Mike Cruz Articles - Page 81

After falling to 1-4 to start their 2018-19 campaign, Washington Wizards All-Star back court John Wall and Bradley Beal called out their teammates for putting their “personal agenda” first before the team. Beal spoke to reporters following their 116-112 loss to the Sacramento Kings, and was clearly disappointed with how his teammates are playing to start […]

Houston, we have a problem – on defense. The Houston Rockets dropped to 1-4 on the young season following an embarrassing 133-113 home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night. The Rockets seem to have an issue defensively, and signs point to forward Carmelo Anthony being the culprit. According to Tim McMahon of […]

New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis poured in 34 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and swatted away 5 shots in their 116-109 home victory against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. According to Justin Kubatko of StatMuse and creator of Basketball Reference, this is the 13th time that Davis has had a 30-point, 10-rebound, and […]

New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis will soon reach a feat that has never been done in franchise history: reach the 10,000 point plateau. The impending accomplishment was featured in a video by Hoops Hype. Stats porn: Carmelo Anthony, Jarrett Allen, Kemba Walker… pic.twitter.com/ARgZOt4QTn — HoopsHype (@hoopshype) October 24, 2018 Davis is already the franchise’s […]

Sacramento Kings fans may have just found a hilarious way of distracting opposing teams’ players when they visit the 15-foot parallel. During the Kings’ home opening game against the Utah Jazz on October 17, Sacramento fans used large cardboard cut outs of Jimmy Fallon’s face to fluster Jazz players attempting to shoot a free throw. […]

Jonathon Simmons of the Orlando Magic had some bold statements following their massive road win against the Boston Celtics on Monday night. The 29-year-old forward claimed in a postgame interview with FOX Sports that they are just as good as the Celtics. “It’s always good to get a road win, a steal on the road […]

New York Knicks guard Ron Baker had to leave Monday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks due to excessive bleeding brought about by an inadvertent elbow from teammate Noah Vonleh. Baker was about to get the ball from Vonleh, when the 6-foot-9 big man’s elbow caught him on the noggin. This instantly gave him a […]

Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine is absolutely on fire to start the 2018-19 NBA season. However, the same cannot be said of his squad, which is 0-3 on the young season. Following their 115-109 loss against the Dallas Mavericks, the 23-year old guard echoed out how the Bulls have to improve at recognizing the hot […]

LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center debut against the Houston Rockets turned into an ugly scene late in the fourth quarter when things between the two teams got physical. Chris Paul, Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo were all ejected from the game as they all threw punches in a fight that broke out with […]

Believe the hype. Dallas Mavs super rookie Luka Doncic is for real. In just his second NBA game, the Slovenian superstar became the youngest Mavericks player ever to score 25 points in a game, according to Bobby Karalla of Mavs.com. https://twitter.com/bobbykaralla/status/1053834623053049857 Doncic accomplished the feat at 19 years and 234 days, which is 113 days […]

It seems like Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell enjoyed the festivities of Saturday night NBA basketball. The super sophomore posted on Twitter the perfect GIF reaction to the Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo melee during the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers match-up. The classic GIF featured the late great Prince of Pop Michael Jackson […]

Time for some overreactions. It’s just one game, but the Toronto Raptors are making the NBA Finals. The Raptors’ early season showdown against the Boston Celtics on Friday night showed they are a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference. The arrivals of superstar forward Kawhi Leonard and shooting guard Danny Green have, so far, paid […]

Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo does not want to hear anything Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul ever. This is Rondo’s only request. “Rajon has requested you not ask anything about Chris Paul now, tomorrow, or any other time.” Apparently, Rondo made this request nine years ago, according to Tim Reynolds of the Associated […]

A brawl broke out during Saturday night’s showdown between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. With 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter, point guards Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo got into a fist fight, while forward Brandon Ingram also swung one in during the exchange. All three were ejected from the NBA […]

The Toronto Raptors will be resting superstar forward Kawhi Leonard for Saturday night’s game against the Washington Wizards, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The Raptors are resting Kawhi Leonard in Washington tonight, team says. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 20, 2018 The team will also be missing backup point guard Delon Wright due to an adductor […]

Brooklyn Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will not be making his season debut Saturday night against the Indiana Pacers. The Nets forward has missed the first two games of the season due to a lingering hip issue, which has been bothering him since preseason. According to Rotoworld, Hollis-Jefferson will miss the game, this time, due to […]

How have you been saying Jonas Jerebko’s name? You probably say it with a J, right? If you have, then you have been pronouncing the Golden State Warriors forward’s name wrong all this time. Apparently, back in his home of Sweden, the letter J in both his first name and last name is said with […]

Jonas Jerebko’s game winning tip in was the highlight of the Golden State Warriors’ thrilling 124-123 come back win over the Utah Jazz. Perhaps, the highlight that wasn’t was when Steph Curry hit a 70-foot bomb that came after the final buzzer of the first half. Curry hits a 70-footer right after the buzzer byu/KlaysToaster […]

New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale is going tough on his rookie Kevin Knox. The 19-year old just made a big time shot in the fourth quarter in his second career NBA game against the Brooklyn nets. All of his teammates were celebrating for the young kid. But not Fizdale. See the entire sequence […]

The Golden State Warriors remain undefeated in the young season after Jonas Jerebko, as everyone expected, made the go-ahead basket for the defending champions in a thrilling showdown against the Utah Jazz. Jerebko tipped-in the game winner with a fraction of a second left on the clock, and the Warriors pulled out a come from […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves are entering the 2018-19 with the most clouded outlook in the entire league. This whole Jimmy Butler fiasco has killed any momentum the team had gained when they made their first playoff appearance last season in 14 years. The franchise has been through a lot and has worked hard to get back […]

Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker has certainly made a name for himself. It looks like that name will be hitting Nike stores very soon. The Suns superstar hinted on his Instagram account that he will be getting his very own Nike signature shoe, as tweeted by Evan Sidery of The Bright Side Sun. Will […]

Many have long wondered how high Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo’s ceiling would be if he ever added a consistent three-point shot into his game. We might just get a sneak peak of that this season. Frank Madden of Brew Hoop pointed out on Twitter how Antetokounmpo seems to have a new-found love with the […]

Boston Celtics superstar point guard Kyrie Irving painfully watched on the sidelines as the Boston Celtics made a surprising run in the playoffs before bowing out in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East Finals. What made the run more impressive was that the Celtics were without arguably two of their best players […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s newest addition Dennis Schroder will apparently not only be donning the Thunder blue on his jersey, he will also be sporting those colors on his hair. Schroder has trademarked the golden patch on his hair, but scaled back on it in the off-season by getting a buzz and going all black. […]

The New York Knicks are entering the season knowing that they could possibly miss the services of All-Star Kristaps Porzingis for most of the year. This gives head coach David Fizdale the opportunity to throw in Kevin Knox at the deep end in his first year on the job. The ninth overall pick of the […]

With All-Star forward Kristaps Porzingis set to miss most, if not, the entire season due to an ACL injury, the New York Knicks have no choice but to focus on player development. Fortunately, this gives them the opportunity have an extended look at their highly-touted rookie Kevin Knox for the entire season. Despite being a […]

With the 2018-19 NBA season set to commence in a couple of days, teams around the league are rounding out their 15-man rosters for their respective campaigns. The Milwaukee Bucks have one roster spot left, and that spot has gone to center Christian Wood, per Mark Spears of ESPN. Center Christian Wood has made the […]

Los Angeles Clippers center Marcin Gortat was all praises for his new teammate Boban Marjanovic. In fact, he even compared Marjanovic to NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Andrew Greif of the LA Times tweeted Gortat’s entire statement below: Marcin Gortat put little weight in the Clippers' preseason, saying the competition wasn't great BUT as for Boban Marjanovich […]

The NBA season is about to start in a few days. This is usually the time where teams make their last minute cuts to finalize their respective rosters for the 2018-19 campaign. The Sixers are one of those franchises. The Philadelphia 76ers announced on Saturday their most recent team cuts, and among those released was […]

Former Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey still loves himself some DeMar DeRozan. Casey, who is now the Detroit Pistons head coach, told Dave Fashuk of The Star that the Raptors did great with the addition of a top-tier superstar like Kawhi Leonard on their roster. “They did a good job this year bringing in Kawhi […]

It’s the end of a brief and unsuccessful era in New York. On Saturday morning, Adrian Wojnarowski and Ian Begley of ESPN reported that the New York Knicks have officially waived center Joakim Noah. Update: Sources with @IanBegley: Knicks will waive Joakim Noah today. https://t.co/5989RN1GUW — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 13, 2018 New York is […]

Times are going tough for the Minnesota Timberwolves because of the on-going Jimmy Butler saga, but starting point guard Jeff Teague suggests that they just have to be patient with their current situation. Teague was asked by reporters if it was hard not to lose patience with each other right now, and here is what […]

Indiana Pacers forward Doug McDermott is apparently a fan of how Jimmy Butler handles his business on the court as he chimed in his thoughts on Butler’s leadership style via Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun Times. “His leadership is a different style,’’ McDermott said. “It’s for some people and not for others. I always […]

With All-Star DeMarcus Cousins still recovering and rehabbing from an Achilles injury, the battle for the Golden State Warriors’ starting center spot was on. Third year man Damian Jones has won that battle, at least for opening night. Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweeted that head coach Steve Kerr has slated Jones to draw the start […]

Golden State Warriors superstar forward Kevin Durant once again voiced out his desires to eventually own an NBA team once his storied basketball career is over. Durant was asked whether he would want to be a general manager, and he countered by saying that he wants to own a team. However, he did add some […]

It’s safe to say Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz’s rookie season was one of the strangest campaigns we have seen in recent memory. The highly touted guard out of Washington was ridiculed throughout his rookie campaign because of a hitch in his shot that made it difficult to watch. Looking back, Fultz believes no 19-year-old […]

Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas had some sound advice for Philadelphia Sixers guard Markelle Fultz’s shooting woes: learn how to shoot from an actual NBA player. “If you want to learn to shoot, please get some NBA players to teach you how to shoot,” Thomas said on NBA TV per The Undefeated. “You can’t go […]

Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson’s training routine is changing, and it’s because of his impending free agency. Thompson’s trainer, Jordan Lawley, told Matt Ellentuck of SB Nation about the specifics of his new approach. “There’s the skill enhancement approach where we have to focus on different skill mechanics that he might not be great […]