Mike Cruz Articles - Page 77

The Golden State Warriors had the greatest first quarter in NBA history on Tuesday night, and head coach Steve Kerr enjoyed watching every single bit of it. Kerr called their scintillating opening performance “a fireworks show,” and for good reason: Steve Kerr: “I don’t remember a better first quarter. That was a fireworks show.” — […]

The Golden State Warriors’ trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant were all feeling it Tuesday night, much to the dismay of the Denver Nuggets. In fact, they were so good that they actually outplayed the entire Nuggets squad in three quarters. Klay Thompson (@KlayThompson), Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5), and Steph Curry (@StephenCurry30) scored […]

The Golden State Warriors sweet-shooting triumvirate of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant all showed up in their marquee match-up against the Denver Nuggets, and notched a pretty significant feat along the way. The three All-Stars each scored 25 or more points all in under 30 minutes of action. According to Sportscenter on Twitter, […]

Players who get traded often mark their first game against their former team on their calendars. Sometimes, there may even be some ill will towards the team that dealt them. But for Minnesota Timberwolves forward Dario Saric, he’s got nothing but love for his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers: “I didn’t trade myself. I never […]

Brooklyn Nets guard D’Angelo Russell has been a stud this season, and he knows it. The former second overall pick believes that he deserves to be an All-Star this season due to his stellar play as the leader of the Nets, who are currently in the mix for a playoff spot in the East: D'Angelo […]

New York Knicks big man Enes Kanter recently expressed his displeasure on his demotion to a reserve role and said that it pains him to spend majority of the game watching from the bench, especially as the losses pile up. But after the Knicks’ huge 119-112 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, it […]

As many expected, San Antonio Spurs fans did not welcome former superstar Kawhi Leonard warmly in his return to San Antonio. The San Antonio faithful were hostile toward the now-Toronto Raptors star. They sneered at him, booed him, and even spewed out chants of “Traitor!” at him. However, former NBA player and Spur Stephen Jackson […]

Los Angeles Lakers rookie and G League assignee Svi Mykhailiuk tied the G League season high by erupting for 47 points on Saturday night in their 119-114 victory over the North Arizona Suns. The scintillating performance caught the attention of Lakers superstar forward LeBron James: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/95ukeklIU4 — LeBron James (@KingJames) December 30, 2018 Mykhailiuk […]

Klay Thompson finally broke out of his slump and made four 3-pointers, erupting for a team-high 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 115-105 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Thompson, who was named best player of the game, was interviewed after the game to give some thoughts on […]

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson has made The Meme Team once again. The Dubs sniper was caught saying “I missed you” to his right hand after making his fourth three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter of their 115-105 victory over the Portland Trailblazers. The clip immediately went viral over social media, but Thompson wasn’t […]

Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton is having a rookie season for the ages. In fact, the 19-year old big man is having one of the efficient debut campaigns in NBA history. According to Reddit user u/Xinpoint1, Ayton is well on his way to having the best true shooting percentage by a rookie of all time. […]

The Philadelphia 76ers took it to the Boston Celtics in their Christmas Day showdown, but came up short once again, falling in overtime 121-114. Following their heartbreaking defeat, Joel Embiid reiterated that the Sixers-Celtics isn’t a rivalry. “We lost again. Like I said at the beginning of the season, I don’t know what a rivalry […]

Rajon Rondo of the Los Angeles Lakers isn’t one to come up short in the trash-talking department, and he didn’t use this special holiday as an exemption to do so. According to Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times, the notorious point guard used a Home Alone reference to give reporters a very special greeting […]

Donovan Mitchell gifted Utah fans with a highlight to remember for Christmas. The Utah Jazz guard rose up for an insane alley-oop flush in the first quarter of their Christmas Day showdown against the Portland Trail Blazers. Watch the Christmas highlight, courtesy of the Utah Jazz Official Twitter page: YOU'RE A MEAN ONE, MR. MITCH […]

NBA Christmas is upon us. And as we’ve seen over the past three seasons, we’re going to get LeBron vs. the Warriors for the fourth straight Christmas Day special. This is perhaps one of the most highly anticipated Christmas games in recent memory, especially now that LeBron James, the best player in the world, is […]

With all this talk about recruitment and wanting to play with other great players around the league, LeBron James vows that he’ll do everything he can to help the Lakers get free agents to come play in Southern California. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Los Angeles Lakers forward also told Rachel Nichols in an […]

Stephen Curry and Patrick Beverley got into each others’ faces during Sunday’s showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers defense-first guard appeared to take exception of the Warriors superstar flexing in front of him, and tried to slap the ball out of Curry’s hands. Curry didn’t appreciate the gesture, […]

After reading and hearing all about the Luka Doncic talk, Phoenix Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov made the pitch for his own young stud Deandre Ayton for Rookie of the Year. Per Gina Mizell of The Athletic, Kokoskov reminded people of how good Ayton has been so far in his rookie campaign. Igor Kokoskov, who is […]

Paul George never forgets. The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar forward entered Vivint Smart Home Arena with one thing on his mind: revenge. According to Brett Dawson of The Athletic, the ghosts of last season’s playoff failure was all he thought about throughout the Thunder’s road showdown against the Utah Jazz. “I owed myself, I owed it […]

The San Antonio Spurs are rolling right now and have recovered after a rough start to the season. ESPN’s Michael Wright asked head coach Gregg Popovich why he never showed frustration through the Spurs’ early season struggles: “I just thought that they deserved a lot of patience with the group two-thirds new. I can’t expect them to […]

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook is having a down season scoring-wise. In fact, according to a poster on Reddit, Westbrook ranks dead last in true shooting percentage among players taking 15 or more shot attempts per game. 35 players are taking 15+ shots per game this year. Westbrook is dead last in TS% at […]

Philadelphia 76ers guard JJ Redick sung high praises for the Toronto Raptors following their showdown on Saturday night. Per Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun, the Sixers sharp shooter thinks that Toronto has been the best team so far this season. JJ Redick with some high praise for the Raptors: "This is a team that […]

Dallas Mavericks super rookie Luka Doncic had nasty spill in the third quarter of their showdown against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. The Slovenian star fell hard on the floor, but also inadvertently hit a kid before doing so after making a tough drive to the basket. After realizing he hit the kid, […]

Derrick Rose is having a renaissance season with the Minnesota Timberwolves so far this year. The former MVP is enjoying his best and healthiest season since knee injuries from 2012 onward hampered what was supposed to be a legendary career. However, following Minnesota’s 124-98 loss at the hands of the San Antontio Spurs, Rose acknowledged […]

Let the Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers rumors flare up even further. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James reportedly hosted New Orleans Pelicans superstar big man Anthony Davis for some dinner after their game on Friday night. With Davis visiting Los Angeles for a scheduled contest, […]

The Toronto Raptors continue their surge as the top team in the league despite being slapped with a slew of injuries over the past couple of weeks. Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has been pleased with how his team has responded despite having some key rotation pieces on the sidelines. “I think we’re handling it […]

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau was all praises about how DeMar Derozan goes about his business on the court. According to Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio-Express News, Thibs said that while the San Antonio Spurs guard is a superstar in the league, he doesn’t have an ego to go along with it. “He’s […]

New York Knicks guard Allonzo Trier has been one of the pleasant surprises from this year’s rookie class. Team president Steve Mills is reportedly thrilled with his unexpected development thus far in his young NBA career, per Adam Zagoria of The New York Times Sports. Steve Mills on Allonzo Trier: "I'm happy he didn't get […]

A few days ago, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said that “it would be amazing” if the purple and gold could acquire Anthony Davis. Several executives among small market teams were reportedly upset with James’ comments, suggesting that he was tampering with the New Orleans Pelicans superstar. The public also stood up in arms, […]

Has Carmelo Anthony gotten desperate? It seems like the 10-time All-Star is now pitching some NBA superstars for his services. Melo recently posted some cryptic tweets, one to his close pal, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, and another to the Golden State Warriors superstar tandem of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. However, he has […]

Following his ejection on Monday night, Los Angeles Clippers big man Montrezl Harrell took to Twitter to lambaste the officials for throwing him out of the game late in the fourth quarter against the Portland Trailblazers. Lmao a flagrant 2 and ejected lmao good job 👏🏿 😂😂 — َ (@monstatrezz) December 18, 2018 So we […]

Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen loved seeing the fight from his players during their blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. “That’s all we’ve been talking about is fighting for each other,” Boylen said, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. “We talk about being a pack of wolves, man. I […]

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo may be well on his way to having a season for the record books, according to Michael Mortensen of Dairyland Express Antetokounmpo is currently averaging 26.6 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 6.1 assists in 26 games so far this year. Should he be able to keep this up for the rest […]

The Denver Nuggets are reportedly bringing back Brandon Goodwin on a two-way deal, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: The Denver Nuggets are signing G League Memphis guard Brandon Goodwin to a two-way NBA contract. Goodwin was with the Nuggets prior to team signing Nick Young this week. — Shams Charania […]

The Los Angeles Clippers tried their best to contain Oklahoma City Thunder star Paul George with traps and double-teams … and failed. “I’m fine being trapped,” George said after their 110-104 win over the Clippers, per ESPN. “That’s where we’re going to need our guys the most — for them to make plays out of […]

Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Derrick Rose is upset over the team’s lack of urgency in their 107-99 road loss to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday. “We didn’t come out with the urgency of a team that wanted to win the game,” Rose said, per ESPN. “I think that’s how this game is played. You can’t […]

Losses have become a consistent theme for the Phoenix Suns over the last several years, and that has not changed this season. They currently have the most losses in the NBA this season with 24, compared to just six wins. Still, first-year head coach Igor Kokoskov said that Phoenix doesn’t play to lose: “We never […]

The Phoenix Suns are playing their best basketball in about a year, and Devin Booker loves it. “Getting a win? It’s fun,” Booker said per ESPN. “I’m just having fun playing with high energy. Crowd’s involved, fans are involved, playing good basketball. Nothing more than that I could ask for. Just going out there, playing […]

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James took a light jab at Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan after the latter’s love tap on Malik Monk’s head spread over social media. On the video, Jordan appeared to have missed his first smack on Monk, which LeBron jokingly pointed out after reporters asked him to chime in on […]