Ralph Orense Articles - Page 37

The Utah Jazz have lost the first two games of their best-of-seven first round playoff series against the Houston Rockets. They are now in a must-win situation, with Games 3 and 4 being held on their home floor. In their back-to-back losses, the Jazz didn’t look like the gritty, resilient team that they were in […]

Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal might have had a change of heart with regards to his all-time starting five. Three years ago, the players he selected to be included in his own version of basketball’s best possible quintet were Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, Karl Malone, and Bill Russell. However, he was asked again […]

The Toronto Raptors were able to even their first round playoff series against the Orlando Magic at one game apiece with a 111-82 Game 2 victory last Tuesday. Raptors head coach Nick Nurse seemed to have shown no mercy in Game 2, as he didn’t allow his starters to be subbed out of the game […]

The Los Angeles Clippers are one of the teams expected to make a big splash in this summer’s free agency. They have enough cap space to sign two top-tier players to max deals. There’s a lot of optimism within the organization that they can land a star this June, and given the fact that they […]

The Los Angeles Lakers are in search of a new top executive after Magic Johnson recently stepped down as the franchise’s president of basketball operations. Although there are no new developments on that matter at the moment, one of the most popular names mentioned has been former Lakers general manager Jerry West. However, according to […]

Anthony Davis made it quite clear this season that he no longer wants to stay with the New Orleans Pelicans. He publicly requested a trade from the franchise back in February, and there were very public trade negotiations with the Los Angeles Lakers, Davis’ reported preferred destination. Now what’s left between Davis and the Pelicans […]

The Houston Rockets are seemingly peaking at the perfect time, and they have shown just how dominant they can be in the first two games of their best-of-seven first round playoff series against the Utah Jazz. Although the Rockets are heavily reliant on reigning MVP James Harden, the rest of the players on the roster […]

Former NBA player Ray Allen has recently joined the seemingly never-ending discussion about NBA analyst Paul Pierce’s comments regarding him having a better career than Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade. Allen, who was once a teammate of both Pierce and Wade, told Boston.com’s Hayden Bird that it’s complicated to compare both players because they’re different, […]

Houston Rockets star James Harden had another stellar performance last night, notching a triple-double in helping his team build a commanding 2-0 lead against the Utah Jazz in their first-round playoff series bout. Harden finished with 32 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in Game 2 against the Jazz, which prompted NBA analyst Charles Barkley […]

The Detroit Pistons are down 0-2 against the Milwaukee Bucks in their first-round playoff series matchup, but that hasn’t stopped Andre Drummond from making his presence felt in the post. Drummond finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds in the loss, making him the first Pistons player in more than a decade to post at […]

Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard is set to become a free agent after this season, and while a lot of people believe that he will move to one of the LA teams this summer, there’s still optimism within the Raptors organization that the former Finals MVP will stay put. Behind Leonard, the Raptors maintained their […]

Kyrie Irving led the Boston Celtics to a 99-91 victory against the Indiana Pacers in their first-round series matchup. The All-Star guard scored 37 points, seven assists, and six rebounds in Game 2. They now lead the series 2-0. Irving was instrumental in helping the Celtics erase a 12-point lead by the Pacers in the […]

The Golden State Warriors blew a 31-point lead in their 135-131 loss against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, and head coach Steve Kerr believes the key to winning Game 3 is Kevin Durant. Durant took a combined 24 shots in Games 1 and 2, and Kerr wants him to be more assertive on offense […]

After what seemed to be a never-ending roller-coaster season, the Boston Celtics are finally in the playoffs. Over the past two seasons, this team has reached the Eastern Conference Finals despite facing various problems like injuries, inconsistencies, and lack of experience. However, Boston wasn’t able to address those issues in time, which led to their […]

Freshly hired New Orleans Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin has great for the franchise moving forward, including keeping its disgruntled star, Anthony Davis. Griffin said he recently spoke to Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, to discuss the future of the All-Star forward. David Griffin on Anthony Davis: "We have a long successful […]

Portland Trail Blazers big man Enes Kanter is expected to play in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Turkish center suffered a hand contusion in the first half of Game 2, but it doesn’t appear to be serious: Kanter hampered by hand injury #ripcity pic.twitter.com/ZqNUp9TNgD — NBC Sports […]

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James may have failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2005, but he continues to be a busy man. Aside from working on his upcoming movie Space Jam 2, the four-time MVP has also been selected to be the executive producer of boxing series 40 Days. 40 […]

Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins has been ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs after suffering a quad injury; a disheartening turn of events considering that he just resumed playing professional basketball back in January after missing almost an entire year due to a torn Achilles he suffered last season. This was supposed […]

Prior to the Denver Nuggets’ 114-105 victory against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of their best-of-seven first round series matchup, NBA analyst Nick Wright had some choice words for them, calling them a pretentious team with a pretentious superstar. The Nuggets are exactly what so many of us said they were: A pretend […]

The Golden State Warriors are holding their collective breaths after center DeMarcus Cousins suffered what is already being perceived as a torn quad. Well, judging by the photo that’s making its rounds on social media, it looks like Cousins’ injury may very well be serious. https://twitter.com/BabersGreen/status/1117997960804040704 DeMarcus Cousins suffered the injury in the first quarter […]

The Dallas Mavericks are already starting to groom 20-year old Luka Doncic as the face of the franchise. Head coach Rick Carlisle plans to work with him throughout the summer. In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Carlisle revealed he will use this summer to constantly work with Doncic and the rest of the […]

Dallas Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic took the NBA by storm this season. Despite coming into the league at 19 years old, the Slovenian star played at a very high level every game. Although the Mavs didn’t make the playoffs, they’re looking into a bright future with Doncic leading the way. Luka is the frontrunner to […]

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James took to Twitter to send his best wishes to Golden State Warriors big man DeMarcus Cousins, who suffered what could be a serious leg injury against the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night. 🙏🏾 @boogiecousins‼️‼️‼️ — LeBron James (@KingJames) April 16, 2019 LeBron James, who suffered a groin injury that […]

The Utah Jazz were clobbered by the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their first-round series on Sunday, and veteran guard Thabo Sefolosha believes they weren’t able to play the way they wanted to because of nervousness. Sefolosha said the Jazz had playoff jitters all over them in Game 1, but he added that that’s […]

Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has made a reputation as one of the most lethal players during clutch situations. If the game is on the line, expect the All-Star guard to have the ball in his hands and attempt to win the game for his team. He’s often been successful in breaking the hearts […]

At the end of the regular season, fans have witnessed the final games of two of the NBA’s brightest stars; Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki and Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade. Both players had illustrious careers highlighted by multiple All-Star appearances, individual accolades, and NBA championships. That is the basic cycle of the league, as the NBA […]

The Sacramento Kings have officially hired former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton, and it seems that his working relationship with General Manager Vlade Divac is off to a good start. During his introductory press conference, Walton says there’s already trust between him and Divac, having played together in the mid-2000s. New Kings coach […]

The Denver Nuggets will look to bounce back after losing Game 1 of their first-round series against the San Antonio Spurs last Saturday. The Nuggets came into the postseason with the second-best record in the Western Conference, but they were outplayed by the seventh-seeded Spurs despite their homecourt advantage. Head coach Michael Malone told Denver […]

The Denver Nuggets may have lost Game 1 of their best-of-seven first round series matchup against the San Antonio Spurs, but they believe that they can still turn the tables around. Nuggets swingman Will Barton told Mike Singer of the Denver Post that the team isn’t worried because Game 2 will still be played in […]

Montrezl Harrell has been a revelation for the Los Angeles Clippers this season. In fact, he is one of the team’s best players despite coming off the bench and is one of the frontrunners to win the Sixth Man of the Year. The 25-year old forward was impressive in Game 1 of the Clippers’ first […]

The Golden State Warriors are looking to win their third straight NBA championship this season, and Steve Kerr will once again look to rely on the famed Hamptons Five line-up to get it done. Kerr told Nick Friedell of ESPN that he plans to use the starting five of Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, […]

The Milwaukee Bucks opened their postseason campaign with a convincing 121-86 win over the Detroit Pistons. It was the largest winning margin recorded by the Bucks in the playoffs since 1971, the year when they routed the San Francisco Warriors by 50, 136-86. The @Bucks won Game 1 by 35 points, their biggest win in […]

The Houston Rockets may have failed to replicate their performance last season, but they are still a pretty good team. Heading into Game 1 of their best-of-seven first round series against the Utah Jazz, a lot of people believe that they are peaking at the perfect time. The Rockets have struggled all season, and a […]

The Houston Rockets have officially started their playoff run against the Utah Jazz, with the goal of finally achieving what they failed to accomplish last season. The Rockets came up short of making the NBA Finals in the 2017-18 campaign, losing to the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Now, […]

Portland Trail Blazers’ backup center Enes Kanter was tasked to fill in the void left by Jusuf Nurkic, who suffered a season-ending leg injury a couple of weeks ago. The Turkish big man didn’t disappoint. Kanter scored 20 points and grabbed 18 boards to help the Blazers hold-off the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-99 to take […]

Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid has been listed as questionable for Game 2 of the best-of-seven first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets Monday night. The injury report that Brett Brown referred to earlier in the afternoon has been released. Joel Embiid is officially questionable for Game 2 with left knee soreness https://t.co/ccEp1cNSIs — Dave […]

Although the Toronto Raptors lost Game 1 of the best-of-seven first round series against the Orlando Magic, coach Nick Nurse doesn’t seem to be too worried about his opponent. Orlando stole the game from Toronto behind a game-winning 3-pointer from D.J. Augustin. One of the key factors that resulted in the Magic’s 104-101 win was […]

The Boston Celtics took Game 1 of their best-of-seven first round series matchup against the Indiana Pacers, but it was one of the lowest scoring playoff games in recent memory. The Celtics beat the Pacers 84-74 at home. After the game, Boston head coach Brad Stevens said that he felt like he was in the […]

The Detroit Pistons will be without All-Star forward Blake Griffin in Game 1 of their first round series against the Milwaukee Bucks as he continues to recover from a sore left knee. No Blake Griffin in G1 for Pistons, Dwane Casey says. Aching knee too sore. — Steve Aschburner (@AschNBA) April 14, 2019 Blake Griffin […]