Results tagged “basketball”

• Bucks 102, Knicks 87: Where to begin on this one? The Bucks shot 74 percent from the floor. They went on a 23-2 run to start the game .They outscored the Knicks, 40-22, in the first quarter. Brandon Jennings, whom the Knicks passed over for Jordan Hill, had 22 points and eight rebounds. David Lee's 18 points led the Knicks, now 1-6 and losers of three straight.
• Celtics 86, Nets 76: Give the Nets credit. Their injury-depleted team held their own despite having only eight players in uniform. The Celtics, tired though they were, managed to hold them off. Brook Lopez shot 10-of-16 for 23 points in the win.
• Flames 3, Rangers 1: Daniel Girardi's first-period goal wasn't enough as the Rangers fell to 1-2 on their Canadian road trip.
• Islanders 6, Thrashers 3: Whoa, the Islanders are 6-6-5? When did that happen? Sean Bergenheim, Blake Comeau and Jack Hillen recorded their first goals of the season. John Tavares set up two goals, and the Islanders readied for a seven-game road trip in style.
• Devils 3, Senators 2: Despite trailing 2-1 entering the third period, the Devils rallied to remain perfect on the road. That's their eighth straight on the road to start the year. Zach Parise and David Clarkson had one goal and one assist each.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: So How Bad Are the Knicks?"

• Cavaliers 100, Knicks 91: Is finishing within nine points of the Cavaliers a moral victory. What about holding LeBron James to 33 after he scored 53 in his final trip in the building last year. To answer the first question, not when the team trailed by 23 at the half. As for the second, James shot 12-for-17, had eight rebounds and nine assists, so he was hardly in check. Larry Hughes had 18 (Larry Hughes!) and David Lee led the Knicks with 21. The Knicks, now 1-5, have Milwaukee on the road on Saturday.

     

Yankees 7, Phillies 3: For the first time since 2000 and the 27th time in franchise history, the New York Yankees are the World Champions of baseball. The Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies four games to two behind the bat of Hideki Matsui and the solid pitching of Andy Pettitte. Matsui was 3-4 in the game, including two two-RBI hits off Phillies starter Pedro Martinez and two more RBI against Phillies reliever Chad Durbin.

You know that the Yankees are thrilled to be in the World Series, but the Knicks should be equally thrilled that the Yankees made it. The World Series is distracting attention from their miserable start. Last night may have included a great fourth quarter comeback, but the fact remains that the Knicks allowed Philadelphia to shoot an astounding 61% from the field. Even the most optimistic Knicks’ fan has to realize the bitter truth- LeBron isn’t going to come to this team unless something radical changes.

• Bobcats 102, Knicks 100 (2 OT): A rally from a 21-point deficit and a 14-point margin at the start of the fourth quarter didn't give the Knicks anything more than a moral victory. They didn't lead until the second overtime, but some shaky defense gave the game to the Bobcats. Chris Duhon played 55 minutes. Danilo Gallinari had 16 off the bench, and Nate Robinson had 17 before fouling out. David Lee had the line of the game with 17 points and 18 rebounds. This game won't score any style points, but it did provide late drama. The Knicks open their home campaign Saturday against Philadelphia.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Knicks Drop A Heartbreaker"

• Philadelphia 6 Yankees 1: The Yankees looked like a team totally overwhelmed by circumstances while Cliff Lee looked like Orel Hershiser in 1988. CC Sabathia was good, allowing only two runs, both solo shots to Chase Utley, but Lee was much better. He dominated the Yankees, going the distance and he probably would have had a shutout if Jimmy Rollins hadn’t airmailed a throw in the ninth. The Yankees bullpen imploded in the 8th and 9th with Phil Hughes and Brian Bruney the chief culprits. New York will have to hope for a better result against Pedro Martinez in Game 2.

For basketball fans in New York, the upcoming NBA season is really all about next year. July 1, 2010, to be precise; the exact moment when free agents like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh hit the market. It’s a strange year because you won’t have much to root for and apart from a few core players; the Knicks and Nets will be willing to trade away players in exchange for cap space next summer. And don’t forget Knicks’ fans, former GM Isiah Thomas traded away the 2010 number one pick for Stephon Marbury, so the draft lottery isn’t a possibility.

What better to follow up a meeting with a handful of NBA owners than a $19,000 lunch? That’s right, nothing, which is why Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who is looking to purchase the floundering New Jersey Nets and bring then into Brooklyn, stopped into Nello on the Upper East Side Wednesday with a few friends, the Post reported.

Adding more fuel to the fire about where the Nets may play in the future, the Record says that the Izod Center (at the Meadowlands) and Prudential Center (in Newark) have stopped squabbling and may sign a deal, which "could have the Nets moving to Newark next fall for two seasons (or more) and the Izod Center becoming the long-term concert and family show mecca for North Jersey." The Nets, waiting to hear about what will happen with the Atlantic Yards, have been impressed with the crowds they've gotten at the Prudential Center.

Days after the Post had one of their "sources" describe Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz as "angry and embarrassed" over the prospect of a Russian-owned Nyets team at the embattled Atlantic Yards site in Brooklyn, Marty's fired back. Far from being embarrassed, he's simply delighted: "Brooklyn is the Russian capital of America, so [Russian playboy Mikhail] Prokhorov will feel right at home here, and I have been assured he will put the interests of Brooklyn first." Plus, given those Russkies' historic knack for winning basketball games against all odds, maybe New York will finally get a b-ball team to be proud of again?

• Yankees 8, White Sox 3: Being up six games in the standings has its advantages. They include pitching a starter for only three innings. The Yankees did that with Joba Chamberlain, then got three innings out of Alfredo Aceves en route to a three-game sweep of the White Sox. Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira each went deep. This was a 3-2 game when Phil Hughes got the last out of the seventh, but the Yankees blew it open later. Up next is a road trip to Baltimore and Toronto.

Is it too early to start a "Bring Starbury Back to New York" campaign? Say what you will about how he basically spent his tenure with the Knicks acting as a cancer to the team; the man knows how to make a quality YouTube clip. From our previous experience with putting a camera in front of Stephon Marbury, we knew that there had to be a few gems coming out of the former All-Star's 24-hour stint doing a video podcast a couple weeks back. It may have taken a little tinkering, but sure enough a little dance interlude taken by Steph led to this:

• Mets 3 Giants 2: It’s hard to see the Mets playing any role other than spoiler in the pennant race, but they played that role well this weekend. New York took the series thanks to a Daniel Murphy single in the ninth. Murphy lined 2-2 pitch into right field and Jeff Francoeur just beat the throw home to give the Mets their first walkoff win since May 29th. K-Rod picked up the win in relief and Luis Castillo added his first home run of the season.

• Yankees 7 Toronto 5: The Yankees won another game with some late-inning heroics. Trailing 4-3 heading into the eighth, Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada launched back-to-back homers to put New York on top 5-4. The Yankees added two more runs on singles from Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon, which allowed them to turn a three-run lead over to Mariano Rivera in the ninth. Rivera pitched around a home run and a single before nailing down his 33rd save.

• Yankees 5 Toronto 3: The Yankees got to Roy Halladay thanks to some shaky defense by the Blue Jays. New York scored twice in the first, the second run coming when Halladay dropped the third out at first base. They padded their lead in the eighth with back-to-back solo shots from Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira, but Phil Hughes and Mariano gave those runs right back to make it 4-3 heading into the ninth. Hideki Matsui started the top of the ninth with a solo shot and Rivera worked around a couple of base runners in the bottom of the inning to earn his 31st save.

• Yankees 6 Oakland 3: Today’s rain delayed the start of this game to almost 10pm and for awhile it looked like the Yankees had assumed the game was a rainout. Oakland jumped all over an inconsistent C.C. Sabathia for three runs in the first four innings, but Sabathia settled down and the Yankees battled back. Mark Teixeira belted a two-run homer in the fourth and the Yankees added two more runs to take a lead they would never relinquish. Phil Hughes came on in the eighth and pitched two perfect innings to get the first save of his career and put the Yankees 2-1/2 games ahead of idle Boston.

• Yankees 2 Detroit 1: Maybe some time off was all Joba Chamberlain needed. Whatever the reason the Yankees were thrilled to see their young pitcher dominate the Tigers on Sunday. Joba pitched 6-2/3 striking out eight and allowing only three hits. The two New York runs were provided by (what else?) solo homers from A-Rod and Mark Teixeira. Phil Hughes came in and pitched the eighth with Mariano closing the door in the ninth as the late-inning tandem performed spotlessly again. With a Boston loss, New York is now only one game behind the Red Sox.
• Atlanta 7 Mets 1: What can possibly happen next? Sunday night’s injury was Fernando Nieve hurting his quad while running to first. Nieve had to leave the game, Tim Redding came in and things fell apart from there. Add it all up and the Mets have dropped three-of-four coming out of the break and now head to Washington.
• Liberty 89 Atlanta 86: Shameka Christon scored 32 points, including the last five of the game as New York survived a late onslaught from The Dream.

• Yankees 6, Twins 4: Alfredo Aceves gave up four runs in 3 1/3 innings. Then the bullpen came to his rescue. David Robertson walked in two of the Aceves runs, but the relievers combined to throw 5 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Jonathan Albaladejo, Phil Coke, Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera did the honors. The Yankees got some pop from Mark Teixeira, who ended the longest homerless drought of his career (96 at-bats and 23 games). Now it's on to Los Angeles of Anaheim for a three-game set with the Angels before the All-Star break. With Boston's loss to Kansas City, the Yankees are tied for first place.

• Yankees 5 Mets 0: Two games into the Subway Series at Citi Field it appears that the Yankees have no problems hitting in the spacious ballpark. Saturday they hit two more homers, Nick Swisher with a solo shot and Jorge Posada with a three-run bomb. A.J. Burnett took it from there, stifling the depleted Mets’ lineup. Burnett gave up only one hit in seven innings and struck out ten batters. Tim Redding matched him for a while, but ran into trouble in the sixth with Posada striking the big blow. Brian Bruney and David Robertson took it from there, pitching 1-2-3 innings and leaving the Mets with Alex Cora’s single as their only hit of the night.

Yankees 9 Mets 1: The final score may not have been close, but the Mets threw the game away by committing three errors in the second inning. The first one, a wild throw by David Wright is somewhat understandable, he had picked the ball up barehanded and was off-balance as he threw it. That put Melky Cabrera on second and he scored when Ramiro Pena blooped a double down the rightfield line. Pena then scored when C.C. Sabathia hit a single up the middle to make it 2-0 Yankees.

      

• Yankees 11, Braves 7: Derek Lowe didn't pitch quite as well for the Braves as he did for the Red Sox in Game 7 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. The Yankees got to him for eight runs in three innings. Andy Pettitte wasn't much better, allowing six runs in 3 2/3. But the bullpen work of Alfredo Aceves and Phil Coke helped the Yankees stop the bleeding and take the rubber game of this three-game series. Johnny Damon had four RBIs, as did Alex Rodriguez, who hit a homer as well.

This is the last chance for the Knicks to make a significant improvement to their team before the free agency period begins in 2010. Thanks to the Stephon Marbury trade, the Knicks will not have a first round pick in next year’s draft making tonight’s pick the last significant pick they will have to improve this team.

• Florida 6 Yankees 5: The loss is a problem, but a much bigger one occurred in the second inning. That is when C.C. Sabathia walked off the mound with what is being described as “tightness” in his left bicep. The Yankees haven’t scheduled any tests for the hefty lefty, he says he is “ok” and he is listed as day-to-day, but all they can do right now is hope he is right.

After the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic for the NBA Championship last night, Los Angelenos apparently decided that celebrating equaled setting garbage on fire, jumping on cars, tearing down street signs, breaking into and looting stores, and tagging buildings. We hear that police basically let people throw things at them, only intervening to put fires out; LAPD police chief William Bratton, who is a former NYC police commissioner, said, "Officers tonight used minimal levels of force..behaving very professionally," also calling the revelers "knuckleheads" and "cowards." (Was nothing learned after the 2000 win?) Newsday's Neil Best blogged, "Thank you, Los Angeles for the timely reminder - 15 years to the day since the Rangers won the Stanley Cup - that New York consistently is better behaved in celebrating sports championships than are other, less civilized burgs." Damages are estimated to be at least $1 million.

• Mets 6, Yankees 2: The next time someone says, "[insert team] will have a tough time recovering from such a devastating loss," point him to this game. The Mets had no trouble shrugging off Friday night's disaster -- a game that turned from victory to defeat when Luis Castillo dropped a popup with two outs in the ninth -- and cruised past the Yankees. Fernando Nieve, making his first start in almost three years, allowed only two runs in 6 2/3 innings while filling in for John Maine. Omir Santos had a homer and a double off Andy Pettitte, who lasted only five innings. Gary Sheffield also went deep for the Mets, who will send Johan Santana to the mound in Sunday's rubber game.

As soon as LeBron James huffed and puffed his way off of the court following the Cavs' elimination from the playoffs Saturday night, you may have noticed a spike in the humidity with the collective panting from Knick fans now eager to begin luring the megastar toward Madison Square Garden with one year remaining until he is eligible for free agency.

The NHL is doing something they haven’t done since 1956, scheduling games of the Stanley Cup back-to-back. The reason for this almost historic event is the demands of television. NBC does not want hockey games, with their potential for multiple overtimes, running into the first week of the new Tonight Show hosted by Conan O’Brien. Yet, NBC doesn’t pay the NHL to carry it’s product, instead they have a deal where both parties split the profits after all production costs have been covered.

Legendary New York Knick—and former U.S. Senator from NJ—Bill Bradley has weighed in about the Nets' impending move to Brooklyn. And, according to CityRoom, he thinks it sucks! Noting how the Atlantic Yards project has been beset by years delays, Bradley said, "Maybe it takes something like that to bring people to their senses. They don’t belong in Brooklyn. They belong in New Jersey. They belong here." Atlantic Yards developer and Nets principal owner Bruce Ratner says that ground will be broken—in Brooklyn—this year but Newark Mayor Cory Booker thinks the Nets may never play there. Last week, Booker told a radio show caller, "I'm going to go way out on a limb here and let you know maybe more than I should. I am confident, now more than ever, that the deal with Brooklyn is just not going anywhere. The team is going to go up for sale. That's my prediction." Booker is more worried that the Nets will head to Kansas City or Seattle.

Chuck Daly, the mastermind behind the NBA's "Bad Boys" teams in Detroit, died today at 78 in Juniper, FL. Daly had been diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer just back in February. Once called "The Prince of Pessimism," he arrived in town with heavy fanfare when he was hired to coach the Nets in 1992. But he will most be remembered for leading Isiah Thomas and the Pistons throughout the eighties, a team that may have been overshadowed throughout most of the decade by the Lakers and Celtics, but enjoyed their moment in the sun with consecutive championships in '89 and '90. Daly also won a gold medal in 1992, coaching the Dream Team, USA basketball's collection of some of its greatest stars, brought together to reestablish international dominance to the American sport. Willis Reed, the Nets' GM who hired him, said of Daly, "He brought us instant credibility. We needed someone like that, a great coach who had won. I thoroughly enjoyed having him coach the team and being there with him. He was a class act." Known for his stylish silk suits, Daly once said, "Tailoring covers your sins.”

Jayson Williams, the former Nets player who faces another possible manslaughter trial for the death of a limo driver or a plea with prosecutors, was found acting "suicidal" and "violent" at the Embassy Suites Hotel earlier this morning. The Post reports Williams was taken to St. Vincent's for a psychological evaluation; a police source tells the Daily News (which says empty pill bottles were found in his suite), "He was barricaded, drinking, taking pills. He was overwhelmed. It all came crashing down." Apparently cops, who responded to a female friend's call, had to Taser Williams and needed two sets of handcuffs to restrain him. Back in 2002, limo driver Costas "Gus" Christofi was killed in a bedroom in Williams' sprawling NJ mansion; the Star-Ledger reported, "[Christofi] was inside, touring the house with the others [during a party], when Williams took out a loaded shotgun and snapped it shut in Christofi's direction. The gun discharged and he died within a few minutes."