
Low Down Dirty Shame
Rough up Steph Curry? It's good strategy in the NBA, but shouldn't the league be protecting players?
Henry Abbott »
TrueHoop TV
Jackson: Nuggets play 'dirty' » Bowen
Vote » Adande »
“Family Fest” on Sunday, Riley pointed to models of success the NBA considers some the best in its history as the ultimate goal for the Heat while also reminding the city to enjoy this “special time.” “I just want to keep helping them, keep bringing in more pieces that are going to complement them and hope we can have one of those 10-year rides, you know,” Riley said. “You think about every team, through the Celtics in the ’60s and the Lakers in the ’80s and the Bulls and then again the Spurs, those guys have been together eight, nine, 10 years and if we can keep this group together for eight, nine, 10 years, then we’re all going to have some fun.” And then a piece of advice. “So, don’t ever take it for granted,” he said. Already this season the Heat has won 27 games in a row, the most in franchise history and the second most in the history of the NBA. Now the team is on the verge of another milestone. A victory Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks would give the Heat 61 victories, which would tie the franchise’s record for a single season.
The Knicks reached 50 victories for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. They now need just one victory, or a Nets loss, to clinch their first Atlantic Division title since 1994. And the winning streak is the third longest in franchise history. The drive for a championship never looked more tangible. “It all goes hand in hand,” said Coach Mike Woodson, who got his 68th win with the Knicks, securing the best 100-game start in franchise history. … The Knicks had gone 20 days without a defeat, and 20 days without facing an elite team at full strength. They were spared the burden of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade last week in Miami. Their only victory over a team with a winning percentage of .600 or better was against the Memphis Grizzlies. “This may be the biggest, considering that’s a healthy team that’s playing with all their guns,” Chandler said. “It’s very hard to come in this building and get a win.”
a nearly certain Hall of Famer. His delayed ascension might also reflect the best-case career trajectory for the Knicks’Carmelo Anthony, whose professional years have mimicked Pierce’s 20s far more than they have LeBron James’s. With the Knicks poised to displace the Celtics as Atlantic Division champions after beating them, 108-89, on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, this would be a propitious time to present Pierce as Exhibit A in the case for Anthony’s potential growth into no-questions-asked superstardom. Anthony’s critics, including me, have never underestimated his combustible package of size, strength and first-step speed. But his teams in Denver and in New York have produced poor playoff results, and he has admitted to failing to fully grasp the essence of collective elegance until last summer’s Olympics. Isn’t it fair to say that when it comes to winning at the highest level, Anthony is still an undergraduate student trying to complete a master’s program?
second NBA start Monday night against the Denver Nuggets, who came into the game on a 15-game winning streak, Roberts exhibited the poise expected of a seasoned veteran, or at least one who has been through the rigors a a professional basketball season in the past. Roberts accumulated a career- and Hornets' season-high 18 assists against the Nuggets, drawing praise from veteran Denver Coach George Karl who said "That little kid played great; he passed as well as any one who has passed against us in a long time." That "little kid" might have earned his way back for a second stint next season based on Monday night's effort in relief of injured starter Greivis Vasquez.
Asked after the morning shootaround at Quicken Loans Arena if he had the opportunity to review the dunk, James nodded and said, "Yeah, I have, I have." He wasn't finished. No, not after Terry has taken opportunities while with both the Dallas Mavericks and now Celtics to launch verbal salvos at James' Heat, including when the Mavericks defeated the Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals. "It was one of my better ones," James said. "And the fact that it happened to J.T. made it even that much sweeter. Because I think we all know what J.T. talks, and he talks too much sometimes and I'm glad it happened to him." Asked for comment at Wednesday's Celtics shootaround in New Orleans, Terry told the media, "I'm not even commenting. No comment. Zero. I have none. A basketball play. My reaction was when the fans were cheering and I went up and knocked down the technical. That's a great reaction. Wasn't the first, won't be the last." James received a technical foul for his stare-down of Terry after the dunk.
Staples Center by simply playing together. The Lakers (33-31) stayed above the .500 mark for two consecutive games for the first time all season. More importantly, they have a half-game lead over the Utah Jazz (32-31) for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Lakers also are only one game behind the Houston Rockets (34-30) for the seventh seed. "Yippee," Bryant said with obvious sarcasm. Still, there were plenty of signs that could make the Lakers feel good about themselves, even if it lacked the late-game euphoria shown in recent games. Dwight Howard's impact went beyond his 16 points and 21 rebounds. He set screens that set up plenty of open looks for him and his teammates. He also sank a series of hook shots in the lane and threw down a few lobs from Bryant.
Trail Blazer rookie Meyers Leonard. Last week he faced some criticism. His offense? The 7-foot-1 Leonard dunked over Denver's slow-as-maple syrup Andre Miller and acted as if Oprah had just given him a car. Leonard screamed; the excitement coursing through his body like electricity from his tippy toes to his reddened face. He pounded his chest and flexed as the clamor from the crazies in the Rose Garden washed over him. Then, Leonard spread his arms from his sides, held out his palms and stared down Miller, who had engaged him in not-so-pleasant trash talk earlier in the game. But a couple days later Terry Stotts had a message for his rookie center: Chill out, son. … Wesley Matthews salutes his threes. Will Barton and Nolan Smith prance about during pregame introductions. Leonard closes his eyes and shrieks. These guys don't push papers for a living. They work in a highly-emotive environment among the most skilled employees in their profession and passionate reactions happen every time they punch the clock. Leonard, a demonstrative young man anyway, sometimes gets carried away while in the workplace. But fans who spend their hard-earned money and pay the high price of admission for sports entertainment should demand to see revelries, not robots.
Not again. In the end, a couple of elbows and angry words were exchanged, Hibbert got tossed, everybody this side of old-timers Freddie Lewis and Rick Barry got technical fouls, but ultimately, the biggest fight of this NBA season turned into much ado about very little. It spilled over into the stands, but in this case, the fans were smart enough — and scared enough — to stay out of the madness. There was no John Green there to throw a cup of liquid on anybody, no Ron Artest to enflame matters. Thank goodness. Because these Pacers have come too far and built way too much goodwill since the events in Auburn Hills, Mich., to throw it away in one flash of anger.
Oakland Airport. “It was one of those carpe diem moments,” forward Matt Bonner said. “You know you shouldn’t be eating a grease-laced double burger with fried onions, fries and a milk shake, but once in a while, you’ve got to go for it. It was one of those things where no one will claim responsibility, but everybody enjoyed it.” Even Parker, a native of Paris who considers himself a sophisticated diner, partook of the fast-food fare. “That was awesome,” Parker said. “We did the same thing about three years ago, too, and that was awesome, too. Even though I’m a gourmet guy, it doesn’t hurt to eat a double-burger sometimes. I had two double-doubles and a milkshake. I was hungry.” Not all the Spurs were thrilled about the experience. Guard Manu Ginobili was sated from lunch at one of his favorite Italian restaurants near San Francisco’s Union Square when the bus pulled into the In-N-Out parking lot. … Stephen Jackson was ambivalent about the experience. “It was good, but I don’t like In-N-Out like that,” he said. “Fatburger, Sonic, Five Guys, but not In-N-Out. But I ate one.”
roster, the Rockets agreed to a pair of deals that will bring them Thomas Robinson, the fifth pick of the 2012 draft, and will open about $1.5 million more of cap space next summer. The Rockets will send starting power forward Patrick Patterson, backup point guard Toney Douglas and backup center Cole Aldrich to the Sacramento Kings to get Robinson. They will also get guard Francisco Garcia and forward Tyler Honeycutt in the deal. Both have expiring contracts. In a separate deal, the Rockets agreed to send second-year forward Marcus Morris, Patterson’s backup and Robinson’s former Kansas teammate, to the Phoenix Suns for a second-round pick. “For us, it was obviously for Thomas Robinson,” Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said.
finish among the top four in the deteriorating Eastern Conference. But this is how a new general manager must view things: What are the chances this team wins more than one playoff round? What are the chances it upsets Miami? If the answers to those questions are near zero, the focus needs to be on the future. Ferry wouldn’t come out and say that Tuesday. This close to the trade deadline, a general manager isn't going to reveal much. But when I asked where he believed the Hawks are at the deadline, he responded, "We’re in a unique situation with the current roster being competitive, but also having good cap flexibility going forward. Like most teams, we’re evaluating ourselves and looking at the opportunities that come to us, especially this time of year. If there’s an opportunity that makes sense for us and for the long-term interest of the Hawks, we’ll look at it closely.” Confused? Focus on this string of words: “… the long-term interest of the Hawks.”
their team was sold and moved away (hypothetically speaking). But the best owner I’ve ever known just passed away. Jerry Buss died of cancer Monday. He was 80. Because I’m from Los Angeles, I had a chance to know the man a little. I covered two teams that he owned, first the NHL’s Kings and then the NBA Lakers. There are several stories I could tell from the early 1980s that would illustrate how emotionally invested Buss was in his teams, how he was driven to succeed in sports as much as he had in real estate, where he amassed his fortune. (True story: Buss once told me he could be broke one day and immediately go out and make a million dollars. When I asked him how, he responded, “I could tell you but you would never do it.”) But when I heard the news of Buss’s death, my first memory wasn’t of him a sports owner but as being almost one of the guys.