The recent NCAA Basketball Tournament or “March Madness” just concluded allowing the basketball media to shift their focus back to the NBA before the Playoffs. With less than two weeks remaining for the 82 game regular season to end, there’s still a lot at stake.
In the Western Conference, five teams are battling for the final four Playoff spots. Meanwhile in the East Detroit and Indiana battle for the seventh seed and four teams are battling for seeds from third to sixth.The NBA always makes a lot of headlines. Some are made on the court and some off the court. Here are the highs and lows of the headlines from the NBA world:
Hit: Positive first game in return for Blake Griffin
After missing a total of 45 games for the Los Angeles Clippers due to multiple reasons, four time All-Star Blake Griffin made a successful return to the court on Sunday against the Washington Wizards. He logged only 24 minutes but did a little bit of everything recording 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in that time.
For obvious reasons Griffin had a tough time getting the ball into the basket, shooting just 2 of 7 field goal attempts however his much talked passing was on full display on Sunday. He had a lot of give and go’s with his guards which created room for them to knock down a shot.
What the fans would have been most happy to see was Griffin dunking again. He had his first points for the game on a fast break alley-oop dished out by All-Star Guard Chris Paul. His other field goal came off a nifty spin move in the post on a smaller defender, which would have certainly given him the confidence to keep trying to regain his rhythm in the remaining games.
The five games remaining are probably the most favorable five game stretch the Clippers would have seen all season long. They play the Los Angeles Lakers twice and then the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz all once. The two Lakers’ games should be walkovers, sealing a win over the depleted Grizzlies squad shouldn’t be tough.
The schedule is favorable not only for the team but also for Griffin to regain his game, something key to the Clippers having a long post-season these Playoffs.
Flop: Scottie Pippen believes the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls would sweep the Golden State Warriors
As the Golden State Warriors approach the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls tally of 72 wins, there are have been innumerable talks across radio shows and talk shows about how the defending champions would fare against the Bulls from 20 years ago.
Whenever you compare eras, it’s fun because it’s all hypothetical and there can never be one right answer for sure. However there can be a wrong answer. Part of the Bulls’ squad that won six championships, Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen believe the 1995-96 Bulls could and would sweep the reigning NBA Champions.
At an AT&T event in Houston during an interview, this is what Pippen had to say:
"Bulls in four [games]”.
He continued saying he would guard Curry and Michael Jordan would shut down Klay Thompson. "I think that my size and length would bother [Curry] a little bit”.
Before we dig deeper into this, it’s petty for a player of his stature to make such comments. The teams are quite clearly from different eras and making a prediction like than just seems really unnecessary. Second, despite all the dominance the Bulls displayed in the 1990’s they never ever swept a series when they won a championship, so it’s hard to agree with Pippen’s bold statement that the 1995-96 Bulls would sweep the current Warriors squad.
Hit: The Boston Celtics snapping the Warriors 54 game home winning streak
Whether it is the lowly Philadelphia 76ers or contenders in the San Antonio Spurs, any team that plays at a level that can be competitive for the Warriors, it will bring out the best from the Golden State squad. Their 54 game winning streak at home was on the line when the Celtics came visiting on Friday and boy what a game it was. Boston stayed disciplined on defense, executed on offense especially late in the game to eventually seal the win and break the Warriors’ invincibility at home.
Off the 54 wins in the streak at home, some have been blowout while some have been tight contests. Numerous time Golden State has trailed late in the game but channeled their competitive fire and made a run to seal the win however on Friday they failed to so. Curry’s 9 turnovers and some key turnovers by Brandon Rush and Draymond in the final couple of minutes ultimately did not allow the Warriors to score.
Isaiah Thomas, point guard of the C’s, went to the locker-room at halftime scoreless but returned wearing the Nike’s Kobe All-Star edition shoes and scored 18 points in the third quarter, where he dueled with opposing guard Stephen Curry, who knocked down six three pointers in the period.
Flop: The D’Angelo Russell-Nick Young leaked video fiasco
If going through a rebuild wasn’t difficult, the Los Angeles fans have had to see some completely unnecessary off-court news not only make the headlines but hog it. The entire controversy begins when it was found that D’Angelo Russell had recorded Nick Young, who was engaged to singer Iggy Azalea, admitting to infidelity with a 19 year old girl he met a club.
The biggest mystery in this matter remains that how the video was leaked to the media from Russell’s phone. This obvious soured the relation between the two players but also between Russell and the rest of the team. ESPN’s Marc Stein reported there being absolutely no trust in Russell in the Laker camp.
It’s unfortunate that a season that was supposed to be about Kobe’s farewell and the maturation of the three young players in Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle has turned into a joke and now this fiasco.The fact that Young was engaged to singer Iggy Azalea makes the matter even more popular and inevitably the matter gets shared by every media outlet possible.
Hit: Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll going to ramp things up to make return
There has been no timetable on DeMarre Carroll’s return since he had knee surgery in late January however Head Coach of the Toronto Raptors Dwane Casey believes the final three games of the season will be crucial to determining his status for the Playoffs.
“The last three or whatever games there are when he comes back we will use those as his test lab,” Casey said.
Toronto has six games remaining in the season with the next three against the Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks and the Indiana Pacers. On the other hand, the final three games are kinder with opponets like the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers.
According to Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun, Carroll is expected to spend more time on the practice courts and at shootarounds in order to get him in regular playing form by the time the Playoffs begin.
The news is great for a Raptors squad that would be looking to make their way to the Eastern Conference Finals this season but they understand the importance of Carroll to their team is huge and what he brings to the table defensively.
The idea is to make him play the next three games under minutes restriction then ask Carroll to spend a lot of time in practice to recuperate in order to play regular minutes in the last three games, when Toronto plays non-Playoff teams.
