Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 83

The Indiana Pacers, after three years of missing the playoffs are back in the big time. Tyrese Haliburton has taken the Pacers to the next level, but in their 2024 first-round matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, it hasn’t been Haliburton who has lifted the team on his back. The team’s blockbuster acquisition back in January, […]

It’s a bit funny to look at now, but the Phoenix Suns actually entered their first-round matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2024 NBA playoffs as the favorite to advance. This appears to have been nothing but bulletin board material for a Timberwolves team that is now leading the series 2-0 after taking a […]

The Los Angeles Lakers, on Tuesday night, looked poised to snap their nine-game losing skid against the Denver Nuggets dating back to last year’s Western Conference Finals. LeBron James and Anthony Davis played very well, while D’Angelo Russell seemed to have exorcised his playoff demons against the Nuggets, as the Lakers took a 19-point lead […]

The Denver Nuggets are inevitable. Despite trailing the Los Angeles Lakers for most of Game 2, the Nuggets were never out of the game. And when the final buzzer had sounded, there they were, finishing in victory lane, thanks to Jamal Murray’s heroics. With the game tied at 99, Murray, despite struggling from the field […]

Every game matters in the playoffs, as every win brings teams a step closer to the ultimate goal of winning a championship. On Monday night, it looked like the Philadelphia 76ers were going to get a win on the board and steal homecourt advantage in their first-round tussle against the New York Knicks. However, an […]

Victor Wembanyama has done nothing but surpass expectations despite being in only his rookie season. The San Antonio Spurs may not have improved their win total from last season even with Wembanyama being a two-way monster who’s well on his way to becoming an unstoppable force, but it’s clear that the Spurs are on track […]

It hasn’t been the best two-week stretch for the New Orleans Pelicans. They once were in position to finish the season with the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but a horrid string of games ended up having them finish with the eight-seed. New Orleans’ misery was compounded by the fact that Zion Williamson sustained […]

It has been 30 years since a team lost all six of their games against a team in a single season without facing that said team in the playoffs. But the Sacramento Kings did just that; the New Orleans Pelicans, in a rare showcase of domination over a single team in a single season, defeated […]

It might be time for the Chicago Bulls to face the music and embrace a potential rebuild. Following the Bulls’ 112-91 loss to the Miami Heat on Friday night, their season has come to an end in the play-in tournament for two consecutive seasons now. It has become evident that the ceiling of this team […]

It has been a disappointing past two seasons for the Chicago Bulls. In 2022, it appeared as though they were on the rise, making the playoffs as the six-seed with 46 wins. The Bulls, however, were unable to keep up that pace. In the two years since, the Bulls have seen their season come to […]

In a repeat of last season, the Miami Heat have earned the eight-seed in the Eastern Conference with a victory in the play-in tournament against the Chicago Bulls. This time, however, the Heat won more convincingly. Last season, they had to put up a stellar fourth quarter effort to end up winning by 11, but […]

No one in the current NBA is more famous than LeBron James and Stephen Curry; these two are the most marketable players in league history, they have been great ambassadors for the game, and they have had plenty of success in their careers, combining for six MVP awards, eight championship rings, and five Finals MVPs. […]

The introduction of the NBA play-in tournament hasn’t exactly been met with universal acceptance. Some fans believe that it devalues the regular season (which is, in fact, not the truth, as more teams have fancied their chances of making the playoffs, creating more drama in the final weeks of the campaign) and that it gives […]

Will a Subway Series be upon us come October time? It’s too early to make any sort of prognostications regarding the playoffs, but at this point, both the New York Yankees and New York Mets are playing very good baseball. The Yankees have started off the season well, winning 13 of their first 19 games […]

Chicago Bulls guard Coby White may not win the 2024 Most Improved Player award, but it’s hard to argue against the idea that nobody else around the league showed greater improvement from last season than him. On Wednesday night, White showed just how far he has come. In a 131-116 win over the Atlanta Hawks […]

On Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers escaped a close-run thing against the Miami Heat, taking home a 105-104 victory thanks in large part to the heroics of proven playoff performer Nicolas Batum. One unheralded effect of the 76ers’ victory is that sharpshooter Buddy Hield has now made the playoffs for the first time in his […]

The Atlanta Hawks have been limping towards the play-in tournament for quite some time now. They may have gotten Trae Young back from a finger injury in recent weeks, but the Hawks never really stood a chance to make a playoff run — especially with Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Saddiq Bey all out with […]

The Golden State Warriors’ season-ending 118-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings in the play-in tournament felt like the end of an era in multiple ways. That was especially the case for Klay Thompson, who endured perhaps the worst game of his professional career. He put up a donut on the scoring column, scoring zero points […]

Jimmy Butler put up an admirable effort to play through injury in what ended up being a 105-104 loss for the Miami Heat in their tussle against the Philadelphia 76ers in the 7/8 play-in tournament matchup. Butler grimaced and held his right knee immediately after falling to the ground following a Kelly Oubre Jr. foul in […]

The Miami Heat have been one of the most injury-ravaged teams in the association throughout the 2023-24 season; in the 7/8 play-in game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Heat were without Terry Rozier, leaving Miami one shot-creator short in what ended up being a 105-104 loss for the reigning Eastern Conference champion. Now, the Heat, […]

Klay Thompson may have thought that he had already hit rock bottom when the Golden State Warriors decided to bring him off the bench in the middle of the 2023-24 season. But as a lot of people can attest to, circumstances can always get worse. Thompson had the worst game of his career during the […]

The Golden State Warriors’ season came to a close on Tuesday night after they failed to overcome the Sacramento Kings in the 9/10 matchup of the play-in tournament. They lost rather convincingly, 118-94, with Stephen Curry unable to recapture the magic of his previous playoff game against the Kings and Klay Thompson putting up the […]

The Sacramento Kings have lost Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter in recent weeks, contributing to the Kings’ slippage all the way down to the ninth spot in the Western Conference. Because of that, they now have to win two games just to get to the playoffs as the eight-seed, and what welcomed them in the […]

It has been a season full of low points for Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson. But it’s safe to say that Thompson, the proud four-time NBA champion, has now hit rock bottom after his horrific performance during the Warriors’ season-ending 118-94 defeat to the Sacramento Kings in the 9 vs. 10 matchup in […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have had difficulties matching up against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers all season long. But their crushing 133-89 loss to the Lakers in the in-season tournament back in December at least brought them one positive takeaway — a new and improved Zion Williamson. Williamson revealed that it was that […]

LeBron James continues to be the king of the play-in tournament. In the third play-in tournament appearance of his career, James has once again led the Lakers to a playoff berth, this time taking care of the New Orleans Pelicans, 110-106. This victory sets up a rematch of the 2023 Western Conference Finals, as the […]

It has been a rough week for the New Orleans Pelicans; heading into April, it seemed as though the Pelicans were headed for a collision course against the Los Angeles Clippers in a four-five matchup. But now, they’re in danger of falling out of the playoffs altogether after suffering a 110-106 defeat at the hands […]

It’s almost time for the Los Angeles Clippers to take on the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs for the third time in five years. Among all first-round matchups (and potential ones, seeing as the play-in tournament is yet to begin), the Clippers and the Mavs’ stand out as the most […]

The San Antonio Spurs could not have ended the 2023-24 season on a much better note. They went 7-4 in the final stretch of the season, including impressive wins over the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, New Orleans Pelicans, and Denver Nuggets, and with Victor Wembanyama developing at a rapid rate, it’ll be a surprise […]

The road to a return trip to the NBA Finals for the Boston Celtics appears to be more wide-open than ever. However, the Celtics, of all teams, would know that anything is possible in the postseason. In fact, the Celtics could end up facing one of its most difficult matchups in the playoffs in the […]

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has been a lightning rod for criticism ever since he emerged as one of the best rim protectors in the NBA in the middle of his sophomore season. However, one particular moment where fans, peers, and pundits alike piled on him remain ingrained in Gobert’s mind. Back in 2019, Gobert […]

The regular season has ended, so it’s time for the discussion regarding who the most deserving players are of winning the season’s biggest individual awards to take place. For JJ Redick, he has already decided on who will get his pick for the Clutch Player of the Year award, and that distinction belongs to none […]

All season long, a myriad of issues have plagued the Milwaukee Bucks. Despite starting the season with a pristine 30-13 record, the atmosphere surrounding the Bucks never felt right; their defense has fallen off a cliff, Damian Lillard hasn’t quite jelled as well with the team as they would have hoped, and it seems like […]

The Indiana Pacers sealed their spot in the playoffs on the last day of the season when they made quick work of the hapless Atlanta Hawks, 157-115, in a game as lopsided as the score line would indicate. This is merely the natural progression for Tyrese Haliburton and the upstart Pacers, as they threatened for […]

Andrew McCutchen, who was once the cream of the crop in centerfield, is nearing the end of his career. McCutchen, who signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, his first MLB home, this past offseason, is already 37 years old. But it looks like he has plenty of gas left in the […]

The Houston Astros put their depth to the test this offseason when they decided to consolidate their financial resources to bring in one of the best closers in the game in Josh Hader. In giving Hader a five-year, $95 million contract, the Astros have inched closer to the second luxury-tax threshold, preventing them from making […]

The New York Mets live; after a 0-5 start to the season that had fans seeing flashbacks of their nightmare 2023 season, they have now won seven of their past 10 games, including a series win over the Atlanta Braves. In fact, the Mets won their most recent series against the upstart Kansas City Royals, […]

The last day of the regular season gave fans a bit of a taste of what awaits them in the playoffs; there were a few games that had major seeding implications, imploring teams to play with a playoff-like intensity. But for the Houston Rockets, they were locked in a game with no stakes against a […]

Through 81 games, only two out of the six playoff spots in the Western Conference have been settled. The Denver Nuggets’ loss and the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves’ wins on Friday night will set up a photo finish for the number one seed out West, with all three teams having the same win-loss […]