Phoenix Suns – The News Desk

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

16Apr

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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

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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

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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

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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...

13Dec

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‘I didn’t intend to hit him’: Green defends punching Nurkić in NBA game – video | Sport

NBA bad boy Draymond Green was ejected after hitting Jusuf Nurkić in the face during the Warriors' game against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. It has been less than a month since Green was suspended for five games by the league for putting Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert in a headlock during an altercation in November. Green and Nurkić were battling in the third quarter when the Warriors' player appeared to slightly lose his balance before inexplicably wheeling around and smacking Nurkić in the face. Nurkić immediately crumpled to the ground but eventually got up and continued the game. The referees reviewed the play before calling Green for a flagrant 2 foul, which causes an automatic ejection.

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

12Nov

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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...

Hollinger: Victor Wembanyama’s breakout was a sight to behold in Phoenix

4Nov

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Hollinger: Victor Wembanyama’s breakout was a sight to behold in Phoenix

PHOENIX — There’s a special feeling when you’re in the building for that, “Holy s—!” moment, that rare, special game in which a young prodigy establishes that he’s ready to take his place as one of the game’s next big stars.While it didn’t take a rocket scientist, or even a Rocket, to determine that Victor Wembanyama was likely on that trajectory, Thursday was that day for him. His 38-point outburst was the exclamation-point performance, the game that told everyone the league’s Next Big Thing has officially arrived.If you missed it, the San Antonio Spurs’ 7-foot-4 French phenom took over crunchtime in just his fifth NBA game, scoring 10 points in a pivotal 12-0 run to break open a tied game late in the fourth quarter, as San Antonio swept a two-game series in Phoenix with a 132-121 win ov...

The NBA has a new resting policy, but stars are already missing games. Is it working?

1Nov

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The NBA has a new resting policy, but stars are already missing games. Is it working?

The NBA avoided an early existential crisis Sunday night when the reigning league MVP was in fact able to put on his uniform and take the court with the other available Philadelphia 76ers for their home opener.For a few hours, Joel Embiid was “questionable” to play in the Sixers’ third game of the season. Not because he is hurt, but for “rest.”“There’s nothing injury-wise. We just played last night, traveled and all that stuff,” explained Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse, offering Sixers fans the chance to breathe easy and NBA officials a reason to cringe.GO DEEPER'Super dominating': Joel Embiid shows NBA that he remains the 76ers franchiseHad Embiid rested Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers, it would have been a direct and serious challenge to the NBA’s new policy that restricts when...

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

22Oct

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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...

Hollinger: Lakers, Warriors, Grizzlies and more — predicting the top of the NBA’s West

20Oct

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Hollinger: Lakers, Warriors, Grizzlies and more — predicting the top of the NBA’s West

Hollinger’s 2023-24 projections: West’s Bottom 8 | East’s Bottom 8 | East’s Top 7So, how exactly are we supposed to make distinctions among the top seven teams in the NBA’s Western Conference? All seven went all-in on this year, more or less — even the Memphis Grizzlies surrendered two firsts to get Marcus Smart —and all project to be waaaay into the luxury tax either this year or next year. Did I mention there are only six guaranteed playoff spots? Uh-oh.News flash: Nobody made these moves to win 45 games and lose in the first round. Expectations are high all over the West, even for a few teams I don’t even project to crack the top seven. A few teams are going to be terribly disappointed come April, and that could have some serious ramifications for the next offseason.In the meantime, g...