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The Los Angeles Lakers were a few minutes into a season-defining fourth quarter vs. the Detroit Pistons. Losers of three straight and the first two games of their supposed team-building road trip, they trailed the Pistons by 15 points after three quarters as LeBron James stewed in the locker room. “We had it in our […]

LeBron James deserved to be assessed a flagrant-2 foul and ejected from the Los Angeles Lakers’ clash with the Detroit Pistons. Three minutes into the third quarter, with the Pistons leading 78-66, James and Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart got tangled up in preparation for a free-throw rebound. James aggressively jerked his arm, ostensibly to […]

Russell Westbrook was assessed a technical foul for his participation in the skirmish during the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers-Detroit Pistons matchup at Little Caesars Arena — ignited by LeBron James’ elbow of Isaiah Stewart. Westbrook still doesn’t know why. one of the wildest NBA videos I've ever seen https://t.co/A8IIBH3gri — Michael Corvo […]

The Los Angeles Lakers faced a moment of truth against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. LeBron James was ejected three minutes into the third quarter for throwing an elbow towards Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart. The Lakers didn’t put forth the most inspiring effort in the ensuing minutes. They faced a 15-point deficit heading into […]

The Portland Trail Blazers beat the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers 118-111 on Saturday night at Moda Center, stringing together three straight wins for the first time this season behind a dominant performance from Damian Lillard. Convincing double-digit victories would obviously be the most ringing endorsement of the Blazers’ long-shot title hopes. But a trio of consecutive […]

As we all now know, the Los Angeles Lakers — currently struggling with cohesion, consistent pace, and perimeter defense — opted not to bring back Alex Caruso in free agency for luxury tax reasons. Caruso wanted a two-year, $20 million deal. The Lakers didn’t want to eclipse $7 million annually, which would have added $20-$30 […]

It certainly seemed like Damian Lillard had fully broken out of his early-season slump on Saturday night. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar dropped 39 points and seven assists in his team’s hard-earned 118-111 win over the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers, dominating from the opening tip. Lillard scored 12 points and hit a pair of 3s in […]

The Brooklyn Nets (now 12-5) are in sole possession of first place. The Nets hosted the last place, (now 4-12) Orlando Magic, but Brooklyn was very short-handed so it was no cake walk. James Harden was able to lead a short-handed Nets squad by exorcising some of his early-season demons. He got to the free […]

After missing eight games, LeBron James returned to the Los Angeles Lakers lineup in time to face the Boston Celtics on Friday, and things looked promising … at first. His presence clearly uplifted his teammates, especially Anthony Davis. Early on, LeBron sparked the offense, AD was dominating, and the Lakers’ ball movement and general activity […]

The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics 130-108 on Friday. The nationally-televised game marked both LeBron James’ long-awaited return to action and the Lakers’ worst defensive performance of the season. Afterward, Anthony Davis was rightfully critical of his team, citing, among other things, their lack of consistent effort, energy, and communication. He also […]

Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash expressed his disappoint over the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. On Friday, news came out that Rittenhouse was acquitted of charges related to the deadly Kenosha shootings he was involved in. The incident left two people dead and badly injured another during protests against racial injustice in 2020. Rittenhouse was found […]

LeBron James will make his return to the Los Angeles Lakers starting lineup in a nationally-televised matchup against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Friday. LeBron has missed the past eight games (and 10 overall) since being diagnosed with an abdominal strain on Nov. 2. LeBron had been listed as a game-time decision for […]

The league’s leading scorer will miss his first game of the season. Kevin Durant played in 35 out of 72 regular season games a season ago. He’s already nearly halfway towards his 2021 season total, having logged 16 games played so far. However, after appearing to tweak his shoulder back on November 8th in a […]

If everyone counting them out wasn’t enough, Paul George and the LA Clippers may have just gotten some more bulletin board material. The team lost to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night for the second time this season. Only this time, Dillon Brooks played after starting the season on the sidelines. Paul George scored 23 […]

We are now about a month into the NBA season, and the Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons saga remains a reoccurring topic among the basketball community. Even with the Sixers having a streak of ups and downs, most eyes remain on the situation regarding the former No. 1 pick. The three-time All-Star is not mentally ready […]

At different times throughout the season, the Brooklyn Nets (now 11-5 and tied for first place with the Miami Heat) have talked about finding their identity. They were pretty honest in saying they didn’t have one at first and didn’t know what theirs would be during the season’s early grind. But it does seem as […]

On the first night of a road back-to-back, the Golden State Warriors faced the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors trailed most of the game and struggled offensively for three quarters, managing just 68 points. That was until Stephen Curry happened. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Warriors were down 81-68. Instead of taking his […]

After missing the past eight games, LeBron James (abdominal strain) is officially listed as questionable for the Los Angeles Lakers nationally-televised matchup against the Boston Celtics on Friday night. Get your popcorn ready. LeBron James remains out against Milwaukee but is getting his pregame work in with Phil Handy. This will mark the eighth straight […]

All summer long, Neil Olshey appealed to the strength of the Portland Trail Blazers’ starting lineup as a major reason for optimism in 2021-22. Chauncey Billups parroted those talking points almost immediately upon being named Terry Stotts’ successor. When Media Day finally came in early September, multiple players extolled the virtues of Portland’s opening quintet, […]

Jusuf Nurkic was instrumental to the Portland Trail Blazers’ thrilling 112-107 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night at Moda Center, playing arguably his best game of the season. The Bosnian Beast had 18 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, exploiting a Bulls squad that often went small while […]

16 games into the 2021-22 NBA season, it’s hard to deem the Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to swap their depth for Russell Westbrook as a success. Westbrook entered Wednesday averaging 19.4 points and 8.3 assists on .427/.292/.685 splits and leads the NBA in turnovers per game (5.3). His defense has been as maddening as advertised. […]

The Los Angeles Lakers — who opened the 2021-22 NBA season as favorites to win the Western Conference — are an underwhelming 8-8 through their first 16 games, despite 12 of those coming at home and mostly against lottery teams (they also went 0-6 in the preseason). For the most part, their performance has been […]

The Los Angeles Lakers (and Lakers fans) have not been happy about how they’ve been officiated this season. That’s been abundantly clear to anyone who’s watched their games or witnessed the “Refs you suck!” chants that have been a regular occurrence at Staples Center. It was no different on Wednesday night, in the Lakers hard-fought […]

Milwaukee Bucks superstar and GQ Man of the Year Giannis Antetokounmpo dominated the Los Angeles Lakers from wire to wire in the Bucks’ 109-102 win. He was brilliant from the jump. Antetokounmpo scored the Bucks’ first eight points and dropped 27 in the first half. Despite the Lakers’ shifting to a zone in the third […]

The Charlotte Hornets handily defeated the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night. The Wizards are sitting at the top of the east and are off to one of their franchise’s best starts in over 30 years. Despite that, the Hornets beat lock them down and secured a victory, 97-87. In their last game, they defeated the […]

One player who fans expected to play an important role for the Brooklyn Nets during the early portion of the 2021-22 season was Nicolas Claxton. The 31st overall pick in the 2019 draft was actually who Steve Nash tapped to fill in for Kyrie Irving (unvaccinated) in the starting lineup to begin the year. It […]

The Philadelphia 76ers have found themselves in a bit of a rough patch. After starting the season on a high note, health and safety protocols took out a portion of the roster, leaving Doc Rivers heavily undermanned. Between playing shorthanded and guys having to play longer stretches, they have struggled to get back in the […]

The Los Angeles Lakers were “gifted” 12 of their first 15 games at the supposedly-friendly confines of the Staples Center (er, Crypto.com Arena). The schedule looked relatively light: only four games against teams who qualified for the 2020-21 playoffs. They came out of that stretch 8-7 and, seemingly, without having figured anything out. Alas. Now, […]

Stephen A. Smith is not one to shy away from his feelings. He went in on Kevin Durant in his latest appearance on ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday after the Brooklyn Nets got stomped by the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. He didn’t pull any punches against Kyrie Irving, James Harden or the Nets faithful either. Even […]

The Golden State Warriors’ early-season dominance continued on Tuesday. They defeated Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets in an impressive 117-99 win. Stephen Curry led all scorers with 37 points, but a group effort pulled off this satisfying victory. 13 players played, and nobody played for over 30 minutes. That was possible because of the […]

LOS ANGELES — It was just announced that the famous Staples Center, which has housed some absolutely historic moments in Downtown LA, will soon have a new name. Starting Dec. 25, the arena will be called Crypto.com Arena, and Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George has some reservations about the name change. The arena, which […]

The Philadelphia 76ers kicked off a season-long six-game road trip Tuesday night with a matchup against the Utah Jazz. Despite players slowly returning from health and safety protocols, they still find themselves without multiple key players. Utah took advantage of the depleted squad and won the game in blowout fashion, extending the Sixers’ losing streak […]

When the Philadelphia 76ers’ roster initially took a hit, the team did a good job remaining competitive. Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worst in their recent stretch. While they’ve received some reinforcements in the form of Tobias Harris, the Sixers still find themselves on the wrong end of a four-game losing streak. […]

Damian Lillard is slowly but surely breaking out of the worst slump of his career. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar is averaging 24.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists in his last five games, shooting 47.1% overall and 39.1% on a high volume of threes. Maybe those numbers don’t reflect Lillard’s MVP-level peak, but they […]

The Portland Trail Blazers earned a much-needed 118-113 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, emerging from a furious, back-and-forth battle in the fourth quarter for an impressive victory on the second night of a back-to-back. A lot went right for the Blazers from the friendly confines of Moda Center when they needed it […]

When the Golden State Warriors drafted Jonathan Kuminga with the No. 7 pick, they knew they were getting a player full of potential. They didn’t know they would be getting a 19-year-old who could play right away. The one thing that has earned him playing time during crucial points of games is his defense. “We […]

Not long after the ball was tipped, it became readily apparent that the Los Angeles Lakers (8-7) were not going to beat the Chicago Bulls (10-4) on Monday at Staples Center. Not without LeBron James, and not with the game the Bulls’ three best players — all with notable Los Angeles roots — brought from […]

Anthony Davis was ejected from the Los Angeles Lakers’ blowout loss vs. the Chicago Bulls with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel — along with the Staples Center crowd — was rightfully confused and peeved about the whole ordeal. Davis picked up his first technical midway through the first quarter […]

There have been a number of stats floating around about the New York Knicks’ starting lineup since their loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. Take your pick: The starting lineup of Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson has played the second-most minutes of any five-man unit in the NBA […]