David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 85

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 […]

The Golden State Warriors outlasted the Sacramento Kings in their first-round NBA Playoffs series with an impressive Game 7 win on the road. The road has not been kind to the Warriors this season, but in the biggest game of the year, they came through. Since this core group won their first NBA championship in […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves were able to salvage a poor start to the season and qualify for the playoffs. They had to go through the play-in to do so, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in their first play-in matchup and then knocking out the New Orleans Pelicans to grab the eighth and final playoff spot. […]

The Las Vegas Aces are the defending WNBA champions and there’s little reason to believe that they aren’t the preseason favorites to win it all again. They bring back essentially the same core roster as last season along with the major addition of Candace Parker who signed with the team as a free agent in […]

After three straight impressive wins in their first round matchup in the NBA playoffs against the Sacramento Kings, the Golden State Warriors had a major let-down in Game 6 at home. They had a shot to close the series out in front of their home fans and completely dropped the ball. They were outplayed and […]

The Sacramento Kings pulled off an impressive Game 6 win on the road against the Golden State Warriors to keep their season alive. They will now have the opportunity to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs with a Game 7 on their homecourt. The last time the Kings had a Game 7 […]

The Kansas Jayhawks began the 2022-23 season as the defending national champions and with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, they had dreams of making another strong tournament run. Their season ended though in the second round against the Texas Longhorns in one of the most thrilling games of this season’s March Madness. […]

The Miami Heat pulled off an improbable upset in the first round of the NBA playoffs against the No. 1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks. The became the first play-in team to win a playoff series since the NBA instituted the play-in during the 2020 bubble. Their reward is a semifinal matchup against the New York Knicks. […]

The Sacramento Kings are facing a must-win situation in Game 6 of their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Golden State Warriors. The Kings were in control of this series following their home wins in the first two games to take a 2-0 lead. But the Warriors have stormed back to win three straight, including […]

The Memphis Grizzlies pulled off a dominating NBA playoffs Game 5 win against the Los Angeles Lakers to keep their season alive. While the Grizzlies still trail 3-2, Ja Morant has arguably been the best player during their NBA playoffs first round series. They’ll need more explosiveness from Morant to stave off elimination again and […]

With the WNBA draft now in the rearview, the attention now turns to the start of WNBA training camp which begins on Apr. 30. Teams are allowed a maximum of 20 players in camp and need to cut down to the regular season roster maximum of 12 players. Due to salary cap restraints, some teams […]

The Miami Heat pulled off the biggest upset of the first round of the NBA playoffs with their 4-1 series win against the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks. Not only were the Bucks one of the favorites to win the championship, the Heat had to go through two rounds of play-in games to secure the […]

The Texas Longhorns had a pretty successful season after preseason turmoil that saw the firing of head coach Rick Beard. Assistant coach Rodney Terry took over and guided the Longhorns to a very good regular season and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They got some good news this week when Dylan Disu […]

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a humiliating Game 5 defeat against the Memphis Grizzlies as they attempted to close out the series. They still hold a 3-2 lead in their first round playoff series and have a shot to close it out at home in Game 6. Even so, they gave the Grizzlies some momentum. […]

The Memphis Grizzlies kept their season alive with a dominating 116-99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers to force the series back to Crypto.co Arena. Coming into the game down 3-1, the Grizzlies needed this kind of performance to extend the series and give themselves some momentum heading into Game 6. One of the adjustments […]

There’s no question that the New York Knicks’ addition of Jalen Brunson was one of the best signings of the offseason. Although he was not named an All-Star, Brunson had an All-Star caliber season. His career year helped lead the Knicks to a playoff finish despite getting off to an inconsistent start to the season. […]

The Arizona Wildcats had a very disappointing NCAA Tournament showing with a first round upset loss to the No. 15 seeded Princeton Tigers. They then got hit with a couple of key departures following leader scorer and top player Azuolas Tubelis’ decision to enter the NBA draft and Kerr Kriisa’s decision to transfer to West […]

The Golden State Warriors made a little bit of a surprising decision prior to Game 4 of their first round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies. They decided to bring Draymond Green off the bench following his return from a one game suspension. Green was 100 percent on board with the decision and he had […]