national spotlight via the postponement of last night’s Lakers-Clippers game inside of the Staples Center.

For reasons a little too sentimental to be left to explanation, the two organizations decided to push their third duel of the season to a later date, thus setting up this matchup of the two-highest scoring backcourts in the NBA. The last time these two faced off, it resulted in Anthony getting the long-awaited revenge he had sought after being released by Houston a year ago.

Damian Lillard in the meantime has been on the most ravenous rampage of his career, averaging a wild 52.7 points per game over the course of the last three games and his Pacers were finally able to get over the losing hump with a huge win over Indiana, 139-129. And get this, per Casey Hodahl of NBA.com, the 158 points Lillard has scored over the last three games ranks sixth all-time for a three-game stretch.

Number one? Kobe Bean Bryant, with 175 back in 2007.

Offensively, Portland has been phenomenal in the month of January, led by none other than Dame, but on defense is where the Blazers have faltered, now ranked as the 27th-best defense in the NBA. Yet, irony flashed it’s cheeky smile the last time they played Houston, as the blitzing, trapping and double-teaming worked against James Harden in their ability to force the rock out of his hands and into the palms of others like Russell Westbrook and PJ Tucker.

Harden scored 13 points and honestly, since then, has been on the ugliest of slumps in shooting a mediocre 22.7 percent from deep in one of the greatest offensive seasons we’ve seen from any guard in league history. Granted, he’ll get out of it sometime soon now that he’s been cleared to return from an injured quad tonight, so that chance for Harden to explode for 40+, or something of that magnitude is already existent. Houston walks into this one with a previous win over the Utah Jazz in which Eric Gordon, starting in place for Harden, went ballistic in dropping 50 off a super-efficient 14-of-22 shooting outing.

Portland heads to LA on Friday in what could easily be the most emotional night in the history of the league but has a huge task ahead of them for their one-game homestand tonight.

Jan 30, 2020 No Comments

SR – NBA Prime Time Preview: Detroit Pistons at Brooklyn Nets

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by Marcus Van Diver | Jan 30, 2020 | Featured, NBA

NBA basketball finds its way back to a Barclays Center that’s sorely missed it, with the Brooklyn Nets hosting the Pistons on a night not meant to show any dry eyes.

ESPN is back to covering Basketball to the best of its ability in what’s been a somber week in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s passing. Yet, as the NBA legend would’ve wanted, the work must be done and the comfortability must be sacrificed in order to find the greater good, so we as journalists have to get the ball rolling again in documenting this great game, fans still have to fill the seats of all 30 NBA stadiums, and grieve in the most helpful way – around like-minded fans of the game who only want to heal by watching four quarters of the game that Kobe Bean Bryant made them fall head over heels with.

So, for tonight’s game, Kyrie Irving is confirmed to suit up tonight against a 17-31 Pistons team, after his Nets lost to the Knicks on what felt like the most emotional day in the history of the entire Association. He made the decision just 20 minutes ago, to be precise, and though it will be hard, it’s difficult to think that the former All-Star and one-time champ tonight won’t play without having his mentor and good friend on his mind.

As it goes for basketball, the Nets are healthy and the Pistons are banged up since Derrick Rose and Matt Snell are questionable to play in Wednesday night’s matchup. But the Nets need this one, badly. They’re only three games ahead of the Bulls in holding on to the eighth spot in the East, so they have to string together some wins.

It’s the third game in a seven-game stretch against sub-.500 teams and the Nets barely beat the Pistons in an overtime win last time on Saturday, then lost to the Knicks Sunday. After Wednesday, it’s the Bulls, Wizards, Suns and Warriors.

Meanwhile, the Pistons aren’t all that good either. They’re a whole 14 games under .500, they’ve lost three straight and have dropped nine of the last 14 overall. Duane Casey’s team isn’t doing all that hot, but behind the play of the returning Reggie Jackson (12.4 ppg. off 42.3 percent shooting) there is some hope of an offensive spark being lit in the Pistons’ backcourt.

Tonight’s game, again, will be broadcasted on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Jan 30, 2020 No Comments

SR – NBA Power Rankings: Week 15

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by Marcus Van Diver | Jan 28, 2020 | Featured, NBA

We start this week’s power rankings on a rather somber note, as the collective NBA family mourns the sudden and shocking loss of the legendary Kobe Bryant. A league impacted by his legacy, life and motivations will continue to move on in spite of the tragedy that has befallen its players and fans. Across the league on Sunday afternoon upon hearing of the former Laker great’s passing, voluminous 24-second shot clock violations, and 8-second inbound violations, kicked off every single game played yesterday afternoon, as a tribute to the 5-time champ and 18-time All-Star that graced the floor with both numbers 24 and 8.

We here at SneakerReporter are with the Bryant family, as the Black Mamba will never be forgotten.

Let’s just get into this week’s power rankings.

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1. Milwaukee Bucks (40-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

One of Kobe’s most respected protege’s and confidants, Giannis Antetokounmpo took to the challenge that a certain Kobe Bryant gave to him back in the summer of 2017, summarized in three simple but larger than life letters in one tweet – win the MVP. It’s been pretty evident that Antetokounmpo took Bryant’s call to action to heart. As the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player, he has been the spark of hope for Bucks fans all season to get back into the NBA Finals picture for the first time since 1974. They have the best chance to do so, still with the league’s best record and having suffered only one loss since December 14th. And yes, they still lead the NBA in team average scoring margin and defensive rating.

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2. Los Angeles Clippers (33-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

The Clippers bump up a spot in this week’s updated rankings, thanks to a really convincing week (or month, for that matter) that saw the Clips win nine of their last 11 games. It’s been a controversial, headline filling kind of year for the Clippers, awash with speculation over who is resting during their strategized load management plans in preparation for the playoffs come April. Their goal of getting to the conference finals is an arduous path, but this is why this roster is built the way it is, for those kind of series down the road.

It was a tough day for Doc Rivers and his Clippers team, evident in his inability to hold back the tears in his pre-game presser before facing off against the Magic. Rivers, a former 2-time NBA Finals opponent of the legendary former guard when he was the head coach of the Boston Celtics, had his words conveyed in such a relatable manner by his All-Star forward Leonard in a post-game interview.

“Knowing (Kobe) personally, I know he’d want me to come out here & ball & still just be great… Everybody’s sad. No words can explain the impact he had on the sport…It’s just sad.”

The tandem of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard haven’t played a lot of games together but though that has been the case all year, the Clippers still rank No. 6 in the whole league in defensive rating.

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3. Los Angeles Lakers (36-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

Well, this section of the weekly rankings isn’t going to be easy to write. After the team plane landed back in Los Angeles, the news resounded through team infrastructure that their mentor and regular visitor to the team facility had passed. As it went for basketball specifically, the Lakers had a surprisingly average week, going 2-2 on the road as they suffered a 32-point shellacking by the Boston Celtics and a 17-point beatdown handed to them by Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers.

So, as recent events suggest, it’ll be really difficult for the Lakers to muster up the confidence amidst their grief going into their 3rd duel against the Clippers this week, as it is easily going to be the most emotional game of the season. It’ll be the first time the Lakers return to the court since the end of their road trip and the Blazers, Kings, and Spurs appear next up on this tough stretch of games for the Lakers.

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4. Utah Jazz (32-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

The Jazz are streaking and are trending up in this week’s rankings, winning 19 of their past 21 games while Donovan Mitchell averaged 24.3 ppg. through his last three contests. While Mitchell’s numbers increased, Mike Conley’s health continues to get better and Quin Snyder is becoming a lot more comfortable weaving Conley back into his regular shift of minutes, averaging 7.8 points on 46.7% shooting in 17.8 minutes in the four games since he has returned.

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5. Toronto Raptors (32-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

That’s now seven straight for the 100 percent healthy Toronto Raptors squad, but the more startling surprise has been the outstanding defense Pascal Siakam and his Raptors have played over the past two weeks, now second in the NBA in team defensive rating with only 104.5 points allowed per 100 possessions. Combining the wins earlier in the season prior to his injury and the wins after his return, the Raps are 26-9 and together have a win rate that’s only lower than the Lakers and Bucks for the best in the league.

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6. Denver Nuggets (32-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

Denver has quietly strung together one of the most impressive stretches of the season, going three for four on the week with signature wins coming against the Pelicans and Rockets, who didn’t have James Harden Sunday afternoon. Nikola Jokic has been up to his usual 19.7 points per game but it’s really been the play of Michael Porter Jr. that is quickly gaining traction with head coach Mike Malone as he cycles pieces in lieu of the upcoming playoffs just three months from now. They have Memphis, Utah, Milwaukee, and Detroit up next, so the young rookie will have more chances to impress.

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7. Miami Heat (31-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

The Heat got a jolt of energy shot into their arm in a resurgent return to the hardwood by Dion Waiters during Miami’s second home loss of the season against the Clippers, and though it has been a weird season for Waiters, whose been subjected to team suspensions, medical incidents, and other issues, he is still a talented player who can help a good team become even better, now at the third seed in the Eastern standings.

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8. Boston Celtics (30-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

The Celtics ended their week on a sour note, officially being the first mantle on the wall of Zion Williamson’s career-wide hunting list in the Pelicans’ snapping of their losing streak. It was still a really successful week overall, highlighted by their best game of the season, a 32-point smackdown on the visiting Lakers. Additionally, they outscored all of their opponents (Lakers, Grizzlies, Magic) by a combined 67 points.

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9. Philadelphia 76ers (30-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

Philly pops back up into this week’s top 10, thanks to a revealing win over the Lakers in the Wells Fargo Center. It is shown that Philly knows how to turn the switch on against the league’s top teams, and especially at home now that they possess the league’s 2nd best home record behind the Miami Heat, but what’s to be understood about those wins is that the Sixers didn’t just skate by in those wins; they won by a combined 29 points.

In their win over the Lakers, Ben Simmons was literally all over the court in what looked like an All-NBA performance on both ends of the court, while rookie Matisse Thybulle continues to earn more minutes, as his mere presence allows the sixers to possess an averaged 95.7 defensive rating when he’s on the floor. Also, keep in mind their most recent home victory against the Lakers this past Saturday night was accomplished without Joel Embiid.

Maybe last Saturday night was the spark this Philly team needs to become that team that many predicted to take over the East once they are solidified in the playoff picture.

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10. Indiana Pacers (30-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

Don’t look now, but this Pacers team is quietly racking up wins behind the play of T.J. Warren and went 3-2 on their Western voyage, while also getting healthy in time to go on an even bigger return when Victor Oladipo comes back on Wednesday. They’ll have a relatively easy stretch of games to do so, with the Knicks and Bulls being the only teams on the weekly schedule.

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11. Houston Rockets (28-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

James Harden was unable to perform in Sunday’s win over the Nuggets and prior to that game, Harden was in the worst slump of his career, still shooting an average of 22 percent from deep in the past eight games. Moreover, his overall field goal percentage was at 34.8 percent over that same stretch, and now fans understand how hard it was for Wilt Chamberlain to average 40 points in a season, now that Harden’s season average of 38.5 points has dipped to a 36.1 average since the Rockets blowout loss handed to them by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 9.

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12. Dallas Mavericks (28-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

It feels like just moments ago Luka Doncic stood on the corner of the Staples Center court, just to hear some “fan” deliver some international trash talk in Doncic’s native Slovenian tongue. Well, that fan just so happened to be Kobe Bryant. The exchanged laughs between the Lakers legend and the future Mavericks legend who looks to follow in Bryant’s footsteps, now charioting the league’s most efficient offense. The Mavericks have the Thunder, Suns, Rockets and Hawks in an extended week, and look to stay into the Western top-5 picture, though banged up at the Center spot with the looming absence of Dwight Powell, who is to miss the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles.

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13. Oklahoma City Thunder (28-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

So, let’s start out with some confirmations: this Thunder team is a well-put together basketball team that can win a good amount of games, and it’s looking like they’re going to end up in the playoffs after all. So much for a tanking season. The Thunder are 22-8 over the course of the past 30 games, and they’re getting the job done on the road too with their nine wins out of 10 games away from Chesapeake Energy Arena. Also, the need to ship Chris Paul or any of their pieces won’t do any justice for a team that’s guard trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dennis Schroder and CP3 has a net rating of plus-29.3 in 311 minutes.

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14. Memphis Grizzlies (22-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

The Mamba Mentality is that old adage that’ll stick in the minds of players throughout the league, and throughout the minds of inquisitive young minds like that of Ja Morant’s who is upholding his legacy with some “coming through in the clutch” numbers that equal the likes of Kobe’s clutch gene. Out of nowhere, Morant has compiled 7.9 points per fourth quarter, only falling behind James Harden, Trae Young and Giannis Antetokounmpo this year. He has scored in the double digits late in the fourth quarter for a total of 13 times, supplanting his already favored chances of winning the Rookie of the Year Award.

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15. San Antonio Spurs (20-25, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

San Antonio got off to a hot start last week but finished on a rather mediocre note, losing their last two games and overall winning three of their last five games. Derrick White has been a cause of success for a team that’s only five games out of a .500 record, for he has averaged 15 points and 5.6 assists off the Spurs’ bench in the span of five straight games. In what was arguably his best game of the season, White scored 25 points off the bench in a win over the Phoenix Suns.

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16. Orlando Magic (21-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

The Magic are quite literally maintaining a respectable 21-26 record, only being just a couple of games away from having an above .500 record, but their problem of not being able to beat good teams with .500 and above records is alarming, and quite possibly the reason they’re where they are right now. And this week, they have Miami back to back but the Heat have been one of the five good teams that this Magic squad has beaten so far.

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17. Brooklyn Nets (19-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

Brooklyn is only four games ahead of ninth place Chicago in the Eastern standings, but will enter a rather easy week with dates with the Pistons, Bulls and Wizards. The challenge will be to just get some wins after going 3-13 since Dec. 26 and though this is a soft spot on the schedule, Brooklyn needs some momentum if they don’t want the Bulls on their back heading into the All-Star break.

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18. Phoenix Suns (19-27, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Devin Booker has been the source of offense for a team that’s fading fast, and it’s more of a reason that he’s earned a spot on this year’s Western All Star roster. His 31.6 points, 6.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 9.0 made free throws per game in January have been inspirational for a team that’s losing its grip on postseason aspirations made back in November.

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19. Portland Trail Blazers (20-27, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

Damian Lillard does not want this season to end at all and is surely playing like it, literally putting up Kobe-like numbers in the past week with his 61 points against the Warriors, and then followed that up with a 47-point outing and a 50 piece just nights later. Dame’s motor always finds a way to ramp up at this point of the year, especially now that the Blazers are practically within arms reach of grabbing the eighth seed in the playoffs. Getting CJ McCollum back in time from his ankle sprain for this early playoff push is gonna help as well.

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20. New Orleans Pelicans (18-29, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

Are the Pelicans 1-2 since the debut of Zion Williamson? Sure. Are the Pelicans playoff-ready? No. But what is known is that Zion is already living up to his sky-high expectations in his first three games while shooting 66.7 percent from the field. Guys are literally bouncing off of him when he goes up for a rebound, slashes in the paint or finishing those crazy lobs inside the restricted zone, and he’s put the ball in the rim 18 of 23 times with four dunks in the past three games.

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21. Chicago Bulls (18-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

Zach LaVine has been on a pretty strong run, adding some final touches on the resume to secure his spot on the Eastern Conference All Star roster, averaging an out-of-this-world 30 points a game in the month of January while putting up (and knocking down) 3.1 three-pointers per game. His week was capped off by an epic 44-point performance against the Cavaliers, and that was the third time he scored 40 + points in a game this month.

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22. Detroit Pistons (17-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

The Pistons have lost five of the past eight games and with an abysmal win percentage, Center Andre Drummond is salvaging whatever is left of this season, and quite possibly what is left in his final months as a Piston, by setting some historic marks on the glass, now grabbing more career rebounds at the age of 26 than the great Wilt Chamberlain with his 8,104th board. A major accomplishment like that cannot go unnoticed.

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23. Sacramento Kings (16-29, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

After Buddy Hield was inexplicably benched in Luke Walton’s favor of having Bogdan Bogdanovic start over him, Hield would go on to drop 21 points and five threes off the bench in a losing streak-ending win over the Chicago Bulls this past Friday. In his replacement, Bogdanovic scored 12 points in 26 minutes.

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24. Washington Wizards (15-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

In an emotional tribute to his mentor and friend Kobe, Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks just stomped all over the Wizards in a 152-133 road loss as Trae Young ended up dropping 45 points on the worst defensive team in the NBA. To this day, the Wizards have held only three opponents to under 100 points in a game this year and with two high-scoring teams in the Bucks and Nets popping up on the schedule, those numbers are probably going to get even worse.

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25. Charlotte Hornets (15-31, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

The Hornets stand still on this weekly list, and for good reason. That’s eight straight losses for the Hornets, signified by a loss in Paris to the Milwaukee Bucks. On the plus side, Malik Monk led the team in scoring with 31 points against a superb defensive team, while also drawing enough fouls to go 8-of-9 from the free throw line.

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26. Minnesota Timberwolves (15-31, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

Speaking of losing skids, that’s now nine-straight losses for the bad luck Timberwolves who can’t seem to get out of their way. You’d think that a dually-gifted All-NBA center like Karl Anthony Towns would be able to complete the effort on both sides of the floor, but the main cause for the T’Wolves’ collapse has been their defense, and Towns is the most to blame. Since Dec. 1, the Wolves have an atrocious defensive rating of 123.4 points allowed per 100 possessions (top-3 worst ratings in the league) with Towns on the floor, but that improves to 104.5 when he rests.

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27. New York Knicks (13-34, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

So the Knicks pulled off a big feat this past week: they won two games in one week. They went 2-2 on the week, winning against the Cavaliers earlier, losing against the visiting Lakers and Raptors, and beating the Nets on Sunday. And in beating Brooklyn on Sunday, the two teams finish the year tied in wins as their seasonal series concluded.

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28. Cleveland Cavaliers (12-34, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

The Cavaliers have now lost seven straight games, and that’s just the fourth time marking the fourth they have lost five or more games in a row. It’s expected with such a young roster that’s using this season to develop their talent, but their defense has been atrocious and is largely to blame for the skid. Their 114.1 defensive rating is the second-worst rating in the league, only in front of the Wizards.

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29. Golden State Warriors (10-37, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

The Warriors were dealt a serious blow to their frontcourt in losing Willie Cauley-Stein to a trade with the Mavericks and in his place, Steve Kerr will start Marquese Chriss, who is now the new starter after recently being released to make cap room to sign Damion Lee off of a two-way contract. Chriss has averaged 7.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game for the Warriors this year.

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30. Atlanta Hawks (12-35, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

Trae Young is the Hawks’ first Eastern Conference All-Star selection since Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver in 2015, and the first starter since center Dikembe Mutombo in 1998. Young’s been a fan favorite in his short time as an NBA starter, as he led all East guards (and really, almost everyone in the fan voting aspect) with over 2.8 million fan votes.

Jan 28, 2020 No Comments

OKC Thunder Lose Emotional Game Against The Dallas Mavericks (107-97)

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by Travis Singleton | Jan 28, 2020 | Featured, NBA

The NBA world was stunned yesterday after the passing of Kobe Bryant. All of the basketball world was affected by the loss of one of the greatest to ever play the game. Kobe Bryant meant a lot to so many players in the NBA and it showed with the outpouring of love all over social media. A lot of those players wear his sneakers, mimic his moves, and play with the Mamba Mentality he showed on a daily basis. Two of those players that really idolized Kobe Bryant in their work ethic and basketball attire on the court were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander & Luka Doncic. Both players wanted to play tonight and put on a show for Kobe Bryant who’s watching from heaven. The game started with a moment of silence for Kobe Bryant followed by the OKC fans chanting “Kobe, Kobe, Kobe”. Both teams paying homage to Kobe Bryant with the 8-second violation followed by the 24-second shot clock violation. Once that happened the game got underway and that’s when the Dallas Mavericks were able to push the tempo right away.

It was tough to see because the Thunder usually dominate the paint and tonight OKC/DAL both only had 36 points in the interior. The Mavericks were able to contain the Thunder bigs Steven Adams and Nerlens Noel as they combined for 18 points. The Mavericks made it an added effort to contain the paint and they wanted to force the Thunder to score outside the paint. Without Chris Paul, in the lineup, OKC needed Shai and Dennis to show up on the night. Both combined for 37 points as they played extended roles with the basketball in their hands. Shai was missing a lot of shots that he can usually hit and wasn’t getting the calls he normally gets on a nightly basis. The whole Thunder team didn’t play as motivated as they usually do and it’s tough to do so after a tribute to one of your favorite players. The Thunder would get closer and closer in the game but every time the Mavs would make a run. The Thunder had no answer for Luka Doncic who wanted to play well in homage to Kobe Bryant. Luka who’s a Jordan Brand ambassador played the game in the Nike Kobe 5 “Chaos” to show love to all the victims from the crash. Luka was able to finish the game with 29 points and he was able to hit some unbelievable stepback jumpers on the night. The Thunder put multiple defenders on Luka but there wasn’t much that they could do. Once Luka gets hot it’s going to be a long night as that usually opens up the passing game for him as well. When Luka started getting it going he had the Thunder players on their heals as they didn’t know if he was attacking or dishing to get others involved. OKC was short-handed but this was still a big win for the Mavs moving forward. The Thunder and Mavericks meet one more time and OKC will be looking for a different outcome.

Jan 28, 2020 No Comments

Top 15 Kicks Worn During Week 14 of NBA Season

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by Brendon Schunck | Jan 27, 2020 | Featured, NBA, Sneakers

The NBA and sports world as a whole got hit with a bombshell on Sunday. One of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball, Kobe Bryant, died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. To add even more grievance to this tragedy, Kobe’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was among the individuals that perished in the wreck. A total of nine people were killed in the helicopter crash, including Gianna’s AAU basketball teammate and the parents of that girl too. The entire NBA community mourned Kobe’s loss with a heavy heart on Sunday.

Kobe not only revolutionized the game of basketball but also impacted the way sneakers were worn on the court. His long-standing partnership with Nike was/is immensely successful. Many players currently in the league grew up watching Bryant don the Swoosh. Countless NBA athletes grabbed a sharpie and wrote messages on their sneakers for their Sunday night games paying tribute to the fallen superstar. “Mamba 4 life”…..”There will never be another”…..”Mamba mentality”…..”8 + 24 Forever”…..”Legacies live forever” are just some of the messages NBA players used to show their love for Kobe. Our Top 15 Kicks this week features more Kobe signatures than ever before, with over half of our list containing Nike Kobe models. Rest In Peace Kobe Bryant, you will surely be missed.