Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 85

The absence of Ja Morant due to a 25-game suspension has put the Memphis Grizzlies in a tough spot this season. But that has only given Desmond Bane the opportunity to spread his wings on the offensive end by taking on a heavier offensive burden than he would have if Morant was around. And on […]

The last time the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks squared off against each other on the hardwood gave fans one of the most enthralling contests of the 2023-24 season, with Mikal Bridges and Trae Young simply refusing to let up by making one insane shot in the clutch after another. On Wednesday night, it was […]

The Denver Nuggets currently have the third-best record in the Western Conference, as they’re entering their Wednesday night clash against the Los Angeles Clippers with a 14-7 record. The Nuggets have done this despite not having the services of Jamal Murray for the majority of the season, and now, there remains a looming cloud over […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves are the proud owners of the best record in the NBA at the moment, and they’ll be putting that to the test on Wednesday night when they take on a San Antonio Spurs team that has lost 14 straight games. While the Timberwolves, on paper, are a much better team than the […]

The Los Angeles Lakers have been the worst three-point shooting in the league during the 2023-24 season. They entered their Tuesday NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinals matchup against the Phoenix Suns as team with the worst three-pointers made per game and 29th in the league in percentage from deep, but there Austin Reaves was, disregarding all […]

It’s always a challenge to introduce new ideas to spice up proceedings in professional sports, as athletes are creatures of habit and tradition. So when the NBA introduced the In-Season Tournament, not everyone was a fan. It felt gimmicky, and it felt like the league was just scraping the bottom of the barrel when it […]

For much of the Phoenix Suns’ quarterfinals clash against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA In-Season Tournament on Tuesday night, it was a back-and-forth affair, with Kevin Durant and LeBron James, being the ageless wonders that they are, trading one haymaker after another, with each star dropping 31 points each. Even Austin Reaves stole […]

Anything can happen in a one-game playoff, but Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant is backing LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to go all the way and become the champion of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. The Lakers have taken the competition very seriously, with James bringing a high level of intensity in their […]

The Los Angeles Lakers, make no mistake about it, earned their 106-103 win over the Phoenix Suns in the quarterfinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament on Tuesday night. However, there was much controversy surrounding this victory, as in the dying embers of the game, the Suns appeared to have a golden chance to tie the […]

A move to the Los Angeles Lakers’ bench hasn’t sapped Austin Reaves’ confidence one bit. In fact, Reaves is back to playing at his best in a sixth man role, finishing out games in style alongside LeBron James and company. And on Tuesday night, it was Reaves who essentially sealed the Lakers’ 106-103 win over […]

Entering the 2023-24 season, nearly five years have passed since the last time Kevin Durant squared off against LeBron James. Before the Phoenix Suns battled against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 26, 2023, the last matchup between two of the greatest small forwards of all time came on December 25, 2018. But this season, […]

The NBA In-Season Tournament got teams playing with playoff intensity in December; that level of play was exactly what fans got from the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the tournament. In the fourth quarter, the Lakers and the Suns were trading haymakers, with Austin Reaves having the […]

The Los Angeles Angels, on Tuesday night, made a move in free agency that should help a bit in their quest to bounce back in 2024. In need of some bullpen reinforcements after yet another disappointing season, the Angels signed veteran relief pitcher Luis Garcia to a one-year, $4.25 million deal, per Jeff Fletcher of […]

The Milwaukee Bucks were expected to be an unstoppable force from the jump after they traded for Damian Lillard this past offseason. Over the past decade or so, Lillard has been stretching defenses past their breaking point, and combining his game-breaking range with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s incredible paint presence made them such a scary threat to […]

The Milwaukee Bucks are now two wins away from being crowned as the winner of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament after their thorough demolition of the New York Knicks, 146-122, on Tuesday night. In addition to the glory that comes with being the first-ever champion of a tournament that appears to be here to stay, […]

The NBA In-Season Tournament has brought plenty of amazing action, with the knockout stage taking the stakes of the competition to new heights. On Tuesday night, however, the Milwaukee Bucks had no intention of keeping it close against the New York Knicks. Buoyed by the raucous home crowd at Fiserv Forum, the Bucks simply couldn’t […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ unlimited resources both from a financial and talent perspective have made them the epitome of consistency over the past decade. However, despite winning the NL West for the 10th time in the past 11 years in the 2023 season, the Dodgers’ pitching corps wasn’t as elite as it has been in […]

Austin Reaves became an instant fan favorite for the Los Angeles Lakers when he arrived on the team in 2021, and then the Lakers fanbase’s love for him reached new heights when Reaves broke out in a starter’s role to end the 2023-24 season. In fact, Reaves’ importance to the Lakers reached the point where […]

The New Orleans Pelicans may be on their way to the top, as they recently saw the returns of CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy from injuries, but their 2023-24 season hasn’t exactly been a cakewalk. They have a 12-10 record at the moment, and earlier in the season, they lost five consecutive games. A more […]

The New Orleans Pelicans’ stock is on the rise. Now that CJ McCollum has returned from a collapsed lung and Trey Murphy hasn’t taken much time in re-acclimating himself back from a torn meniscus, the Pelicans have more depth than ever. In fact, the Pelicans were as healthy as ever during their 127-117 win over […]

The New Orleans Pelicans appeared to start off their NBA In-Season Tournament matchup against the Sacramento Kings in an anxious manner; they went down by double-digits early on in the game, with the Kings’ shooters running wild against the Pelicans. But the Pelicans’ bench came in and straightened things out, and it may be thanks […]

Isiah Kiner-Falefa is entering free agency coming off a middling season with the middling New York Yankees which missed the playoffs by seven games. However, despite Kiner-Falefa’s less-than-stellar output during the 2023 season, plenty of teams still recognize the fact that the 28-year old shortstop by trade can provide a ton of impact, which may […]

The Phoenix Suns are heading into their Tuesday night matchup against longtime rival Los Angeles Lakers with a chance to advance to the semifinals of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament, booking a spot in Las Vegas for the competition’s final four. With Bradley Beal out due to a back injury, the Suns will be in […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are rounding back into form, as they’re currently getting back the services of the players that helped spur their strong start to the 2022-23 season. Don’t be fooled; despite their 12-10 record, the Pelicans may be as dangerous a team as any in the Western Conference, especially in the aftermath of […]

With a matchup between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers in the quarterfinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament on the docket in a few hours’ time, there is much anticipation for yet another matchup between Kevin Durant and LeBron James. In fact, barring an unforeseen turn of events on the injury front, their […]

Taking care of the basketball is paramount to winning ballgames; after all, it’s hard to put the ball through the basket and score more often than your opponent when you give away the ball cheaply, and on live-ball turnovers, no less. And for De’Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings, they need to chalk this one […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are starting to get a few of their crucial players back from injury, and they’re beginning to go on a roll. CJ McCollum has returned from a collapsed lung, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram have mostly avoided the injury bug, and Trey Murphy is also back on the hardwood after suffering […]

Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes is not the flashiest player in the world. In fact, he is one of the players who thrives in a more functional team setting, as that’s where he can nail the little things (defense, drawing fouls, nailing open shots) that are conducive to winning. However, Barnes’ level of production is […]

The Cincinnati Bengals needed to play with a great sense of urgency on Monday night, as they were falling off the pace in the playoff race after losing three straight heading into their matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. And that’s exactly what the Bengals did, with quarterback Jake Browning putting up the best game of […]

There was plenty of concern from fans of the Cincinnati Bengals when news of Joe Burrow’s season-ending wrist injury broke. After all, the Bengals will now have to turn over the controls of the offense to Jake Browning, the 27-year old career backup who, prior to Burrow’s injury, had only played in a total of […]

The Indiana Pacers continue to run roughshod over their opponents in the NBA In-Season Tournament, as they booked their trip to Las Vegas in the semifinals after knocking out the Boston Celtics, 122-112, on Monday night. The Pacers continue to thrive in such a high-octane offensive environment, and it’s thanks in large part to the […]

The Houston Astros may still have a stacked roster heading into the 2024 season, but that doesn’t mean that the franchise isn’t looking for some changes to bolster the team’s chances of competing for the World Series title. There’s also the question of the Astros’ future, especially when some of its veteran stars, such as […]

The Cincinnati Bengals’ playoff hopes appear to have been shot in the head point-blank when news of Joe Burrow’s season-ending wrist surgery broke. With the Bengals’ QB1 out, no one could have expected backup quarterback Jake Browning to step up the way he did. But in just his second career start, Browning led the Bengals […]

It has been a nightmare season thus far for a Memphis Grizzlies team with ambitions of competing in the Western Conference. Without Ja Morant due to his 25-game suspension, the Grizzlies have found it extremely difficult to get anything going. In fact, even though Desmond Bane is working as hard as ever, expanding his game […]

The Boston Celtics are currently the holder of the best record in the Eastern Conference (and second-best overall). But in a knockout game, that standing doesn’t matter as much. And on Monday night, the Celtics bowed out of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament after the Indiana Pacers continued their dominance in the competition, defeating them […]

The NBA In-Season Tournament was introduced by the league to elicit more excitement for what are otherwise humdrum regular season games, and if the first game of the knockout stage is any indication, then the league has succeeded in that regard. In quite the enthralling contest, it was the Indiana Pacers that stood tall over […]

In a quarterback-driven league, it’s always hard for a team to win without its QB1, especially when that QB1 has, time and time again, proven that he’s capable of stepping up in big moments. For the Cincinnati Bengals, Joe Burrow is that guy. However, Burrow won’t be able to suit up for the Bengals this […]

A major plot point for the Philadelphia 76ers heading into the 2023-24 season was James Harden’s trade request, as it seemed like both sides refused to relent even an inch to the other party. In fact, the tensions ran so high to the point that Harden, in an Adidas event in China, went scorched earth […]

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain in striking distance of the division lead in the mediocre NFC South, as their 21-18 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday moved them to 5-7 on the season, one game behind the 6-6 Atlanta Falcons. One of the major reasons for why the Buccaneers remain in playoff contention is […]