When the NBA conference finals each wrap up, the league will award two new trophies: the Larry Bird Trophy for the Eastern Conference finals MVP and the Earvin “Magic” Johnson Trophy for the Western Conference finals MVP. Bird and Johnson are fitting namesakes for these awards given that their struggle for supremacy from opposite coasts […]
For years, even as they established a dynasty and ruled the league, the Golden State Warriors carried a reputation as a soft, jump-shooting team that could be beaten on the interior. (Probably because Charles Barkley kept saying it over and over on “Inside the NBA,” but that’s neither here nor there.) The characterization was so […]
The road to success for stars in the NBA is littered with teams whose pieces don’t fit. With cracks in those connections, it’s hard for even the most talented teams to stay together when driving over the potholes and through the speed traps of the playoffs. Perhaps the wheels fall off when faced with pressure. […]
In a Western Conference finals featuring huge performances from unheralded players, arguably no role player has had a greater impact on this series than backup point guard Cam Payne. And the path he’s taken to get here has made his playoff performance all the more remarkable. Just a few years ago, Payne had washed out […]
Considering everything that had taken place earlier in the series, it would’ve been hard to imagine the Rockets having a better start than the one they had in Monday’s Game 7. About midway through the second quarter, Houston had held Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green to 1-of-7, 2-of-6 and 2-of-6 shooting from the […]