David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 66

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has emerged as one of the top players in the NBA. He’s helped lead the Timberwolves to two straight playoff appearances and he was named to his first All-Star team this season. At 21-years-old he just completed his third season in the NBA and he led the team in scoring […]

The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are set to square off on Sunday in the only Game 7 of the second round and only the second Game 7 of the NBA Playoffs thus far. The Celtics pulled off a major win on the road in Game 6 to avoid elimination and give themselves a chance […]

Even though the New York Knicks’ season is over following their 96-92 loss in Game 6 of their second round series of the NBA Playoffs, they are probably glad that they don’t have to face Jimmy Butler anymore until next season. Butler has earned the moniker ‘Playoff Jimmy Butler’ and he certainly is reminding everyone […]

The Miami Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 96-92 win against the New York Knicks in their second round series of the NBA Playoffs. It’s been an improbable run for the Heat who started the postseason by losing their first play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks. They’ve stepped it up several notches […]

The Miami Heat’s improbable NBA Playoffs run continued with a 96-92 win in Game 6 against the New York Knicks to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. None of this was expected as the Heat finished the regular season as one of the play-in teams. They even lost their play-in opener to the Atlanta Hawks […]

The Denver Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference Finals on Thursday with a second round series win against the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Playoffs. Throughout the series, even with players like Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on the court, Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic was the best player out there. Although Jokic did not […]

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic may not have won the league’s MVP Award, but he has certainly been reminding everyone during the NBA playoffs that he had a legitimate case. He has been far and away the best player in the Nuggets second round series against the Phoenix Suns even with Kevin Durant and Devin […]

This time of year is always tough for WNBA players as the limited number of roster spots in the league brings about some surprising and shocking roster cuts. With only 12 teams and 144 roster spots, many top college players and left out in the cold as the regular season draws near. Training camp battles […]

The Boston Celtics did what they needed to do in Game 6 of their second round series of the NBA Playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. They kept their season alive and avoided elimination with a 95-86 win on the road. The Sixers home arena is a notoriously hostile crowd to play in front of and […]

The Boston Celtics decided to shake things up a little bit before Game 6 of their second round series of the NBA Playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. On the road and facing elimination, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla opted to go with a two-big lineup of Al Horford and Robert Williams III and move Derrick […]

The Boston Celtics needed a win on Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers in their second round series of the NBA playoffs in order to keep their season alive. They needed to go on the road in the Sixers building to do so. Things weren’t looking so good early on with Celtics star Jayson Tatum scoring […]

The WNBA is one of the toughest professional sports leagues to make. With only 12 teams and 144 roster spots, it’s increasingly difficult for many of the top college players to chase their professional dreams. Some teams don’t even carry the 12 player maximum on the roster due to salary cap restraints and so the […]

Playoff Jimmy Butler is a real thing. The Milwaukee Bucks found that out in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and the New York Knicks are finding that out in their second round series against the Miami Heat. Butler injured his ankle in Game 1 of this series and sat out Game 2. He […]

The New York Knicks have had an incredibly disappointing second round series in the NBA Playoffs against the Miami Heat. After an impressive first round series win against the Cleveland Cavaliers despite not having homecourt advantage, they now find themselves on the verge of elimination after dropping Game 4 against the Heat. 109-101. They do […]

The Miami Heat continued their impressive NBA Playoffs run with a Game 4 win in their second round series against the New York Knicks to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Following an impressive first round series win against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Heat have completely outplayed another higher-seeded team to this point. The lowest […]

When the 2023 WNBA draft rolled around, the Indiana Fever shocked nobody when they selected Aliyah Boston from South Carolina with the No. 1 overall pick. Considered a franchise changing talent, as soon as Boston announced she would not use her COVID year to return to college, there was no doubt that she was going […]

The Indiana Fever shocked nobody when they made South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA draft. Boston was arguably the best college player in the country and was widely considered the No. 1 pick in every mock draft. A skilled post player who can step out and shoot the […]

The Miami Heat have continued their surprising NBA Playoffs run as the eighth seed by taking a 2-1 lead in their second round series against the New York Knicks. After dispatching the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Heat are proving they are a legitimate threat to […]

Tensions flared late in the first half of Game 4 between the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns in what has been a very close game. Emotions were already high with the Suns facing a must-win situation in the NBA Playoffs to avoid falling into a 3-1 hole and having to face elimination going back to […]

The Philadelphia 76ers needed a win in Game 4 of their second round series of the NBA Playoffs to avoid falling into a 3-1 hole and facing the prospect of elimination on the Boston Celtics homecourt in Game 5. It may have come down to the final seconds overtime and they may have needed some […]

The Boston Celtics were feeling good about themselves having won two straight games in their second round series of the NBA Playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. They had struck first on the Sixers homecourt and had taken control with a 2-1 series lead. But they dropped Game 4 in heartbreaking fashion, giving up a three-point […]

The Philadelphia 76ers came into Game 4 of their second round series of the NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics facing a must-win situation. With the prospect of dropping to a 3-1 deficit and having to go back to the Celtics homecourt for Game 5, the Sixers simply could not afford to drop Game 4. Fortunately […]

The New York Knicks fell behind, 2-1 in their second round NBA playoffs series against the Miami Heat. After losing homecourt advantage by dropping Game 1, they rallied back in Game 2 to tie the series. Now they find themselves facing a must win Game 4 to avoid falling into a 3-1 hole. Following the […]

The New York Knicks find themselves in a precarious position. They trail 2-1 in their second round series of the NBA playoffs against the Miami Heat with one more game on the road until they return to Madison Square Garden. They lost homecourt advantage when the Heat stole Game 1. They managed to grab a […]

The Boston Celtics are feeling good about themselves having won two straight games, including one on the road, to take 2-1 series lead in the second round of the NBA playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. In order to get past the Sixers and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Jayson Tatum and the Celtics […]

The Boston Celtics have taken control of their second round series of the NBA playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers with a Game 3 win on the road. They are in good position to possibly grab Game 4 and take a commanding 3-1 lead heading back to their homecourt. But it should worry them slightly that […]

After giving up homecourt advantage and falling behind 0-1 in their second round series of the NBA playoffs, the Golden State Warriors nabbed a must-win in Game 2 against the LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. The game wasn’t even close after halftime with the Warriors pushing their lead to 30+ points. They displayed […]

In the offseason, the Phoenix Mercury weren’t quite sure what to expect for the 2023 season. Brittney Griner had not yet been released from her detainment in Russia and Diana Taurasi was a free agent. Griner is now back in the fold and Taurasi is as well, having chosen to re-sign with the Mercury and […]

The Boston Celtics grabbed a much needed win in Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the NBA playoffs. Facing the prospect of heading out to the Sixers homecourt and being down 0-2, they came out in impressive fashion with a blowout win. Coming into Game 2, it was questionable as […]

The Phoenix Suns find themselves in a 2-0 hole against the Denver Nuggets with their second round series of the NBA playoffs now shifting to their homecourt. The Suns were playing better in Game 2 than they did in Game 1 until Chris Paul exited the game with an injury and their offense fell apart. […]

The Denver Nuggets have a commanding 2-0 lead in their second round NBA playoff series against the Phoenix Suns. They did what they were supposed to do in the first two games of the series which was defend homecourt. There’s a saying that says an NBA playoffs series doesn’t officially start until a road team […]

Not only were the Boston Celtics down 0-1 to the Philadelphia 76ers in their second round series of the NBA playoffs, they were also facing the prospect of being short-handed. Starting point guard Marcus Smart suffered a chest injury in Game 1 and his status for Game 2 was questionable on the Celtics injury report. […]

After a tough loss in Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the NBA playoffs, the Boston Celtics grabbed a much needed win in Game 2. Facing the prospect of heading to the Sixers homecourt and being down 0-2 in the series, the Celtics responded in impressive fashion with a old […]

The Los Angeles Lakers struck first in their second round series against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA playoffs. Stealing homecourt and taking a 1-0 series lead, the Lakers put themselves in good position as this series gets underway. Helping lead the way for the Lakers in Game 1 was Anthony Davis. Davis finished […]

With the 2023 WNBA regular season rapidly approaching, Brittney Griner is set to make her much anticipated return to the court with the Phoenix Mercury. The last time Griner appeared in the WNBA was during the 2021 season when the Mercury reached the WNBA Finals albeit losing to the Chicago Sky. Although Griner is clearly […]

The Miami Heat pulled off the unthinkable when they knocked off the No. 1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. A gritty underdog, the Heat made short work of the Bucks winning the series in six games including two on the Bucks home court. That got them a second round […]

The Phoenix Suns came out of their grueling first round NBA playoffs series against the Los Angeles Clippers with questions regarding their potential to win a championship. The Clippers were missing their two stars in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and yet they still posed a threat to the Suns. With each round of the NBA […]

The last time Brittney Griner suited up for the Phoenix Mercury, it was 2021. The Mercury reached the WNBA Finals that season but fell short against the Chicago Sky. As most WNBA players do in the offseason, Griner headed overseas to Russia as she’s done many times before. Only this time, Russia was involved in […]

The Sacramento Kings had one of their best regular seasons in a long time. They ended the NBA’s longest active playoff drought by grabbing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and earning home-court advantage at least through the first round of the NBA playoffs. Their reward was a first-round matchup against Stephen Curry […]