When it’s right, there’s still nothing like it. In the third quarter of Golden State’s first Western Conference Finals matchup against the Dallas Mavericks last week, as the Warriors stretched a 9-point lead to 19, Stephen Curry did his recognizable thing. Dribbling into the corner and running into a double-team, he flung a blind pass […]
When the NCAA decided to move the women’s 3-point line back just over 16 inches last summer to match the men’s distance, many people in the game didn’t think much would change. After all, for some players, navigating the confusion of multiple arcs on the floor since the men’s line moved back to 22 feet, […]
Over the last several years, plays like these have become commonplace in the NBA: James Harden, one of the league’s most accomplished and well-known swindlers, sensed just the faintest contact from defender Paul George. Harden instantly brought his off-arm up to accentuate the contact, flailing around until a whistle blew. ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen’s […]
Early in the final quarter of the final game of the NBA season, Jrue Holiday took a shot that was unremarkable in 2021 but would have driven a coach apoplectic a decade earlier: Holiday raced up the court in transition and flung up a triple without appearing to think of passing. But his audacity gave […]
When the NCAA started using a 3-point line in the 1986-87 season, it was an instant hit. While the NBA had made its line official seven years earlier, the pros hadn’t taken to it yet: They attempted only 5.3 percent of their shots from behind the arc. But at their first chance to trade in […]