Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 132

The Denver Nuggets seemed to be well on their way to the Western Conference Finals after two impressive performances at home to take a 2-0 series lead over the Phoenix Suns heading into the road. But now, Devin Booker and the Suns have come storming back, tying the series at two games apiece after two […]

The Miami Heat simply refuse to die, like that piece of excrement that simply won’t go down the drain no matter how hard you press the toilet flush. With their Game 3 win at the friendly confines of Kaseya Center, the Heat are one step closer to inching to their second-consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearance. […]

The Los Angeles Lakers are simply on an unbelievable roll as of the moment. It definitely seems like the entire coaching staff and roster are in sync, pushing on the right buttons as they stand one step closer to knocking off the reigning champion Golden State Warriors in the second round of the 2023 NBA […]

The Toronto Raptors are looking to enter a new era. Following their 2019 NBA championship triumph, the Raptors have undergone a gradual decline, and it eventually led to the departure of former head coach Nick Nurse, whose differences with the front office proved to be too far of a chasm to bridge. The pieces are […]

The New York Yankees franchise remains the standard of greatness in the MLB. Throughout its history, the Yankees franchise have won the most championships, with 27. While that in itself is a great accomplishment, the Yankees, thanks to their unlimited resources and penchant for acquiring and developing quality contributors, have not finished with a record […]

The Philadelphia Phillies had a 2022 season for the ages, even if they failed to triumph over the Houston Astros in the World Series. Led by Bryce Harper, who has been on the receiving end of plenty of criticisms over the years, the Phillies took on one challenge after another and almost conquered each and […]

The Phoenix Suns became one of the favorites to win the 2023 NBA championship when they traded for Kevin Durant. Acquiring Durant gave the Suns three Hall of Fame-caliber talents, and it seemed like all they needed to achieve the pinnacle of team success is to remain healthy. Alas, it seems like staying healthy for […]

This is still difficult to believe, but three years have passed since the great Kobe Bryant passed away in a tragic helicopter crash. Even then, it is extremely apparent that his legacy continues to live on, and will continue to do so until the end of time itself. The way Bryant approached the game with […]

Kyle Kuzma hasn’t made his desire to return to the Los Angeles Lakers someday a secret. Throughout the 2022-23 season, there have been rumors floating around that the Lakers are interested in a potential reunion with the scoring forward. Thus it hasn’t been a surprise at all that Kuzma is keeping tabs on his old […]

It is yet another offseason of heartbreak for the Los Angeles Clippers, but approaching Year 5 of the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George era, this is certainly not the time to feel sorry for themselves. Sure, suffering one major injury after another to their top dogs is a tough pill to swallow. But at the […]

The Charlotte Hornets surprisingly found themselves in the middle of an upheaval during the 2022-23 campaign. What seemed like a team that was on the rise just couldn’t string together the fortune necessary to sustain a winning outfit, and as a result, the Hornets, after two straight seasons of making the play-in tournament, find themselves […]

Anthony Davis was exceptional during the Los Angeles Lakers’ Game 1 victory. He tallied 30 points and 23 rebounds, and his defensive impact was, once again, otherworldly, as he prevented the Golden State Warriors from even thinking about entering the paint. With Davis playing like he did in Game 1, the Warriors will have plenty […]

Not many would have thought that the Los Angeles Lakers would make it this far in the season, what with their brutal 2-10 start to the season, but here they are. After a resounding Game 1 win in their second-round matchup against the reigning champion Golden State Warriors, LeBron James and the Lakers showed that […]

The 2022-23 season was supposed to be some sort of turning point for the rebuilding Detroit Pistons. After all, they decided to give Cade Cunningham, the first overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, a reliable floor-spacing veteran in Bojan Bogdanovic. However, it’s clear that with the youth of the Pistons’ roster, rising above the […]

The Philadelphia 76ers’ Game 2 performance against the Boston Celtics may have been the stuff of nightmares. But make no mistake about it, they will be heading back home to Philadelphia pleased with a 1-1 series split. And now with Joel Embiid back from what seemed to be a serious knee injury that threatened to […]

The Miami Heat, despite their plethora of injury woes and aging core, simply refuse to die. With the series heading back to South Beach for Game 3, the Heat have a golden opportunity to take a commanding series lead over the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Here, we’ll be making a few […]

Funnily enough, it looks like what the Los Angeles Clippers need to succeed is to find one of these two things. They must locate a friendly witch who won’t insert pins on the voodoo doll equivalents of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George come postseason time, or replace their two stars’ knees with bionic inserts to […]

Who knew that trading four unprotected first-round picks, in addition to three helpful role players and a high-potential rookie (Walker Kessler), for another center when you already have Karl-Anthony Towns on the roster isn’t the best idea? The Minnesota Timberwolves apparently didn’t. In a league trending towards two-way versatility brought forth by skilled size, pairing […]

Has there been a more unlucky franchise in NBA history than the Los Angeles Clippers? It definitely seems like every time circumstances begin to break right for them, one major development threatens to derail everything they had built to that point, perhaps even for good. And in the 2023 NBA playoffs, it certainly seems like […]

Joel Embiid could not pass up the opportunity to suit up for Game 2 of the Philadelphia 76ers’ second-round battle against noted rivals Boston Celtics. After all, he recently just won the 2022-23 NBA Most Valuable Player honors, and he was eager to prove that he, indeed, was deserving of such a prestigious acclaim. However, […]

The Golden State Warriors, despite entering their second-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers as slight favorites, know better than to underestimate a LeBron James-led squad. Even with James struggling, this Lakers squad, which has emerged as one of the best teams in the NBA since the trade deadline, is more than capable of going […]

The Golden State Warriors appeared to be dead in the water late in Game 1 of their second-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers. They were down by as many as 14 points with less than six minutes left, but Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jordan Poole came roaring back with one timely shot after […]

One of the distinct advantages the Golden State Warriors had over the Los Angeles Lakers entering their exciting second-round playoff matchup is their ability to stretch the floor. Led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors have revolutionized the game by weaponizing the 3-point shot unlike any other, which has led to plenty of […]

For stretches of the 2022-23 regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks seemed almost disinterested, struggling for a bit in late 2022 as their best players missed time consistently due to injuries. But as the calendar flipped to 2023, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks turned things around. Starting in mid-January, the Bucks went on to win 16 […]

Nikola Jokic has continued to play at an MVP-level for the Denver Nuggets throughout the entirety of the 2022-23 season. Jokic seemed to drop one insane stat line after another on a nightly basis, breaking records belonging to the greatest stat-sheet stuffer of all time in Wilt Chamberlain. Thus, for a while, it seemed like […]

The second-round battle between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers is one defined by the sheer star power helming both teams. Watching Stephen Curry duke it out against LeBron James once more will pique the interest of even the most casual fan, while Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, and Draymond Green are always capable […]

In mid-February, plenty of pundits grew concerned over the Los Angeles Clippers’ interest in Russell Westbrook after such a disappointing tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers. Even then, Paul George, Westbrook’s teammate back with the Oklahoma City Thunder, went to bat for his friend, lobbying for the Clippers front office to add the former MVP […]

There was considerable, justifiable doubt surrounding the Denver Nuggets entering the 2023 NBA playoffs. They did not end the 2022-23 regular season on the best foot, with the MVP discourse surrounding Nikola Jokic turning toxic, and as a result, some pundits believed that the Nuggets may end up being the casualty of a first-round upset. […]

Nobody outside of the most loyal fans of the Los Angeles Lakers could have thought that the Purple and Gold will be playing at least until the middle of May following their dreadful start to the 2022-23 season, but here we are. The Lakers have emerged as one of the best teams in the association […]

In 2021, it seemed like the Atlanta Hawks were shaping up to be one of the more consistent Eastern Conference playoff teams for years to come. Led by nascent point guard Trae Young, the Hawks had its foundational star, and with their core being as young as it is, it definitely looked like better things […]

One of the most defining narratives of the 2022-23 NBA season has been the heated MVP debate between Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid. Jokic, who has won the past two MVP awards, has remained an elite, steadying force for the best team in the Western Conference. However, voter […]

To end the 2022-23 season, the discussion revolving Denver Nuggets star big man Nikola Jokic has turned sour. Jokic received plenty of criticisms regarding his defensive impact (or lack thereof), and the Nuggets proceeded to limp into the playoffs as a result. However, Jokic and the Nuggets appeared to have put all this toxicity behind […]

Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns entered Game 2 with a strong mindset, especially as they try to bounce back from their blowout Game 1 loss to the Denver Nuggets. And for much of Game 2, it seemed like the hard-fought battle between two Western Conference titans could go either way. However, the Suns seemed […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves had a successful 2021-22 season, winning 46 games and almost making it to the second round of the playoffs if not for their collective inability to protect leads. But this success is proving to be both a blessing and a curse for the Timberwolves, as they felt like they were in a […]

There was considerable jubilation among fans of the Los Angeles Clippers on July 5, 2019. On that day, reports came out that the Clippers have signed Kawhi Leonard — a man who recently led the Toronto Raptors to an NBA championship win — after trading away a boatload of assets for Paul George. Leonard’s arrival […]

It may have become repetitive for a while, but there’s nothing quite like the power of nostalgia. After five years, LeBron James and Stephen Curry will soon butt heads in the playoffs once more after the Golden State Warriors booked a slot in the NBA’s elite eight with a 120-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings […]

The discourse revolving around the NBA usually centers on the notion of “what have you done for me lately”. Pundits usually fall prey to the dreaded recency bias, rarely finding themselves free being prisoners of the moment. But when that moment is a 50-point performance in a Game 7, like Stephen Curry pulled off in […]

According to Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, there are no failures, only steps to success. This is certainly an admirable mindset to have in the aftermath of one of the most embarrassing first-round playoff defeats in NBA history, one that’s indicative of Antetokounmpo’s priorities that lie way beyond basketball. However, the NBA is a business, […]

The Dallas Mavericks took a big, risky swing when they traded for Kyrie Irving to give Luka Doncic an All-Star-caliber co-star. However, it didn’t end up working as well as the Mavs had hoped. Instead of crashing the upper-echelon in the Western Conference, they instead fell off a cliff, even missing the play-in tournament. As […]