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Steve Ballmer “on a rampage,” playing Russian Roulette with Seattle’s NBA future
May 14, 2013, 8:00 AM EDT
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It has been said throughout the Sacramento Kings saga that the presence of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Seattle’s ownership team has been a big plus as they seek to buy and relocate the team. Worth $15 billion according to Forbes and ranked No. 51 on its billionaire list, he and Chris Hansen were called…
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Kevin Durant is doing all he can. The best pure scorer in the game today is keeping Oklahoma City close to the Memphis Grizzlies. He did it by scoring 27 points, and adding 7 rebounds and 7 assists in Game 4. And by isolating with 10 seconds and driving to hit a scooping layup that…
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Grizzlies come from 17 down, take 3-1 series lead with Game 4 overtime win over Thunder
May 14, 2013, 1:50 AM EDT
The Thunder were going to need otherworldly performances out of Kevin Durant in every game they planned on winning against the Grizzlies in this series. And even then, there was no guarantee that victory would be theirs, considering the fact that they’d need at least one other person to step up and deliver an above…
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LeBron James’ monster dunk off turnover sums up Heat’s night (VIDEO)
May 13, 2013, 11:27 PM EDT
This pretty much sums up Monday night for the Bulls. Nate Robinson can’t handle the aggressive trap the Heat have put on him (for a couple of games now), the Heat steal the ball and on the fast break is on. Then there is LeBron James to finish. Miami went on to win this game…
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Bad shooting night for Bulls dooms them in game Game 4. And series.
May 13, 2013, 11:10 PM EDT
To steal an old Chick Hearn phrase, the Bulls couldn’t throw a pea in the ocean. With their season hanging in the balance, Chicago hit just 25.7 percent of their shots Monday night. Just a hair better than one in four shots went in. It wasn’t great Miami defense (although it was good), it was…
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Here is our regular look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT) — done in bullet point form. Because bloggers love bullet points like Chicagoans love to boo LeBron James… • Detroit rookie big man Andre Drummond…
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Preview: Durant can do more but will need more help for OKC to even series with Memphis
May 13, 2013, 7:02 PM EDT
When you hear GMs — or sometimes television pundits or Internet bloggers — talking about a team needing an identity, this series is exactly why. The Thunder have had to scramble under pressure to develop a new identity without Russell Westbrook, to figure out how they can generate baskets outside Kevin Durant. The result was…
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Report: NBA to open up discussions of new TV contract this summer
May 13, 2013, 5:12 PM EDT
The iron is not going to be hotter for sports rights television deals. In a world where we DVR “Mad Men” and “Game of Thrones” to watch whenever our schedule suits us, sports remains appointment viewing — you will find out what happens if you wait. And in the case of the NBA you get…
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How do you think Brandon Jennings and Jerry Sloan would get along? It could happen. Sloan, the long time coach of the Jazz who retired a couple years ago mid-season, met with Bucks management to discuss the job, reports Sam Amick at USA Today. According to two people with knowledge of the situation, the former…
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PBT Draft preview: Is Trey Burke the next Lillard? He’ll be an impact rookie.
May 13, 2013, 3:25 PM EDT
For the next five weeks PBT will be profiling likely first-round draft picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. We start with one of the more household names in this draft. If you are looking for the next Damian Lillard — not in terms of style of play, but in terms of a rookie who could…
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If you were anchoring your defense with one center in the NBA right now who would it be? For the past few years the answer was Dwight Howard, he was the perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate (voted on by the media) and NBA All-Defensive First Team, voted on by the coaches. But if…
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The Pistons have interviewed Nate McMillan, Mike Budenholzer, Lindsey Hunter and J.B. Bickerstaff, and Detroit isn’t slowing what has become a pretty wide-reaching search. Marc Stein of ESPN: Sources say that Knicks assistant coach Darrell Walker will soon get an interview for the position vacated by Lawrence Frank. Walker went 56-113 (.331) as a head…
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Preview: Bulls defense solving Heat bigger issues than referees
May 13, 2013, 1:20 PM EDT
The Chicago Bulls have much, much bigger issues right now than the referees. You couldn’t tell that from the talk around Chicago or even at times from coach Tom Thibodeau. It’s about the foul calls, it’s about LeBron James the flopper. For the coach and his $35,000 rant, that was simply him trying to influence…
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Anyway you slice it, Kevin Durant is doing a lot for the Thunder. Traditional stats say Durant is averaging 34.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.6 steals in 44.3 minutes per game since Russell Westbrook’s injury. Advanced stats say Durant has 2.2 win shares for a team that has won five playoff games, which means…
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Knicks Smith, Martin, Shumpert all skip practice on off day Monday
May 13, 2013, 12:28 PM EDT
This news is not ideal, but Knicks fans should be a lot more worried if Tuesday after shootaround we are reporting the same thing. It was a light practice for the Knicks Monday as J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin and Iman Shumpert all skipped practice due to injury or illness, the team announced. Expect all of…
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Deng, Hinrich “most likely” out for Bulls Monday. Which means they’re out.
May 13, 2013, 12:03 PM EDT
It’s not a surprise to anyone, but let’s make it official, shall we: Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng are “most likely out” for the Bulls on Monday night in what is a virtual must-win game for Chicago, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. That’s the word from coach Tom Thibodeau. If you have followed…
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Does it feel to anyone else like somebody’s agent/manager/people are trying to pump up O.J. Mayo’s free agency options? With the playoffs and draft coming up there tends not to be a lot of focus on free agents not named Howard or CP3 (and they aren’t likely moving on), yet now we have our second…
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Tyson Chandler joins chorus saying Knicks need to share the ball more
May 13, 2013, 10:46 AM EDT
The Knicks path to the Eastern Conference finals and beyond had some good defenses in its path — Kevin Garnett and the stout Celtics first, followed now by Indiana and the best defense the NBA had in the regular season. What good defenses in the playoffs do is take away your first action, your preferred…
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While you could draw the lines — a connection with new Toronto team CEO Tim Leiweke, a desire to have a role where he could be a team president — it always seemed an odd fit: Phil Jackson in Toronto? Really? Not going to happen, according to Michael Grange at Sportsnet.ca. One name that can…
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Sunday David Lee tried to give it a go again — he played nearly eight minutes off the bench, went 0-2 shooting, was -12, but he did have five rebounds. Still, he’s not the same player following the hip flexor injury that was supposed to keep him out for the playoffs. Lee knows it. He’s…
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Video: Phil Jackson compares MJ and Kobe
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Video: Grizzlies ready for 'running' Spurs
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Video: Durant won't 'compromise himself' like other stars
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Video: Knicks avoid elimination
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Video: Heat finish off Bulls, James 'has no energy left'
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Video: Health woes make Heat vulnerable
