The NBA Finals are a few hours from tip-off and from the standpoint of legacies this may be the most consequential matchup since Jordan’s Chicago Bulls played Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz in 1998. At stake is the answer to this question—does losing the Finals taint Golden State’s 73-win season? And on the flip side, does […]
The sharks are starting to swirl around first-year Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt. With the team at 18-13 after another loss last night to the Atlanta Hawks, the great homecoming that many envisioned for LeBron James isn’t off to a strong start. Cleveland is fifth in the Eastern Conference and the subject of talk shows this week was whether Blatt has the King’s backing. Let’s consider this possibility—could Kentucky head coach John Calipari be in line as Blatt’s successor next season.
I’m looking forward to the coming NBA season—and hopefully the next several—with more anticipation than I ever have before. This has the real potential to be a Golden Age for the league.
We’re headed for Game 7 in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals. Over the last three nights, the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers have traded decisive wins on their home floors to set up the big battle on South Beach on Monday night. Our purpose here is to look back at the lessons of Games 5 & 6, and use those to point ahead to the one-game showdown coming up.
I’ve avoided devoting much of this site’s NBA commentary to the Miami Heat. I’m assuming we’ll have plenty of time in the playoffs to go over them, and similar to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Heat get more than their share of attention in the mainstream media. Although unlike Los Angeles, at least Miami gets their media love for all the right reasons. TheSportsNotebook gave in on the Lakers earlier this week, and today we’ll do the same for the Heat. We’ll look at why they’re having such a great year and if there are any weak points that could derail a run at a second straight title.
It’s a great time to be a basketball in the Miami area. If you’re a fan on South Beach, you know coming into the year that the Heat would give you a shot at a title, but LeBron’s team was not just the only basketball excitement—it was the only team in town worth watching in any sport, unless you were taken by the University of Miami’s mediocre 7-5 season in college football. Now, seemingly out of nowhere comes the U’s basketball team. The Hurricanes are flying high, ranked third in the nation, and it’s time to ask the question—could the city of Miami nail a big parlay and sweep through the Final Four in April, then take the NBA title again in June?
We’ll start this post off by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas from TheSportsNotebook. While sports are an essentially insignificant part of this holiday’s ultimate meaning, this is a sports website, and that means it’s time for some for more NBA coverage. Since the season began at the end of October, we’ve covered the league’s contenders. All but one. And the most important one at that and it’s the Miami Heat. As we get set for a Finals rematch on Christmas afternoon between Miami and Oklahoma City (5:30 PM ET, ABC), let’s see how last year’s champs are doing.