Denver Has a Height Advantage Over Miami: When the NBA Finals tip off tonight, the Miami Heat will hear Denver Nuggets public address announcer Kyle Speller deliver an ominous message to the arena: "All visitors to the Mile High City be warned. High levels of exertion at this altitude may cause hypoxia with symptoms of fatigue, difficulty breathing, rapid heart rate, headaches and confusion." Kevin Garnett shared his reaction to hearing that in his career: "You're like in the layup line, did you hear that shit? Yo, hold on. Whoa! Whoa!"

posted by rcade to basketball at 04:19 PM - 1 comment

NBA Playoff Pickem: NBA Finals: The NBA Finals begin Thursday when the Miami Heat face the Denver Nuggets in the Mile High City. For this round pick the winner and games required along with seven props and a tiebreaker. NoMich has climbed to first after scoring 27 points in the conference finals, followed by five players within 10 points. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:38 AM - 10 comments

Celtics One Win from Making NBA Playoff History: No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game playoff series. The Boston Celtics would complete the feat with a win at home tonight against the Miami Heat, joining in that achievement baseball's 2004 Boston Red Sox and hockey's 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and 2014 Los Angeles Kings.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:14 PM - 6 comments

Carmelo Anthony Retires from Basketball: Carmelo Anthony has announced his retirement from the NBA, which he leaves after 19 seasons as a 10-time All Star and the ninth-highest scorer of all time with 28,289 points. He also won a national championship at Syracuse, but never an NBA title, an achievement that would have been the capstone of a Hall of Fame career.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:03 PM - 2 comments

The San Antonio Spurs win the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery: The Spurs have landed the #1 slot and will presumably draft potentially generational big man Victor Wembanyama. They will be followed by Charlotte (2), Portland (3), and Houston (4). In a lottery that saw little movement, the Detroit Pistons are the lone losers, dropping from a three-way tie for the top odds to fifth.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 08:39 PM - 3 comments

NBA Pickem Week 3: Conference Finals : The conference finals are set: Lakers vs. Nuggets in the West beginning Tuesday night and Heat vs. Celtics in the East beginning Wednesday night. Jjzucal continues to lead the playoff pickem with 103, but Ufez scored a massive 49 points to trail by only three. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:45 AM - 12 comments

The WNBA is Kind of a Big Deal: Things are looking up in the WNBA, which begins its 27th season on Friday. Last season was the most watched in 14 years and the 12-team league is talking expansion. The women's NCAA championship game drew the largest audience in event history, creating future WNBA stars out of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:56 PM - 2 comments

Nick Gilbert, Son of Cleveland Cavaliers Owner, Dies: Nick Gilbert, who represented his father's Cleveland Cavaliers at the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery that gave the team the first-overall pick that became Kyrie Irving, died Saturday at age 26. Gilbert suffered from the genetic disorder neurofibromatosis. His sartorial style and sense of humor made him a fan favorite across the league.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:33 PM - 0 comments

NBA Playoff Pickem: Warriors vs. Lakers: The final semifinal playoff series is the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Golden State Warriors and can now be prognosticated in the NBA Playoff Pickem. The leader after the first round is JJzucal with 85 points. Howard_T and Rumple are in second with 69. Make your pick.

posted by rcade to basketball at 12:41 PM - 2 comments

Phoenix Suns and Mercury Cut the Cable: The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury are leaving cable TV and coming to local broadcast TV. Every regular season Suns game will be free to watch with an antenna and games will stream online for a fee. Mercury games will be free over the air and online. The move triples their potential audience to 2.8 million households in Arizona. NBA games used to be on local TV through the 1990s before regional sports networks grabbed the rights.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:04 AM - 2 comments

NBA Playoff Pickem Round 2: Conference Semifinals: The Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets begin the second round of the NBA playoffs Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. Eastern, so it's time to make your picks in that series, the Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics. The fourth series will be decided by Sunday. As it stands now, Jjzucal leads the pickem with 40 points.

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:11 AM - 17 comments

Paolo Banchero Wins NBA Rookie of the Year: Paolo Banchero got 98 out of 100 first-place votes to become the NBA Rookie of the Year, the third time an Orlando Magic player has been thus honored following Shaq in 1993 and Mike Miller in 2001. He's the first No. 1 overall pick to get the award in his first season since Karl-Anthony Towns in 2016. The Magic, who improved from 22 to 34 wins this season, had everyone thinking on draft night they were going to pick Jabari Smith.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:33 AM - 2 comments

Bucks getting Jimmy Butlered right now: People are trying to make Playoff Jimmy a thing. "It's not a thing,...It's not. I just be hooping." Butler scored 56 against the Bucks for their 119-114 game four win.

posted by NoMich to basketball at 01:14 PM - 2 comments

Heart-Warming Moment Becomes Stomach-Turning Forfeit: "May couldn't help himself. He knew Kade West wasn’t officially on the team, but, at that moment, no one on the team was more important. May looked down to the praying figure. He motioned to the court. It was a gesture he knew West would understand. 'Get in there, Kade.'"

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:45 AM - 2 comments

Phil Jackson Yells at Cloud: Former NBA coach Phil Jackson said he stopped watching games when players wore slogans such as "Justice" and "Black Lives Matter" in 2020. In the past he's complained about rap music, Phoenix wearing "Los Suns" jerseys, players wearing clothes he called "prison garb" and LeBron James calling his business partners a "posse."

posted by rcade to basketball at 12:26 PM - 2 comments

Colin Cowherd Wants Sacramento's Beam Investigated: Sports radio host Colin Cowherd called the Sacramento Kings' beam "an egregious waste of energy" and urged California Gov. Gavin Newsom to investigate. The skyward lasers lit after victories only use as much wattage as a single run of a dishwasher. Overall the beam represents just 0.014% of the energy consumed by the Golden 1 Center arena, which is powered entirely by solar. The beaming Kings are two lightings from advancing over the Golden State Warriors.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:45 AM - 2 comments

Suns Beat Clippers, Chris Paul Beats NBA Referee: The Phoenix Suns victory over the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday night ended one of basketball's most infamous streaks. Chris Paul's team had lost 13 consecutive playoff games in which NBA ref Scott Foster officiated. Asked about breaking the streak afterward, Paul said, "I ain't notice."

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:50 AM - 4 comments

Zion Williamson's Health and Future Remain a Mystery: Zion Williamson participated in pregame warmups for the New Orleans Pelicans and did a windmill dunk but did not appear in the play-in game Wednesday, where the Pelicans season ended in a 123-118 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Williamson said he's physically fine but "now it's just a matter of when I feel like Zion. ... I don't feel like there are any specific benchmarks for being Zion -- it's just a matter of when I feel like myself. If it's in God's plan for me to be who I feel like I should be, then it's in his plan. If not, I'll live with it."

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:49 AM - 6 comments

Enter the SportsFilter NBA Playoff Pickem: With all teams set but the final two play-in victors, it's time for another NBA Playoff Pickem. First prize is an NBA 59Fifty cap of the team of your choice. Start by picking the eight series winners in this round and four prop bets. The playoffs begin Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern when Brooklyn visits Philly. Good luck!

posted by rcade to basketball at 06:43 AM - 8 comments

The $1 Million Shot, 30 Years Later: On April 14, 1993, 23-year-old office supply salesperson Don Calhoun made a three quarters of the court basketball shot to win $1 million at a Chicago Bulls game. It was actually a $50,000-a-year shot that only stopped paying in 2013 -- and was almost a no-dollar shot because the insurer wanted to declare him ineligible. ESPN has the full story with lots of poignant details.

posted by rcade to basketball at 02:17 PM - 5 comments

NBA Pickem Champion: rcade: Friday's game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks was meaningless in the NBA season but decisive in the SportsFilter NBA Pickem. Rumple would've won with a Bucks win by 7 to 13 points. Instead Grizzlies scrubs steamrolled Bucks scrubs by 23, giving me the championship. Ufez Jones claims the Costanza.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:12 PM - 4 comments

Timberwolves Center Rudy Gobert suspended for play-in game versus Lakers.: The Minnesota Timberwolves have suspended Center Rudy Gobert after he threw a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson in Sunday's game vs. the Pelicans and was sent home during the game. The Wolves traded five first round picks to Utah this Summer for Gobert, including 2022 breakout rookie Center Walker Kessler.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 02:07 PM - 6 comments

NBA Pickem Week 19: All the Marbles Edition: There are six national games to pick during the final week of the NBA regular season, beginning Tuesday night with Boston/Philly. Our season-long pickem contest has come down to a final week in which two players are tied at 550: Rumple and your humble correspondent. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:19 PM - 7 comments

NBA Pickem Week 18: Rescinded Technical Edition: The TNT/ESPN/TNT national game sandwich is back this week, beginning tomorrow night when Boston plays Milwaukee and New Orleans plays Golden State on TNT. My lead in the pickem has dwindled to one point over Rumple. Make your picks and watch out for technicals.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:37 PM - 5 comments

NBA Pickem Week 17: March Marches On Edition: The only national games this week are an ESPN doubleheader tonight where Golden State visits Dallas and Phoenix visits the L.A. Lakers. Four more games from NBA TV are in the pickem, including another reason for players to watch the Orlando Magic. You're welcome. I'm holding on to first place in the standings with Rumple 11 back. And my brackets aren't looking too shabby either.

posted by rcade to basketball at 11:57 AM - 5 comments

NBA Pickem Week 16: All Quiet on the NBA Front Edition: There's an ESPN doubleheader tonight and no national games after that, so the NBA Pickem schedule includes four on NBA TV. Is something else going on in basketball this week? My lead in the contest has shrunk to 12 points after NoMich's 36-point week. Make your picks and mind your brackets.

posted by rcade to basketball at 07:13 AM - 6 comments

NBA Pickem Week 15: Can't Stop the Knicks Edition: There are eight NBA games on national TV this week beginning tonight with a TNT doubleheader of Sixers/Wolves and Grizzlies/Lakers. Nobody is more surprised to be leading than me, but failing to pick the Bucks/Sixers and Knicks/Celtics games at all worked out well for me. I'm ahead of Rumple by 28. Make your picks and check out the Knicks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 12:54 PM - 8 comments

NBA Pickem Week 14: Here a Game There a Game Everywhere a Game Game Edition: There are a whopping 13 games on the NBA's natty schedule this week, beginning tonight with a Lakers/Grizzlies and Timberwolves/Clippers double on TNT. The Rumplecadenskin tie has been broken and I'm leading by 5 over Rumple. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 12:15 PM - 18 comments

The greatest unexpected NBA performances: A short video on determining players with great games that are also huge outliers vs. the rest of their career.

posted by rumple to basketball at 02:42 PM - 0 comments

NBA Pickem Week 13: Mac McClung Edition: The All-Star debacle is over and the NBA returns tonight with two games on TNT and a packed nine-game national schedule including a Saturday quadruple on ESPN and ABC. Rumple and I are tied in the pickem with Cixelsyd just 8 pack. This contest has become as exciting as a Mac McClung dunk.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:57 AM - 9 comments

Kevin Durant traded to Phoenix Suns in blockbuster move: Brooklyn Nets receive Jae Crowder, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and four unprotected first-round draft picks in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 and a 2028 pick swap

posted by NoMich to basketball at 07:44 AM - 8 comments

NBA Pickem Week 12: Kyrie and Luka Edition: The trade deadline isn't until 3 p.m. Thursday but a move has already registered on the Richter scale with Kyrie Irving landing in Dallas. There are 10 national TV games this week starting Tuesday night on TNT with Phoenix visiting Brooklyn. On Wednesday Dallas visits the L.A. Clippers in what could be Irving's debut. Rumple holds first in our pickem, leading me by 15. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 08:25 PM - 10 comments

Kyrie Irving Traded to Dallas Mavericks: The Dallas Mavericks have acquired Kyrie Irving and Markieff Morris from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, a 2029 first-round pick and two second-round picks. Irving is on the last year of his current contract and seeks a four-year, $198.5 million maximum extension. The Mavs are in sixth place in the West at 28-26 despite some huge performances from Luka Doncic.

posted by rcade to basketball at 03:39 PM - 5 comments

NBA Pickem Week 11: Paolo Banchero Edition: There are five games to pick in this late-starting NBA Pickem, starting tonight with a TNT doubleheader of Memphis at Cleveland and L.A. Clippers at Milwaukee. Rumple has claimed first place by winning the week with 43. Has Orlando been on a national game this season? Paolo Banchero is on track to average 20 points a game, the first rookie to do that since Luka five years ago. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:48 AM - 7 comments

NBA Pickem Week 10: Figure This Shit Out Edition: A TNT doubleheader of Celtics/Heat and Clippers/Lakers begins the NBA week tonight and there's a tripleheader on Saturday of Mavs/Suns, Nuggets/Sixers and Knicks/Nets. I'm one ahead of Rumple in the pickem with Ufez 13 back. Make your picks and be sure to turn your swag up.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:09 AM - 9 comments

NBA Pickem Week 9: Phoenix Sunset Edition: There are four national doubleheaders in this NBA week starting Tuesday night on TNT with Raptors/Bucks and Sixers/Clips. I'm leading our contest by 6 after hitting four locks. Rumple is six back. Make your picks.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:20 PM - 10 comments

NBA Pickem Week 8: 40-for-40 Edition: There are nine national NBA games to pick this week, starting with Bucks/Hawks and Suns/Nuggets tonight on ESPN and ending with Heat/Hawks and Suns/Grizzles Monday on TNT. I'm holding on to first by just 3 after a rough week all around where the high score was 13 by Ufez. Make your picks with the consistency of the Miami Heat taking free throws.

posted by rcade to basketball at 01:15 PM - 14 comments

NBA Pickem Week 7: 71 Points and 11 Assists Edition: The national slate of NBA games this week is an ESPN/TNT/ESPN sandwich, beginning tonight when Milwaukee visits Toronto. I'm still in first in the pickem through no fault of my own after scoring 0 points. Rumple climbs to second 5 back. Make your picks and do so well you're drug tested.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:35 AM - 10 comments

Mortage Mogul Buying Suns and Mercury for $4 Billion: If you've been hoping to buy your own pro sports franchise when they became more affordable, forget about it. Billionaire mortgage lender Mat Ishbia is about to buy the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury for $4 billion. Two years ago the going rate for an NBA team was $2.35 billion when Joe Tsai bought the Brooklyn Nets. Departing owner Robert Sarver bought the Suns for $401 million in 2004 from Jerry Colangelo, who got the team for $44 million in 1987.

posted by rcade to basketball at 05:16 PM - 0 comments

NBA Pickem Week 6: Jingle Ball Edition: There's an ESPN doubleheader tonight but the big event is the five-game block of games on Christmas Day: 76ers/Knicks, Lakers/Mavericks, Bucks/Celtics, Grizzlies/Warriors and Suns/Nuggets. I'm back in first with Ufez Jones 24 back. Happy holidays to one and ball.

posted by rcade to basketball at 09:01 AM - 8 comments