New York Knicks – The News Desk

2024 NBA playoffs preview: Play-in predictions, first-round series guide

16Apr

By adminNo Comments

Sports

2024 NBA playoffs preview: Play-in predictions, first-round series guide

Are you ready for some NBA postseason? We got a little taster on the season’s final weekend, with a few teams playing high-stakes games that resembled playoff environments. That was particularly true in the jumbled Western Conference standings, where the New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings were locked in a series of huge games that determined spots six through 10 in the West hierarchy.And now, we exhale. There are no games Monday, but we get two big play-in games on Tuesday and Wednesday before the final play-in for each conference on Friday; that sets the bracket for the main event to start this weekend with four games on both Saturday and Sunday. The first round runs two weeks, with potential seventh games on the weekend of ...

NBA Pre-Postseason Player Tiers 1 and 2: Wembanyama quickly rising; Giannis, Jokić steady at top

13Apr

By adminNo Comments

Sports

NBA Pre-Postseason Player Tiers 1 and 2: Wembanyama quickly rising; Giannis, Jokić steady at top

Yesterday, I largely focused on setting the table for the updated NBA Pre-Postseason Players Tiers before revealing Tier 3 (players between the 24th and 42nd spot) and Tier 4 (Nos. 43-80).Today, I’m going to get a little more into some of the more interesting and/or challenging placements, as well as note a few overall trends.For starters, a consistent bit of feedback — and one I’ve gotten from multiple sources since the release of Tiers 3 and 4 — is the always difficult evaluation of which player is more valuable between an elite role player and a good-but-not-great primary or secondary creator. A senior analytics staffer within the league went so far as to argue they would prefer essentially the entirety of Tier 4A, largely made up of elite role players or connectors, over Tier 3B, whic...

New scene at NBA games: Fans screaming at players about their losing bets

4Apr

By adminNo Comments

Sports

New scene at NBA games: Fans screaming at players about their losing bets

NBA players have always gotten an earful from fans, whether at home or on the road. It comes with the job.But this season, it’s getting darker.The recent surge in legalized gambling in every pro league, and throughout college athletics, has impacted American sports in ways thought unimaginable just a few years ago. But along with the potential good that hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenues bring to the NBA and other leagues, something new and ominous has arrived: verbal abuse directed at players and coaches based solely on fans’ wagers.GO DEEPERTrotter: With legalized betting, could society be the big loser?Fans can now bet in real-time on their smartphones, on all aspects of the game, including minutiae such as how many rebounds one player might get in the first half, and how ...

Dunking hurts: Why players hate — and love — the NBA’s greatest feat

23Dec

By adminNo Comments

Sports

Dunking hurts: Why players hate — and love — the NBA’s greatest feat

The dunk is basketball’s most lionized play. The most iconic ones are canonized, referenced fondly and often, debated for their merits and significance. The sport’s language has created so many names for it: jam, yam, slam, poster, stuff, hammer. It’s a unique club that only few on this world can join. It’s marvelous.And it hurts like hell.“Can you think of any other concept where your hand swings at something metal?” 11-year NBA veteran Austin Rivers asks. “It’ll probably hurt, yeah?”When asked, players catalog the pain dunking has caused: broken nails; bent fingers; recent bruises; lasting scars; midair collisions; twisted necks; dangerous landings. Injuries that cost them games or even seasons.Derrick Jones Jr., a former NBA All-Star Weekend dunk contest winner now with the Dallas Mave...

Knicks drop first game against team with losing record in loss to Jazz

14Dec

By adminNo Comments

Health

Knicks drop first game against team with losing record in loss to Jazz

Julius Randle drew two on the drive, looked to the baseline then rifled a no-look pass to Josh Hart, who was wide-open on the left wing for an opportunity to tie with just seconds left in the Knicks’ loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. Hart missed — but Immanuel Quickley secured an offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Jalen Brunson, who, like Hart, had a good look at the rim with the game on the line. No dice. Even Donte DiVincenzo, on a hot shooting night, had a chance to extend the game with a clean look at a three that airballed with less than 15 seconds left on the clock. He got another chance, intercepting the ensuing Jazz inbounds pass and forcing a foul on the play. The Jazz were in the bonus, and DiVincenzo needed to make both free throws to make it a one-possession game i...

Ex-Nets consultant Steve Clifford says Big 3 not a failed experiment

12Nov

By adminNo Comments

Health

Ex-Nets consultant Steve Clifford says Big 3 not a failed experiment

Former Nets defensive consultant Steve Clifford pushed back on the notion that putting Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden on the same team was a bad idea. “I know people look at that like it was a failed experiment,” Clifford, now head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, said ahead of tipoff against the Knicks on Sunday. “To say that wasn’t a good idea or that they didn’t do this enough, I was there. They did work hard. They did have a great attitude. You can’t play games in this league without your best player.” Clifford joined the Nets staff ahead of the 2021-22 season, after the Nets had come within an inch of Durant’s shoe from defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs. The Bucks went on to defeat the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Final...

2023-24 NBA City Edition Jerseys: Every Nike uniform ranked from worst to first

12Nov

By adminNo Comments

Sports

2023-24 NBA City Edition Jerseys: Every Nike uniform ranked from worst to first

The 2023-24 Nike NBA City Edition uniforms were unveiled last Thursday. NBA fans will be treated to another season where alternate uniforms, according to Nike, continue to “represent the stories, history and heritage that make each franchise unique.”The uniforms are now in their seventh season with the NBA, and they have been a big hit in the past. Home teams will wear the uniforms throughout the NBA In-Season Tournament, which tipped off last Friday and will run until Dec. 9.The big question: How does this year’s collection of uniforms look? The 30 Nike NBA City Edition jerseys for the 2023-24 season.The unveiling gave The Athletic’s team of Jason Jones, James Edwards III and Kelly Iko an opportunity to discuss the jerseys in depth. The trio conferred about all 30 City Editi...

Bold predictions for the NBA season, including Wembanyama the All-Star and a Celtics title

22Oct

By adminNo Comments

Sports

Bold predictions for the NBA season, including Wembanyama the All-Star and a Celtics title

What time is it? That’s right … it’s time to make some outlandish statements that people will look back on next spring and cackle hysterically.OK, that’s not actually the goal, but it is certainly an occupational hazard. Prognostication makes fools of us all; there are just too many things we can’t possibly have seen coming. Thank goodness for that, actually, as sports would be pretty boring otherwise.That won’t stop me from trying, though. With the regular season starting next week, now is the time to gaze into my extremely hazy crystal ball and make some calls for what will happen in the coming months. In particular, the goal is to make some calls that might go against the tide and are actually, y’know … bold. For instance, “Nikola Jokić will make the All-Star team” is a defensible pre...

NBA’s sudden change of heart on load management is odd, but better late than never

15Oct

By adminNo Comments

Sports

NBA’s sudden change of heart on load management is odd, but better late than never

The NBA’s 180 on load management is giving me whiplash.Five seconds ago, every available piece of science the NBA told us it had in its possession from its teams said – screamed – the same thing: players not only needed more time off but that the league would be derelict in its partnership with its players if it didn’t align with teams, whose data said: rest.The league cut way back on back-to-back games. Many teams eliminated morning shootarounds, as they were viewed as disruptive to players’ sleep patterns. Every team had a “Director of Very Important Sports Science and Cutting Edge MahnaMahna” and scores of eager data collectors. Wearables tracked every waking moment of every player, what they ate, and when. Cameras high above each arena tracked every movement of every player on the cou...

Knicks sue Raptors, allege ex-employee served as a “mole” to steal scouting secrets

22Aug

By adminNo Comments

Money

Knicks sue Raptors, allege ex-employee served as a “mole” to steal scouting secrets

AP Knicks writer Brian Mahoney on the championship chase AP Knicks writer Brian Mahoney on the championship chase 10:10 The New York Knicks sued the Toronto Raptors, their new head coach and a former Knicks scouting employee on Monday, saying the defendants conspired to steal thousands of videos and other scouting secrets over the past few weeks.The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court seeks unspecified damages and a ban on the further spread of the Knicks' trade secrets. The lawsuit claimed ...