Month: May 2016

Tuesday's Knicks Links: Kristaps Porzingis wants to win an NBA title

Hubie Brown says the Knicks may need more than just a solid head coach to turn around their fortunes next season. Brown, ESPN Radio analyst who will work the NBA Finals, believes the surprising hiring of Hornacek will bring "accountability” and a potentially more exciting offense to the Knicks. But the club needs roster upgrades…

Golden State, which is seeking its second straight championship, needed to win the final three games of the series to set up a rematch with the Cavaliers.

A heart-to-heart was in order.

Stephen Curry knocked down yet another 3-pointer in the waning moments, pulled his jersey up into his mouth and yelled to the rafters in triumph once more.

As Stephen Curry dribbled out the clock in a raucous Oracle Arena, Kevin Durant could only stand and watch.

The Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 96-88 in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals on Monday to set up a rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA Championship.

The Golden State Warriors’ historic season goes on, with just one left team to beat.

The former Rutgers coach, who was fired for abusive college practices, is now teaching athletes with dreams of playing at higher levels.

Golden State’s Klay Thompson fed off his teammates in helping to forge a Game 7 against the Thunder.

Golden State, facing elimination for a second straight game, trailed for most of the game but preserved its chances of repeating as champion with a late run.

Stephen Curry will get the chance to make up for one of the few disappointments of his career on Monday when the Golden State Warriors take on Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Seven of the Western Conference finals.

Stephen Curry turned things over to Klay Thompson, and his Splash Brother delivered.

Klay Thompson scored 41 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 108-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.

It is funny how certain teams assume certain years, right? If you say the year "1970” to a room crowded with New York sports fans, and ask them the first thing that pops into their minds, 99.9 percent of them will say "Knicks!” leaving the other 0.1 percent to explain (fruitlessly) why they would have…

James scores 33 points as Cleveland eliminates Toronto with ease in Game 6.

Even with a tether to the rich and powerful N.B.A., attendance and television viewership have lagged for the W.N.B.A.

For LeBron James, it’s six straight trips to the NBA Finals.

LeBron James is planning to “appreciate” a sixth consecutive NBA Finals appearance after the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame the Toronto Raptors on Friday to seal victory in their Eastern Conference final series.

LeBron James scored 33 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors 113-87 on Friday to win the Eastern Conference.

Raptors center Bismack Biyombo faces a suspension for a potential Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals after picking up a flagrant foul in the first quarter of Game 6 on Friday night.

Golden State, which set an N.B.A. record for regular-season wins, still faces ouster from the playoffs in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City on Saturday.

“We ain’t going home! We’re not going home!” Stephen Curry screamed at the top of his lungs.

Andrew Bogut responded to his coach’s challenge with a big game for the Golden State Warriors as they kept alive their NBA season on Thursday.

Mike D’Antoni is taking his “Seven Seconds or Less” offense to Houston, where James Harden is waiting to give his new coach the kind of weapon that could be a perfect fit for his system.

Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes bombed in 3-pointers on consecutive possessions during an eight-point flurry that opened a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, and the Golden State Warriors held on from there to stay alive in the Western Conference finals with a 120-111 victory over the Oklahoma Thunder on Thursday night.

Friday's Knicks Links: Johnson has faith in Hornacek

Thursday's Knicks Links: Grant, Wroten may benefit with Hornacek as the new coach

Kevin Love scored 25 points in three quarters of play, and LeBron James and Kyrie Irving each had 23, as Cleveland moved a win away from its second straight N.B.A. Finals.

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has played down suggestions that point guard Stephen Curry is nursing an injury that is hampering his performances in the Western Conference Finals.

Back home, the Cavaliers were not hospitable. Just rude.

LeBron James had 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and Kevin Love returned to form with 25 points as the Cavaliers dismantled the Toronto Raptors in a 116-78 win on Wednesday that gives Cleveland a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Wednesday's Knicks Links: Hornacek didn't have a chance with Suns

Oklahoma City, led by Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, grabbed a commanding lead in the Western Conference finals.

Lowry and DeRozan, who combined for 67 points as Toronto evened its Eastern Conference finals against Cleveland at two games each, have become a two-man force.

The Golden State Warriors are fast becoming a pale shadow of the 73-win team that stormed through the regular season and there is no shortage of theories as to why the league’s most dominant team are now on the verge of playoff elimination.

Suddenly, these Golden State Warriors who have been compared all season to the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s are on the brink of elimination.

The Oklahoma City Thunder moved within one victory of the NBA Finals after beating the Golden State Warriors 118-94 in Game Four on Tuesday.

Craig Sager keeps a copy of Jim Valvano’s 1993 ESPYS speech on his phone. He would play it back sometimes during those long days in the hospital receiving treatment for leukemia.

Tuesday's Knicks Links: Did Vogel take a dig at Jackson?

The N.B.A. fined Green and upgraded the call against him to a flagrant-2 foul but did not suspend him, a potentially critical decision in the Western Conference finals.

Toronto, which got 35 points from Kyle Lowry, is now 8-2 at home in the postseason, but the series is moving back to Cleveland.

Congolese center Bismack Biyombo has gone from bit-part player to Raptors linchpin in the space of two weeks and his emergence has given Toronto a spark in their Eastern Conference final series against Cleveland.

LeBron James has had a standing reservation with the NBA Finals for five consecutive years but the best player of his generation is suddenly in jeopardy of seeing his remarkable streak come to an end.

A series that once looked lopsided is now even.

Kyle Lowry scored 35 points and DeMar DeRozan added 32 as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-99 on Monday to tie the Eastern Conference finals at two wins each.

Monday's Knicks Links: What Hornacek's staff might look like

Jeff Hornacek's 2 ½-season reign in Phoenix saw changes with his coaching staff, leading to clues on whom he might bring aboard with the Knicks. In December, Hornacek's top two assistants, Jerry Sichting and defensive coordinator Mike Longabardi, were let go against Hornacek's wishes. In January, Tyronn Lue, after he was promoted to the Cavaliers'…

Kevin Durant scores a game-high 33 points in a dominant victory.

Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Thunder gave the Warriors as complete a beating as they experienced during their record-setting season.

Draymond Green helped motivate Golden State to a record-breaking 73-game winning season but the struggling Warriors will be hoping their emotional forward can avoid suspension after he picked up a flagrant foul on Sunday.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined to score 63 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Golden State Warriors 133-105 on Sunday to take a 2-1 in the Western Conference finals.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dahntay Jones has been suspended for Game Four of the Eastern Conference final against the Toronto Raptors, the NBA announced on Sunday.

DeMar Rozan and Bismack Biyombo led Toronto to a victory in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Cleveland’s perfect playoff run went south in the north.

The Toronto Raptors crushed any ideas that they were going to be swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.

The Toronto Raptors got their first win of the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday with DeMar DeRozan scoring 32 points in a 99-84 Game 3 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Melo: Hornacek's fast offense 'a new opportunity'

Tag, you're "it”! Bartolo Colon was having a miserable night on the mound Wednesday. With two out in the top of the third, the Nationals, up 1-0, had the bases loaded. Colon was wild. He had just hit a batter and, as Gary Cohen pointed out, had walked consecutive batters for the first time in…

Is the triangle dead under soon-to-be-named head coach Jeff Hornacek? Not entirely, said Charley Rosen, one of Phil Jackson's longtime friends who has been in contact with the Zen Master in recent days. "It's hard to imagine Phil caving in and abandoning a system that is entirely flexible and he's had so much success in…