Sean Barnard Articles - Page 10

The Boston Celtics have officially punched their ticket to the NBA Finals after their bloodbath in the Conference Finals. This is the franchise’s 22nd Finals trip and one they had to greatly earn. It is a difficult matchup with the Golden State Warriors who have cruised through the Western Conference this offseason. The franchise is […]

The Boston Celtics are set to square off with the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals. The lengthy season is nearly at its end as the top two teams in the NBA remain. The phrase “defense wins championships” has once again been proven true. In the regular season, the Celtics ranked first in […]

While the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics were in a seven-game bloodbath to get to the Finals, the Golden State Warriors have been calmly waiting for their opponent. The NBA Finals are nothing new to the Warriors as this is their 6th finals trip in the past 8 seasons. After cruising past the Mavericks in […]

Kyle Lowry was seemingly a match made in heaven for the Miami Heat. The scrappy guard brings tenacity and competitiveness on an every-night basis. He brings high-level defense, a winning attitude, and is comfortable playing within his role. Lowry came to the Heat in a sign-and-trade agreement this past offseason. Miami elected to hand Lowry […]

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro is a somewhat polarizing player in NBA circles. The Kentucky product has had a successful NBA career thus far, averaging 16.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists throughout his career. Herro took another step forward this season by increasing his averages to 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. Herro also shot […]

The Boston Celtics have officially punched their ticket to the NBA Finals for the 22nd time in franchise history. Despite a hard-fought series from the Miami Heat, it was clear the Celtics were the better team and proved so. The 100-96 victory secured the series win for the Celtics even with a strong comeback attempt […]

The Houston Rockets are in the midst of a rebuild with a solid young nucleus in place. The Rockets hold the 2nd and 17th picks in this year’s NBA Draft. While certainly not encouraging, their 20-62 record in the previous season is not a concern, as the focus of the franchise is clearly on development […]

The Dallas Mavericks are coming off of a terrific season in which they outperformed all expectations. They recently were knocked out of the Western Conference Finals by the Golden State Warriors in a gentleman’s sweep. This should not take away from the success of their 52-30 record and impressive series win over the Phoenix Suns. […]

The Memphis Grizzlies are coming off a productive season in which they showed massive growth as a team. The youthful squad finished with the second-best record in the NBA at 56-26. Led by Ja Morant, the franchise took a massive leap in the right direction. They also have been the only team to win more […]

The Dallas Mavericks had a wildly successful 2021-22 season and outperformed most expectations, reaching the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Golden State Warriors in five games. The Mavs finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in basketball and with a fourth-place record of 52-30. Their second-round victory over the title-favored […]

The Milwaukee Bucks were unable to live up to their sky-high expectations in 2022. Following their NBA championship the previous season, the Bucks were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The injury to Khris Middleton left the Bucks without the necessary scoring power, and the Celtics secured the series victory in […]

The Denver Nuggets had an interesting 2021-22 season. Led by back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic, Denver went 48-34 and secured the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. Even so, injuries to Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. left the roster incomplete and they were unable to truly compete for a title. Denver was ultimately knocked […]

It was just a year ago when it was thought that the Brooklyn Nets had established their long-term future by collecting a superstar trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving. Flash forward to the present and it is clear there are some serious concerns. James Harden forced his hand to Philadelphia in exchange […]

After falling into the treacherous 3-0 hole, the Mavericks found a way to respond in Game 4. It was a strange game that included a leak in the ceiling and a free-throw getting stuck on the rim. Regardless, the red-hot perimeter shooting from the Mavs propelled the team to a 119-109 victory. The work is […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the process of one of the largest rebuilds in NBA history. They finished 14th in the Western Conference this season with a record of 24-58. This was their second consecutive season with 24 or fewer victories. Their youthful roster has begun to establish some young building blocks such as […]

The youthful Memphis Grizzlies squad made a massive leap in maturity this season. Despite their youth, they made a statement that they are ready to win now by finishing with the second-best record in the Western Conference. If it had not been for an injury to Ja Morant in the Western Conference Semifinals, there is […]

The Brooklyn Nets are in a state of flux following their disappointing 2021-22 season. Most of their season was overshadowed by the vaccine drama with Kyrie Irving and trading James Harden for Ben Simmons. There was not much of a focus on the regular season and this clearly came back to bite Brooklyn. Despite remaining […]

The Memphis Grizzlies greatly overachieved this season by securing a record of 56-26 on the season and ending second in the Western Conference. The scrappy Grizzlies squad proved that they are ready to compete sooner rather than later and leave plenty to build on following the season. After being knocked out in the Western Conference […]

The NBA awards are a constant cause for debate among the NBA community. The top-tier talent in the league is deserving of recognition and is difficult to fully evaluate. The NBA awards have gradually been released throughout the postseason properly giving credit for each player’s impressive season. To finish the award announcements, the All-NBA teams […]

The relationship between the Phoenix Suns and Deandre Ayton has quickly turned from bad to ugly. The former number one overall pick has soured on his long-term future with the Suns after they failed to give him the max contract he desired the previous offseason. It is clear the relationship continued to get worse with […]

The Golden State Warriors have sent a firm reminder to the rest of the NBA what a dominant force they still are. They now hold a convincing 3-0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the Conference Finals. The Game 3 victory was an especially tough blow for the Mavs as it occurred on their […]

The Golden State Warriors are back. The franchise has made it quite clear that they mean business and are set to compete for a title once again. Their dominant postseason performance has moved them up to a -155 favorite to win the championship, per FanDuel.   The job is not over as Golden State still must […]

The Chicago Bulls are at an interesting point as a franchise. They have been active over the past few seasons and created an impressive roster as a result, finally returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Chicago finished with a record of 46-36, which placed them in sixth in the East. The […]

The Dallas Mavericks season should already be regarded as a success. In 2021-22, the franchise turned a corner and has grown into contenders much quicker than expected. Highlighted by their Conference Semifinals victory over the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns, the Mavs have put the league on notice. Unfortunately, their success seems destined to come to a […]

The San Antonio Spurs have begun their rebuild following their dynasty era that produced five championships since Greg Popovich took over as coach. The 22-year streak of making the playoffs was snapped and the Spurs have been on the outside looking in for the past three years. San Antonio has begun to retool quickly and […]

While the four remaining NBA teams continue to be laser-focused on reaching their championship goals, the rest of the league has moved on to planning for next year. There is still plenty that can change ahead of the draft as teams will scour the trade market and meet with countless prospects to make the best […]

Through the first three games of the 2022 NBA Conference Finals, it has been three straight convincing wins. Neither conference has produced a nailbiter thus far. After the Miami Heat took down the Boston Celtics 118-107 in Game 1, Boston responded with a dominant performance on Thursday night in Game 2. After initially falling behind […]

The NBA Draft lottery is a foreign place for the San Antonio Spurs but this is exactly where they found themselves this season. After 22-straight seasons of making the playoffs, the Spurs found themselves looking on for the third year in a row. The Spurs entered the lottery with the 9th best odds at the […]

The Dallas Cowboys are coming off a 12-5 season in which they won the NFC East and secured the 3rd seed in the NFC heading into the playoffs. Despite this success, they were beaten in the Wild Card round by the San Francisco 49ers. The offensive firepower they possess leaves plenty to build off moving […]

The end-of-year NBA awards are upon us as each player seeks recognition for their impressive play throughout the year. While many debate the MVP or DPOY, the All-Rookie teams hold quite a bit of importance to the young players. There were many standout performers from the rookie class this year. This led to stiff competition […]

The Detroit Pistons finished the 2021-22 season with a record of 23-59 which was the third-worst in the NBA. This poor performance presented them with a great opportunity to secure a top pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The NBA recently adjusted the lottery odds to give the three worst teams each a 14% chance […]

There are few franchises across any sport that hold the level of poor luck as the New York Knicks. The Knicks have now gone 18 straight lotteries without moving up their draft selection. New York has seen their pick fall back seven times and remained the same eleven. This was the case this year as […]

The Denver Broncos are coming off one of the most exciting offseasons across the NFL. Their blockbuster trade to add Russell Wilson made headlines everywhere and flipped the team fully into “win-now” mode. Denver has done a great job building up a complete roster but has struggled to find the proper QB to complete the […]

The Indianapolis Colts had a disappointing 9-8 season in 2021 which led them to narrowly missing the playoffs. The frustrating finish led to a great deal of change this offseason. Most notably was the trading of Carson Wentz and the addition of Matt Ryan who is expected to take over as the starting quarterback. The […]

The New Orleans Pelicans entered the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery with a lot at stake. They had an impressive end to the season that included a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in the play-in tournament. The youthful squad put up an impressive fight in the opening round and won two games over the top-seeded […]

The Houston Rockets are in full rebuild mode after their second straight season with 20 or fewer wins. The NBA recently adjusted the lottery odds which gave the bottom three teams equal chance at landing the number one pick.  The Rockets went into the lottery with a 52.1% chance of getting a top 4 pick. […]

The NBA playoffs did not go according to plan for the Phoenix Suns. After having the NBA’s best record in the regular season at 64-18 and being regarded as the title favorites, they failed to make it past the Conference Semifinals. While the results were certainly disappointing, the way it happened left an even more […]

The Miami Heat produced a convincing series victory over the Philadelphia 76ers to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat will face off with the Boston Celtics with their championship aspirations on the line.   It has been clear how important the dominance of Jimmy Butler has been to the Heat’s success […]

The Boston Celtics punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat after a thrilling seven-game series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Without Khris Middleton, the defending champions didn’t have enough to send Boston home, and the convincing 109-81 victory has the Celtics in good spirits.   However, there is little time to […]