Mike Cruz Articles - Page 71

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry had an injury scare to his ankle during their Game 6 series-clinching victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday. But it looks like the two-time NBA MVP will be good to go for Game 1 of their second-round mega showdown against the Houston Rockets, per Marc Spears of […]

Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard broke Twitter on Tuesday night after he nailed an epic game-winner in the Portland Trailblazers’ 118-115 series-clinching victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. Many players around The Association had their own respective reactions to the insane buzzer-beater. But Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James only used a […]

Damian Lillard made an unbelievable series-winning three-pointer to help the Portland Trailblazers knock off the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games. The step-back game-winner from nearly 37-feet capped off Lillard’s magnificent performance in Game 5. In fact, the Blazers superstar became the only player in NBA history to notch 50 points, five rebounds, five assists, […]

‘Twas the shot heard around the world. Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard sank the collective hearts of the Oklahoma City Thunder with a deep, series-clinching 3-pointer to book their ticket to the second round of the NBA Playoffs in dramatic fashion. With the game tied at 115 and the clock winding down, Logo Lillard  […]

The Milwaukee Bucks won their first playoff series since 2001 after dispatching the Detroit Pistons in four easy games. This wasn’t any ordinary sweep, however. They also did this in historically dominating fashion. Per NBA on ESPN, the Bucks had a plus-95 point differential over the Pistons in this series, tying the 1986 Los Angeles […]

Blake Griffin gave everything he had and laid it all on the line for the Detroit Pistons in their first-round matchup versus the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Pistons fans at Little Caesars Arena showed their appreciation to their All-Star forward and showered him with love as he walked back gingerly to the bench — heavily bandaged […]

Detroit Pistons point guard Ish Smith thought he had an easy layup in the books during the second quarter of Game 4 in their first-round series matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. Little did he know that a Greek Freak was lurking around waiting to swat away his shot. Giannis Antetokounmpo came out of nowhere and got […]

Houston Rockets guard James Harden arguably had his worst shooting game of the season in Game 3 against the Utah Jazz. The reigning MVP missed his first 15 shots of the contest. He made his first basket 40:26 into the game on an easy flush in semi-transition. Harden dunk with 7:34 left, his first field […]

KUTV 2News, a CBS Salt Lake City affiliate, reportedly got too ahead of itself when the network sent out an app notification saying that the Utah Jazz had prevailed against the Houston Rockets in Game 3. However, they apparently sent it out with still a whole half of basketball to play. Utah Representative Craig Hall […]

The top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks continued its reign over the number eight seed Detroit Pistons in Game 3 of their first round series match-up. The first two games in Milwaukee pretty much had the same theme: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s dominance. Game 1 saw the MVP candidate flex his muscles, as he opened his 2019 playoff campaign with […]

With his team’s season on the line, Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone needed to make some changes. Malone boldly inserted reserve forward Torrey Craig into the starting lineup, replacing struggling forward Will Barton, in Game 4 of their first round series match-up against the San Antonio Spurs. The former G-League standout proved to his […]

Prior to Game 4, the Denver Nuggets have failed to come in the AT&T Center and defeat the San Antonio Spurs on the road this season. In fact, they haven’t defeat the Spurs on their home floor for the past seven seasons, until last night. Despite this, the Nuggets have shown that they love making […]

Game 3 between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Detroit Pistons almost broke into a fight when Sterling Brown and Andre Drummond got into each others’ faces. Fortunately, the Bucks have preventive measures in place in case things like these happen. Bucks assistant coach Taylor Jenkins was quick to his feet and hilariously jumped in front […]

Houston Rockets star James Harden had an abysmal first half in Game 3 of their first round series against the Utah Jazz. Harden missed all of his 10 shot attempts in the first 24 minutes of action. He also had three turnovers, including one in the closing seconds that led to a Joe Ingles 3-pointer […]

If Game 3 was the Derrick White Game, then Game 4 has to be the Torrey Craig Game. Reserve forward Torrey Craig gave the Denver Nuggets a much-needed spark to propel them to an important Game 4 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, 117-103. None of this would have been possible, though, without Michael Malone’s […]

For the second time in this first-round NBA playoff series, the Denver Nuggets saved their season against the San Antonio Spurs. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was focused on that reality, not a larger piece of the Nuggets’ bitter history in San Antonio. Denver knotted this Western Conference quarterfinal series at 2-2 with a 117-103 […]

San Antonio Spurs guard Derrick White rode the highest of highs on Thursday night, having a career game to lead his team to a Game 3 victory over their first round series opponents, the Denver Nuggets. Unfortunately, White could not follow up his virtuoso performance as he fell back down to Earth in San Antonio’s […]

Two lucky Oklahoma City Thunder fans went home happier (and richer) than each and every Thunder faithful at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Game 3. As you can see in the video below per ESPN on Twitter, two fans sank their respective Hail Mary heaves from halfcourt to win $20,000 on Friday night. Not one, […]

Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook doesn’t like the media in general. In particular, he seems to have some kind of beef with Oklahoman sports columnist Berry Tramel. Westbrook, in fact, has not answered a question from Tramel in months. In yesterday’s pre-game press conference, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts hilariously took a […]

Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors connected on a beautiful alley-oop play in the third quarter of Game 3 of their first-round series match-up against the Orlando Magic on Friday. The two caught the Orlando defense sleeping and took advantage. Lowry fired up a magnificent lob pass from half-court towards the rim. […]

The bank was open on a Saturday for Orlando Magic guard Terrence Ross. The 28-year old sniper banked in an unbelievable half-court shot to close out the first half in Game 3 of their series against the Toronto Raptors. Here’s the highlight below. Terrence Ross beat out the halftime buzzer with this half-court shot 🔥 […]

The Portland Trail Blazers have one of the best backcourts in the NBA in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Rip City’s star tandem showed exactly why on Tuesday night, as they combined for 62 points in the Blazers’ 114-94 Game 2 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Asked about why they play so well together, […]

The Denver Nuggets season was in jeopardy when they fell behind by as much as 19 points to the San Antonio Spurs in the third quarter of Game 2. They needed some sort of motivation to will themselves back into the game – and the series. With their backs against the wall and a 19-point […]

Oklahoma City Thunder star Paul George is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. However, Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum got him pretty good in Game 2 of their Western Conference first round match-up. McCollum confused George with a nasty hesitation crossover move to bank in the one-handed floater in the first […]

Monday, April 15th truly was L.A. Clippers head coach Doc Rivers’ lucky day. Not only did his team overcome the most improbable comeback in NBA playoff history in Game 2 against the Golden State Warriors, but he was also lucky enough not to lose a couple of thousand grand. Prior to the game, Rivers gave […]

It goes without saying that the Los Angeles Clippers overcame the most massive of odds in their improbable 135-131 come-from-behind victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 2. In fact, per Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints, the odds of the Clippers winning the game when they were down by 31 points in the third quarter […]

The Los Angeles Clippers made history on Monday night by overcoming a gargantuan 31-point deficit to snatch an improbable 135-131 Game 2 win over the defending champion Golden State Warriors. No other Clipper was was more fired up by the effort than point guard Patrick Beverley, who was seen jumping, screaming, and hugging his teammates […]

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic had his first taste of postseason action on Saturday night, and immediately made the history books. In Game 1 of their opening round series against the San Antonio Spurs, Jokic became just the fourth player in NBA history to notch a triple-double in his first career playoff game, per Justin […]

Oklahoma City Thunder star Paul George’s availability for Game 1 of their opening round series against the Portland Trailblazers is still up in the air. Jamie Hudson of NBC Sports Northwest reported on Twitter that George remains questionable for Game 1 due to right shoulder soreness. Thunder Injury Report for Game 1: Andre Roberson (left […]

D.J. Augustin was the man of the hour for the Orlando Magic on Saturday night. The spit-fire 6-foot guard stunned the Toronto Raptors with a game-winning triple to give the Magic the 104-101 Game 1 upset. Following the game, some anonymous person already took the effort to change Augustin’s Wikipedia page. The edit read: “D.J. […]

Orlando Magic guard Michael Carter-Williams really wanted the smoke with the referees in the fourth quarter of their series opener against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. The 6-foot-7 reserve was understandably upset about not getting a foul call after Kyle Lowry smacked him on the face during a drive to the basket. Carter-Williams angrily charged […]

Los Angeles Clippers reserve duo of Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell accomplished a feat that has never been done in the history of the NBA. In Game 1 of their series against the Golden State Warriors, Williams and Harrell became the only teammates to score 25-plus points off the bench in the same game in […]

The Brooklyn Nets stunned the Philadelphia 76ers with an impressive 111-102 road win to snatch away home court advantage in their series opener. In the post-game press conference, Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said that he loved the way his guys responded to the raucous Philly crowd and the star power that the Sixers possessed. […]

The Golden State Warriors were able to hold Los Angeles Clippers guard Landry Shamet to just three points in Game 1 of their playoffs series on Saturday night. Asked about how important it was for them to contain Shamet, Warriors star Kevin Durant said that it was huge for them to stop him from roaming […]

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant had some flowery words to say about LA Clippers guard Patrick Beverley after their heated showdown in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. During the postgame press conference, Durant praised Beverley’s grit and added that he appreciates what the 6-foot-1 pitbull guard brings to the table. Kevin Durant […]

Kevin Durant and Patrick Beverley were both tossed late in the fourth quarter in Game 1 of the Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Clippers series on Saturday night. Their final heated exchange on the night occurred when Durant barked at Beverley after knocking him to the ground. Beverley got back up immediately and went at it […]

It didn’t take long for the first-round series between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers to get heated. Clippers forward Wilson Chandler reportedly got in a tense exchange with a Warriors fan sitting courtside right before halftime, per Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints. Wilson Chandler just got into it with a #Warriors fan sitting […]

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer has been voted as the 2019 Coach of the Year by the National Basketball Coaches Association. Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer has been elected the National Basketball Coaches Association’s 2019 Coach of the Year, the league announced. The Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year […]

Kevin Durant has heard every insult possible ever since joining the Golden State Warriors in 2016. From “Snake”, to “Traitor”, to “the weakest move ever by superstar” as made famous by Stephen A. Smith, Durant has heard it all. However, despite all of this backlash and hate, it appears like Durant wouldn’t have done it […]