BASKETBALL NBA ARTICLES

With the trade of Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers by the New Orleans Pelicans, the dynamics of the NBA draft have changed dramatically. First, it is a clear indication of how much the Pelicans believe in projected top draftee Zion Williamson of Duke. There may be some adjusting in later pics of the first round although the first eight or so have stayed the same as far as projections. Williamson leads a highly coveted group that has anticipation for the NBA Draft at a high level. Let’s take a look at the projected top picks.   More

Never underestimate the heart of a champion. The Golden State Warriors showed their championship mettle with a thrilling victory on Monday night, extending the series by at least one more game. The Dubs got a boost from the return of Kevin Durant, but that was short lived as he hobbled off the floor for the remainder of the series. The Toronto Raptors passed on their first chance to win the NBA Finals and they’ll look to wrap it up at Oracle Arena, where they have yet to lose this season, in Game 6 on Thursday.   More

The Golden State Warriors made history a few years ago when they became the first team to blow a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. They find themselves on the other end heading into Game 5 with the Toronto Raptors on Monday night. Their fifth straight trip to the Finals may be the last for the two-time defending champs as we know them. Talk of players leaving has been prevalent all season and I don’t think Kevin Durant is coming back. Forget about next season, though. The Warriors would like him for at least one game in this series.   More

The Toronto Raptors took advantage of the shorthanded Golden State Warriors, winning the pivotal Game 3 to wrest home court advantage in the back-and-forth NBA Finals. When Kevin Durant went down in the Western Conference Final, we said the Warriors were one team that could overcome the loss of a superstar. No team can compete without two of its best players and the Dubs were throttled 123-109 on Wednesday night. The Dubs’ chances of evening the series in Game 4 improve if one or both of their injured stars are back in the lineup.   More

It was a typical third quarter run that lifted the Golden State Warriors to a Game 2 win over the Toronto Raptors, leveling the NBA Finals at a game apiece. The series moves back to the States for the next two games with the pivotal Game 3 set for Wednesday at Oracle Arena. The biggest question for the defending champs is whether or not they’ll have enough healthy bodies. The Warriors did get DeMarcus Cousins back in the lineup which should help as they look to take the series lead.   More

The Golden State Warriors find themselves in an unfamiliar position heading into Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Dropping the opener of a playoff series for just the second time in the last five years, the Warriors have some catching up to do. And they’ll have to do it against a Toronto Raptors squad that has won all three meetings with the two-time defending champs this season. The Dubs could have used Kevin Durant on Thursday and he’s unlikely to play when the series resumes with Game 2 on Sunday night.   More

The Golden State Warriors are right where they expected to be at the beginning of the season, playing in the NBA Finals for a fifth consecutive year with a chance for a three-peat just four wins away. Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors have waited a quarter of a century to get here, riding the broad shoulders of Kawhi Leonard to the franchise’s first ever NBA Finals appearance. The Warriors are heavy favorites to win the O’Brien Trophy, but they opened as a 1-point dog on the road for Game 1 of the Finals.   More

The hardest win to get in a seven-game series is the fourth, and the Toronto Raptors will find out just how difficult it is when they try to put away the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final. The Raps followed up their finest game of the postseason with a gutsy road effort, putting them one win away from their first trip to the NBA Finals. The Bucks will have to end their first three-game losing streak of the entire season to extend the series to the limit.   More

The teams were separated by just two games in the regular season standings and they were the two best teams in the NBA, so you didn’t expect the Milwaukee Bucks to run away with the series after taking the first two games, did you? The Toronto Raptors held serve on homecourt with an emphatic 120-102 win in Game 4, reducing the Eastern Conference Final to a best-of-three. One team will move a win closer to a date with the Golden State Warriors in the Finals after Thursday’s Game 5.   More

It looked like the Milwaukee Bucks were going to overpower the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference final following their Game 2 demolition. One Raptors victory suddenly has this series on the verge of being tied, and the Raps have a little confidence after knocking off the top team in the NBA in Game 3. It took overtime to get it, but Toronto isn’t worried about the how. What counts is the final result, and the Raptors are looking for another positive outcome on their home floor in Game 4 on Tuesday.   More

It’s been a whirlwind week for the Portland Trail Blazers, who beat Denver on the road in Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals and headed straight to the Bay Area for the start of the conference final with the Golden State Warriors. It’s been over a week since their last home game and the Blazers are excited to be back on their home floor where they’ve gone 5-1 this postseason. And they’ll need every advantage they can get if they want to knock off the two time defending champions on Saturday.   More

Following their thrilling Game 7 victory over Philadelphia that put them in the Eastern Conference finals, the Toronto Raptors have little time to enjoy their accomplishment. Only one team in the NBA won more games than the Raptors during the regular season and it’s the team up next. The Milwaukee Bucks might by a little rusty after waiting a week to run, but I don’t think that’s going to affect them too much given what’s at stake. Game 1 of the East Final is Wednesday from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.   More

The Eastern Conference finally has a series with the semifinal between the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors going the distance. No losing team in the five other East series won more than one game, so this one has gone well beyond the norm. And it also puts the winner at a disadvantage with the Milwaukee Bucks waiting for one of these clubs to move on. I’m sure whichever team does advance won’t mind, because playing for a trip to the NBA Finals certainly beats the alternative. Game 7 takes place in Toronto on Sunday.   More

Fueled by an epic seven-game Western Conference final last year, the rivalry between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors has become one of the fiercest in the NBA. While there is no love lost between the teams, there is a level of respect, making the matchups some of the hottest-contested. Is it truly a rivalry though if one team wins all the time? This is the fourth postseason meeting in five years and the teams head back to Oracle for Game 5 on Wednesday night.   More

It’s not a must-win situation for the Houston Rockets with another game to play if they lose. But it is as close as they can get. Dropping the first two games on the road to the defending champion Golden State Warriors wasn’t the ideal situation, but the Rockets are a confident group heading into Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal on Saturday night on their home floor. And they’re hopeful James Harden can see straight after nearly getting his eyes gouged out on Tuesday night.   More

On the verge of making the playoffs the previous two seasons, the Denver Nuggets finally broke through. And they did it in impressive fashion by claiming the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. That position helped in the first round when the Nuggets won Game 7 at home over San Antonio to advance. They’re hoping the thin air in Denver can cool off Damian Lillard. Dame wasn’t great against the Nugs during the regular season as the Portland Trail Blazers dropped three of four against their Northwest Division rival.   More

After a sluggish start to their first NBA playoff series in six years, the Denver Nuggets are starting to resemble the No. 2 seed and they can put the San Antonio Spurs to sleep with a win in Texas on Thursday. The series turned when the Nuggets snatched a rare win in San Antonio in Game 4, giving them back the homecourt advantage they worked so hard to get during the regular season. And the Nugs followed that with their best effort of the postseason in a Game 5 rout, pushing the Spurs to the brink of elimination.   More

A contentious NBA playoff series has become better known for what’s happening off the court than the actual play on the hardwood. The surprising Brooklyn Nets won the opener but they’ve been unable to add to their victory total and face elimination on Tuesday against a confident if not cocky Philadelphia 76ers club. The Sixers appear to be toying with the Nets and the strategy has paid off with a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. But the Sixers better not get too carried away or this series will be extended, as long as the officials do their job.   More

The Indiana Pacers are looking to flip their first round series with the Boston Celtics in their favor when the clubs return to Indy for Game 3 on Friday night. The teams battled for homecourt advantage through the end of the regular season with the Cs narrowly taking the No. 4 seed by one game thanks to a late season victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers have struggled to score the NBA basketball since Victor Oladipo was lost for the season and they simply lack the firepower to keep up with the Celtics. It won’t stop them from showing up on Friday, though.   More

The Milwaukee Bucks lost consecutive games just once during the regular season on their way to the best record in the NBA. The chore for the Detroit Pistons in the first round NBA playoff series became more challenging after they got run off the court in Game 1. The teams were separated by 19 games in the Midwest Division standings and the Bucks have their best player competing at an MVP level while Detroit’s top player is shelved with an injury. It doesn’t look good in Motor City.   More

Could this be Golden State’s final hurrah with its all-stars gathered in the same location working toward a central goal? Rumors of Kevin Durant heading to New York, Klay Thompson going to another team, and Draymond Green just leaving have been floating around for some time. If those moves do actually happen it won’t be until after the NBA playoffs, and the Warriors are poised to be the last team standing – again. A negative odds favorite to win the O’Brien Trophy for a third straight year the Warriors are also a massive favorite to roll past the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. And can anyone challenge the defending champs?   More

With LeBron James no longer terrorizing the Eastern Conference the NBA playoffs are wide open. Or are they? The Milwaukee Bucks dominated all season, opening the schedule with seven straight wins and clearing the Toronto Raptors by two games for the No. 1 seed. Winning in the regular season is one thing, doing it when it matters most is another. The Bucks have presumptive MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and as long as the Freak stays healthy they are the favorite to win the East. It’s easy to count out the Boston Celtics after their inconsistent regular season. Keep in mind, however, that they were a win away from playing for the O’Brien Trophy last season and were felled by LeBron’s Cavs in the East Final the last two years.   More

It’s the Golden State Warriors’ universe and every other playoff-bound team is just a part of it. The defending NBA champs were pegged as negative odds favorites shortly after winning their second straight O’Brien Trophy and third in four years in a sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers last June. While the Cavs’ record plummeted after LeBron James bailed for a second time, the only concern for Golden State was could they stay interested for an 82-game schedule? They have, and the Dubs appear to be gearing up for another long postseason run with an impressive stretch to close out the season.   More

If the Oklahoma City Thunder want to do anything in the NBA playoffs they have to avoid playing the defending champion Warriors in the first round. That means finishing ahead of the Spurs for the seventh spot since it appears as though the Dubs have the No. 1 seed in their grasp. With games following against the Rockets and Bucks, this is one OKC needs to stay out of the eight-hole, though the Minnesota Timberwolves won’t go down without a fight on national television.   More

Nobody expected the Indiana Pacers to be jockeying for a top-four spot in the NBA Eastern Conference after leading scorer Victor Oladipo was lost for the season back in January. Fewer expected the Boston Celtics to be in the same position. Considered the favorite to win the East after LeBron bolted for the other conference, Boston’s inconsistent play has them battling with Indy for homecourt advantage in a potential first round playoff matchup. The winner of Friday’s matchup gets the upperhand in that scenario.   More