Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it visits the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).
The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it visits the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).
The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it visits the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).
The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 without Kyrie Irving, Wednesday the team will be without the point guard again when it visits the Charlotte Hornets (6-8).
The Nets welcome the Charlotte Hornets to Barclays Center on Wednesday, but Brooklyn will be without Kyrie Irving, once again.
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The Nets have gone 1-1 without superstar point guard Kyrie Irving over the last two games. Brooklyn is going to be tested again on Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets with Irving being ruled out again.
Irving was originally ruled questionable for Brooklyn’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets on November 15 due to a right shoulder impingement, but he still played. He was then questionable, again, leading up to Saturday’s game in Chicago and sat out, missing the following game against the Indiana Pacers.
In Irving’s absence, Spencer Dinwiddie has taken over as Brooklyn’s starting point guard.
In the win over the Bulls, Dinwiddie scored 24 points on 5-for-11 shooting (0-for-4 from three) while going 14-for-15 from the free-throw line. In Monday’s loss at Barclays Center, Dinwiddie scored 28 points on 9-for-21 shooting (4-for-8 from three), knocking down six of his seven free-throw attempts.
I asked Kenny Atkinson if Kyrie Irving might be back to play at Cavs Monday, or at the Celtics next Wednesday … and he said he didn’t want to speculate. This shoulder impingement could cost Kyrie more than the two he’s missed and the third he’s ruled out for Wednesday
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) November 19, 2019
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LeBron James and Anthony Davis are posting up a lot, which is working out very well for the Los Angeles Lakers offensive attack.
The Los Angeles Lakers are having a better start than many anticipated from them, even with a home-heavy schedule hosting a lot of the teams who are expected to be at the bottom of the league by season’s end. The defense, in particular, has been the biggest headline as they currently lead the NBA in defensive rating.
But over the last few weeks as they’ve maintained that defensive excellence, the Lakers have found some more success on the offensive end. After ranking as low as No. 19 on offense earlier in the season, the Lakers are now No. 10 in offensive efficiency. And one key part of their success has been the post-game.
As I wrote in the aftermath of the opener against the Clippers, the Lakers were smart to utilize the post in that game but simply went to that well too often. They posted up nearly 25% of the time against the Clippers, but they’ve since tailed that back to posting up just 13% of the time, which is still the second-highest rate in the NBA.
According to Synergy Sports, the Lakers are the No. 2 most efficient team when scoring out of the post, including pass outs, getting 1.094 points per possession. That’s a much higher mark than they see out pick-and-rolls and isolations, speaking to their general lack of guard play.
A big part of that is the post efficiency is the scoring ability of LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing in the post but also their ability to find open shooters like Davis did against the Hawks. Only the Philadelphia 76ers post-up more often than the Lakers, but they’re nowhere near as efficient, ranking No. 11 in efficiency. The passing and shooting for the Lakers has allowed them to turn those post up plays into great shots.
The passing has been great from both Davis and LeBron, while LeBron’s efficiency in the post has been masterful. Among players who have posted up at least 20 times this season, Synergy has LeBron as the most efficient post scorer in the league (1.32 points per possession) by a wide margin ahead of Charlotte’s PJ Washington (1.167) and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (1.118).
Although the post hadn’t been much of a weapon over the past few years for the NBA’s best teams, the Lakers are leaning into their size to bring a mix of modern efficiency and throwback post play that currently has them with the best record in the league.
Miles Bridges is up to his usual tricks, this time posterizing Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas.
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You know, there is a lot of negativity in the world today. It seems like society is more divided than ever. Amidst the anger and the divisiveness that plagues our society today, there is one bright spot. One beacon of hope. One thing that can unite us all: Miles Bridges dunking the basketball like the rim owes him money. The Former Michigan State forward and current Charlotte Hornets star through down a dunk tonight and absolutely posterized Jonas Valanciunas of the Grizzlies.
You can watch it here:
.@MilesBridges THROWS. IT. DOWN. @HornetsOnFSSE | #AllFly pic.twitter.com/W38QcZdD9B
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) November 14, 2019
Ah yes, that is beautiful. You can watch as Miles goes up and over the Memphis Grizzlies center Valanciunas. I’m not sure but I think Miles Bridges has some type of spring system in his legs. It’s still unclear how he does these things.
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