Mike Cruz Articles - Page 10

The first set of 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament games is upon us with the Portland Trail Blazers hosting the Memphis Grizzlies at the Moda Center. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Grizzlies-Blazers prediction and pick. The Memphis Grizzlies are the only winless team in the NBA, with their most recent loss […]

The first set of 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament games is upon us with the Chicago Bulls hosting the Brooklyn Nets at the United Center. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Nets-Bulls prediction and pick. Chicago is currently 2-3 on the young season so far. They lost their most recent game to […]

The first set of 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament games is upon us with the Miami Heat hosting the Washington Wizards at the Kaseya Center. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Wizards-Heat prediction and pick. The Washington Wizards are 1-3 on the season. They lost their most recent outing to the Atlanta […]

The first set of 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament games is upon us with the Oklahoma City Thunder hosting the Golden State Warriors at the Paycom Center. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Warriors-Thunder prediction and pick. The Golden State Warriors will look to continue their winning ways away from Chase Center […]

The first set of 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament games is upon us with the Milwaukee Bucks hosting the New York Knicks at Fiserv Forum. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Knicks-Bucks prediction and pick. The Knicks (2-3) are coming off a 95-89 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. Jalen Brunson […]

The first set of 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament games is upon us with the Indiana Pacers hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Cavaliers-Pacers prediction and pick. The Cavaliers are coming off a 95-89 win over the New York Knicks, their tormentors from the NBA playoffs just six months […]

The Dallas Mavericks have the enviable task of tipping off their 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets. Along with Denver, Dallas is in a loaded West Group B that also features the new-look Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, and Houston Rockets. For this article, we will talk about the […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder are among the teams who will tip off the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament on November 3rd when they host the Golden State Warriors at the Paycom Center. Along with the Dubs, the Thunder are also in West Group C with the Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, and Minnesota Timberwolves. Like each […]

The inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament will commence this Friday, November 3. However, Sacramento Kings fans will need to wait a week before their Kings play their first In-Season Tournament game when they welcome the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Golden 1 Center. Sacramento is also in West Group C, which consists of the Thunder, San […]

The inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament tips off on Friday, November 3. However, Toronto Raptors fans will need to wait two weeks to see their beloved squad play their first In-Season Tournament game when they host the Boston Celtics at Scotiabank Arena. After that, the Raptors will take on their fellow teams in East Group C […]

The Philadelphia 76ers finally got the elephant out of the room. Accused as a liar (not once, but twice) halfway across the world, Sixers GM Daryl Morey finally granted the trade request of his disgruntled star James Harden in a midnight blockbuster with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Sixers got rid of the dark cloud […]

The Houston Rockets host the Charlotte Hornets for a Wednesday night NBA matchup between two young teams in the Association. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Rockets-Hornets prediction and pick. This is basically a battle between two of the worst teams in the NBA. So it will be interesting to see which […]

The Los Angeles Clippers landed James Harden from the Philadelphia 76ers in a midnight blockbuster earlier this week. Harden is reportedly targeting November 6th as his Clippers debut. Therefore, The Beard should be ready when the Clippers tip off their inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament later next week. The Clippers are in West Group B for […]

The Denver Nuggets visit the Minnesota Timberwolves for a Wednesday night showdown between two first-round foes in the 2023 NBA Playoffs. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Nuggets-Timberwolves prediction and pick. The defending champs will vie for a 5-0 start to their 2023-24 campaign after beating the Utah Jazz, 110-102, on […]

The James Harden drama in Philly is finally over. The Los Angeles Clippers traded for the disgruntled Philadelphia 76ers star in what many consider a midnight heist. As Harden prepares to make his debut for his new team following the blockbuster trade, we’ll make our bold predictions for the Clippers for the rest of the […]

The Los Angeles Clippers host the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night after acquiring James Harden from the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Magic-Clippers prediction and pick. Orlando is coming off a heartbreaking 106-103 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night and will look to avoid losing […]

It’s over. The Philadelphia 76ers have finally traded James Harden. The Sixers endured months of drama that even extended all the way to China, where the 2018 NBA MVP made the world know what he truly felt about GM Daryl Morey and called him a “liar” in front of hundreds of fans, not once, but […]

The Philadelphia 76ers finally did the deed — and it had to be done. After months of drama, James Harden finally got what he wanted: a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Woj Bomb that the Sixers traded Harden to the Clippers dropped just as North American basketball fans were about to hit the […]

The San Antonio Spurs host the Houston Rockets for their second home game of the 2023-24 NBA season. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Rockets-Spurs prediction and pick. Wednesday night saw the highly-anticipated NBA debut of Victor Wembanyama. It wasn’t the debut many expected it to be, as the San Antonio […]

The Charlotte Hornets welcome the Detroit Pistons for their second home game on Friday night. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Pistons-Hornets prediction and pick. Detroit came up just short in its season opener against the defending Miami Heat. Despite a marginal 103-102 loss, the young Pistons showed a lot of […]

The 2023-24 NBA season is finally upon us with the defending champion Denver Nuggets fending off their Western Conference Finals foes Los Angeles Lakers in the opener that tipped off the new year. The fresh start does not devoid the league of NBA trade drama, with the James Harden situation in Philadelphia spearheading the headlines. […]

The 2023-24 NBA season officially tipped off Tuesday night featuring four of the top championship contenders. After receiving their 2023 NBA championship rings, the Denver Nuggets continued their dominance over their Western Conference Finals foes Los Angeles Lakers with a 119-107 win. The Phoenix Suns, meanwhile, spoiled the Golden State Warriors debut of their former […]

The Milwaukee Bucks jumped to the top of the ladder as favorites (along with the Boston Celtics) to win the 2024 NBA championship after they acquired Damian Lillard to pair him with franchise superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Arguably no other duo in the NBA is better than Antetokounmpo and Lillard. Opposing defenses will have nightmares trying […]

FanDuel currently has the Denver Nuggets with the third-best odds to win the 2024 NBA championship, despite entering the 2023-24 season as the defending NBA champions. The Nuggets sit behind the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics, who both made blockbuster moves to get better this offseason. Nonetheless, Denver still parades the best player in […]

The Indiana Pacers have huge expectations this upcoming 2023-24 NBA season after they locked up their franchise cornerstone Tyrese Haliburton to a massive five-year deal this offseason. The Eastern Conference has become more top-heavy with the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics emerging as the clear two best teams following their massive offseason moves. Yet, the […]

After finally blowing up their roster and giving up on the Bradley Beal era, the Washington Wizards enter this upcoming 2023-24 NBA season with zero expectations. The Wizards will simply not be a good team this season. They have no chance of sniffing even the play-in tournament. If the preseason has shown anything, this campaign […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are ushering in a new era after they finally catered to Damian Lillard’s trade request and shipped him to a championship contender in the Milwaukee Bucks. With that, the Blazers have handed over the mantle to Scoot Henderson to lead this next chapter of Blazers basketball. The Blazers landed a handful […]

Where do we even begin with this Charlotte Hornets franchise? This Hornets team just cannot catch a break anymore this offseason with all the controversies it is facing — from Miles Bridges’ new arrest warrant to Kai Jones getting waived amid his bizarre antics on and off the court. While all of these are off-the-court […]

The vibes are officially back again. At least that’s what it looked like when the Toronto Raptors opened their preseason with a 112-99 win over the Sacramento Kings. Let’s not mince words, though. The Raptors had a disastrous offseason. Nick Nurse was fired. They lost Fred VanVleet for nothing as he walked away and signed […]

The Phoenix Suns arguably have the best offensive trio in the NBA featuring Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. Points won’t be hard to come by for the Suns with three stars who are capable of dropping at least 25 points on any given night. Heck, all three could even simultaneously pop off for […]

The Orlando Magic have a very bright outlook for the 2023-24 season, especially after they were essentially a .500 team through a good chunk of the campaign. Orlando boasts one of the league’s promising young cores led by reigning Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero and recently crowned FIBA World Cup champ Franz Wagner. But […]

The Phoenix Suns have gone through a massive revamp over the last eight months in the hopes of bringing the first-ever championship to The Valley. Starting with the deal that landed them Kevin Durant last February, plenty of changes have swept through the Suns roster. Phoenix traded Chris Paul during the offseason and acquired Bradley […]

As a result of their strong finish to the 2022-23 NBA season, the Orlando Magic look poised to take the next step into competing for a playoff spot. After starting the campaign 5-20, Orlando went 29-28 the rest of the year, essentially becoming a .500 team through the final two-thirds of the regular season. The […]

The Memphis Grizzlies face a ton of uncertainty heading into the 2023-24 NBA season with Ja Morant serving a league-imposed 25-game suspension to open the campaign. The Grizzlies made some offseason moves to retool its roster after getting eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs as the No. 2 […]

The Houston Rockets enter the 2023-24 NBA season with one of the more intriguing rosters in the league. The Rockets added several veterans such as Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Jeff Green, and Jock Landale in the offseason to complement a crop of young talent that includes Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and this year’s No. 4 […]

The Dallas Mavericks made plenty of changes in the offseason as they look to bounce back from a disappointing 2022-23 campaign that saw them miss the playoffs. Apart from their top priority of re-signing Kyrie Irving, Dallas revamped its depth by bringing in an influx of pieces across the board, which include Grant Williams, Seth […]

Tuesday saw the first encounter between Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren on an NBA floor and the two 7-foot phenoms put on a show. Like with any first-time thing, it’s time for some way-too-early overreactions to Wembanyama and Holmgren’s first NBA matchup. In the end, Holmgren’s Oklahoma City Thunder took the win over Wembanyama’s San […]

The 2023-24 NBA season is just right around the corner. That means it’s time for fantasy basketball managers to start preparing for their respective drafts. Most managers will place their focus on targeting star players like Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic, or Giannis Antetokounmpo who put up gaudy stat lines for their teams every […]

We are less than two weeks away from the official tip-off of the 2023-24 NBA regular season. That means it is just about time for NBA fantasy enthusiasts to put on their GM hats and construct the team that will win them the bag in their respective leagues. Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo […]