Jesse Borek Articles - Page 17

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker has been one of the lone bright spots during what has been a mostly dark season for the franchise, entering play Friday 15-51 on the year, the worst record in the Western Conference by an 11-game margin. He has been teamed up this season with Igor Kokoskov, who has been […]

Nearly everything was coming up Celtic green during Boston’s first half Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors, including the incredible dish guard Marcus Smart made to a cutting Gordon Hayward just prior to halftime. Marcus Smart goes no-look behind-the-back to Gordon Hayward 👀 #CUsRise 🎥: @celtics https://t.co/GGnGNW1FLt — USA TODAY NBA (@usatodaynba) March 6, 2019 […]

The Toronto Raptors lost on their home court for just the seventh time all season Tuesday against the Houston Rockets, 107-95. The team still sits within 2.5 games of first place in the Eastern Conference and the league’s best record, but that wasn’t what rookie head coach Nick Nurse was focused on following the loss. […]

Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown went airborne during the second quarter of Tuesday’s contest against the Golden State Warriors, rocking the rim with a thunderous jam. THUNDEROUS dunk by Jaylen Brownhttps://t.co/vVIsk8w0Ke — The Crossover (@TheCrossover) March 6, 2019 That dunk was worth every syllable of ‘Wooooo’ slapped on it by commentator Chris Webber, who cut […]

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has an NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award to his name, so it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that he would deny Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum at the rim when given the chance. Not on Draymond's ⌚️!#DubNation | #PlayersOnly pic.twitter.com/4nzYoihyp0 — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March […]

For the first time in his career, Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley went for 40 points. Even with a trip to the locker room sprinkled in between, Conley managed to drop a career-high 40 points during Tuesday’s 120-111 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, shooting 12-for-18 from the field overall, including 6-for-7 from deep. […]

The Boston Celtics have lost five of their last six games ahead of Tuesday’s showdown with the Golden State Warriors, but count head coach Brad Stevens in the camp of those who aren’t feeling the heat. In fact, according to the Celtics’ man in charge, everything is A-OK in Beantown, saying via Jay King of […]

Duke Blue Devils freshman swingman R.J. Barrett made history during his squad’s 71-70 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Tuesday. Barrett, who finished the win with 28 points, while playing all 40 minutes, broke the school’s freshman scoring record, passing Marvin Bagley III, now having totaled 698 points on the season. R.J.'s the […]

Dallas Mavericks big man Dirk Nowitzki is in the midst of his 21st NBA season, and while his body may be beginning to fail him at an elite level, his sense of humor remains in a class of its own. After a throwback ESPN The Magazine cover was unearthed Sunday, Nowitzki took to Twitter to […]

Orlando Magic swingman Terrence Ross is on pace to set a new career high in scoring this season at 14.8 points per game. He has played in all 64 of the Magic’s games this season, but has not made a single start. In a lot of ways, this has been a season of adjustments for […]

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a crushing defeat to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, putting a dent in their 2018-19 playoff hopes. Following the game, LeBron James was cognizant of the fact that the Lakers could have really used a win: “I mean, listen, we obviously, we needed this game for obvious reasons,” James said, […]

Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell is not known for his shot blocking abilities, but following his enormous swat of Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, he may have been delivering a sign of things to come. got 'im pic.twitter.com/dEK8VK0pBr — Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2019 Mitchell had the back of teammate Royce O’Neale, who appeared […]

The lay of the land around Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley has changed in the past month. His longtime running mate, Marc Gasol, was traded to the Toronto Raptors ahead of the NBA trade deadline, altering the landscape of the organization Conley has called home since the 2007-08 season. Despite there having been trade […]

Detroit Pistons power forward Blake Griffin was once again the catalyst during his team’s victory, this win coming Saturday over the Cleveland Cavaliers when Griffin collected a balanced line of 14 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. He saw just 26 minutes of action due to the nature of Detroit’s blowout victory, which impressed Griffin. […]

Oklahoma City Thunder star Paul George likely isn’t going to be ready to go Sunday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Asked after Saturday’s defeat to the San Antonio Spurs, Thunder head coach Billy Donovan stated that his “guess” was that his squad would be down George for the third consecutive game due to a shoulder injury: […]

Denver Nuggets swingman Will Barton has been a welcome addition to the fold since returning from injury in January, something that big man Mason Plumlee can attest to, especially after dishing out dimes such as this: Will Barton gets creative with the pass!#MileHighBasketball 107#DoItBig 113 💻📱: https://t.co/yTkITWsvb6 pic.twitter.com/JabdXLd5Yh — NBA (@NBA) March 3, 2019 There […]

There wasn’t a whole lot that Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell didn’t do right during Saturday’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. Mitchell erupted for a career-high 46 points, but arguably his most impressive feat of the night may have come on the defensive end of the floor when he swatted Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, […]

The Dallas Mavericks got throttled at home by the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, but don’t think that didn’t mean that franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic wasn’t going to be giving it his all. The precocious scoring sensation has captivated the league during his age-19 season, so maybe with turning 20 on Thursday, he felt more […]

The ink is still drying on the divorce between Pau Gasol and the San Antonio Spurs, but his former teammates and coaches have had seemingly nothing but high praise for the veteran on his way out the door. Fellow European Davis Bertans had this to say, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News: “He […]

The Golden State Warriors already boast a terrifying collaboration of talent on their 2018-19 roster, but with little more than a month to go before the start of the postseason, the fact that they could just be beginning to hit their pinnacle is a daunting prospect for teams attempting to dethrone the reigning champions. Following […]

The Boston Celtics locker room was a cauldron of emotions following the team’s blowout loss to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. Head coach Brad Stevens and guard Marcus Smart weighed in on what seemed to be ailing the team before questions were posed to Kyrie Irving to see where he stood. After Stevens mentioned the […]

Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Paul George has had nearly everything going his way on the basketball court this season, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that nailing a buzzer-beating prayer from beyond half-court to close out the third quarter would be how his Tuesday night goes. From beyond the logo! @Yg_Trece beats the […]

The NBA offseason is nearly four months away, yet here we are in late February dissecting Instagram posts of players and speculating about what it might mean for their future. Today’s subjects are Brooklyn Nets All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell and Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker. We present Exhibit A: https://www.instagram.com/p/BuXfYltnumC/ For those crying tampering, it’s […]

The New York Knicks appear to have found something in rookie center Mitchell Robinson. After just 45 professional games, it seems premature to anoint Robinson as one of the league’s premier shot blockers, but the stats are not lying. According to Kevin Pelton of ESPN, Robinson has already logged 17 blocked shots outside of the […]

Newly-minted Toronto Raptors teammates Danny Green and Jeremy Lin know where the other is coming from. Both are products of the NBA’s D-League (now referred to as the G League) as neither Green nor Lin was given the advantage of being a first-round draft choice upon their arrival in the league. In a sit-down discussion […]

The Western Conference playoff race is heating up and there’s still over a month to figure out who will make the final eight that make up the postseason bracket. However, Paul Pierce isn’t interested in waiting around for the action to be settled on the court and instead makes his case on why he thinks […]

The sirens aren’t blaring around the Boston Celtics quite yet, but Tuesday’s 118-95 drubbing at the hands of the Toronto Raptors certainly won’t silence the concerns that are growing in bulk. Consider guard Marcus Smart not one of those concerned parties. After the game, Smart told Brian Robb of the Boston Sports Journal that, “We’re […]

When Zhaire Smith was selected 16th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, likely one of the last places the Sixers rookie would have expected to make his season debut would have been Maine while playing for the Delaware Blue Coats. But according to Keith Pompey […]

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Andre Roberson has not appeared in a game this season, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t on the comeback trail. Prior to Tuesday’s contest versus the Denver Nuggets, Roberson was out on the court getting up some shots as he prepares to potentially make his return to action at some point […]

Dallas Mavericks rookie phenom Luka Doncic didn’t win anything in the events he participated in at the All-Star Weekend, but he is taking it all in stride. Luka Doncic lost as part of Team World in the Rising Stars game and reached only the final four of the Skills Challenge, getting knocked out by Atlanta […]

Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young has shown off his ballhandling skills during his rookie season and they were on display again during the NBA Rising Stars Challenge as part of the All-Star Weekend’s festivities. Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton was the unlucky recipient of an up-close look of Young’s dribbling savvy. The 7’1″ Ayton […]

Minnesota Timberwolves swingman Josh Okogie has developed into a key contributor during his rookie campaign and has parlayed that early excellence into a spot on the NBA Rising Stars Challenge roster. With many getting to see the Lagos, Nigeria, native for the first time Friday, he showed up with this monster put-back jam over the […]

Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal recently broke Twitter, the NBA rules, and the NBA officials’ Twitter account, although not necessarily in that order. After an egregious non-call on what certainly appeared to be a travel during Monday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons, Beal saw an uproar from social media, confounded as to how he […]

Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell is no stranger to the NBA Rising Stars Challenge. After making his debut at All-Star weekend last year in the game, Mitchell was back for more Friday night, slamming home a gorgeous no-look dish from Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma early on in the contest. 🚫👀 pic.twitter.com/C1BlhjRsGH — Utah […]

Atlanta Hawks power forward John Collins has established a reputation as one of the bounciest young stars in basketball and that was reinforced early on during the NBA Rising Stars Challenge on Friday. Collins got out in transition and found Sacramento Kings point De’Aaron Fox, who promptly delivered a perfect bounce pass that allowed Collins […]

Dallas Mavericks rookie phenom Luka Doncic has taken the NBA by storm over his first 55 professional games. The frontrunner for the league’s Rookie of the Year Award could make his case for playing in Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game, but he’ll instead have to settle for an appearance in the Rising Stars Challenge, which just […]

Hall of Famer Ray Allen last suited up during the 2013-14 NBA season, but if you think that means the man who was tabbed as Jesus Shuttlesworth can’t get buckets, how sadly mistaken you’d be. Famous Los probably thought he could stop Allen when the former Miami Heat shooting guard tried to attack the basket, […]

Dallas Mavericks center Salah Mejri may be averaging only 6.8 minutes per game this season, but it appears he’s a sought-after man. When Mejri was briefly a free agent, the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder reportedly reached out about acquiring his services, according to Brice Paterik of Mavs Moneyball. Ultimately, Mejri found […]

Atlanta Hawks power forward John Collins will participate in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest this upcoming weekend and he won’t have to travel far to get advice from one of the best to ever do it. Really, he’ll be within shouting distance of teammate Vince Carter, who has delivered some of the most iconic memories […]