Clik here to view.
A Brief History of N.Y. vs. LA Championship Battles
The Los Angeles Kings prevailed in typically dramatic style Sunday night, beating the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime in Game 7 to end the Western Conference finals. With the New York Rangers having...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What to Watch For in the NBA Finals
For all the talk this season about conference imbalance in the NBA and the inequity of its playoff structure, things seemed to have worked out just fine. Measured by point differential, we’ve ended up...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The West is Better Than the East, But That Doesn’t Mean the Spurs Will Beat...
The Miami Heat just racked up their fourth straight conference championship, and they did it with relative ease. This year’s Eastern Conference was one of the weakest in NBA history. Six of the playoff...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Breaking News: Miami Needs LeBron James on the Floor
Game 1 of the NBA Finals was a gift to headline writers and pun-lovers everywhere: The Miami Heat may have been undone by the San Antonio heat!A broken air-conditioning system left the AT&T Center...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Accurately Counting NBA Tattoos Isn’t Easy, Even If You’re Up Close
Ethan Swan’s database of NBA players’ tattoos is the most complete such record I’m aware of, but it’s not the only one. (Swan, whom I wrote about Friday, gave us permission to publish his data on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Spurs Eventually Got What They Wanted in Game 2, But It Didn’t Help Them
On Sunday night, LeBron James put together a masterful performance, helping the Miami Heat defeat the San Antonio Spurs 98-96 and leveling the NBA Finals at 1-1.James finished with 35 points, 10...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Heat’s Whac-A-Mole Problem
Game 3 of the NBA Finals featured the San Antonio Spurs’ offense at its best. It wasn’t just its 19-point margin of victory over the Miami Heat, 111-92, that impressed, or its 41 points in the first...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Spurs Crush the Heat Again, But in a Different Way
Same song, different verse.The San Antonio Spurs — after defeating the Miami Heat in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night — are one win away from a title. The score wasn’t close, 107-86 — the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Spurs’ Deconstruction of the Heat Is Now Complete
For the fifth time and in one of the most dominating fashions the NBA Finals has ever seen, the San Antonio Spurs won the title on Sunday night. The Spurs beat the Miami Heat, 104-87, their third...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We’ve Had Mixed Success Predicting LeBron’s Moves
The world is abuzz with the news that LeBron James is opting out of his contract with the Miami Heat. There’s plenty of speculation about what this means and where he might decide to go, if anywhere,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Trying to Measure the ‘LeBron Effect’ on Game Attendance
LeBron James may not show up for the Miami Heat next year, but whichever team he ends up with is likely to see a huge economic bump. James puts people in the seats.After reports leaked Tuesday that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Betting Markets Think LeBron James Will Do
The big question right now is whether LeBron James will stay with the Miami Heat or return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite the fact that his departure from the latter in 2010 seemed to have burned...
View ArticleClik here to view.
LeBron James Shouldn’t Stay in Miami Or Go to Cleveland
The conventional wisdom is that LeBron James will remain in Miami or return home to Cleveland. Neither would maximize his chances of winning a championship — but Cleveland, at least, is on an upward...
View ArticleClik here to view.
LeBron Is Going to Make His Cavs Teammates Whoa Better
Within hours of LeBron James’s announcement that he’d be going home to Cleveland, Kevin Love was already musing about how “intriguing” it would be to play alongside James if the Minnesota Timberwolves...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Carmelo Anthony’s Contract Could Doom the Knicks to Mediocrity
The New York Knicks have won 55 percent of their games since Carmelo Anthony joined the team in 2011 — a rate that equates to a 45-37 record over a regular season and a first-round exit from the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Deadest Sports Days of the Year
With apologies to the ESPYS and the WNBA, Wednesday was what has come to be known as the deadest day on the sporting calendar. That’s because the day after Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game (which...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pacers And George Still Have Plenty To Play For
Indiana Pacers star Paul George suffered a horrifying injury on Friday night in a scrimmage with his teammates on the United States national team. The good news is that surgery on George’s right leg...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Decline Of New York City As An NBA Talent Generator
Now that I’m allowed to write about basketball again after my stint as a consultant for the Atlanta Hawks, I wanted to follow up on this Grantland piece by Jordan Conn about the decline of basketball...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Happens To Injured NBA Stars Like Paul George?
Sports fans have selective memories. Most of us NBA geeks know that Bernard King, the former New York Knicks forward, was never the same after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in a 1985 game. We...
View ArticleClik here to view.
These Cavs Could Be LeBron’s Best Supporting Cast Ever
As we wrote Thursday, the 2014-15 Cleveland Cavaliers figure to be a very good basketball team after acquiring Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade this week. That move came on top of...
View Article
