Hassan Whiteside experienced some ups and downs with the Miami Heat. He had turned in a couple of statistically dominant seasons from 2015-17, especially, but the athletic 7’0”, 265-pounder was moved to the Portland Trail Blazers in a trade last summer after both parties needed a change of scenery. He promptly turned back the clock,…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen and Bryan Toporek are joined by Anthony Sain (@SainAsylum) of AllGrizzlies.com to discuss the NBA’s imminent return (!) and the ongoing nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death and racial inequality. How will the NBA’s new playoff format affect the bottom of the Western Conference bracket? Should…
On May 5, 1995, Clyde Drexler (41) and Hakeem Olajuwon (40), both grilled up 40 burgers in beating the Utah Jazz during Game 4 of their first-round series. It was just the third time in NBA history that teammates went for 40 in a playoff game. Drexler added six assists and nine rebounds; Hakeem added…
On May 27, 2014, there was still hope for a championship in Oklahoma City. Though the Thunder had dropped their first two games to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, a Game 3 win and marvelous performance by Russel Westbrook in Game 4 had evened things out. Westbrook notched 40 points, 10…
The Toronto Raptors are one game away from toppling the injury-ravaged Golden State Warriors and winning their first NBA championship in franchise history. But regardless of whether Warriors star forward Kevin Durant returns at some point—he’s questionable ahead of Monday’s Game 5—no one should suggest the Raptors deserve an asterisk if they do win this…
It was a true team effort for the Toronto Raptors during their Game 1 win over the Golden State Warriors. On a night when Kawhi Leonard wasn’t quite himself—though he still had a very good showing with 23 points on 20 shooting possessions—the rest of the Raptors elevated their games and kept the Warriors at…
Kawhi Leonard is going to get to his spots. His handle is too good and he’s too confident in his ability to retain possession in traffic to be scared of multiple defenders. There are only two things that have hampered Leonard offensively during the Toronto Raptors’ Eastern Conference Finals matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks: that…
During the pregame conversation of Game 3 between the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers, ESPN’s crew discussed whether the Warriors were “better” without injured superstar Kevin Durant. The discussion was kind of moot as it missed the most salient point: The Warriors are better than the Blazers with or without Durant. After falling…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba) and Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) discuss the first two games of the Western and Eastern Conference Finals and more fallout from the 2019 NBA draft lottery. How can the Trail Blazers slow down the Warriors’ deadly Stephen Curry-Draymond Green pick-and-roll? Should Raptors head coach Nick Nurse…
The theme of the NBA Playoffs over the last few years is that big men can get played off the court by more talented perimeter players and that the best teams end up with traditional guards and wings as their best guys, with traditional centers as supporting pieces. On the surface, the Milwaukee Bucks are…
