Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 34

Towards the end of the regular season, Draymond Green’s case to win the second Defensive Player of the Year award of his career was picking up steam, and it reached a point where the Golden State Warriors veteran was openly clamoring for voters to reward him with the acclaim. In the end, the voters decided […]

Under the watchful eye of head coach Erik Spoelstra, the Miami Heat have usually played above expectations. It’s a testament to the Heat’s development and coaching staff that they managed to make it to the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023 despite fielding a roster filled with diamonds in the rough. Thus, heading into their […]

Zach Edey entered the 2024 NBA Draft as one of the most divisive prospects in recent memory. With the modern NBA trending more towards speed and skilled size, Edey’s game appeared to be a relic of an older period. Edey, who stands at 7’4″ and is listed at 305 lbs., is not the fleetest of […]

Jonathan Kuminga’s future with the Golden State Warriors has been clouded in so much doubt over the past few weeks; head coach Steve Kerr decided to phase him out of the rotation completely during their crucial final regular-season matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers and was not in the rotation to begin their first-round series […]

The Detroit Pistons have made life more difficult for the New York Knicks than many expected, and yet here they are, down 3-1 in their first-round series after suffering a 94-93 loss in Game 4. That loss, however, did not come without its fair share of controversy. In the dying seconds of the game, the […]

The Indiana Pacers are on course to send the Milwaukee Bucks home from the playoffs for the second straight year, as they took a 3-1 lead in their first-round matchup courtesy of a 129-103 win on Sunday night. A playoff series isn’t over until a team wins four games, but the Bucks may be dead […]

Giannis Antetokounmpo has nothing else left to prove in his career; he could have retired yesterday and he’d be a lock for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. But Antetokounmpo has said in the past that he wants to win as many championships as he can, and he would prefer to stay with the […]

Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers have built up a bit of a rivalry with Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks over the past two seasons. The Pacers most notably eliminated them in the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament as well as in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and it’s clear that there is […]

Damian Lillard made a miraculous recovery from a deep vein thrombosis just in time to make his return for the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers. This was a major cause for celebration, as this is the sort of injury that cut the career of Hall of Fame […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves had to dig deep, and in the end, they got the job done in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, taking a 116-113 win to put LeBron James and Luka Doncic on the brink of elimination. Anthony Edwards was the star of the show, putting up 43 […]

Damian Lillard’s miraculous recovery from a deep vein thrombosis in his right calf was one of the best stories of this year’s playoffs; it meant that Lillard’s career was back on track and that the Milwaukee Bucks are going to be full strength in their playoff matchup against the Indiana Pacers. But in an unfortunate […]

The Los Angeles Lakers’ 2025 playoff run isn’t going according to script so far; after being hyped up by many in the aftermath of the blockbuster Luka Doncic trade, the Lakers now find themselves on the brink of elimination after suffering a heartbreaking 116-113 loss in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Minnesota […]

A season that had so much promise is coming undone in a hurry for the Los Angeles Lakers. On Sunday night, it looked like the Lakers were going to tie up the series at two games apiece after a dominant third quarter, but it all fell apart in the fourth quarter as they suffered a […]

Game 3 of the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves was quite the barnburner. But in the end, the Lakers ran out of gas, with Luka Doncic not being his best self in a 116-104 loss that wasn’t as lopsided as the final score line would indicate. Doncic was clearly under the […]

The 2024-25 season could not have gone any further from plan for the New Orleans Pelicans. Coming off a 2023-24 campaign where they went 49-33 and made it to the playoffs as the eighth-seed, the Pelicans were perhaps the team in the NBA that was most ravaged by injuries. Dejounte Murray suffered a season-ending injury […]

The Cleveland Cavaliers may have limped into the finish line of the regular season, going 6-4 over their final 10 games. But they have established throughout the course of the season that they are going to be one of the teams to beat come playoff time. And in the first two games of their first-round […]

With every playoff series having played two games, it’s evident that the most competitive of them all is the matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers, the four-five matchup in the Western Conference. The first two games of that series have given fans plenty of thrilling, back-and-forth action; in Game 1, it was […]

Jalen Green is in the fourth season of his career, and he finally made the playoffs after years of toiling near the bottom of the standings with the Houston Rockets. Green, the second overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, remains one of the key pieces of this young Rockets team. After all, when he’s […]

The Houston Rockets did not want to head on to the road down 2-0 in their first-round matchup against the seventh-seeded Golden State Warriors. And this was evident in the play of Jalen Green, who shook off his Game 1 demons and popped off in their 109-94 victory in Game 2 to even up the […]

It’s safe to say that Draymond Green does not care about making enemies of whomever he faces out on the hardwood. The Golden State Warriors forward, throughout his career, has embraced the role of the enforcer, and there may not be another fanbase that dislikes Green more than that of the Houston Rockets, with Green […]

The Cleveland Cavaliers survived a late scare from the Miami Heat in Game 2 of their first-round series, pulling away in the end with a 121-112 win after the Heat stormed back to begin the fourth quarter. It was a three-point barrage that gave the Cavs just enough of a cushion, with Donovan Mitchell leading […]

Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors are entering Game 2 of their first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets with a chance to go up 2-0 in the series despite being on the road. And with the Warriors losing Jimmy Butler for the rest of the game with a pelvic contusion and Brandin Podziemski’s status […]

The major worry coming out of Game 1 for the Boston Celtics, despite going out to a 1-0 lead in their first-round series against the Orlando Magic, was the status of Jayson Tatum. Tatum, who sustained a bone bruise in his right wrist, ended up missing Game 2 — thrusting Jaylen Brown into first option […]

The Golden State Warriors have been the biggest thorn in the side of LeBron James’ career; James, back when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers, faced the Warriors four times in the NBA Finals, winning one out of four in the process. And the one Finals series the Cavs won, they had to come back […]

The Cleveland Cavaliers have emerged as one of the best teams in the association, thanks in large part to how new head coach Kenny Atkinson unlocked their offense and made it the deadliest in the association. And they have carried over their elite level of production into their first-round matchup against the Miami Heat in […]

The Los Angeles Lakers were humbled in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite getting a strong outing from Luka Doncic, the Lakers’ defense couldn’t hold down the Timberwolves as Minnesota exploded for 21 made three-pointers on 50 percent shooting from beyond the arc to take a 117-95 win on the […]

There has been much excitement for how the Los Angeles Lakers would perform in the playoffs with Luka Doncic and LeBron James leading the team. Alas, Game 1 of their first-round matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves could not have gone any further from plan for the Purple and Gold. Courtesy of some poor defensive decision-making […]

Kawhi Leonard has long been one of the greatest playoff risers in the history of the NBA. Leonard seems to always flip a switch when the postseason begins, although over the past half-decade or so, injuries have limited his postseason impact significantly, dashing the Los Angeles Clippers’ championship hopes over and over again. But on […]

Nikola Jokic does everything in his power to win, especially in the playoffs. This is what makes him the best player in the world and the main reason why the Denver Nuggets, despite their topsy-turvy 2024-25 campaign, must be taken seriously as a threat to make a deep playoff run. But on Monday night, the […]

In what is shaping up to be a slugfest of a first-round series, the Detroit Pistons managed to hold off a hard-charging New York Knicks team to hang on for a 100-94 victory to even up the series at one game apiece. It looked as though the Pistons were going to relinquish another healthy lead […]

The Los Angeles Clippers entered the 2025 NBA playoffs as one of the biggest dark horses in the championship hunt, and for good reason. After all, it looks like Kawhi Leonard is primed for a healthy playoff run for the first time in years. And while the Clippers may have lost Game 1 of their […]

For a team that won 68 games in the regular season, the 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder sure have more doubters than one would expect. Many think that the Thunder may trip up in the earlier rounds the way they did last year, but they seemed to have shut that kind of talk down really quickly […]

John Cena made history on Sunday night, as he became a 17-time world champion in the WWE after beating Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 41 Night 2 to claim the Undisputed WWE Title, continuing his farewell tour in style. And while Cena felt that he needed to turn to the dark side […]

It’s safe to say that the 2024-25 season has not gone according to plan for the Orlando Magic. And yet here they are, still alive and kicking and looking to make the reigning champion Boston Celtics sweat in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. For the first half of Game 1, the Magic […]

Winning the first game of a seven-game series might be important, but it does not necessarily mean that the odds of advancing to the next round are heavily in favor of the team that comes out on top in Game 1. But these Golden State Warriors under head coach Steve Kerr’s tutelage are a different […]

The Houston Rockets’ biggest question mark heading into their first-round series against the Golden State Warriors was their halfcourt offense. And in Game 1, this weakness of theirs came back to haunt them, as they shot just 39.1 percent from the field as a team in a 95-85 loss to the Warriors. Even their 16-rebound […]

The Golden State Warriors’ championship hopes looked dead in the water prior to pulling off the Jimmy Butler trade. Without Butler, the Warriors relied so much on Stephen Curry to do everything, and at 37 years of age, that doesn’t seem to be a fair ask of him anymore. But with Butler embracing the “Robin” […]

At this point of his career, Stephen Curry has nothing more to prove. But all-time greats like him never rest on their laurels, and Curry will be giving his all in pursuit of the fifth championship of his career until he finally decides to call it quits. On Sunday night, it was ever so evident […]

If you can’t handle him at his worst, then you don’t deserve him at his best; this is the battle cry Russell Westbrook’s fans have had for the future Hall of Famer over the years. And there’s nothing that encapsulates the chaos factor that Westbrook brings to the table more than Game 1 of the […]