David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 66

This was a big weekend for many teams across college basketball as conference play finally tipped-off. For the USC Trojans, they ventured up north for games against Oregon and Oregon State. Bronny James is still getting up to game speed for USC as he made his return to the court this month following a cardiac […]

For NBA players, scoring their first career points is a special moment. There’s nothing like getting into a game and being able to make an impact, especially when that’s what players have been working towards their entire lives. For Boston Celtics rookie Drew Peterson, that moment came a couple days before Christmas against the Los […]

The Philadelphia 76ers have not lost a beat this season after trading star guard James Harden. They have emerged as a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference. Tyrese Maxey has emerged as a star caliber player and a great compliment to Joel Embiid. Speaking of Joel Embiid, the Sixers MVP candidate has borne the brunt […]

Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark has become one of the most electrifying players in college basketball. She’s got that Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard type game in that she can cross halfcourt and pull up from close to the logo with consistency and ease. She’s been setting NCAA records and will be a top WNBA Draft […]

The New York Knicks and the Toronto Raptors shocked the NBA world on Saturday with a massive trade involving OG Anunoby going to the Knicks and Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett going to the Raptors. It’s a move that has positive implications for both teams and it’s going to be interesting to see how these […]

The USC Trojans are set to tip-off Pac-12 Conference play after an uneven non conference schedule. The Trojans finished their non conference schedule with a record of 6-5 and not ranked after starting the season on the AP Top 25 poll. USC did get an emotional boost though with the debut of Bronny James who […]

The Sacramento Kings have a bonafide superstar in De’Aaron Fox. He’s become one of the NBA’s elite point guards and the quarterback of one of the better teams in the Western Conference. Like all players though, Fox has definitely modeled his game after some of his peers and certainly has a few fellow point guards […]

The Boston Celtics have surged to the best record in the NBA at 23-6 this season. They’ve looked like the top contender for the NBA championship, but on Thursday they showed that the NBA season is a grind and anything can happen on any given night. The Celtics came into Thursday set to square off […]

The Boston Celtics have looked like one of the favorites to win the NBA title this season. With the additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis as well as the improvement of Derrick White the Celtics have surged to the best record in the NBA. During their Thursday night matchup against the Detroit Pistons, Holiday […]

Back before the 2021-22 NBA season, the Chicago Bulls thought they were on the verge of becoming one of the top teams in the NBA. They pulled off two sign and trade deals for Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan to go alongside Zach LaVine. It hasn’t quite worked out though as Lonzo Ball has suffered […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder have officially risen into the upper echelon of the Western Conference. Led by MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder are poising themselves as a legitimate threat to make a deep playoff run. Gilgeous-Alexander has steadily become one of the NBA’s elite players and a true franchise building block. On Wednesday in […]

The Dallas Mavericks had been dealing with several injuries lately. Kyrie Irving and Maxi Kleber continue to be sidelined while Dereck Lively II and Josh Green recently made their return to the lineup. Amid the shifting rotation, the Mavs decided to change up the roster a little bit by signing G League standout Brandon Williams […]

The Denver Nuggets have been looking like the favorites to come out of the Western Conference yet again and reach the NBA Finals. They pulled off a solid win on Christmas Day agains the resurgent Golden State Warriors snapping their recent win streak. Nuggets backup guard Reggie Jackson was limited though against the Warriors due […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NBA this season with poor crunch time execution. Health as always been one of the Pelicans biggest issues the past couple of seasons but recently the team has been pretty healthy overall. The Pelicans have been without Larry Nance Jr. though […]

This past offseason, the Houston Rockets had a goal and that was to add meaningful veterans to a young team in desperate need of guidance and leadership. One of those vets the Rockets added was Dillon Brooks. Brooks was unfairly scapegoated for the Memphis Grizzlies’ failures and he’s been a major boost to the Rockets […]

The Miami Heat pulled off a big win on Christmas Day against the Philadelphia 76ers even if Joel Embiid didn’t play. The Heat were short-handed themselves without Jimmy Butler.  That was no matter for the Heat as they got big contributions from Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. In the case of Jaquez, he joined […]

It’s only Christmas Day, but that doesn’t mean that trade winds aren’t blowing with the NBA trade deadline about two months away. With a few teams looking to solidify themselves as legit title contenders, the trade market might heat up in the coming weeks. One player whose name has come up in trade rumors is […]

The New York Knicks pulled off a major win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas Day. For a team that’s trying to reach the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference, this was one of the biggest wins of the season for the Knicks. Leading the way for the Knicks was star guard Jalen Brunson. Brunson’s […]

The Denver Nuggets got a big Christmas Day win against the resurgent Golden State Warriors who had won five of their last six games since Draymond Green was suspended. The game was not without controversy as the Warriors had something to say about the officiating. But a big part of the Nuggets win was Kentavious […]

The Milwaukee Bucks came into their Christmas Day matchup against the New York Knicks as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference standings. After a bit of a shaky start to the season, the Bucks have seemingly found their rhythm and chemistry. But their 129-122 loss to the Knicks on Christmas Day, questions might […]

As part of the NBA’s slate of Christmas Day games, the Warriors and the Nuggets game was certainly an entertaining one as the Warriors put up a fight before falling, 120-114. One of the biggest stories after the game though was the number of free throws, particularly how many free throws the Nuggets shot. Not […]

The Atlanta Hawks have been having a bit of a disappointing 2023-24 season so far. They are currently 12-17 and in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings. After having a solid 2022-23 season, Dejounte Murray has continued his solid play this year for the Hawks but his name has come up already in trade […]

A few weeks ago, the Indiana Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks were the subject of drama when Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t find the game ball following his franchise record 64-point game. The drama was intense enough that the Pacers went out and signed an enforcer immediately after. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton was noticeably in […]

The Golden State Warriors have hit a hot streak as of late, winning five consecutive games and five of their last six since Draymond Green’s suspension. The Warriors are set to take on the Denver Nuggets as part of the NBA’s slate of games on Christmas Day. The Warriors could be without Andrew Wiggins for […]

The Dallas Mavericks have been one of the top teams in the Western Conference this season and are set to square off against the Phoenix Suns as part of the NBA’s Christmas Day slate of games. The Mavs have had a lengthy injury report though in recent days although they might receive good news heading […]

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are looking to regain their former place among the hierarchy of the NCAA basketball landscape under new head coach Damon Stoudamire. Stoudamire had been an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics the past two seasons before taking the helm at Georgia Tech. He has the Yellow Jackets and 8-3 to […]

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers grabbed a much-needed win against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. Prior to that, the Lakers had lost four out of five games since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament championship. The win came on the heels of Darvin Ham making a change in the Lakers’ starting lineup and […]

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are one of the NBA’s headliners for their Christmas Day slate of games. They have the afternoon slot against their franchise rival the Boston Celtics. James is no stranger to playing on Christmas Day. Since LeBron James has joined the Lakers, they have played on Christmas Day every […]

The Utah Jazz started out the 2022-23 NBA season as one of the top surprises, keeping themselves in the playoff race until the second half of the season when they faded. This season, they’re more or less what most people expected, a team in the lottery running. The Jazz have some talented players though especially […]

The Washington Huskies have been playing some solid basketball to start the 2023-24 season. They are currently 8-3 in non conference play and are on a four game win streak. Compare that to last season when they were in a similar spot at this time also at 8-3. It wasn’t until Pac-12 Conference play that […]

The New York Knicks were with a bit of bad news recently in the form of injury woes to their frontcourt. Both Mitchell Robinson and Jericho Sims are currently sidelined due to injury. In the case of Robinson, he is likely done for the season. It’s a major blow for a team that was playing […]

The Charlotte Hornets haven’t been playing too well to start the 2023-24 NBA season. To make matters worse, star point guard LaMelo Ball has not played this entire month due to an ankle injury. They’ve been among the worst teams in the NBA. But one bright spot for the Hornets has been rookie wing Brandon […]

To say the Detroit Pistons have been struggling this season would be a severe understatement. The Pistons current losing streak just hit 24 games and they’re officially one game away from tying the longest losing streak in NBA history that was set by both the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers and the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers. Their most […]

Back when the Thunder first moved to Oklahoma City and rebranded from the Seattle Supersonics, they needed an identity to help pull in fans and establish themselves in the NBA. Russell Westbrook, along with Kevin Durant and James Harden, helped establish that. Westbrook remained on the team after Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors […]

When the 2023-24 NBA season began, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was not on an NBA roster. After playing a solid role as a rookie for the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2021-22 season, an ankle injury near the beginning of the 2022-23 season sidelined him for about two months and he never really looked the same. The […]

The Golden State Warriors pulled off a major win on Tuesday against the team with the best record in the NBA in the Boston Celtics. For a team that’s been struggling like the Warriors have this season, that was a win that could potentially turn the season around. But it was not without concerning news […]

With their offseason acquisitions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, the Boston Celtics were picked by many to be the favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference and reach the NBA Finals. So far this season, they’ve looked the part. The Celtics have kind of been a notch above the rest of the pack […]

All eyes have been on the Detroit Pistons for their insane losing streak, but the San Antonio Spurs have been almost equally bad. They had been on an 18 game losing streak before snapping that with a win against the Los Angeles Lakers. They lost again though on Sunday to the New Orleans Pelicans and […]

The Orlando Magic have been arguably the most surprising team in the NBA this season. They have been one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and have been consistently a top five team in the East standings. They’ve hit a bit of a tough stretch though, dropping back to back losses to the […]