Sr – NBA Primetime Preview: Los Angeles Clippers at Miami Heat

Sr – NBA Primetime Preview: Los Angeles Clippers at Miami Heat

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by | Jan 25, 2020 | Featured, NBA

Friday’s NBA on ESPN actions kicks off with a bang, as the visiting LA Clippers are healed up from their load management and look to roll out a healthy starting five against the Miami Heat. The battle between the West’s most arduous defensive juggernaut and the East’s most tedious mismatch on D takes place at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, and for these two squads who are starting to get their bearings about themselves as we enter the final stretch of waiting for the All-Star break in mid-February.

By the way this season has transpired, Miami is practically indestructible when they play in the confines of their American Airlines Arena, now with a league-best 20-1 home record with their only loss coming by way of the Lakers back in December. This 31-13 team is nothing to be meddled with, and for a Clippers team that crashed back down to earth following a head-scratching loss to the Atlanta Hawks (who didn’t have Trae Young) while they decided to rest their prominent starters in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for their Load Management strategy, this is not a team to take lightly.

They have won four of their last five and have been backed the tremendous play of Kendrick Nunn, Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro, and they’re menacingly deep, with former nobodies like Duncan Robinson quickly becoming household names. It hasn’t just been Jimmy Butler leading the charge for this young Heat team, but a collaborative effort by each and every piece of Erik Spoelstra’s squad pitching in to secure the second-best record in the East.

As for the Clippers, the need to bounce back from an embarrassing loss to a team with the league’s worst record is something Doc Rivers hopes was just a tiny blemish on the intimidating persona this Clippers roster displays on a nightly basis, now getting Kawhi Leonard back in the active lineup. It’s looking like Patrick Patterson will start in place of Paul George as game time approaches, so Rivers’ combination of Patterson, JaMychal Green and Montrezl Harrell will have to replicate the usual 23.5 ppg. that George contributes to the Clips on a nightly basis.

Tonight’s game features the unstoppable road force in the Clippers squaring up against the unmovable home object in the Heat in what should be some hearty Friday night entertainment for all NBA fans to revel in and enjoy.

Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN.

Jan 25, 2020 No Comments
SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers

SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers

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by | Jan 24, 2020 | Featured, NBA

For game two of Thursday’s TNT doubleheader, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks head up to the Pacific Northwest to better their 27-16 record by a game against the slipping Portland Trail Blazers, who are now a full seven games under .500 with a 19-16 record at 10:30 p.m. on TNT.

Fresh off topping his own franchise record for points in a game, Damian Lillard’s 61 points against the Warriors in an OT win back on MLK Day this past Monday was just something of lore, you’d have sworn if you witnessed it in person. Hassan Whiteside pitched in with a double-double of a 17-point, 21 rebound contribution, lessening a bit of Lillard’s workload from carrying the team to their 19th win.

It’s been numerous times that Dame looks as if he’s the only driving force behind this Blazers team that’s in sniffing distance to a first-round playoff visit with their loss margin only being in the single digits. And fortunately, Lillard’s contributions have not been ignored, according to the Blazers’ free-agent activity in the past few days.

Bench depth has been a sore spot for Portland, but a key acquisition by the name of Trevor Ariza could be the mending bandage that’ll hold until Portland is at least able to get some of their forwards back into Terry Stotts’ rotation. Injuries have been the name of all of Portland’s issues this season, and apparently, with one gaze at the injury report for this game, they aren’t getting better anytime soon.

CJ McCollum’s is out, as Lillard’s backcourt accomplice suffering an ankle injury in the loss to this Mavericks team last week and without him, the task to keep up the momentum built up from Monday’s win is possible, but a lot more difficult as Lillard will have to rely on the combination of Anfernee Simons (9.4 ppg., 2.6 rpg., 1.5 apg. as a rookie) Gary Trent Jr., and Mario Hezonja to supply some help.

As it goes for the Mavericks who sit at 27-16, they’re winners of four of their last six, with two of those losses coming by way of the Clippers, and tonight’s opponent the Trail Blazers. They’re not injury-abstinent either, for it’ll be up to Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle to concoct some new rotations in the wake of Dwight Powell going down with a season-ending Achilles tear in Tuesday’s loss to the Clippers, which is obviously going to be a big blow for a team that’s destined to compete in this year’s playoffs.

Now selected as an All-Star for the first time, Mavericks superstar guard Luka Doncic dropped 36 points, snagged 10 rebounds and dished out 9 assists in a near triple-double effort in the loss to LAC. Replicating what Powell brought to Dallas on a nightly occurrence (9.4 ppg. off 63.8 percent shooting) with the tandem of Maxi Kleiber and others is a tall task to ask for, but given the circumstance of Portland’s lack of depth when it comes to size down low, Dallas feels they should fare just fine in spacing the floor on both levels so their backcourt rotation composed of Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr., Seth Curry, and Dorian Finney-Smith can get theirs as well.

This rematch between two likely playoff teams (if the Blazers can get healthy and over the .500 mark first – small steps are important, too) should be a fun one, as injury, ailment and all hasn’t seemed to slow down Damian Lillard from touching at least 30 points per contest yet. Expect to see some fireworks with two of the league’s most offensively-gifted players battling it out for four quarters on TNT, soon after the Lakers and Nets game concludes.

Jan 24, 2020 No Comments
SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Los Angeles Lakers at Brooklyn Nets

SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Los Angeles Lakers at Brooklyn Nets

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by | Jan 24, 2020 | Featured, NBA

Well at this point in the season, is it even possible that anyone could be out of touch to know how much drama has circulated throughout the media airwaves in the past couple of days surrounding the two superstars, and old adversaries, set to duel on TNT tonight at 8:15 p.m.? The Lakers are on their road trip from this weekend’s Grammy Awards vacating their home abode in the Staples Center, and so they’ve set sail out East to take on some opponents in the opposite conference as the Brooklyn Nets in the Barclays Center are up next on the Lakers’ schedule.

In what was certainly the most startling result of the season, the 35-9 Lakers’ Eastern voyage started out as rocky as one could imagine, getting absolutely pulverized to smithereens by 32 from the lone team they’re hoping to equal in franchise titles this year in the Boston Celtics, and then just so happened to squeezy by the talent-defunct Knicks in MSG. Tonight’s third contest is against a Nets team that’s recent headlines emanate any salient news but what is happening on the court.

So to summarize: last week (or this week, your perspective) Kyrie Irving made some head-turning comments in trying to equate his “insightfulness” and “strife” to that of Martin Luther King, saying criticisms toward his direction are similar to what Dr. King had to endure and that with him being out for several weeks, he is still being attacked from prognosticators and skeptics.

And aside from all of that, his Nets have not been playing the best basketball, now 1-5 since Kyrie’s return to the hardwood. Thursday night marks the 12th time these two prolific stars, once teammates for three years (and 2016 world champs, to reaffirm) face-off in what is to be a pretty entertaining battle between two teams that look to end their weeks on a high note. The Lakers must feel a big sense of confidence, especially in regards to LeBron’s 9-2 all-time record against his old Point Guard.

Against Kyrie, James has been known to put on some clinics, averaging a whopping 25.5 points per matchup. Irving lone wins against James came when he donned Celtic Green and white, winning once against LeBron as a Cavalier in 2018 and once as a Laker in 2019. Yet this season, as much of a turbulence-filled ride it’s been for this newly-assembled Nets team, Irving has averaged 26.5 points per game, as the increase of those numbers faced an impediment due to Irving’s seven-week, 26-game absence as result of a shoulder impingement.

The 18-24 Nets look to right the ship against a Lakers team that, albeit has the best record in the West, is on a bit of an identity crisis as they are still wading the trade waters and seeing who is worth keeping around for LA’s playoff hunt in the third quarter of the season. And be sure to catch all the action at 8:15 p.m. on TNT.

Jan 24, 2020 No Comments
Top 15 Kicks Worn During Week 13 of NBA Season

Top 15 Kicks Worn During Week 13 of NBA Season

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by | Jan 21, 2020 | Featured, NBA, Sneakers

Week 13 in the NBA was packed with heat on the court. Lebron James is still at it, hurting feelings wearing colorways of current and past models that the public has no chance of getting their hands on. Kyrie Irving is back in action and sporting some never-before-seen P.E.’s of his sixth model. The Jordan XXXIV’s are seeing more and more P.E. mock-ups hit the hardwood in what are most of the time met with fanfare. Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to wear sleek iterations of his first signature sneaker.

In surprising fashion only two Kobe models made our Top 15 countdown this week, largely in part due to Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, and Jordan Brand athletes all rocking heat in the same week. A brand new Nike basketball model was debuted by one of Nike’s budding young superstars. Martin Luther King Jr. day brought out some past Nike “BHM” hits as well as some meaningful customs. Will P.J. Tucker take home the top spot this week or did Lebron James wear an unreleased colorway that was just too good to ignore? Find out below in our Week 13 countdown.

 

 

15. Nike Adapt BB 2.0 – Ja Morant – Memphis Grizzlies

 

     

 

 

14. Jordan XXXIV “MLK” – Zion Williamson – New Orleans Pelicans

 

     

 

 

13. Nike Zoom Freak 1 “Mariah” – Giannis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee Bucks

 

           

 

 

12. Nike Kobe 7 “BHM” (2012) – Lonzo Ball – New Orleans Pelicans

 

     

 

 

11. Jordan XXXIV P.E. – Carmelo Anthony – Portland Trail Blazers

 

     

 

 

10. Nike Kobe 8 “Area 72” (All-Star) – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Oklahoma City Thunder

 

     

 

 

9. Nike Lebron XVII “Cool Grey” P.E. – Lebron James – Los Angeles Lakers

 

     

 

 

8. Nike Kyrie 6 P.E. – Kyrie Irving – Brooklyn Nets

 

     

 

 

7. Jordan XIII Low “MLK” Custom – Bam Adebayo – Miami Heat (done by @solesbysir)

 

     

 

 

6. Nike Lebron XV “Jordan V” P.E. – Lebron James – Los Angeles Lakers

 

     

 

 

5. Nike KD IV (sample) – P.J. Tucker – Houston Rockets

 

     

 

 

4. Nike Kyrie 6 P.E. – Kyrie Irving – Brooklyn Nets

 

     

 

 

3. Jordan III “Lakers” – P.J. Tucker – Houston Rockets

 

     

 

 

2. Nike Lebron XV “Zoom Generation” P.E. – Lebron James – Los Angeles Lakers

 

     

 

 

1. Nike Lebron XVII “I Promise” (Alternate) – Lebron James – Los Angeles Lakers

 

     

 

Jan 21, 2020 No Comments
SR – NBA Power Rankings: Week 14

SR – NBA Power Rankings: Week 14

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by | Jan 20, 2020 | Featured, NBA

The Lakers, Clippers, Heat, Raptors, and Nuggets all had some pretty convincing weeks now that the playoff picture is molding into shape and as a fresh batch of MLK Day games await the general public on Monday. But, other teams like the Celtics, Rockets, Blazers and Thunder showed significant regression in a week that told a lot about who’s to be taken seriously as postseason mainstays come April. The lowest 10 may remain where they are in regards to last week’s power rankings, but as for the rest of the 20 best teams in the league, different placing and rearranging of their places is to be expected in this ever-changing league.

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1. Milwaukee Bucks (38-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

So, by now, it’s pretty obvious that the Bucks are practically unbeatable when it comes to playing in the East. I think that’s a fair assessment, right? Milwaukee went 3-0, exorcised some early-season demons from holding on to defeat the Celtics in the Fiserv Forum this past Thursday and proceeded to beat the brakes off both the Knicks at home and Nets on the road. Defensively, they’re still better than everyone else with their 101.4 defensive rating and something that’s even more noticeable about this team: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s bench support played tremendously last week, evident behind pieces such as Donte DiVincenzo who came up big against the Celtics with a career-high 19 points off the bench.

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2. Los Angeles Lakers (34-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

No Anthony Davis? No problem. It’s now been five games that Davis has missed due to a lingering tailbone issue stemming from a nasty fall against the Knicks last week, but with big contributions from other bigs in JaVale McGee (9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.6 blocks averaged in his last three games) and Dwight Howard (12 points, 13.6 rebounds 3 blocks this past week) have been the biggest blessing to the question of the Lakers’ frontcourt depth issues that have recently plagued them. LeBron James is up to his usual dominance, scoring 30+ points in four of the last five contests while averaging 11.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds.

In the sole loss to the Magic, he matched his career-high of 19 assists but responded with 31 points and 12 assists in a win over the Rockets on national television. Like a fine wine, James just gets better with age.

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3. Los Angeles Clippers (30-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

This was practically expected to happen, being that the Clippers are one of the most well-put-together factions in all of the NBA. And they’re just starting to figure that out in the waning days and hours of January. Backed by another masterclass from the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Lou Williams in the fourth quarter, the New Orleans Pelicans had no answer to Doc Rivers’ adjustments during Saturday’s win on the road.

They’ve gone 4-1 in the stretch of not having Paul George assist Leonard in the frontcourt for five-straight games and in his place, Leonard has posted five-straight games of 30-plus points, averaging 36.0 points while shooting 55.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3. Oh, and they’ve crept up to the second spot in the West and are only 5 1/2 games out of knocking the Lakers off the throne in the West nearly 2/3rds through the season.

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4. Utah Jazz (29-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

The Jazz and Nuggets are vying for the third spot in the West and though they could’ve supplanted their position amongst the top three teams in the conference had they been able to finish off the Pelicans last Thursday, they’ve won 11 of their last 12 games and are 16-2 in their last 18 contests. On top of all that, Mike Conley Jr. returned to the lineup after rehabbing a hamstring problem that’s kept him out for 20 games.

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5. Denver Nuggets (29-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

Tied in a dead heat with the Jazz for third place in the West, the Nugs strongly emphasized that old Next Man Up philosophy this past week as head coach Mike Malone had to pull some strings and things to maneuver around Jamal Murray’s extended absence from the team due to an ankle injury, going a positive 2-1 on the week. It’s apparent that Michael Porter Jr.’s minutes are to steadily increase after every game, especially after his clutch 19 points explosion against Golden State on primetime television. A smooth stroke from deep (now at a 3pt percentage of 39.3 for the Columbia, Missouri native) is just one of the many departments he’s shown that his proper development is paying off.

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6. Miami Heat (29-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

Miami went 2-1 on the week as well, picking up some quality wins both on the road and at home as they played the Thunder and the Spurs twice for their Western escapade last week. They started the week beating San Antonio at home behind delectable performances from Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Kendrick Nunn but were dealt a road loss to San Antonio to conclude the week in which the couldn’t finish the season sweep against Popovich’s squad. Beating the hot OKC was the outright highlight of their week though, as Nunn packed on an extra W for Miami with a 22-point, 3-3PM outing.

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7. Houston Rockets (26-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Make that three straight losses for the Rockets, as James Harden slowly begins to slip out of the MVP race. The formula might be out to defeat Houston, as the Lakers found out this past Saturday when they made it a point of adamance to overcrowd Harden with traps and double-teams while letting others like Russell Westbrook and Ben McLemore play the hero. That hasn’t worked out the best and as a team, now with a team 3pt percentage at a substandard 32.8 in the month of January.

After being shocked by rookie Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies to start last week, Harden had the worst shooting performance of the season, only scoring 13 points off 3-12 shooting in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The loss to LA only solidified his worsened percentage from deep, now at 27 percent (20-for-74).

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8. Toronto Raptors (28-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

Nick Nurse deserves to be in the running for coach of the year because no matter what he’s put out on the floor, they’ve just found ways to win, time and time again. They went 3-0 on the week, and against some pretty decent competition in the Thunder and Wizards and while not even at full-strength as Pascal Siakam and Norman Powell returned in the last couple of games this past week.

Something worth the notation as well – Norman Powell has now scored 20+ points in all four games since his return, and he’s been backed up well by some additional returns in Marc Gasol, as the Spanish big man dropped 20 points and six threes against the Wizards last week. Also, Fred VanVleet didn’t disappoint with his 29 points and seven threes against the Timberwolves.

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9. Boston Celtics (27-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

The Celtics have not played great basketball as of late, dropping six of their last 10 games. And it doesn’t get easier with the Lakers coming into town Monday night for MLK Day, as additional matchups with the Grizzlies, Pelicans and Magic are up next on the schedule in their 14th week of play. Kemba Walker may have dropped 40 on the Bucks, but without Jaylen Brown who is still recovering from a sprained thumb, they’ve lost three consecutive games against sub-.500 teams.

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10. Dallas Mavericks (27-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

Coming into Week 13, the Mavs were going through a bit of a rough patch where they had lost three of their last four games but have recently responded well with three consecutive quality wins over the Warriors, Kings and Trail Blazers. Those were games the fifth-seeded team in the West is supposed to win, but Luka Doncic has still been exceptional in setting a new record that’s even impressive to his standards, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record at least 20 points, 15 assists and 15 rebounds in a game against the Kings, in which he racked up a triple-double of 25 points, 17 assists and 15 rebounds.

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11. Philadelphia 76ers (28-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

Philly’s won three straight, thanks to the efficient play of Ben Simmons who still finds ways to score despite not having the confidence to put up a 15-foot jumper. They’ve been well off while missing Joel Embiid and defensively, the Sixers have held their opponents in the fourth quarter to an average of 17 points on 31 percent from the field and 8 percent shooting from 3. Also Furkan Korkmaz has been on a tear recently, averaging 8.7 points and an increasing 39.2 percent from deep this season.

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12. Indiana Pacers (28-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

T.J. Warren has been scoring out of his mind lately, and as the Pacers await Victor Oladipo’s return from patellar tendon rehabilitation, Warren has averaged 21 points per game on 55% from the field during his past 11 games as the primary scoring option for the Pacers. Despite that little episode with Jimmy Butler, he and the Pacers managed to knock off the visiting Sixers last week to jump into fifth in the East and they’ve won five straight since Warren’s offensive improvement.

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13. Memphis Grizzlies (20-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

It’s Ja Morant’s world; we’re just living in it. That makes 14 wins out of the last 20 games this young Grizzlies core has played in and experience isn’t just the only thing Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr, Brandon Clarke and others have gained this season. As an offense, they’ve averaged 115.5 points per 100 possessions when both JJJ and Ja are on the court over the span of these 20 games. Not bad for some guys that are in their first and second years.

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14. Oklahoma City Thunder (24-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

OKC is a competitive team that’s shown bunches of flashes in just how good they can be, but they remain one of the most intriguing teams in the league as the trade deadline nears. On one hand, all showings suggest that they’re a borderling playoff squad that’s a clear five games over .500 but on the other, this is a team that could sell high at month’s end to acquire some extra draft capital with all those first and second-round picks from the Paul George-Clippers trade. They could start by trading Danilo Gallinari, as they are 6-1 without him.

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15. Orlando Magic (20-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Orlando got their signature win of the season against the Lakers last Monday night and Markelle Fultz was the talk of the town as he posted a triple-double in the Staples Center and a game-winner over LeBron James to boot. it seems like Steve Clifford may have unlocked the potential that Fultz was apprehensive to show in his years as a Sixer. He’s averaging 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists while shooting 50% from the field during his past seven games, and he’s only going to get better the more minutes and experience he acquires as a full-time starter.

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16. San Antonio Spurs (18-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

Watch out for the Spurs, who look like they’re creeping up on the seventh and eighth seeds in the West. What’s helped them get to this point has been the resurgent play of DeMar DeRozan, as he has averaged 26.6 points on 62.3 percent shooting in the past 14 games, while taking a majority of his shots inside the arc and only making a total of three 3s in that span.

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17. Phoenix Suns (18-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

The Suns earned a tough win against the Jaylen Brown-less Celtics amidst a career night from Marcus Smart as he drained 11 threes. Phoenix was able to limit the tandem of Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward to only 10 made shots and Devin Booker made sure that they paid for it on the other end of the floor. Over the past 10 games, the former Kentucky Wildcat has evenly averaged 32 points, including scoring 39 in two of the past three contests.

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18. Brooklyn Nets (18-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

The Nets have been the source of all media attention due to the return of a suddenly disapproving Kyrie Irving, who made comments this past week regarding the “extra pieces” this team may need if they’re to compete in the future. And on the floor, the off-court noise hasn’t been shut up at all, as the Nets dropped three straight games with double-digit losses to Utah, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.

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19. New Orleans Pelicans (16-27, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

New Orleans stays in prime position to fight for a playoff spot as the impending season debut of Zion Wiliamson lies in the balance. The Pellies have done their part to stay in it, winning nine of their last 14 games as Brandon Ingram has made it clear that the core of he and Williamson will be a formidable tandem to face for years to come. Ingram averaged 26.4 points and 5.5 assists over the 13 games, highlighted by his 49-point, six-assist performance in the upset win over Utah that snapped their 10-game winning streak.

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20. Portland Trail Blazers (18-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

Barring an uncharacteristic win against the Rockets last week, this season has been bad from the get-go and as the trade deadline approaches, it looks like this team is going to possibly downsize as this season’s aspirations have gone from returning to the conference finals to being a high-sell team that at best can target an eighth seed and firsr-round exit, if things even go that well.

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21. Chicago Bulls (16-28, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

Zach LaVine is making the case to be an all star, averaging 30.6 points over the past 10 games, including his 42-point performance against the Cavaliers this past Saturday, when he scored 21 in the fourth quarter alone to overome Cleveland for their 16th win of the season.

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22. Detroit Pistons (16-27, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

So, the Pistons found a way to defeat the Celtics by double-digits to start their week and then blew out the Hawks by 33 points. Not bad, considering that their frontcourt that’s looked anemic at times without Blake Griffin, but Markieff Morris and rookie Sekou Doumbouya have filled in for him as the Pistons are only 3 games out of the eighth seed in the East.

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23. Minnesota Timberwolves (15-27, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

Trades are happening aplenty across the league, and the Wolves were definitely bit by the trade bug as their guard depth took a hit last week with Jeff Teague being shipped off back to Atlanta. They’ve lost five-straight games against playoff teams and to make matters worse, they’ll face three more postseason locks this weeks. Fortunately, they got Karl Anthony-Towns from a long injury layoff to now have a healthy frontcourt in this next patch of tough games.

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24. Sacramento Kings (15-27, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

So, the guess is that Sacramento is already preparing for a playoff run next year as the Kings just traded away a bunch of pieces in Trevor Ariza, Wenyen Gabriel and Caleb Swanigan to acquire draft and trade chips like Kent Bazemore, Anthony Tolliver and two second-round picks from Portland, and they’re still in the process of shipping off DeWayne Dedmon who is still holding that three-year, $40 Million deal.

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25. Charlotte Hornets (15-29, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

Charlotte has dropped seven straight contests and look like a shell of the team that started off the season on the rightest of feet, now a whole 14 games under .500. James Borrego has mixed and matched at the center position by switching Cody Zeller with Bismack Biyombo and vice versa, but it’s been to no avail as the Hornets have gone 2-7 in their last nine and 8-11 in their past nineteen games.

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26. Washington Wizards (13-28, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

Bradley Beal’s selective disconnect with the Wizards sounds like it’s becoming toxic, and with the league’s worst defense, (still) the Wizards are are just plain banged up and depth-insufficient as Scott Brooks is literally putting out scraps on the floor on a nightly basis. The Pistons, Heat, Cavs and Hawks await the Wizards next up, so two out of those four games are somewhat winnable for a team that’s 15 games away from an even record.

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27. Cleveland Cavaliers (12-31, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

Cleveland doesn’t move an inch in this week’s power rankings, evident by their horrid second-half performance against Chicago last week where they let Zach LaVine drop 21 points on them and while as a team they turned the ball over 26 times en route to blowing a 17-point halftime lead. This is not the ideal first season John Beilein had in mind, but if there’s any consolation, the play of Collin Sexton and Kevin Love has been palateable, with Sexton averaging around 23 points per game on 48.7 percent shooting from the field. Conversely, Love has averaged 23 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

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28. Golden State Warriors (10-34, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

Somehow, the Warriors were able to end their 10-game skid against the Orlando Magic at home, and all without Draymond Green who missed his sixth game with a sprained left finger. Eric Paschall and Jordan Poole’s continued education and development into useful rotational pieces experienced some highlights with their contributions of 21 and 20 points, respectively, in their last win.

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29. New York Knicks (11-32, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

The Mike Miller experiment may have already reached its peak this month, as the Knicks have managed to win only two of their ten games in January. RJ Barrett was sidelined to an ankle injury that made him miss the divisional battle against the Sixers, a game in which the Knicks almost stole hadn’t it not been for a late three by Tobias Harris, and for New York, it doesn’t get any easier — the Lakers, Raptors and Nets all visit Madison Square Garden up next where the Knicks are a combined 6-15 this year.

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30. Atlanta Hawks (10-33, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

Atlanta found a way to knock off the Spurs in San Antonio this past week, and apparently that was the first time they were able to do so in nearly 23 years as Cam Reddish had what was arguably the best game of his young career, who scored 22 points off 8-22 shooting while draining five threes in the process. Ironically, the Hawks got it done on the road in a hostile environment, where they have lost 18 road games this season, the worst mark in the Eastern Conference.

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 20, 2020 No Comments
SneakerReporter NBA MLK Jr. Day Primetime Preview

SneakerReporter NBA MLK Jr. Day Primetime Preview

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by | Jan 20, 2020 | Featured, NBA

As we take today in remembrance of the great Doctor Martin Luther King Jr., we have an exciting match-up between some of the most premier, prolific teams of the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics.

The Lakers just recently came off a win in Houston against the Rockets, and have showcased that they have been the top team in a very stacked Western Conference thus far. The many big names on the Lakers roster have produced in ways that many have expected to do. With that, anyone on the roster is capable of leading the team in scoring, with names like LeBron, Davis, Kuzma, to only name a few. It has been almost non-existent to see the Lakers go on a losing-streak, and hope to maintain this going into tonights game against the Celtics.

Boston has had its struggles these past few games, losing their last three. Currently fourth in the Eastern Conference, they are hoping to get back on track with tonight’s game. With Walker back into the mix of the roster, they are much more well-equipped to do so, alongside names like Smart, Tatum, Brown, and Hayward.

This particular match-up is going to be one to watch. The two teams have truly been quite exemplary in regards to what team basketball looks like. As the games go on, any player is capable to take over the game and make an impact in favor of their team. It will also be particularly interesting to see how the teams compete, with one team having much stronger frontcourt depth, while the other has a much stronger depth in the backcourt.

With this in mind it will be very interesting to see which side will outshine the other which team will come out victorious in a game that all NBA fans should tune in to.

Tonight’s game will tip-off at 4:30PST/7:30ET on TNT.

Jan 20, 2020 No Comments