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New York Knicks – Carmelo Anthony Isn’t Even Tanking
Another loss for the New York Knicks doesn’t surprise anyone. Carmelo Anthony plays well, but he and his teammates are on a different level, giving up too much of a head start to the Milwaukee Bucks in a 117-113 loss that wasn’t really that close.
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Kentucky Over Kansas – Scary Good Way Too Early
It might not be a team with a number one overall pick in it, but Kentucky, with John Calipari doing the recruiting, have probably assembled the deepest and most talented team in the nation by far, with ten players that would start on any other squad in the country, unleashing their size and defense on Kansas, walking away with the 72-40 win.
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Duke Over Michigan State – Passing the First Big Test
Most of the focus in every Duke game goes to Jahlil Okafor, the popular choice for number one pick in the next NBA draft. But in his first big College Basketball game, it wasn’t just about him as the Blue Devils beat Michigan State 81-71, getting plenty of help from Quinn Cook, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow.
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Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe Bryant Doesn’t Trust Jeremy Lin or Anyone Else
The words spoken by each player after the Los Angeles Lakers were humiliated at home 136-115 by the Golden State Warriors clearly show a pattern: There’s Kobe Bryant, and there’s the rest of the team, with Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer clearly not happy with how things are behind handled on the floor.
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Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe Bryant Thinking About Scoring, Jeremy Lin About the Team
The Los Angeles Lakers, considering the circumstances (no big star wanting to play with Kobe Bryant) made some good moves in the offseason: Bringing Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin among others. But the selfish drive of Bryant to score as many points as possible and forget about the damage he’s doing to his own franchise and teammates shows just what he actually cares about at this stage of his career.
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Lance Stephenson Flops After Hitting Himself
There’s no doubt Lance Stephenson is a good basketball player. But actions like these – hitting himself and then flopping while trying to make Harrison Barnes get called for a foul in the game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Golden State Warriors makes him also an embarrassing member of his franchise and the NBA in general.
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Clippers Over Suns – When Lob City Play Defense Too
The main reason the Los Angeles Clippers are off to what some may call a disappointing start this season is their defense. Yes, they did give up 107 points in a 120-107 win over the Phoenix Suns, but there was more to the victory this time than Chris Paul feeding Blake Griffin above the rim for dunks. DeAndre Jordan dominating near the rim made the big difference this time.
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Sacramento Kings – DeMarcus Cousins Keeps Changing Impressions
If you weren’t taking the Sacramento Kings and DeMarcus Cousins seriously, maybe their 94-91 win over the San Antonio Spurs will change your mind. After years of rebuilding and failing to find the right formula, it finally seems like a franchise that almost left to a different city not too long ago is on the right path towards success.
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Pacers Over Bulls – Maybe This Season Won’t be a Disaster
Perhaps playing ugly basketball with disciplined defense added to the feeling of being counted out by almost everyone is making the Indiana Pacers do better than expected this season, beating a Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls 99-90, winning for a third time in four games.
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Cleveland Cavaliers – LeBron James the Best in the NBA Once Again
The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to look good, LeBron James continues to be great. He led an excellent team performance for a 127-94 win over the Atlanta Hawks, a fourth consecutive victory for the Cavs, this coming with acceptable defense and an elite shooting performance.