Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 108

The Boston Celtics are one of the favorites to win the 2024 NBA championship, and Jayson Tatum’s elite play remains one of the biggest driving forces as to why. Tatum is displaying more consistency on a night-to-night basis, all the while remaining as explosive as they come on the offensive end of the floor. On […]

The Toronto Raptors have endured an up-and-down start to the 2023-24 season, and it’s only fitting that following their spirited 111-107 Monday night win over the Washington Wizards, they now have a 5-5 record. At this point in time, it’s clear that the Raptors are still deciding on a direction to take as they intend […]

Over the past decade or so, utilizing the bullpen in a much more flexible manner has helped plenty of teams in their run to winning the World Series crown. Thus, there’s no surprise that one of the best relievers in the game, lights-out lefty Josh Hader, is drawing plenty of interest in free agency especially […]

The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t exactly set the world on fire to begin the 2023-24 season, falling a bit short of expectations after ending last season on a high. A part of this underperformance has been their poor starts to games, falling behind routinely and needing to mount comeback after comeback, necessitating herculean efforts from […]

At the moment, there are plenty of questions surrounding the Golden State Warriors’ ability to generate offense outside of relying on Stephen Curry. Curry, as one would expect, has been phenomenal, scoring 30 or more on six different occasions while breaching 40 on two of those games. But the supporting cast has been lacking, with […]

For years, the Golden State Warriors contended for a championship behind the mantra of “Strength In Numbers”. But during the 2023-24 season, that mantra has gone by the wayside, with Stephen Curry now having to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders in the scoring department. During their Sunday night loss to the […]

The Houston Rockets, after three consecutive years of putridity, are on a linear path to ascent, as if a rocket has been strapped to the entire organization’s back to start the 2023-24 season. While the team’s free-agent signings during the offseason as well as the hiring of new head coach Ime Udoka have done wonders […]

On Friday night, the Los Angeles Clippers looked to get back on track in a difficult matchup against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. And for a while, it seemed as though the Clippers were beginning to figure it out. However, Kyrie Irving led the Mavs back from a 12-point first quarter deficit and the […]

The New Orleans Pelicans entered the 2023-24 season with high hopes. After all, Zion Williamson is back healthy, and as they showed last year, they are one of the best teams in the league whenever the left-handed highflyer isn’t plagued by injury woes. However, the Pelicans have had an uneven start to the new season, […]

Friday night marked the first time two of the best French centers in NBA history would square off against each other, with Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs taking on Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves, owners of the league’s best defense in the early goings of the 2023-24 season, in the NBA In-Season […]

The Los Angeles Clippers, once again, are left scrambling for answers after yet another miserable game on Friday night in a 144-126 loss to the Dallas Mavericks to mark their NBA In-Season Tournament debut in ignominious fashion. There are plenty of factors to blame for the Clippers’ blowout defeat. One, the Clips still seem to […]

The Dallas Mavericks did not get off to strong start during their Friday night battle against old rival Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA In-Season Tournament. They went down by as many as 12 points in the first quarter, with the Clippers looking like they’re putting it together. The Mavs, however, came roaring back in […]

The Washington Wizards will find wins difficult to come by during the 2023-24 season after they gutted their team in preparation for a rebuild. Thus, whenever there’s an opportunity for the Wizards to take home a victory, they must seize it. However, on Friday night, during the second game of their NBA In-Season Tournament journey […]

The Detroit Pistons have clearly shown improvement relative to their on-court product for the past three years, which is a testament to the continued development of youngsters Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Ausar Thompson as well as the stable coaching ways of Monty Williams. But it hasn’t quite resulted in success in the win column […]

The Los Angeles Clippers have been preaching patience after losing their first two games following their bombshell trade for James Harden. But on Friday night, things went from bad to worse for the veteran Clippers team. Despite running out to an early 12-point lead, the Clippers, plagued by familiar offensive woes, simply could not buy […]

There has been much debate as to whether or not the Golden State Warriors made the right move by giving up on Jordan Poole after a tumultuous 2022-23 season. Poole, after all, was supposed to be one of the team’s foundational stars the further Stephen Curry went into his 30s, and now, here he is, […]

The Sacramento Kings have found life without De’Aaron Fox to be a difficult one; owners of the league’s best offense last season, the Kings have mustered the second-worst offense in the NBA in their four games without Fox, scoring just 103.6 points per 100 possessions during that span. Thus, it would be of utmost importance […]

The Phoenix Suns were victorious on Wednesday night in Bradley Beal’s much-anticipated regular season debut for the team. Beal didn’t have his legs quite yet during that game, but Kevin Durant and the rest of the Suns team know just how important his mere presence on the court can be. Thus, his availability for their […]

Having lost two games in a row, the Boston Celtics will be raring to get back to winning ways when they take on the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night to start their NBA In-Season Tournament journey. But, as Jaylen Brown said, it’s not like the Celtics are treating this game any differently than to an […]

To say that the Milwaukee Bucks have been lackluster on the defensive end to begin the 2023-24 season would be an understatement. The Bucks, in the aftermath of trading away defensive ace Jrue Holiday, have been starting two below-average defenders in their backcourt, with Damian Lillard and Malik Beasley both struggling to contain dribble penetration. […]

Discussing the best NBA players of all time is always a fun activity for fans who religiously follow the game. Of course, the weight of one’s opinion varies based on their credibility, with the musings of those who play or have played in the league bearing more weight. Thus, it became a huge point of […]

The Edmonton Oilers may not have had much postseason success in recent years despite having two of the best players in the NHL in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but they have at least been one of the best regular season teams for the past four seasons. That alone gives them something to hang their […]

The careers of Trae Young and Luka Doncic will forever be intertwined. After all, the Atlanta Hawks made the bombshell decision during the 2018 NBA Draft to draft Doncic and then trade down to get Young from the Dallas Mavericks, along with the 2019 first round pick that became Cam Reddish. And on Thursday night, […]

Playing in front of a raucous Mexico City crowd appears to have brought out the best in Trae Young, who had a stellar night on Thursday night for the Atlanta Hawks. Entering their matchup against the Orlando Magic, Young was shooting a paltry 33.6 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from beyond the arc. […]

Raring to go after an inexplicable ejection ended his night early against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo dominated the Indiana Pacers in the paint on Thursday night. Without the services of Damian Lillard, who’s out due to a precautionary measure due to it being the second night of a […]

The Carolina Panthers, after finishing 7-10 last season, even nearly making it to the playoffs thanks to the overall mediocrity of the NFC South, appeared to have a bright long-term outlook especially after trading for the first overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft so they could draft blue-chip quarterback prospect Bryce Young. Young was […]

Locked in a tight contest with the Orlando Magic in their Mexico City game, Trae Young was doing his best to prop up the Atlanta Hawks in the first half. Young was on point, drawing plenty of fouls as he got to the paint at will in the screen-and-roll game, all the while being the […]

Playing in the second night of a back-to-back is never an easy task, no matter how good the collective conditioning of a team is. And the Indiana Pacers learned this the hard way when they faced the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night. With Damian Lillard not available to play, the Bucks turned over the offense […]

Despite winning 92 games and the NL Central crown last season, the Milwaukee Brewers are reportedly open to a fire sale. This inclination towards selling isn’t because of the front office’s lack of belief in its current players’ abilities. Rather, the Brewers are looking to maximize the value of their players as trade assets, as […]

In a two-game slate on Thursday night, the Orlando Magic will be taking on the Atlanta Hawks in a battle of two Eastern Conference teams looking to burst onto the upper-echelon of playoff-contending teams. The Magic will already be entering the night shorthanded, with Wendell Carter Jr. continuing to recover from his fractured third metacarpal. […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves have looked incredible to begin the 2023-24 season. Marred by injury woes and fit issues during the 2022-23 campaign, the Timberwolves have been a revelation, putting together the league’s best defense through eight games while slaying excellent teams such as the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics along the way. The Timberwolves, in […]

The Los Angeles Clippers haven’t exactly found integrating James Harden into a team with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to be an easy task. Harden was supposed to elevate the Clippers’ offense into unstoppable mode, but instead, the Clippers’ scoring attack has devolved into a turnover party and an overall lack of cohesion, marked by […]

Bradley Beal finally made his much-anticipated regular season debut for the Phoenix Suns, immediately slotting into the starting lineup in place of Eric Gordon to give Kevin Durant a bonafide co-star in the midst of Devin Booker’s lower-body injury-related absence. Beal, however, did not have the best of nights in his return to the hardwood. […]

James Harden, over the years, has gotten accustomed to being the lead guy on his own team. And in the process of being the guy for the Houston Rockets from 2013 to 2020, Harden has built some habits that he’ll be having difficulties getting out of his system now that he’s a member of the […]

The Los Angeles Clippers, in one last-ditch effort to bolster the team’s championship hopes in the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George era, swung for the fences, trading away their few remaining draft assets, along with four versatile forwards, in exchange for James Harden. Harden, for all his shortcomings as a player, remains an All-Star caliber […]

In the aftermath of the Miami Heat’s failed trade pursuit of Damian Lillard, Tyler Herro has assumed a bigger role in the team’s offense — to positive results. Entering the Heat’s Wednesday night game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Herro was averaging 25.3 points per game to go along with 5.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists, emerging […]

The Milwaukee Brewers, by all accounts, had a successful 2023 season even if it didn’t result in a deep playoff run. After all, they managed to win the NL Central with a 92-70 record, and with most of their core talent still on the roster, there’s no reason that the Brewers won’t be able to […]

The Los Angeles Lakers, after a strong finish to last season that ended with an unlikely trip to the Western Conference Finals, have endured some growing pains to begin the 2023-24 campaign. LeBron James even compared the Lakers to the Pittsburgh Steelers, which may be a rare self-burn. And after the Lakers’ unseemly 128-94 blowout […]

On Wednesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder continued their winning ways, thanks in large part to yet another outstanding performance from 2023 First Team All-NBA member Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Gilgeous-Alexander, never in a hurry and ever in control of his movements on the court, simply had his way against an overmatched Cleveland Cavaliers defense, dropping 41 […]