Mike Cruz Articles - Page 72

There is no doubt that Houston Rockets guard James Harden had one of the most magnificent scoring seasons in the history of the NBA. The reigning MVP averaged 36.1 points per game this season, which is the most since Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan averaged 37.1 back in 1986-87. Next to Harden on the scoring […]

Anthony Davis the entire NBA landscape on fire when he publicly requested a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans last January. During those times, the Los Angeles Lakers basically made everyone not named LeBron James on their team available, including prized second-year point guard Lonzo Ball. With trade rumors floating around everywhere, Ball and his […]

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George reacted to a playoff commercial he recently starred in for Universal Studios’ upcoming movie “The Secret Life of Pets 2.” In his Twitter post, George appeared to be alluding to the upcoming bloodbath that is the NBA playoffs and stressed the importance of attention to detail during the post-season. […]

Magic Johnson shockingly announced his resignation as the Los Angeles Lakers’ president of basketball operations in a press conference yesterday. Johnson cited several reasons for his exit, including how he couldn’t interact with other players around the league while tied to his post with the Lakers front office. The Laker legend added that he no […]

Dwyane Wade had an emotional night in his last home game with the Miami Heat on Tuesday night. He had everything: from speeches, to tribute videos, to jersey swaps with nearly everyone, including his son Zaire, to a solid 30-point outing in a Heat win. “Everything” even included an embarrassing fall while attempting to do his […]

The Miami Heat announced Sunday that they have switched forward Yante Maten’s two-way deal to a standard NBA contract. Though the details of the deal were not disclosed, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that Maten was signed using part of the Heat’s taxpayer mid-level exception: So Maten is now no longer is […]

What started out as an 82-game marathon has turned into a 3-game race to the finish line for the Miami Heat. With a 38-41 record on their books and on the outside looking in the playoff picture, Miami has now shifted its focus to giving it their all in these final three contests. Heat forward […]

Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver is looking to make a key addition to their front office. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Sarver is focusing on hiring long-time general manager Jeff Bower “to assume a high-ranking front-office role with Phoenix.” The Suns currently have former NBA champion James Jones as their interim general manager. There […]

Hall of Famer and Auburn alumnus Charles Barkley experienced quite the roller-coaster ride of emotions in the Auburn-Virginia Final Four showdown on Saturday night. Barkley’s friends from NBA on TNT compiled a video of his ever-changing reactions throughout the contest, and it was great: Chuck was on an emotional roller coaster watching his Auburn Tigers […]

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is regarded as one of the best defensive players in the league. However, on Saturday night, Chicago Bulls center Robin Lopez got the better of him on one particular play. RoLo took the All-Defensive Team center down on the block and shook him with his own version of the Dream […]

With their easy 116-96 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, the Philadelphia 76ers have notched their 50th win of the season. This marks the Sixers’ second consecutive 50-win season after going 52-30 in 2017-18. This is the first time in 23 years that the franchise has pieced together back-to-back 50-win seasons. The @sixers improved […]

Many have questioned the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons’ ability to play together. However, the two Sixers stars proved that they can work just fine with a sweet alley-oop connection in their game against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. Embiid came off of a pin-down screen from guard JJ Redick which gave the […]

The Virginia Cavaliers are moving on to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Finals after narrowly escaping the Auburn Tigers with a 63-62 victory in the Final Four. However, the contest didn’t end without controversy. With Auburn up by two points, officials called a foul on Virginia guard Kyle Guy’s last second three-point attempt. Auburn fouled Kyle […]

In the heat of the moment, it’s hard to realize in real time what actually just happened. This is exactly what Auburn fans experienced when the buzzer sounded at the U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday night during the Final Four. That’s all they heard: a buzzer signaling that they had moved on to play for […]

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid secured his 20th consecutive double-double after grabbing his 10th board of the night with a little less than eight minutes left in the third quarter of their game against the Chicago Bulls. Embiid becomes the first Sixers player to have a double-double streak of 20 games since Hall of Famer […]

Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade achieved another career milestone on Friday as the regular season – and quite possibly his career – comes to a close. According to the Miami Heat Twitter account, after pouring in 21 first half points against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wade registered the 14th 1000-point season of his career. Likewise, Wade, […]

Houston Rockets superstar James Harden is having quite the historical season, statistically speaking. On Friday, he locked up a feat that no other player has accomplished in NBA history. With just 26 points and 8 assists last night, Harden officially became the first player ever to average 35-plus points and 7-plus assists in a single […]

At first sight, you wouldn’t think that Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso is an actual NBA player. With his looks, he could easily pass as your home-room teacher. But on Friday, Caruso had himself a night against the L.A. Clippers, erupting for 32 points and 10 rebounds – both career-highs – to lead the […]

There is no doubt that Stephen Curry is already considered as the greatest shooter of all time. The Golden State Warriors superstar point guard has already racked up numerous three-point records throughout his career. With 9 triples on Friday night, Curry now has 43 games this season with 5 or more three-pointers, tying the mark […]

With the Denver Nuggets right on their heels, the Golden State Warriors had plenty of motivation entering the match-up of the top two teams in the Western Conference on Tuesday night. But needless to say, this proved to be enough for them as they once again dominated the Nuggets, putting a stranglehold on the first […]

Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams is one of the toughest players in the NBA. In fact, the Aussie big man was voted by GMs as the toughest player in the league prior to the start of the season. However, this doesn’t mean that he isn’t susceptible to a hard elbow to the head. Adams […]

Former Brooklyn Nets star Brook Lopez is still very much loved in his old home. Lopez, now a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, received a very warm birthday greeting, along with a cake, from staff members at the Barclays Center. Brooklyn Nets all-time leading scorer Brook Lopez turned 31 today and received a special birthday […]

The world finally knows who Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry regards as his toughest defender. And he’s not even an active NBA player but his coach in Steve Kerr. Curry was at an event in Oakland, promoting his upcoming Facebook Watch show, “Stephen vs. The Game.” During the program, the two-time MVP was asked […]

Hall of Famer Steve Nash joined the broadcast crew during Monday night’s game between his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Philadelphia 76ers. While on the air, the two-time MVP talked about the time he spent playing alongside Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki. Nash had a lot to say about his close friend, highlighting how […]

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade is in his final season and is having a league-wide jersey exchange with a select number of players from opposing squads. Surely, players who admire and respect D-Wade would love to get their hands on his classic number “3” Heat jersey. One of them was New York Knicks guard Emmanuel […]

The Los Angeles Clippers are rolling their way into the playoffs, and Patrick Beverley is loving it. After their blowout of the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, the defensive-minded pitbull guard said that the Clippers are currently playing at a high level, per ESPN. “We’re playing at a real high level right now,” Beverley said. […]

The Brooklyn Nets secured a massive 110-96 home victory over the Boston Celtics on Saturday night. Following the game, Nets All-Star D’Angelo Russell expressed the importance of every game from this point on until the end of the regular season: “I told you, man, every one is going to be worth it,” D’Angelo Russell said, […]

Los Angeles Clippers rookie Shai-Gilgeous Alexander made the pitch for teammate Patrick Beverley as a First-Team All Defense honoree. The Toronto native from the University Kentucky has seen firsthand how Beverley tends to his business in practice and on the court. He raved about his veteran teammate’s defense. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (@shaiglalex) on #Clippers teammate Patrick […]

Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox has become one of the most exciting young stars in the NBA today. His sly moves on the court have earned him the nickname Swipa The Fox, which is his Twitter handle. The sophomore star showed his craftiness once again in the third quarter of the Kings’ road game against […]

Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen has been the king of denying people at the rim this season. His latest victim is Boston Celtics rookie Robert Williams. “Time Lord” appeared to have a clean look at a dunk after Terry Rozier found him cutting to the basket. Allen came out of nowhere to block the dunk […]

The NBA has released the last two-minute report from the Golden State Warriors-Minnesota Timberwolves matchup on Friday. According to NBC Sports, the NBA deemed that the controversial calls during the last 3o seconds of overtime were correctly made. The Warriors were up in arms after the game, claiming that the officials made several bad calls […]

The Los Angeles Lakers season certainly isn’t one to remember. A campaign that had more downs than ups led to the team’s demise as it missed its goal of returning to the playoffs. With their season all but over at this point, the Purple and Gold are looking forward to next season. Simultaneously, they can […]

On Friday night, Washington Wizards forward Jabari Parker did what only a few people have done in their careers: challenge Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert at the rim and successfully throw one down over him. Parker flew in from the baseline off of a feed from Sam Dekker and was able to posterize Gobert, who […]

A young fan named Lily surprised her idol Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks during a recent autograph signing session. According to ESPN, Lily had been working on art projects for nearly a year and had waited for the opportunity to give them to Antetokounmpo. Today, she was able to do just that. She even […]

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens stuck to his lineup tweak for the second straight game against the Indiana Pacers, deploying Aussie center Aron Baynes to once again start alongside All-Star big man Al Horford. Per Jay King of The Athletic, Stevens is looking to develop this double-big lineup in the hopes that the Celtics […]

Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins recently got caught by the league office for flopping in their game against the Memphis Grizzlies. This prompted league officials to issue a warning for the All-Star big man for violating the NBA’s anti-flopping rule, per NBA Officials on Twitter. GSW’s DeMarcus Cousins received a warning for violating league’s […]

33 wins. That’s what the “analysts” predicted for the Los Angeles Clippers prior to the start of the season. Fast forward to last night, they notched their 45th win, and have punched their ticket to the playoffs. After defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves, 122-111, on the road, the Doc Rivers and the Clippers celebrated their remarkable […]

Houston Rockets forward PJ Tucker made a statement prior to their match-up against the Milwaukee Bucks by wearing a shirt that says “I’m with the MVP” while walking next to the reigning MVP James Harden as the two entered the Fiserv Forum. Obviously, Tucker was campaigning for his teammate, and at the same time, was […]

Prior to their game versus the Brooklyn Nets, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard discussed the importance of having a completely healthy CJ McCollum in the postseason. .@JaredSGreenberg caught up with Damian Lillard in Portland to discuss CJ McCollum and clinching a playoff spot ahead of their game vs. the Nets tonight. 👀 pic.twitter.com/GXoJfPspLK — […]