Category: NBA

The NBA Playoffs would have started today. Instead, the entire planet is on an extended timeout. The world is frozen. Can the NBA (and other sports) resume? 

Given the state of COVID-19 in the U.S. (over 720,000 infected and 33,000 deaths), there is no way for the games to restart next week or next month. Not with 19,000 fans screaming inside the Staples Center.

The only way to resume the contest?

“Nobody comes to the stadium.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading U.S. infectious disease expert, had this response: “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them (the players) in big hotels, you know, wherever you want to play. Keep them very well surveilled, namely a surveillance, but have them tested, like every week. By a gazillion tests. And make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family. And just let them play the season out. I mean, that’s a really artificial way to do it, but when you think about it, it might be better than nothing.”

LeBron James, when was asked about this possibility, had this reply: “Ain’t playing if I ain’t got the fans in the crowd.” 

But LBJ’s reply was back in March. This was before the world realized the cruelty and venom of the coronavirus.

So the possibility of fans sitting side by side in a packed arena is hallucinatory. It’s not possible. Not even the “checkerboard” arrangement, where fans sit one or two seats apart, is acceptable.

President Trump concurs with the no-fans option, saying, “It’ll be made for television. The good old days, made for television.”

Here’s the viable scenario for the NBA: Choose a couple of key U.S. cities. (I’m sure New York, given its epicenter status, won’t be one of them.) Group together the teams and restart the league with a locked-down hotel and stadium without fans.

The “quarantined bubble,” it’s called. It’s muted, boring, desolate and lifeless — yet possible. But herein lies a problem: Can you fully isolate the hundreds of players and staff of the 30 NBA teams?

Dr. Caroline Buckee of the Harvard School of Public Health is frightened with this approach.

“It sounds like potentially a bad idea,” Dr. Buckee said. “I don’t think it’s realistic to completely isolate and quarantine the players. For a start, there are people who will need to clean their rooms, feed them, wash their clothes, janitorial staff and so forth. And those people will not be protected and they will be interacting with their communities. It is very difficult to truly self-isolate. Purposefully putting people at risk seems foolish.”

What if there’s one COVID-19 case that will infiltrate this bubble? Think of a scenario like a cruise ship.

This is a risky option. But the league doesn’t have a choice.

The NBA is composed of 30 teams. After the season tipped-off last October 16, a total of 1,230 regular season games were played in the U.S. and Canada (Toronto). From the original 30, a total of 14 teams were eliminated. Only the top 8 squads per conference qualified to join the playoffs, which began last April 13.

From the 16 teams that entered the NBA Playoffs, we’re down to 8. If this were another sport, it’s called the quarterfinals. What comments can we deduce so far?

One, the Golden State Warriors is Number One. Led by the unstoppable force named Kevin Durant, GSW is, by far, the team poised to collect their 4th NBA ring in five years. There are websites that provide real-time odds and, after their 2-0 lead against the Houston Rockets, the Warriors are now -200 favorites to win the title. (Your $200 bet will win you only $100.)

Durant. Curry. Thompson. Green. Igoudala. How can you bet against this formation? They’re the Avengers and, for everyone else, it’s an end game.

The Houston Rockets, we thought (and many hoped), would topple the Warriors, like they almost did last year. But that’s looking unlikely. Chances are, after extinguishing the team of James Harden and Chris Paul, the next challenge for GSW in the Western Finals will be easy prey.

Denver or Portland? What a scintillating 4OT game yesterday! But either team won’t pose a major Thanos-like problem for Golden State.

The East is more exciting. After stealing Game 1 in Milwaukee, we expected the Boston Celtics to sustain the momentum and overwhelm Giannis Antetokounmpo. Given the erratic wins and losses of the Celtics in the regular season, what we witnessed in the playoffs was the rejuvenated Celtics. They swept the Indiana Pacers and extinguished the Bucks in Game 1 for a 5-game winning streak.

Celtics all the way to the NBA Finals, right? Not so fast. They lost Game 2 and lost again at TD Garden yesterday. It’s back to the same erratic performances for Boston.

My choice in the East? The 76ers. Back in November, my wife Jasmin and I had the chance to watch Philadelphia play the Atlanta Hawks at the Wells Fargo Arena. The experience was electrifying. Joel Embiid, JJ Redick and Ben Simmons were the stars. Then they added Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris. Today, they’re much stronger and are leading the Toronto Raptors, 2-1.

My forecast? Warriors-Trail Blazers and Bucks-76ers; Warriors-76ers in the final with California winning again.

The side talk has been on the 2019-2020 season given the list of the upcoming free agents: Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Kristaps Porzingis, Kemba Walker and Jimmy Butler.

Imagine the scenario of Zion Williamson landing with the Knicks and Durant and Irving joining the rookie in New York? This will vault the lowest-performing team (17-65 this season) into the top spot.

For Lakers fans, how about Kawhi joining LeBron? Or is Kawhi flying to LA but the other LA team: the Clippers? The possibilities are irrestible.

It’s over. Let’s pop the champagne, ignite the loudspeakers, switch on the spotlight and proclaim the winner. It’s Russell Westbrook. He just recorded his 34th triple-double, leads the NBA in scoring with 31.7 PPG, and has sparked the Thunder’s lightning with an impressive 39-29 record (sixth in the West) — all minus Kevin Durant. Impressive? No. We need a better adjective. How about the letters M-V-P?

Let’s discuss that triple-double (which means, to the non-basketball fan, that he reaches double digits in three categories, usually in points, assists and rebounds). The all-time record for one season belongs to Oscar Robertson’s 41, which he achieved in 1962. Fifty-five years later, Westbrook has 34 ‘TDs’ with 14 games left. This means that if he records a triple-double in every other remaining game, he’ll at least tie “The Big O’s” milestone.

Given that his jersey number is “0,” will Russell break that record and be crowned today’s “Big O?” I think he will. I hope so. As each game passes, fans will watch. It’s like Golden State last year when we kept score until they won No. 73. With his latest triple-double, recorded last Thursday against the Raptors, that was his fourth straight. In that game, despite sitting out the 4th quarter, he made 16 assists — more than the entire Raptors squad. How ludicrous is that? And he’s not a hulking LeBron; he’s the same height as the 6’3” James Yap.

“I think he (Westbrook) is very conscious of the achievement,” said Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN. “He’s such an electric player with so much stage presence. And, like, from the moment he struts into the arena, usually in this outrageous outfit, he has this sneer on his face. He’s an athlete that likes to play angry. And you get the sense if he didn’t, it might even compromise his production.”

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

HARDEN. But, wait, because the NBA has 30 teams with 15 per squad for a total of 450 players, who else is vying for the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, named after the league’s first commissioner? There’s Mr. James of the defending champs. Kawhi Leonard, who averaged 16.2 PPG in his career, now averages 26.4 and has spurred the Spurs to battle GSW for No.1. But the best rival for Westbrook?

“James Harden is my MVP choice,” said Dennis Que, a huge basketball fan who’s watched nearly 20 live NBA games, including last year’s playoff game between the Clippers and the Trail Blazers. “He’s averaging close to triple double, leading the league in assists (11.3) and leading his team on top of the West (currently 3rd). He doesn’t have superstars around him like the Cavaliers and Warriors but because of his presence, his teammates are playing well. That’s Harden’s edge over Westbrook.”

A possibility that Dennis foresees? If last year the NBA had it’s first unanimous MVP in Steph Curry, how about its first co-MVPs in Westbrook and Harden?

After yesterday’s Super Bowl and Lady Gaga show, this weekend it’s the NBA All-Star Game with John Legend in Louisiana. It’s the 66th edition of this star-studded show, when 7-footers fly to dunk, when the defense is absent and nobody wants to foul, when last year, the West defeated the East, 196-173. Can you believe that offensive output? Are we about to see the league’s first-ever score exceeding 200? It’s possible.

This 2017 All-Star Game has been controversial. Let’s talk about Russell Westbrook. Last year and the year before, he was named the All-Star MVP. Thus far this season, the 6-foot-3 OKC Thunder guard has been averaging incredible numbers: 31 PPG, 10.3 APG and 10.4 RPG. Against Memphis last Friday, he recorded his 25th triple-double. If he continues at this pace, he’ll become the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1962 to achieve double-figure in rebounds, assists and points. Consider this: Westbrook is achieving triple-double stats while averaging 31 points per game.

“Such a feat (is) a remarkable achievement.. if not the greatest individual season in NBA history,” said Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo Sports.

So what’s the controversy with Westbrook? It’s this: While he’s en route to possibly winning the year’s MVP trophy — Westbrook was not picked to start for the West in the All-Star Game. He’ll be a reserve, waiting in the bench, clapping for the First 5 to jump ball.

“It is what it is,” Westbrook said. “That’s the nature of the business, the game. I just play. I don’t play for All-Star bids. I play to win championships and every night I compete at a high level, and it’ll work out. I just continue doing what I’m doing and play the game the right way, and everything else will work out.”

Here’s what happened: For the first time, the NBA changed the rules on how the All-Star players get selected. The voting system this season is comprised of the media (25%), the players (25%) and the fans (50%).

In summary, James Harden and Steph Curry were picked and Westbrook was dislodged. Understandably, this issue is debatable; Harden and Curry are top-notch. Still, given Westbrook’s outlandish start, he deserves to be a starter.

“His absence from the starting lineup,” said Nicholas Goss of NESN, “is arguably the worst snub in All-Star game history (in any sport).”

Agree. I’ve never been a Westbrook fan. But how can you deny someone who’s achieved triple-double in 25 of OKC’s 52 games?

If you think the two finalists from last season — the Cavs and Warriors — are tops after three weeks, you’re slightly wrong. Cleveland, no thanks to LeBron sitting out in their defeat to Indiana, lost twice and won 10 times. Golden State sports a similar record. Impressive.

But not as remarkable as the Los Angeles Clippers. Is the team owned by billionaire Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO, for real? En route to their 11-2 record, they obliterated the Trailblazers, 111-80, humiliated the Spurs by 24 points and against the hapless Kings yesterday, the Sacramento squad was hopeless.

Wrapping up Week 4 of the season’s 82 weeks, it’s the Clippers at the No. 1 spot followed jointly by Kevin Durant’s team and Kyrie Irving’s group. Sitting in No. 4 is the Spurs, winner of their last five and sporting a 10-3 scorecard. Fifth spot is handed to the Atlanta Hawks (9-3). No surprises in the Top 5.

With the Clippers, you may ask, what’s different and better this season, other than the triumvirate excellence of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan? The addition of Marreese Speights. Wrote Andrew Sharp and Rohan Nadkarni for SI.com: “Mo Buckets is a solid 98% responsible for the Clippers’ hot start. Who else can give you such a perfect combination of mean mugs and line-drive threes off the bench? … Seriously, I have no clue why Golden State let Speights walk, especially considering he signed for the minimum.”

As hot as the Clippers are, we know that they are less glittery and popular compared to the other Los Angeles squad. This belongs to the “over-performing” Lakers.

Who’d have expected that the Lakers would win three of their first four games, including a 20-point drubbing of their California neighbors, the Warriors? While they lost yesterday to the Spurs (mainly because D’Angelo Russell, with his 16.8 PPG average, was out with a sore knee), the Lakers are still carrying a surprising 7-win, 6-loss clip.

Kudos to our Filipino-American star Jordan Clarkson. The 6-foot-5 guard whose mom Annette is half-Filipina is averaging 15 points per game. Without Kobe Bryant in the spotlight, this youthful team has blossomed.

“We’ve kind of moved on,” Clarkson said of the post-Kobe era. “It’s almost like breaking up with your girlfriend. It’s kind of weird without them around and stuff. But it’s just us. We’re in our own space now. We’re creating something new.”

DEROZAN. Moving to the individual statistics, who have performed best?

For points, it’s the Raptors’ shooting guard DeMar DeRozan with 33.3 PPG, followed by Russell Westbrook (31.8) and Anthony Davis (30.5).

With DeRozan, what’s fascinating is that he’s accumulating points (including two 40-point games) minus the use of 3-pointers. Beyond the arc, he’s only made six shots in 11 games! So unlike last year’s top-scorer, Mr. Curry.

“I don’t shoot 3s because I choose not to shoot 3s,” DeRozan said. “If I shoot them, I know I can make them. I feel like every time I get the ball I can get to the rim or I can get fouled. That’s just what my mindset is.”

Paul Flannery of SBNation.com added: “DeRozan is one of my favorite players because he’s A) a really nice guy and B) he makes everyone so damn mad with his style of play. It’s like they take it personally when he pulls up from mid-range. How dare he!”

With Anthony Davis, while his Pelicans are the second-to-the-lowest team in the West (3-10), he’s tops with 2.91 blocks per game. And while you’d consider Russell Westbrook as a ball hogger and selfish I-can-do-it-all player, his 31.8 PPG average is complemented by a league second-best in assists, 9.8 APG. Not bad, especially after somebody said this of him earlier this week: “I am truly a fan of his. If you can ever say – being as we’re so many years apart – that when I watch him play, I see a lot of resemblance of his passion for the game of basketball, the way I played the game of basketball.”

The man complimenting Westbrook? Michael Jordan.

(Photo by Tony Dejak/AP)

Like Boston and LA, or Crispa versus Toyota, or the Red Sox against the Yankees in baseball, or La Salle-Ateneo, or the Spanish neighbors Barcelona and Real Madrid — we all crave for rivalries.

Are we en route to seeing another mega-clash when Cleveland meets Golden State in The Finals starting June 2? Yes. While the Game 1 shocker of OKC was an aberration that will be corrected this week, all hopes and bets point to a repeat of last year’s final.

Here’s the interesting narrative: While Golden State shattered the record of Michael Jordan & Co. by winning 73 this regular season, it’s not them but Cleveland who’s been spotless in the playoffs.

Ten-oh. Will be it 11-0 this morning when the super-confident Cavs play in Canada? I wouldn’t bet my dog Bolt against it.  All season long, we doubted the Cavs. Kyrie Irving was absent for the first 23 games, recovering from a fractured kneecap. They fired David Blatt in January — and it’s never a good omen when you terminate a head coach midway through the intramurals.

It turns out — possibly like our political scene — that change is good. Since Tyronn Lue assumed the coaching honors, the team from Ohio has become, like the Olympic motto… faster, higher, stronger. They’re obliterating the East with a winning margin of 13.4 points per game. Their 10-zero record is the third-longest ever to begin the playoffs.

One major reason, scribes have written, was because in the beginning of his stint, Lue confronted LeBron James to “STFU.” If you don’t know what that means, experiment with an expletive-laden line that begins with “Shut the…” The coach meant to set the tone early with the 4-time MVP, as if to tell him, “Hey, ‘Bron, you may be the orchestra’s star violinist, but I’m the conductor.”

With Kevin Love healthy and Kyrie’s injuries healed, the Cavaliers have transformed themselves not only as challengers but as true title-holder contenders (the latest odds by pollster Nate Silver still puts GSW on top with a 44 percent chance of winning the trophy against 30% for the Cavs).

Now 10-0, can the Cavs go all the way and win 16-0? There’s a funny story of how LeBron’s “prediction” is coming true. Six weeks ago, he was asked by ESPN if the Cavs are ready to do battle for 20 to 25 games in the playoffs.

LeBron turned to his seatmate.

“Tristan (Thompson), how many games do we need to win in the playoffs to win a championship?” James asked.

“Sixteen,” Thompson said.

“Exactly,” James told the reporter. “Sixteen.”

Ha-ha. Almost impossible to “Sweep 16” but it’s not improbable. (Just a far-fetched thought: If they win their next six, they’ll steal this record-breaking season from GSW. The best-ever playoff run belongs to the 2001 Lakers who went 15-1.)

The main question amidst all these queries is this: Can Stephen Curry stay healthy?

Everybody but the Ohioans hope so. It would be a pity if he’s hobbled and not 111 percent. Thus far, Curry has missed six of 12 playoff games. And, if the ankle injury and the MCL sprain weren’t enough, he jumped into the stands in Game 2 against OKC that resulted in a “tennis ball” knot on his right arm. Ouch.

SC’s painful response? He inflicted pain on OKC; the league’s first unanimous MVP scoring 15 points in two minutes. Curry has to stay healthy. In the same way that LeBron went solo 12 months ago when he dribbled without Love and Irving, the same thing can’t happen to GSW. To fans of both squads, the perfect scenario would be having both teams injury-free in the finals.

(If you think I’m getting ahead of myself by discounting the Thunder, yes, that’s what I’m predicting. Based on the most forecaster Nate Silver, the Warriors have a 59 percent chance of advancing to the NBA Finals.)

Back to our assumption… A Warriors-Cavaliers finale will be one of the most exciting sporting events (not limited to the NBA) this decade. With no offense meant to OKC, I hope Durant and Westbrook don’t silence Golden State’s thunder.

(Photo by Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports)

Oh, no. Given an astronomical 85 percent chance by the oddsmakers of winning at least 73 games prior to their outing yesterday against the Boston Celtics, the Golden State Warriors lost. Now, the age-old saying, “Every game counts,” is more than consequential. It’s imperative.

GSW now stands at 68-8. The math is simple: Win the next five or six and they best the all-time record set by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in 1996. If they lose two out of six, they equal the record. Worse than that and it’s huge, huge disappointment for the defending champions.

Yesterday, when Steph Curry unleashed that 28-footer with 5.3 seconds left in the ballgame, we all believed it would land inside the hole. Wasn’t this the MVP who made six consecutive threes in the 3rd quarter?

Curry missed. He’s human. “Every one of them I think is going down,” said Curry. “But it didn’t.”

Golden State trailed most of the game. Although they converted on 20 three-point shots (imagine, that’s a total of 60 points), they committed too many errors (Curry alone made nine of the team’s 22 turnovers). Boston played well; they drove the lane often for uncontested lay-ups and played tough all throughout. They weren’t rattled, even if the Warriors had never lost at home the last 54 games (and 14 months).

The heartbreaking sequence involved Draymond Green: While he stole the ball from Amir Johnson with 30 seconds to go, in the next play (seven seconds later), it was his bad play that resulted in a steal by the same Amir Johnson.

You know the saying of marathon runners? The toughest part of the 42K is the last kilometer. It’s the same for this Californian squad. As the media questions intensify and as the world’s eyes zoom towards their history-shattering feat, the pressure rises. The opponents possess an I-have-nothing-to-lose mentality while the Warriors have everything to lose.

Six games remain and every one of those six meetings is crucial for GSW. What’s their schedule like? They play their next three at home (in Philippine time: against Portland on Monday, versus Minnesota on Wednesday, and against San Antonio on Friday) before a two-game road trip that takes them to Memphis (next Sunday) and San Antonio (next Monday) as they cap off the regular season with a final Oracle Arena game against Memphis.

The game against Portland tomorrow is all-important. Remember that the Blazers was one of a handful of teams to have defeated the Warriors. This was last Feb. 19 when GSW lost by 32 points. And, in that game, while Steph made 31, his nemesis Damian Lillard scored 51. The consolation for the Warriors: they lost that game not at home but at the Moda Center. Expect the Splash Brothers to avenge that defeat and their loss yesterday with a W tomorrow.

In GSW’s remaining six outings, we know which two are most pivotal: against the Spurs. And you know what the Warriors are hoping for? That coach Gregg Popovich will rest the starters. One player thinks this will happen.

“I think no one will play (against the Warriors),” said Tony Parker, in a recent French radio show. “To Pop, the most important thing is that the players are rested for the playoffs… We are sure we will be the second seed and we can all rest before the playoffs.”

If this happens (and given that they play four of the six at home), chances are that the Warriors will break the record. For sure, NBA fans worldwide will be glued to the internet or the TV to follow GSW’s finale.

What’s next? The playoffs, beginning April 16. For now, Steph Curry is compiling incredible numbers. One of those amazing stats is this: He’s averaging exactly 30.0 points per game. And you know his jersey number, right? What accuracy!

Here’s another inconceivable (but-who-knows-it-may-happen) theory: Curry will win a 2nd MVP award — plus the Most Improved Player trophy.