Category Archives: nba

2014 NBA Championship Betting Odds

Now that the NBA regular season is over, ‘real’ basketball begins. We will no longer hear about tanking or listen to Bill Simmons flip every NBA discussion into something Boston Celtics-related.

The NBA Playoffs should be fun this year. The Miami Heat have looked vulnerable during the regular season. There’s handful of teams that have a realistic shot at winning the Larry O’Brien trophy.

The first round has some nice matchups. Warriors/Clippers, Grizzlies/Thunder and Trail Blazers/Rockets all have my interest peaked.

Can the Pacers rebound from a late-season slump?

Here are the 2014 NBA Championship betting odds.

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2014 NBA Draft: Top 20 NBA Prospects

The 2014 NBA Draft is stacked. NBA teams have been tanking all season to get the most ping-pong balls in hopes of landing the #1 pick. Two players in particular have NBA teams drooling, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker.

Not only does this draft have two potential All-Stars, but it’s deep. You could get a player late in the Lottery that could start right away. You don’t see that in most drafts. Actually, the top five players in this draft would have been #1 overall picks in last year’s draft.

Players will begin to announce their intentions to either declare for the draft or stay in school. You have the usual suspects, but there are always a few wild cards that declare, but end up going back to school after the NBA Draft Combine

We list the top 20 prospects in the 2014 NBA Draft.

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Can Pacers Still Win NBA Championship?

It has been a tale of two seasons for the Indiana Pacers. They began the season playing like the best team in the NBA, but they’ve hit a wall since the trade deadline.

Thanks to the Miami Heat’s recent struggles, the Pacers find themselves with the best record in the Eastern Conference. They have been an average team since early February.

Indiana was the best defensive team in the NBA, but have allowed multiple 100+ point games in the past few weeks. Paul George and Roy Hibbert haven’t played like All-Stars and the addition of Andrew Bynum, Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen haven’t made the team better.

Can the Pacers hold off the Miami Heat and keep the #1 seed in the East?

Do they match up well with the top five teams in the NBA?

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End Of An Era: Pacers Trade Danny Granger to 76ers

Today, NBA teams were scrambling up until the final minutes to make something happen before the 3pm trade deadline. The day is always filled with hype and hopes their team can make a blockbuster trade to either stockpile draft picks or build for a playoff run…but only minor deals were made today.

The biggest trade of the day was made between the Indiana Pacers and the Philadelphia 76ers. Indiana sent former All-Star Danny Granger and a future second-round pick to Philly for former Ohio State standout Evan Turner and backup power forward Lavoy Allen.

This marks an end of an era for the Indiana Pacers. Granger has been with Indiana since he was drafted in 2005. He was the face of the franchise after Reggie Miller retired that same year. I think his biggest accomplishment is that he survived the Jim O’Brien head coaching era (that was brutal).

How will Evan Turner be used in the Pacers rotation? What does this mean for Lance Stephenson’s impending free agency?

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Please, Stop Giving Kevin Durant Horrible Nicknames!

NBA fans, and those who make a living covering the NBA, have been trying to make a nickname stick on Kevin Durant since his rookie season. Attempts have ran the gamut from just his initials ‘K.D.’ to the horrible ‘Durantula’ moniker.

This is Durant’s seventh season in the NBA. I cannot remember a time when an athlete in any major sport got a nickname to stick this late into their professional career. A nickname is usually something a player receives at a young age and sticks throughout the rest of his career. If the nickname doesn’t stick, it’s not a good nickname.

Well, basketball fans (especially ESPN‘s Bill Simmons), are still obsessed with a Durant nickname. On The B.S. Report podcast, Simmons even asked Durant what he wanted to be called. His answer was worse than expected…

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New Orleans Pelicans Make Mascot Less Frightening

The New Orleans Pelicans mascot, Pierre the Pelican, went under the knife. The team announced he was having plastic surgery to fix his beak.

The picture on the right is the ‘before’ picture. He was scaring kids and looked like something in a bad furry movie. Who approved this mascot? Was it the same guy who approved ‘Boomer’, the Columbus Blue Jackets failed cannon mascot that looked like, ummm, a ‘cannon’ and two round things below it. I’m trying to keep it PG-13 around here…at least when it comes to mascots.

See what the new and improved Pierre looks like now…after the jump.

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2014 NBA All-Star Weekend: Betting Odds

The first-half of the NBA season is nearly complete and NBA All-Star Weekend starts this Friday.

The most anticipated events are the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest and Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout on Saturday and the actual All-Star game on Sunday.

The betting odds for these three events are very interesting. There are a few favorites in each event, but some underdogs interest me. You could get a bit lucky and win a nice chunk of change.

Will Lebron James and Kevin Durant battle for the All-Star game MVP? Is the second time’s the charm for Paul George in the Slam Dunk Contest? Can Stephen Curry hold off defending champion Kyrie Irving in the Three-Point Contest?

Here are the odds for All-Star Game MVP, Slam Dunk Champion and 3-Point Shootout winner.

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Fantasy Basketball: Week 9 – Top 10 Waiver Wire Pickups

I hope you’re doing well in fantasy basketball this season. I’ve been taking chances on guys with big upside and stashing them away. That strategy has worked so far, but I’m still tweaking with my roster, in-between poker hands at 888poker.com. I just keep finding quality guys on the waiver wire.

I advise you to look at every box score, especially bad teams’ box scores. You can find a few gems on bad teams. Players aren’t as highly coveted and they can slip through the cracks. You will find bargains, trust me.

For example, the Milwaukee Bucks have a few players worth a pick up, you’ll find two in this post.

Most of these players are owned in less than 50% of leagues (and some are owned in less than 10%). You should pick these guys up or at least keep a close eye on them.

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Did Jason Kidd Spill Drink On Court To Delay Game?

Did Brooklyn Nets head coach Jason Kidd pull a fast one on the refs?

In the closing seconds of the Nets/Lakers game, Brooklyn found themselves trailing 96-94 with 8.3 seconds left in the game. They ran out of timeouts and that’s when coach Kidd pulled out a playground trick.

As Tyshawn Taylor headed to the bench, you can see Kidd mouth the words, ‘hit me.” Kidd had a drink in his hand and when Taylor bumped him, he spilled his drink on the court. This delayed the game while ball boys and other staff wiped the spill on the court. Kidd had enough time to speak to a few of his players.

I think he did it on purpose, but you decide for yourself. The video is posted after the jump…

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Fantasy Basketball: Week 4 – Top 10 Waiver Wire Pickups

Fantasy basketball just finished its third week of play…and the injury bug has plagued some key fantasy players. This is when researching depth charts can drastically change your team’s production.

Steve Nash, Ersan Ilyasova, Trevor Ariza, Dion Waiters, Chauncey Billups and Michael Carter-Williams are all dealing with injuries. This post focuses on their replacements for the week and a few gems who are earning more playing time.

Most of these players are owned in less than 50% of leagues (and some are owned in less than 25%). You should pick these guys up or at least keep a close eye on them.

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Fantasy Basketball: Week 3 – Top 10 Waiver Wire Pickups

Fantasy basketball just finished its second week of play. We are starting to figure out which players will get minutes and a few players who will benefit from an early season injury.

I know fantasy basketball isn’t as widely-played as fantasy football and baseball, but it’s a fun game. You have to work the lineups daily like baseball, but need to keep a close eye on how many games a team plays that week.

We look at some of the players who weren’t drafted in most leagues, but are now worth a pickup.

Our list is loaded with guys on bad teams. Yes, a fantasy stud can be on a bad NBA team.

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Fantasy Basketball: Top 10 Waiver Wire Pickups

Fantasy basketball just finished its first week of play. We are starting to figure out which players will get minutes and a few players who will benefit from an early season injury.

We look at some of the players who weren’t drafted in most leagues, but are now worth a pickup. The names on this list may surprise you. Two awkward white guys who used to be glued to the Indiana Pacers bench and a player who we all assumed was fantasy irrelevant made the list.

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