Month: July 2017

Dwyane Wade joins Jimmy Butler in contempt for Bulls’ suspect effort

Dwyane Wade is not accustomed to losing, and he let his Bulls teammates have it after Wednesday night’s 119-114 loss to the Hawks.

“I don’t know if they care enough, so I can’t say it is. I wish I could say that everyone in here is going to go home and not eat tonight. I can’t say that. I wish I could, but I don’t know that they care enough,” Wade said, via ESPN.com. “Games are supposed to hurt. You’re not supposed to sleep, you’re not supposed to want to talk to anybody.

“These games are supposed to hurt. I don’t know if that is in guys in this locker room. Hopefully they can prove me wrong, but I will challenge them to see if losses like this hurt. We can play bad, we can miss shots, but we’re having too many of these lapses. We’re having too many of these losses. This just can’t be acceptable if you want to do anything besides have an NBA jersey on and make some money. That’s all we’re doing right now.”

Tyronn Lue is actually the fourth coach who Irving has been under since 2010. Before Lue, Byron Scott, Mike Brown and David Blatt all coached the team in relative short succession.

In just the past month, the Cavaliers lost the NBA title and Griffin “parted ways” with the team. Now Cleveland has promoted Koby Altman, who was an assistant under Griffin, to general manager.

As to whether there is any tension between James and Irving, Jefferson said that couldn’t be further from the case.

“I think Kyrie knows how important he is to our team,” Jefferson said. “LeBron knows how important he is. He has been on this podcast. They have been on this podcast together multiple times together where ‘Bron was like, ‘Dude, this is my guy, I need him. He is so important to me, my kids love him.’

“And again, just like any family there are ups and downs, there are moments that you hate them, moments that you love them, and then you just kind of keep it moving.”
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NBA trade rumors: Paul George, Jimmy Butler could move on deadline day

The NBA trade deadline is less than 24 hours away, and the excitement of a blockbuster deal persists after a mostly quiet news night on Wednesday. Two deals were made earlier in the day, but no rumors heated up late into the night. That all could change in a moment’s notice.

Elite Womens Adam Jones Jersey Pelicans center Anthony Davis scored just seven points in 17 minutes before leaving Wednesday’s 94-87 loss to the Raptors with a bruised left wrist. But Chicago’s Jimmy Butler admitted to being a big dud Wednesday, despite scoring 21 points in a 98-91 loss to the Magic.

Butler was just 7 of 21 from the floor, but had five turnovers to go with four rebounds and nine assists.

Authentic Youth Matt Forte Jersey I’ve got to be better. I will be better, he told reporters following the game. There’s nothing else to say about it.

A recent benching must have worked for Hawks guard Dennis Schroder. He scored 31 points in Atlanta’s 110-105 win over the Nets. Included among Schroder’s fourth 30-point game of the season was a nifty reverse layup as he drove past Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez.

Spurs (50-13) at Thunder (35-29), 8 p.m. ET 鈥?MVP candidates Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard will go head to head in Oklahoma City. The Spurs are currently second in the Western Conference and the Thunder are in the seventh spot, meaning this could be a first-round playoff preview. After Wednesday’s win over Sacramento, the Spurs will be shooting for their 10th straight win as they chase the Warriors atop the Western Conference.

Padres first baseman Wil Myers went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts to get the Golden Sombrero.

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Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler was roughed up a bit by the Cardinals. Wheeler allowed five runs off seven hits, including a home run to Paul DeJong, in the 6-3 Cardinals win. Wheeler struck out five and walked four in 5 1/3 innings and now has an ERA of 4.98.

Tom Rathman Jersey Padres first baseman Wil Myers went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts to get the Golden Sombrero. Myers also left five runners on base in San Diego’s 9-6 loss to the Rockies.

Twins second baseman Brian Dozier learned a valuable lesson Monday. Aaron Judge may be a rookie, but you do not want to test his arm. The mammoth Yankees right fielder scooped a Miguel Sano single and fired a 97-mph rocket home to get Dozier, who was trying to score from second.

James insisted there was no special motivation at play against the Celtics. Trying to get our team right going down the stretch, that’s what brings out the best in me, he said. We were in a hostile building tonight, and we just wanted to try to play our game, you know, defend at a high level, move the ball, share the ball. And we did that.

Things are looking right in Cleveland again. What’s more, with the playoffs approaching, the Eastern Conference doesn’t have an Andre Iguodala or a Kawhi Leonard, a player who has some shot of pushing James individually. There are no shutdown defenses like those in Utah, Golden State or San Antonio.

There’s no solution to the James problem in the East. If Wednesday was a preview of what James has in store in the coming weeks, he will be able, easily, to book passage to the Finals. Again.

NBA free agency: Cavs reportedly looking to sign Derrick Rose

Jeff Green, Jose Calderon, Kyle Korver and Cedi Osman. None of those are big names or big-money acquisitions, but they are all new additions to the Cavaliers roster.

They are reportedly on the brink of another acquisition, only this time, that acquisition is a legitimately big name.

According to ESPN, the Cavaliers are pursuing free agent guard Derrick Rose on a short deal.
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Rose averaged 18.0 points, 4.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds as a member of the New York Knicks last season in 64 games, the second most he has played since the 2011 season.

The former MVP has also been in discussions with the Bucks, Clippers and Mavericks this offseason.

Lavelle Hawkins Game Jersey The biggest key to his prospects has been an improvement in his jump shot. Thornwell is hitting just slightly over 40 percent of his 100-plus 3-point attempts this season, and his shot looks much cleaner in terms of mechanical action involved. He showed off that skill this weekend, hitting six 3s in his two games, as well as portrayed the impressive athleticism and ball-handling ability from the wing that allows him to get into the lane.

That, along with the defense, should allow him to become a tremendous potential 3-and-D player in the NBA. He’ll be in the late first round discussion by the time this is done.

SN: You’ve dealt with injuries, lineup changes and inconsistent rotations for a good part of the season. Has this been the most difficult year of your pro career?

Redick: It’s been very challenging. It’s been a weird year. We got off to such a great start at 14-2. Our defense was defending at an historic level, relative to points per 100 possessions. We had Chris get hurt. Blake got hurt. I still think middle of January we were still playing really good basketball.

TNT hilariously tricks Shaquille O’Neal with NBA Latin Nights promo

Shaquille O’Neal has a lot of nicknames, but he has never been called “The Big Latino” for a reason.

During TNT’s “Players Only” broadcast of the Knicks-Clippers game Monday night, Shaq read a promo for the NBA’s Latin Nights program. O’Neal actually got through his lines smoothly, but he clearly didn’t realize what he was saying at the end of the promo.

Someone needs to hook up Shaq with a Spanish-to-English dictionary. Also, practice your free throws, kids.

I haven’t been quite as low on Adebayo as many have been throughout the season. I’ve felt he was a good bet to be able to carve out an NBA impact in some capacity due in large part to his ability to defend on the perimeter for a big man. In an era where it’s essential to have bigs who can step away from the basket and move as well as act as something of a deterrent at the rim, Adebayo has potential to be a good defensive player that can also finish efficiently around the basket.

However, where Adebayo has made the biggest strides over the last month is as a rebounder. In 11 games since Feb. 14, Adebayo has averaged 10.9 rebounds per game to go with 14 points. His defensive rebounding rate is up to 17.4 percent on the season now. That’s still low for a center, but it’s a far cry from where it was. He’s helped himself in a big way by improving there.

Simmons averaged 8.7 points, 2.0 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 37 games for Arizona this past season. While he started 19 times during the season, his minutes waned into the single digits for all of the Wildcats’ Pac-12 Tournament games, as well as their NCAA Tournament games against St. Mary’s and Xavier.steelers_129

Diamondbacks bolster offense in trade for Tigers All-Star J.D. Martinez

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The Diamondbacks offense has become a lot more powerful.

The D-backs acquired Tigers slugger J.D. Martinez on Tuesday for multiple prospects as the club looks to stay in front of the Rockies and Cubs in the NL Wild Card race. The Diamondbacks announced they received Martinez, 29, in exchange for infielders Dawel Lugo, Sergio Alcantara and Jose King.
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Martinez, who will be a free agent next season, is batting .305/.388/.630 with 16 homers and 39 RBIs in 57 games this season. Despite being a rental, Martinez could have extra value in the NL West with the division packed full of left-handed starters. Despite missing time with a Lisfranc sprain earlier this season, the outfielder is batting .474/.556/1.105 in 45 plate appearances against southpaws.

No, that ship has sailed, Lackey told reporters with a smile (via the Chicago Tribune). That ain’t going to happen. There’s two places for me to be: starting or at home. Except for the playoffs or in big games 鈥?we can compromise.

The Cubs added left-hander Jose Quintana via trade and will see the return next week of Kyle Hendricks, out since June 4 with a strained tendon in his right middle finger.

Lackey, Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta also are starters who could set up the Cubs, who’ve won five straight after Tuesday, for a big second half after struggling for much of the season.

We have guys that have done it before, guys who take pride in what they do and want to do better than we did in the first half, for sure, Lackey said.

Of the group, Lackey (6-9), who carried a career 3.88 ERA into the season, has the highest ERA (5.04) by almost a full run.

There’s a glimmer of hope now a year after Roseman’s return to power in the Eagles’ front office.

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This teardown and rebuild, meanwhile, is grinding along slowly and painfully. Brown is stockpiling draft picks and has worked their high picks well — but they’ll know soon enough whether having lots of picks means as much as having good players. Trying to get clever with the Brock Osweiler trade might leave them stuck with him. They parted with some professional veterans (Andrew Hawkins, Terrell Pryor) arguably too soon. The payoff better be really, really good.

His best move, by far, was hiring Adam Gase, who clearly was exactly what this team needed when they needed him. One huge move and one far more subtle one from a year earlier paid off big last season: Ndamukong Suh’s contract, and drafting Jay Ajayi in the fifth round. The Dolphins leaped ahead of their AFC East brethren for the honor of Patriots runner-up, which is no small thing.

There’s a glimmer of hope now a year after Roseman’s return to power in the Eagles’ front office. After mortgaging so much of the future to get Carson Wentz as their franchise quarterback, Roseman snapped up Alshon Jeffery (albeit for one year) to help him and recently extended Jason Peters to protect him for the next few years. It likely will mean nothing in the standings, but the Eagles needed the overhaul post-Chip Kelly, and Roseman has been good enough so far.
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Robinson is off to a heck of a start in Tennessee. Going into his second season, he has the Titans in serious contention for the AFC South title. Most recently, they beat the pack to late-offseason free agent Eric Decker, who can only help Marcus Mariota, the way that DeMarco Murray’s acquisition and a strong first draft did.

Lawyers urge Patriots to pay in Aaron Hernandez lawsuit

Aaron Hernandez was acquitted this spring in the drive-by killing of two men, but attorneys on Tuesday urged the Patriots to compensate the men’s families, who have filed a wrongful death suit against the late Patriots star’s estate, the Boston Globe reported.

We would welcome the Patriots looking into that issue and doing the right thing, which is to compensate the victims, said Kenneth Kolpan, a lawyer for Daniel de Abreu’s family.

Hernandez was acquitted in April of shooting to death de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in July 2012 in Boston. Hernandez, who already was serving a life sentence for a separate murder, hung himself in his prison cell days later.
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While officer Armstrong and Officer Morgan were clearing out a crowd on the lot of Splash Waterpark, suspect reached for and displayed a gun while sitting inside his vehicle, just feet away from officers, a police report from Sharonville Police Department read, via Buffalo’s WKBW-TV. The suspect did not inform officers beforehand. Suspect was arrested, process at the PD and released.

Limited Womens Yasiel Puig Jersey Washington, who wore special Stop the Violence cleats last season, has been in contact with the Bills following his arrest, the team announced. He could be subject to a league suspension pending court resolution.

The Ohio State product does have a history of run-ins with the law. In 2015, the then-senior was suspended from the Fiesta Bowl after he was arrested for attempting to solicit a prostitute.

Houston went on a 12-3 run with Westbrook on the bench to end the third

So one of those guys could be MVP, but Kawhi Leonard is right there, too. He had a ridiculously efficient season. When the Spurs played the Rockets in March, he had 39 points.

That’s not all that impressive.

That’s not the fun part. With less than a minute to go, he hit a clutch 3-pointer, then ran down the other end to block Harden’s shot. It sealed the win and showed everyone why Leonard is such a fantastic player in two clutch possessions.

What happened: We got the MVP battle we wanted. Russell Westbrook posted 51 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds — the first 50-point triple-double in NBA playoff history — while James Harden put up 35 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds. The Thunder jumped on the Rockets early, starting the game on a 16-4 run and holding a six-point lead at the half. Then, it all went south for OKC at the end of the third quarter.

Turning point: Houston went on a 12-3 run with Westbrook on the bench to end the third. Watching OKC’s advantage shrink to three points must have changed Westbrook’s mentality. He had done a good job finding his teammates and picking his spots up to that point, shooting 13 of 25 entering the fourth quarter.

However, Westbrook finished 17 of 43 from the field, choosing to put the entire offense on his shoulders, even if it meant declining to pass to open teammates. It’s hard to blame the guy who has a 50-point triple-double, but Westbrook’s “me against the world” mentality hurt the Thunder’s chances of stealing Game 2.

Maybe the team can get him in a sign-and-trade using the non-guaranteed contracts they’ve cobbled together in recent days if the reported discussions for Iman Shumpert fail. That would allow them to keep their mid-level exception intact, and not necessarily hard cap themselves at this stage. Toronto, Tucker’s old team, would be able to pick up a trade exception in the process that may be useful down the road.

For a team trying to contend sooner rather than later, though, this is a smart acquisition. falcons_059

NBA trade rumors: Who can coexist with James Harden? Question looms in background of Chris Paul trade

In the end, Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley did not much want to keep playing with Rockets star James Harden. He’d done what he could to make things work last season under new coach Mike D’Antoni, and the fact that the team was winning papered over any problems in the locker room.
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Malik Jackson Game Jersey But the Harden no-show in Game 6 of the conference semifinals against the Spurs last month — Harden had 10 points on 2-for-11 shooting and six turnovers — was not just a bizarre ending to a stellar season for Harden, it was also a concern for many on the Rockets, Beverley included. It was one reason Beverley was open to a trade, and he let the Rockets know it after the year was over.

The strength of Chicago’s inside linebacker unit largely depends on the health of Danny Trevathan, who’s coming off a nasty injury and might not be ready for training camp. Jerrell Freeman, meanwhile, is the best linebacker in the NFL if you ask Pro Football Focus. The Bears’ leading tackler from last season will be key again patrolling the middle of the field, assuming he can avoid another PED suspension.

The Bears understood the safety combo of Adrian Amos and Harold Jones-Quartey didn’t cut it in 2016. While both players remain on the roster, give Chicago credit for addressing the position in free agency and the draft.

The NFL’s investigation has been going on for just short of a year, stemming from incidents in July 2016, when Elliott’s girlfriend filed a complaint with police in Columbus, Ohio. No charges were filed against Elliott, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has maintained his player’s innocence.