James Salmon Articles - Page 6

It never takes long for the attention of the NBA world to swing from NBA Finals mode to offseason mode, and for New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson, the league’s drug testers are a prime example. Just hours after the Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in five games to secure the first championship in […]

Max Strus’ season didn’t end as he would have hoped. After establishing himself as a key cog in the Miami Heat throughout the course of the season, he failed to contribute in his team’s NBA Finals loss to the Denver Nuggets at the level of which he has shown he is capable. But like a […]

This was never going to be an easy series for the Miami Heat. As the NBA world has gradually come to realize, the Denver Nuggets are really, really, really good, and as impressive as the Heat have been in the postseason, they’ve clearly got a talent differential to overcome. As they showed in Game 2 […]

Heading into the Denver Nuggets Game 4 clash with the Miami Heat, things are looking rosy for the team from the Mile High City. After a disappointing Game 2, they wrestled back the upper hand in Miami, establishing a 2-1 lead with a commanding win which highlighted the disparity in talent between these two teams. […]

Damian Lillard’s future is set to be one of the most hotly discussed topics over the next few weeks, with the potential for the long-time Portland Trail Blazers star to find a new home, causing teams around the league to salivate at the prospect of him joining them. According to the man himself, however, if […]

Adam Silver has again spoken about the impending punishment for Ja Morant in the wake of the Memphis Grizzlies’ star’s second gun-related infringement in a short period of time. Speaking on NBA Countdown prior to Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Silver was asked by Stephen A. Smith whether he had factored the concept of […]

He’s not quite gone yet, but the prospect of Chris Paul leaving the Phoenix Suns is well and truly on the table. He might be 38 and coming off the back of a season which indicated even further decline for a man already well past his prime, but Paul is still a player who plenty […]

Jaren Jackson Jr. has spoken out about the Ja Morant saga, which will likely see the Memphis Grizzlies superstar suspended for a significant portion of the 2023-24 season. Morant, of course, has been the subject of headlines for all the wrong reasons so far this year, with his second incident in a matter of weeks […]

New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram has committed to join Team USA for the upcoming FIBA World Cup, according to ESPN sources. He joins what looks likely to be a roster filled to the brim with young stars, with a list of names including Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Jalen Brunson and Austin Reaves having reportedly […]

It’s been a rough few years for the Detroit Pistons. They haven’t finished higher than 13th or won more than 23 games since 2019, and in 2022-23 clocked up just 17 victories – the second lowest number in their history – before losing out in the Victor Wembanyama stakes despite their best efforts. But despite […]

Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone has explained his decision not to call a timeout at the conclusion of Game 2. The decision, or lack thereof, came after the Nuggets grabbed a rebound off a missed Jimmy Butler three with 11 seconds to go. Down 111-108, they needed a three to send the game to […]

What a game that was. Game 2 of the NBA Finals well and truly delivered after a blowout Nuggets win in the series opener, with a missed three from Jamal Murray on the buzzer delivering the Miami Heat a three-point win on the road and tying the series up at one-game apiece. But while the […]

Jalen Brunson appears set to join Team USA’s 12-man roster which will head to the 2023 FIBA World Cup later this year. The announcement comes from Marc Stein just hours after The Athletic reported that Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges, Austin Reaves and Bobby Portis had also committed to the team. Brunson will be […]

Nikola Jokic doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously. But while the jovial Serbian has “always been kind of light-hearted and funny,” Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone has provided some insight on his mindset come this time of year. Speaking prior to Game 2 of the NBA Finals after a dominant series-opener, Malone was […]

Karl-Anthony Towns has discussed what it was like to play a Dream Team including the likes of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as a freshman. Towns, who was drafted as the number one pick in the 2015 NBA draft, has been a valuable though at times criticized player in the league, but his talent has […]

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Aleksej Pokusevski has suffered a small fracture to his right humerous during an off-season workout. There is no exact timeline on how long he will be out for at this point, but he is expected to be re-evaluated in four to six weeks. Pokusevski has been no stranger to injury since he […]

Ja Morant’s punishment for being seen on Instagram holding a gun for the second time in a matter of weeks has already been decided, according to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Silver suspended Morant for eight games after the initial scandal in which he waved a gun in a Denver nightclub. After serving that suspension, a […]

It’s no secret that if the Miami Heat are able to upset the Denver Nuggets and take out the 2023 NBA Championship, it will be a serious feat. A few short weeks ago, they were looking down the barrel of a missed postseason just a year after going heartbreakingly close to making the NBA Finals […]

This isn’t the first time Jimmy Butler has shown us that, come the postseason, he’s an entirely different player. But according to Nick Wright, if he can lead his Miami Heat to a championship against the Denver Nuggets in the upcoming NBA Finals, his standing in the league will go up a whole lot more. […]

It’s NBA Finals time! The Denver Nuggets have the best opportunity in the franchise’s history to win a championship up against an eight-seed, but they won’t have it all their own way against the Miami Heat. The Heat have continually played beyond their seeming capabilities in these playoffs, knocking off many people’s championship pick in […]

If anybody says they picked Denver Nuggets vs. Miami Heat as the NBA Finals matchup in the lead-up to the playoffs, take them off your Christmas list, because they’re lying. Nikola Jokic might be the best player in the world, sure, but this isn’t an NBA Finals matchup with as much star power as many […]

Caleb Martin has been on absolute fire during the Miami Heat’s incredible playoff run. As part of his team’s much heralded undrafted crew, he has been one of the Heat’s most valuable players this postseason and has only improved the deeper they go, and has joined a pretty exclusive club of undrafted players as a […]

Marcus Smart has played in a lot of Game 7s. In fact, so have most of the Boston Celtics starting lineup. Of all active players in the NBA, Al Horford has the most Game 7 wins with seven, while Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart sit in a tie for second with LeBron James with six. […]

Paul George has given his version of the famous incident which saw Lance Stephenson blow in LeBron James’ ear in Game 5 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals. It went down in NBA folklore as one of the strangest in recent memory, sitting atop what is a very lengthy list of bizarre moments from the […]

Paul Pierce has taken a (seemingly) light-hearted jab at former teammate Ray Allen for leaving the Boston Celtics for the Miami Heat back in 2012. Of course, with those two sides in the midst of an extraordinary series and with Game 7 to decide it on Monday, he could be forgiven for having a foot in […]

The San Antonio Spurs are likely still heaving after winning the rights to the consensus number one draft pick Victor Wembanyama this year, and they’re not the only one happy with the way the lottery fell. Vincent Collett is Wembanyama’s current head coach both at club level and for the French national team, and he […]

There was plenty to dissect from the dying stages of the instant classic between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, and the NBA’s Last Two-Minute Report has provided some clarity on a couple of the more controversial moments from the end of Game 6. One of those occurred in the lead-up […]

The season didn’t end quite as planned for the Los Angeles Lakers, but then, unless you win the championship, when does it? Despite flaming out in ignominious fashion courtesy of the Denver Nuggets, they still demonstrated a terrific turnaround in the latter stages of the season, going from a team which was up against it […]

LeBron James’ legacy always takes up plenty of air time in the NBA world, but Richard Jefferson doesn’t have much time for those claiming it’s been tarnished by the Denver Nuggets sweep of his Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, of course, went down in four relatively close games to the number one seed, with LeBron […]

D’Angelo Russell wasn’t at his best in the Los Angeles Lakers 4-0 loss to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. In fact, he was a bit of a disaster. In four games, he averaged just 6.25 points per night, shooting 32.26% from the field, going 2-15 from three-point range, and seeing his minutes […]

The Miami Heat have been the surprise packet of the NBA playoffs, working their way not just into the Eastern Conference Finals, but to a 3-0 lead against the Boston Celtics despite just scraping into the postseason as the eight seed. They couldn’t get the job done in Game 4 and will now head back […]

Nikola Jokic has broken the record for the most triple-doubles in a single postseason, surpassing the record of seven set by Wilt Chamberlain way back in 1967. Jokic achieved the feat in his Denver Nuggets’ Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers. He reached the triple-double in the third quarter with his tenth assist, which […]

In the lead-up to the Los Angeles Lakers’ must-win Game 4 against the Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic said that despite his team’s lead, LeBron James’ presence meant there was still an element of worry for the Nuggets. In the first quarter, Lebron showed why. He was absolutely dominant early, scoring 21 points on 7-9 shooting […]

It’s fair to say that the Denver Nuggets have been hot in their Western Conference Finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers so far. The Nuggets have established a 3-0 lead over LeBron James and the Lakers, with their ability to find buckets seemingly whenever they need them a major reason why they have been […]

LeBron James might be 38 years of age, but the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is still more than capable of striking fear into an opposition locker room. After securing a third consecutive win and with it a 3-0 series lead from which no team has ever lost, Nikola Jokic talked about his Denver Nuggets trying […]

The Miami Heat have, so far, managed reasonably well in the absence of Tyler Herro. After fracturing his hand in the very first game of the playoffs, they went on to win three of their next four games against the Milwaukee Bucks to surprise everyone and wrap up that series in five games, beat the […]

Manu Ginobli is excited. His San Antonio Spurs, for whom he played for 16 seasons and 1,057 games, have won themselves the number one draft pick, which they’ll use to select Victor Wembanyama, the hottest prospect since, well, maybe ever. Following the NBA Draft Lottery, Ginobli sent out a short and sweet tweet to highlight […]

Darvin Ham has already joked that his best bet for keeping Nikola Jokic under wraps would be to kidnap him. In the lead-up to Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between his Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets, he has provided a little more insight into how they plan to stop the two-time […]

Klay Thompson’s season didn’t end exactly as planned. He had his moments in the playoffs and even early in the Golden State Warriors’ series against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, but over the past four games of that series he averaged just 10.5 points on a woeful 25% shooting from the floor, a […]