nba

• Atlanta Hawks Make Their Second Conference Finals in 50 Years

  Jun 21, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  

   

  Source: Atlanta Hawks shock Philadelphia 76ers en route to second Eastern Conference finals in 50 years

   

  On Sunday night, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 103-96 to make their first conference finals since 2015. It can definitely be considered an upset; they were the 4th seed team, defeating the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference. But on top of that, the Hawks as a franchise had taken a long, seemingly improbable journey to get to this point; even a recent as this season, they weren't favored to make it this far.

  In the past three seasons, the Hawks were 73-158, the fourth-worst winning percentage over that span (2017-20). Last season, they weren't invited to the bubble in Orlando, Florida. The losses just continued to pile up. On March 1, 2021, things looked like more of the same; the Hawks were 14-20 and they had just fired their head coach. Three and a half months later, they are waltzing into the Eastern Conference finals. It was the franchise's first win in a road Game 7 in 10 attempts. The win sends the Hawks to the conference finals for only the second time in the past 50 years -- and to a place that seemed unthinkable to many when Nate McMillan took over as interim coach for Lloyd Pierce.

  The Hawks are just the third team under the current playoff format (since 1984) to make the conference finals despite having a losing record at the All-Star break, when Atlanta was 16-20. The other two teams to do so -- the 2012 Celtics (15-17) and the 1984 Suns (19-24) -- did not make the NBA Finals.

  McMillan is also the seventh coach in NBA history to take a team to the conference finals during a season in which he became the head coach during the season. The previous four coaches to do so -- Tyronn Lue (2016 Cavaliers), Pat Riley (twice: 2006 Heat, 1982 Lakers) and Paul Westhead (1980 Lakers) -- all led their teams to the NBA championship.

  The Hawks came away with three wins on the road this series in order to advance and did so despite a poor shooting night from star guard Trae Young. The third-year point guard, who had been so steady so far in the playoffs, shot 5-of-23 from the field and 2-of-11 from the 3-point line.

  However, Young came up with his second made 3-pointer at a crucial juncture as he nailed a 29-footer with 2:31 left to put the Hawks up by seven.

  The Sixers were able to get the lead back down to one, but after Matisse Thybulle fouled Kevin Huerter on a 3-point attempt with 54 seconds to go, Huerter knocked down all three free throws to push it back to a four-point game. On the ensuing possession, Embiid turned the ball over on a spin move as Danilo Gallinari knocked the ball away. Huerter scooped up the loose ball and tossed it ahead to Gallinari, who slammed it home to quiet the Philadelphia faithful.

  It was the second consecutive hostile environment the Hawks have had to play in after going through the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden in the first round. Young finished with 21 points and 10 assists. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, he is the second player in Hawks history to record a points-assists double-double on the road in a Game 7. The only other Hawk to do so is current Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers.

  Young also now has 12 consecutive games with at least 20 points and seven assists, the longest such streak in NBA postseason history.

  The Hawks last made the conference finals in 2015, when they were eventually swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Prior to that, they hadn't made the round prior to the NBA Finals since the 1969-70 season, when they lost the then-division finals to the Los Angeles Lakers. At that time, only one series victory was needed to advance that far.

  The last time the Hawks reached the NBA Finals was in 1961, when the St. Louis Hawks lost to the Boston Celtics.

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• Is Kevin Durant the Best Player in the World?

  Jun 16, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  

   

  Source: Kevin Durant has finally, indisputably claimed the title of best basketball player in the world (link)

   

  Kevin Durant played all 48 minutes in Brooklyn's Game 5 upset victory against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday. He was the first player to do so in a postseason game since LeBron James in 2018. Durant also became the first player in NBA history to score 45 points, pull in 15 rebounds and dish out 10 assists in a playoff game. He did so on 69.6 percent shooting, the third-highest mark ever in a 40-point playoff triple double, according to ESPN Stats & Info. And he did so with Kyrie Irving sitting out with an ankle injury, and James Harden still not 100%. He quite literally willed his team to victory.

  Has this game solidified him as the best player in the world? It's a fitting bit of trivia for Durant, who has spent practically his entire career chasing James for the unofficial title of greatest basketball player on Earth. It's a race he famously acknowledged in a 2013 interview with Sports Illustrated. But regardless of what he said, it took the rest of the basketball world years to catch up to his viewpoints. Durant's decision to join the 73-win Golden State Warriors in 2016 almost disqualified him from contention for "best in the world" status. How could a player fairly be compared to his peers when he got to play with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green while they didn't? Even as Durant won titles with the Warriors, the degree of difficulty was so low in the minds of fans that James was still the consensus choice. 

  He was probably still the correct one at the time. He became the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double in the Finals during his 2017 loss to Durant, but his 2018 run cemented him as the superior all-around player. Without Kyrie Irving, he astonishingly took a team of role players back to the Finals by leading the Cavaliers in points, assists, steals and blocks during the postseason. When he came face to face with Durant in the Finals, he dropped 51 points, eight rebounds and eight assists on Golden State's home floor, losing only after J.R. Smith infamously forgot the score in the final seconds of regulation. Nothing could have better encapsulated the perceived difference between the two. Durant didn't even need to lead his team in scoring to get the victory. LeBron scored almost half of Cleveland's points and assisted on many of the others … but his teammates botched his victory, and it wasn't just Smith. George Hill had to miss the free throw that Smith rebounded. The Cavaliers shot 3 for 16 on 3-pointers that James passed into. Merely getting that team to the Finals was an accomplishment Durant couldn't even match by winning them. 

  It fit their styles to a tee. Durant's world-class scoring has always been his calling card, and seeking out elite playmakers and spacing only ever enhanced it. James has been similarly active in surrounding himself with talent, but not as successful. He never has had three All-Star teammates, nor has he played with another MVP in his prime. He hasn't needed to. LeBron's all-around brilliance has allowed him to lift inferior players to heights Durant never needed to. Until Tuesday.

  Durant's 49-17-10 in 48 minutes was arguably a top 5 playoff game ever. Perhaps with this level of contribution, he has proved the naysayers wrong. He can carry a weakened team. He can step up when they need him. Perhaps with this historical performance, people will finally start to accept him as the greater basketball player in the world today.

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• Jokic Ejected as Phoenix Suns Sweep the Nuggets

  Jun 14, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  

   

  Source: NBA playoffs: Nikola Jokic's MVP season ends with an ejection

  Even in a sweep, Nikola Jokic's MVP season ended earlier than expected.

  With his team down 3-0 in the Western Conference semifinals, the Denver Nuggets star was ejected from Game 4 for a flagrant 2 foul. Jokic received the foul for a hard blow to the face of Suns guard Cameron Payne, which was deemed to have "wind-up, impact and follow-through."

  It would prove to be Jokic's final play of the season. NBA replay center head Jason Phillips told the TNT broadcast that Jokic's hit met the criteria for "unnecessary and excessive contact," resulting in the ejection of the league MVP. Nuggets fans obviously disagreed with the decision, and even chanted "M-V-P" as the hit was show on replay.

  Suns star Devin Booker also received a technical foul from the incident for immediately and physically confronting Jokic after the foul.

  While Payne fell to the floor after the hit, he was healthy enough to remain in the game. Jokic also appeared to apologize to Payne while still on the floor.

  Jokic's ejection was the absolute last thing the Nuggets needed at the time, with the team down eight points in the game and a loss away from elimination. They would eventually lose 125-118, becoming the first team with the NBA MVP to get swept since the 1989 Los Angeles Lakers with Magic Johnson, who were swept in the NBA finals against Detroit.

  Chris Paul was another key factor in the Suns' victory. He played phenomenal the entire series, most notably in Game 2 where he had 15 assists and no turnovers. In game 4, he scored 37 points, along with Devin Booker's 34 and 11, to advance to the next round. This is the first playoff sweep of Chris Paul's career, which attests how good of a team this year's Suns are.

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• Nuggets' Nikola Jokic Wins 2021 MVP

  Jun 9, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  Source: Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic wins first NBA MVP award

  Seven years ago, the Denver Nuggets used the 41st pick in the NBA draft on an unheralded center from Serbia.

  This past Tuesday, that center, Nikola Jokic, won his first MVP award, becoming the sixth international player to do so.

  Jokic was the runaway winner of the award, claiming 91 of the 101 first-place votes and 971 total points. He played all 72 regular-season games this season, one of just 11 players to accomplish that feat in this pandemic-shortened campaign, while also putting together one of the best statistical seasons in NBA history.

  Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry finished second and third, respectively, behind Jokic in the final voting, followed by Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the winner the past two seasons, and Phoenix guard Chris Paul.

  He also became the first center since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000, and the first Nuggets player ever, to win the league's top individual honor.

  In addition to being available every night for Denver, Jokic finished the season with career-best averages of 26.4 points and 8.3 assists and tying a career best by averaging 10.8 rebounds. He also shot 56.6% from the field, 38.8% from 3-point range and 86.8% from the foul line. He led Denver into the second round of the playoffs despite injuries to three of Denver's guards -- Jamal Murray, Will Barton and PJ Dozier -- a feat that none of the other teams that made it to the conference finals of last year's playoffs in the bubble in Orlando, Florida -- the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and Boston Celtics -- were able to match.

  The combination of Jokic's play and availability gave him an unassailable case for the award in the eyes of the voters. He becomes the first player drafted in the second round to win the league's top individual honor in the common draft era (which means he set the record as the lowest-drafted player to win it), and also joins Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Antetokounmpo as international winners of the award.

  Winning MVP also means that Jokic will be eligible to sign a supermax contract extension with the Nuggets following the 2021-22 season -- a five-year deal that would be well in excess of $250 million.

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• Tom Thibodeau Wins Coach of the Year

  Jun 8, 2021 SportZ 0 Comments

  Source: New York Knicks' Tom Thibodeau named Coach of the Year for second time

   

  For the second time in his career, and a decade apart, Tom Thibodeau was named the NBA's Coach of the Year on Monday.

  The New York Knicks coach, who led the team he grew up watching to a 20-win improvement this season, edged out Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams by a total of 11 points, while Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder finished third. It was the second time Thibodeau won the award in his first year with a new team, after doing so with the Chicago Bulls in 2011.

  A couple of the players he had as part of that Bulls team, Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson, were veteran mentors on this year's Knicks squad, which went from being expected to compete for one of the top spots in the NBA's draft lottery to earning home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

  While the Knicks went on to lose to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, it was still a successful season in Gotham, as Julius Randle -- who was named the NBA's Most Improved Player last month -- became an All-Star, RJ Barrett took a significant step forward in his second season and Immanuel Quickley immediately contributed as a rookie for the Knicks, who had a top-five defense all season.

  The Knicks' accomplishments as a team this year is thanks in no small part to Thibodeau's effectiveness as a coach, and while the Jazz and the Suns both exceeded expectations this season (in my opinion), Thibodeau was the one to got the nod.

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