The losses are growing ghastlier by the day for the Cavaliers, who blew an unfathomable 26-point lead in the fourth quarter Sunday afternoon and lost to the Atlanta Hawks in overtime, 126-125. The Cavs are now tied with the Boston Celtics for first place in the East with two games to play. Cleveland is in action again Monday night in Miami; how the Cavs could possibly recover from this abomination and win that game is anyone's guess. "It was a tough loss right here," said LeBron James (6'8''-SF-84), who finished with a triple-double but fouled out in overtime. "We got two games left but I don't know the situation about tomorrow. I'm still kind of calibrating this one." On Friday, the Cavs' regulars were blown out at home by a Hawks team resting all five of its starters. This, in many, many ways, was worse, because the Cavs were trying. The Hawks are the third team in NBA history to come from 26-points down in the fourth quarter and win. "You never want to be in a situation like this but you can always be worse," said Cavs guard Kyrie Irving (6'3''-G-92, college: Duke), who scored a game high 45 points to go with nine assists. "For us, we've just got to think about what's ahead and move onto the next game." James reached his latest triple-double in regulation and finished with 32 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists. He fouled out with 1:52 left in overtime on a loose-ball foul called on the offensive end. James played a ghastly total 47 minutes, a crime considering the Cavs led by 26 through three quarters. Paul Millsap (6'8''-F-85, college: Louisiana Tech) was a late addition to the starting lineup for the Hawks and scored 14 of his team-high 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Cleveland's Kevin Love (6'10''-PF-88, college: UCLA) scored 11 points to go with 15 rebounds in 43 minutes. He shot 4-of-14. The Cavs led in overtime by as many as five points and were still up three when James fouled out. With 25.1 seconds left and Cleveland trailing by a point, Love threw the ball away on an inbounds pass; Kent Bazemore (6'5''-G/F-89, college: ODU) stole the ball and laid it in with 21.9 seconds to go for a 123-120 advantage. Irving was called for a charge on the next possession. The Cavs held a 26-point lead and completely blew it. The Hawks opened the period on a 9-0 spurt and Cleveland never really regained its footing. James failed to get the ball in bounds with 18.7 seconds left, and later fouled Millsap on a 3-point attempt. And then after Bazemore tied Irving up for a jump ball with 4.9 seconds to go on a play in which appeared both Bazemore and Millsap (who was also tying up Irving) had a foot out of bounds. But the call was missed. Millsap buried a jumper at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. "How much is the fine for talking about the refs? It's like 50 (thousand dollars), 25 (thousand? Not worth it," Irving said. "I had some good conversation with the refs. Just a few plays that didn't go our way. That's not the, the kind of the first step that led to the breakdown of what happened in that fourth quarter, and why it extended the game." Neither Mike Dunleavy nor Mike Muscala had scored for Atlanta through three periods. Muscala ran up nine points during the comeback and Dunleavy added seven. Millsap scored nine.As it stands, Cleveland has a bench that either can't or shouldn't be trusted. Kyle Korver was OK, with 11 points in 28 minutes. Richard Jefferson did not score in 18 minutes. Iman Shumpert scored two and Deron Williams (6'3''-PG-84, college: Illinois) added a 3-pointer, and that's it.The Hawks had eight players log at least 20 minutes. The Cavs had six -- their five starters and Korver. "Everything is magnified once they come back like that," coach Tyronn Lue said. "I thought maybe our guys could've got tired because we didn't push the ball in the fourth quarter. We got stops and we just walked the ball up the floor and that put us in one-on-one situations. We took some bad shots. We didn't keep playing with the same intensity, the same pace offensively once we did get stops. "I don't know if guys were tired at that point because they played a lot of minutes." It was James' career-high 13th triple-double this season and 55th for his career during the regular season. He needs four more to catch Larry Bird for sixth place all-time in triple-doubles. James entered play shooting .548 this season; he is on pace to become the first player in NBA history to average at least 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while shooting .540 or better from the field. The Cavs led 38-21 at the end of the first quarter. They were 7-of-13 from 13-point range. It was 65-46 at halftime and 93-67 after three quarters. And then the meltdown began. Courtesy of: cleveland.com
TJ Warren to sign contract extension with Phoenix Suns - 8 hours ago
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Since general manager Ryan McDonough took over in 2013, the Suns have sifted through trades and draft picks in hopes of finding long-term talent. It appears they consider T.J. Warren(6'8''-F-95, college: N.Carolina St.) fits that category. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the fourth-year forward has come to terms with Phoenix on a contract extension that would keep him in the desert through 2022. A former ACC Player of the Year at North Carolina State, Warren has flashed the same fl... [read more]
Since general manager Ryan McDonough took over in 2013, the Suns have sifted through trades and draft picks in hopes of finding long-term talent. It appears they consider T.J. Warren (6'8''-F-95, college: N.Carolina St.) fits that category. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the fourth-year forward has come to terms with Phoenix on a contract extension that would keep him in the desert through 2022. A former ACC Player of the Year at North Carolina State, Warren has flashed the same flair for scoring that he showed in college, averaging 11.2 points per game on 50.2-percent shooting in just over 24 minutes per contest over his three-year career. He has, however, struggled to stay on the court due to injury, playing in just 153 games over the last three seasons. Courtesy of: nba.com
The Thunder tabs Markel Brown, ex Khimki - 23 hours ago
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Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA) inked 25-year old point guard Markel Brown (191-85kg-92, college: Oklahoma State) on a training camp contract. He played most recently at BC Khimki Moscow Region in Russian VTB league. In 11 Eurocup games he averaged 5.0ppg and 2.3rpg last season. Brown helped them to make it to the quarterfinals. He also played 21 games in VTB United League where he had 5.3ppg, 2.7rpg and 1.1apg. Brown contributed to his team making it to the final. He also spent pre-season at... [read more]
Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA) inked 25-year old point guard Markel Brown (191-85kg-92, college: Oklahoma State) on a training camp contract. He played most recently at BC Khimki Moscow Region in Russian VTB league. In 11 Eurocup games he averaged 5.0ppg and 2.3rpg last season. Brown helped them to make it to the quarterfinals. He also played 21 games in VTB United League where he had 5.3ppg, 2.7rpg and 1.1apg. Brown contributed to his team making it to the final. He also spent pre-season at the Cavaliers that year. Brown contributed to his team making it to the final. Three years ago he was drafted by Minnesota Timberwolves in second round (44th overall). Brown attended Oklahoma State until 2014 and it will be his fourth season in pro basketball. Among other achievements he received All-Big 12 2nd Team award back in 2013 and 2014 at his college time. Brown has played previously for two other NBA teams: Brooklyn Nets and Maine Red Claws.
The last few months have been one of the most chaotic and entertaining off-seasons in memory. With the inarguable dominance of the Golden State Warriors, every NBA General Manager not named Bob Riley has had to decide whether to build their teams slowly and hope the Warriors taper off in the next few years or to push their chips in and make a run for the current champs. Well, we now have our answers and it seems the gaps between the haves and have-nots have grown. Let's take a look at the... [read more]
The last few months have been one of the most chaotic and entertaining off-seasons in memory. With the inarguable dominance of the Golden State Warriors, every NBA General Manager not named Bob Riley has had to decide whether to build their teams slowly and hope the Warriors taper off in the next few years or to push their chips in and make a run for the current champs. Well, we now have our answers and it seems the gaps between the haves and have-nots have grown. Let's take a look at the big trades that created would-be contenders for next season's championship.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The first splash made was on June 21, as the Chicago Bulls traded away 2016-17 All NBA 3rd Team member Jimmy Butler to Minnesota. After picking up hometowner Dwayne Wade last year, expectations grew that the Bulls could make some noise in the East. The result was a 41-41 group and a less-than-happy locker room. Butler is thrilled to be reunited with head coach Tom Thibodeau and the T-Wolves expect the three-time All-Star to bring the same offense of departing Zach Levine plus lockdown defense and leadership to great young talents Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony-Towns. Throw in the free-agent acquisition of point guard Jeff Teague and you have a legitimate contender in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Trade Grade: B
Houston Rockets
Next up was the Rockets. They managed to grab elite point guard Chris Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers. CP3 had one foot out the door with a deteriorating relationship with head coach Doc Rivers. Paul is one of the best distributors in the game (career 9.9apg) and even at 32 years old, is a top defender, with seven All-Defensive First Team awards). He joins a team that is building itself in the image of the Warriors with a premium placed on an up-tempo offensive pace with a lot of three-point shooting. Houston finished last year with the third-best record in the league and, on paper, are now stronger. The question everyone is asking revolves around Paul and Harden's ability to share the ball; if they can, the Rockets might have punched a ticket to the Western Conference finals. Trade Grade: A
Oklahoma City Thunder
Not to be left out of the Western Conference arms race, the Thunder swooped in and traded for the highly prized Indiana Pacer, Paul George. OKC didn't give up much given the expectation that George will head elsewhere when his contract expires, with the Lakers being his top choice. With George, OKC now has one of the toughest defenses on paper and although getting through the Warriors, Rockets, Wolves and Spurs will be tough, the Thunder, as of August 13, provide great value to win the West at +1700. If George and and reigning MVP Russell Westbrook play well together, Thunder GM Sam Presti believes he can convince both to stay rather than have George - and possibly Westbrook - walk at the end of the season. Trade Grade: B
Cleveland Cavaliers & Boston Celtics
In a summer of big-name moves, the true blockbuster came on August 21 and surprisingly was between the two prohibitive favorites in the East. The Cavs sent the disgruntled Kyrie Irving to Boston for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a 2018 first-round pick. Celtics GM Danny Ainge was expected to keep methodically building his team for contendership in the near future but with the signing of Gordon Hayward he apparently thinks Irving puts Boston over the top. Thomas has a hip injury with no fixed date of return so his absence hurts the Cavs now and increases their interest in acquiring Dwayne Wade although there's no guarantee there. The addition of Crowder and a likely early first-round pick next year helps them in the future. Trade Grade: Cavs B / Celtics A-
As with most trades, it takes time to get a true evaluation and when draft picks are included a bad trade can become good, or vice versa. It seems all of these trades were made with an attempt to win in the short-term. Many of these big names have only one year left on their current contract and are UFAs at the end of this season (Paul, Thomas, George) so their departure would be a bitter pill for the teams they currently play for. While these teams seem to represent the short list of teams to occupy the four conference finals spots, let's not forget that sometimes the best trade you make is the one you don't. The San Antonio Spurs still have kept their roster largely intact with FA signings and still have arguably the best head coach in NBA history. In the East, Toronto, Washington and Milwaukee will look to improve on last year's performances. The rest of the league, however, seems to be content to take the slow lane to rebuild for the long-term and wait for these current Warriors to go away.
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