Nekias Duncan Articles - Page 2

The Houston Rockets entered last summer with one goal: find a way to take down the Golden State Warriors. They kicked things off with pure wizardry to trade for Chris Paul. During free agency, they went rangy wing hunting, snagging P.J Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute to go along with Trevor Ariza. Houston slowed things down […]

It wasn’t long ago the Dallas Mavericks were one of the model franchises in the NBA. Aside from the San Antonio Spurs, nobody in the West consistently made the playoffs like Dallas did. As long as Dirk Nowitzki was upright and head coach Rick Carlisle was doing his mad scientist thing, Dallas was a tough out. As […]

After being eliminated in last year’s playoffs, the Indiana Pacers were faced with star drama. Paul George informed the team he wouldn’t re-sign once his contract was up, sending the Pacers into trade finder mode. Ultimately, the Pacers decided to send George to Oklahoma City for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, confusing the NBA Twitter community. […]

These aren’t your older brother’s Atlanta Hawks. Only three years removed from a 60-win season, the entire All-Star core has moved on to greener pastures. In fact, only three players remain from that team: Dennis Schröder, Kent Bazemore, and Mike Muscala. The decline has been consistent — and a little depressing: 2014-15: 60 wins, lost in the […]

With Carmelo Anthony finally traded last summer, the 2017-18 season marked the beginning of the Kristaps Porzingis Era for the New York Knicks. Things went great over the first month of the season. Porzingis looked like an MVP candidate and role players like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Enes Kanter chipped in admirably. The Knicks eeked […]

The gradual decline of the Charlotte Hornets has been one of the more overlooked storylines in the league. They’re only a couple of years removed from their 48-win season and entertaining first-round showdown with the Miami Heat. Since then, their defense has nosedived, their clutch time execution has disappeared, and the win total has dwindled. The […]

The Washington Wizards maintained their mantle as one of the most perplexing teams in the league. The top-heavy nature of their roster remained a saving grace and a problem, with and without John Wall. Their starting unit was among the best in the league. Their bench was awful and cost them games. The locker room was uneven. Scott […]

Hello, random internet person. Did you know the Miami Heat finished the second half of the 2016-17 season with a 30-11 record, narrowly missing out on a playoff berth? How the run was sparked by career-years from Dion Waiters and James Johnson? You did? Because it’s been rehashed 871 times? Well then, let’s move on. The […]

The last time the Minnesota Timberwolves made the playoffs prior to this season was in 2004. For reference, Kevin Garnett was flanked by Wally Szczerbiak, Sam Cassell, and Latrell Sprewell, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were teammates, and Facebook was only a couple of months old. So, yeah, it had been a […]

The most controversial rebuild in NBA history shifted into phase two last season. Equipped with top-tier young talent, versatile role players, and a solid mix of wily veterans, the Philadelphia 76ers were ready to push some chips to the middle of the table. Not many expected things to come together so quickly. The Sixers reeled off […]

It’s easy to get caught up in the offensive star power of the Golden State Warriors. Stephen Curry is the most dangerous flamethrower in NBA history. Kevin Durant is a seven-foot cheat code. Klay Thompson is a deadly shooter in his own right. All three can get their shot off at the blink of an […]

For the Toronto Raptors, “evolve” seemed to be the word of last summer. Their isolation-heavy style of play wasn’t getting anywhere in the playoffs. Watching DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry take turns disappointing everyone and their mothers year after year was disheartening, to say the least. Then, things changed this year. The ball moved more, as did Raptor […]

What if I told you one of the most surprisingly entertaining teams in the league did not have a superstar, lacked a lottery pick to potentially get one by tanking, and finished 13 games under .500? Without its most beloved player. That was pretty much the story of the 2017-18 Brooklyn Nets. Their record (28-54) wasn’t […]

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Golden State Warriors will be taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Oh, you have? Four years in a row? You’re kidding! Most pundits, bloggers, tweeters (and their burner accounts) and fans pegged a Warriors-Cavaliers Finals before the season. That ended up coming true, but […]

After the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, spicy #takes were flying all over the NBA blogosphere. Will the Cleveland Cavaliers get swept? Is LeBron James mailing it in? Is Brad Stevens more valuable than a superstar player? (No. No, he is not. Stevens is great, and the kind of culture he’s proven […]

The Houston Rockets found themselves in a rare “must-win” scenario against the Golden State Warriors … in Game 2. The Warriors used a bevy of Kevin Durant buckets (37 points), “butt naked” open threes from Klay Thompson (6-of-15 from three), and a “punch yourself out” defense to burn the Rockets in Game 1. Home court […]

The Houston Rockets overhauled their roster over the summer in an attempt to challenge the Golden State Warriors. Rockets GM Daryl Morey worked his magic, turning a handful of rotation guys and 174 non-guaranteed contracts into Chris Paul, PJ Tucker, and Luc Mbah a Moute. They iso’d, three-point-bombed, and switched their way into a top […]

The Cleveland Cavaliers were a terrible defensive unit this season. They allowed 109.5 points per 100 possessions during the regular season. Only the what-are-they-even Phoenix Suns were worse (110.6). Personnel was an issue, though it got a little better after the roster swap at the trade deadline. There was no consistent scheme in place — at least […]

Good offensive players are able to take what the defense gives them. They make the right reads in 2-on-1 situations. The “one more” pass in a swing situation. Those players are what I like to call “reactors.” Dynamic players force the defense to give them what they want. They’re the catalysts instead of a cog […]

The Boston Celtics reeled off a resounding Game 1 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Head coach Brad Stevens dialed up his “hit a bunch of threes” offense and it worked. Boston drained 17 of those suckers on a 48.6 percent clip while the Sixers were only able to hit five of their 26 attempts. “Scary” […]

Season Autopsies: San Antonio Spurs | Phoenix Suns | Dallas Mavericks | Sacramento Kings | Denver Nuggets | Milwaukee Bucks | Miami Heat | Minnesota Timberwolves The Philadelphia 76ers mostly washed the Miami Heat in their first round matchup. The brilliance of Aussie wunderkind Ben Simmons permeated the series. His very presence caused issues for which the Heat had no answer for. Joel Embiid was rusty, but he slammed […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder were expected to be feared this season. Reigning MVP Russell Westbrook guaranteed them a playoff-level floor; the additions of Paul George and (what’s left of) Carmelo Anthony were supposed to raise their ceiling to contender status. They weren’t the Golden State Warriors but many believed they had the firepower to at […]

Everything was rolling for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night. They snatched a 121-105 victory over the Houston Rockets in a game they needed to have. Minnesota’s triples fell at an absurd rate, their turnover count was low, and Houston’s historic offense struggled to get off the ground. Avoiding a 3-0 deficit was obviously huge, but […]

There comes a point in every superstar’s career where that mystical “it” clicks. Countless reps and film study, combined with natural know-how begets a certain calm in a player. The shift from reactor to manipulator is empowering. From an opponent’s perspective, the only thing more frightening than a player skilled enough to beat whatever’s thrown […]

The 2018 NBA Playoffs kicked off with San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors in a stylistic clash between a former dynasty and a budding-but-dominant one. Even with each team missing their most impactful player, two smart, selfless, well-coached teams duking it out made for an interesting series…in theory. The Warriors landed the first blow, dismantling […]

There were arguments to be made for the Philadelphia 76ers dropping their first playoff game in half a decade. Naturally, there wasn’t much playoff experience on the roster outside of Marco Belinelli and JJ Redick. The Sixers were without their best player in Joel Embiid, and their second-in-command didn’t even get “big game” experience in […]

The Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat feels like more than a regular playoff matchup. The contrast of the two teams go beyond their on-court styles; there’s a fundamental difference between how these teams got here. The Sixers champion The Process — a strategic, multi-year teardown that took the common “lose now to win later” approach […]

Season Autopsies: San Antonio Spurs | Phoenix Suns | Dallas Mavericks | Sacramento Kings | Denver Nuggets | Milwaukee Bucks | Miami Heat | Minnesota Timberwolves Amidst the many repetitive (and sometimes stupid) debates around tanking in the NBA, there’s one rule the masses can agree on: it’s okay to suck as long as you aren’t ugly about it. From an aesthetic standpoint, there’s a big difference between a […]