It didn’t take long for the Wrecking Ball of Consequence to come swinging into the Houston Rockets’ living room. On Sunday, less than 24 hours after the club’s season-ending defeat to the Lakers, coach Mike D’Antoni announced he wouldn’t be coming back next season. The move was widely expected, given the tone and tenor of […]
There are many reasons to be bullish about Houston’s odds to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy: The team possesses top-tier talent, it uses a mathematically advantageous playing style and FiveThirtyEight’s model currently gives the Rockets a 26 percent chance to win it all — second in the league behind the Boston Celtics. But the […]
The NBA playoffs finally started in earnest on Monday, though most of the league has been in a Disney World bubble since July for the season restart (which included eight games for every team, plus a play-in contest for the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies). And what did we learn from that sample of […]
With the first round of the playoffs set to begin Monday, the NBA will soon announce the winners of this year’s regular-season awards, based on pre-bubble performance. This year’s finalists for the MVP have already been announced, with only Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James expected to receive first-place votes. This fits a pattern that has […]
Which NBA Contracts Were Gems This Season, And Which Were Stinkers?RAPTOR on this shortened season’s under- and overvalued salaries. More NBA:2019-20 RAPTOR player ratings2019-20 NBA predictions By Ryan Best After 140 days without basketball, NBA action is set to resume inside the Orlando, Florida, bubble on Thursday. There are eight “regular-season” games left to be […]