Strange things are happening to the pro teams in this city. The Cavaliers are in the NBA finals. The Indians are tied for first place. And the Browns drafted an offensive lineman — in the first round.
Manu Ginobili's three free throws in the last 10.4 seconds sealed a 75-72 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers that gives the San Antonio Spurs a 3-0 lead in the NBA finals.
The NBA Finals have arrived in Cleveland for the first time in franchise history. Game Three will be played there tonight.
Extraordinary in almost every way imaginable, LeBron James appears to have one major flaw in his splendid game: he's a slow starter. During the regular season, and now in the playoffs, James has developed a pattern of bad beginnings. In Cleveland's past three series, James has followed up a subpar Game 1 with a solid Game 2.
If Cavaliers fans were thrilled by LeBron James' 48-point performance against Detroit, just imagine how Nike executives felt. Their $90 million investment never looked better.
The NBA finals open tonight with the Cleveland Cavaliers visiting the San Antonio Spurs.
Dwyane Wade had 36 points and 10 rebounds in the teeth of a hostile Dallas crowd, capping his magnificent playoffs by leading Miami past the Mavericks 95-92 Tuesday as the Heat roared back from a two-game deficit to win their first NBA championship in six games.
Dwyane Wade scored 43 points, the last on a free throw with 1.9 seconds left in overtime after Dallas' Josh Howard asked for an untimely timeout, and the Miami Heat won their third straight game in this homey and heated series, 101-100 over the Mavericks on Sunday for a 3-2 lead.
Shaquille O'Neal mocked his collision with Jerry Stackhouse as being less vicious than a love tap from his daughters. The NBA declared it worthy of a one-game suspension.
Dwyane Wade, Miami's flashy slashing guard who was barely able to walk on a banged-up knee 24 hours earlier, scored 36 points and big buddy Shaquille O'Neal added 17 with 13 rebounds as the Heat downed the Dallas Mavericks 98-74 Thursday night in Game 4 to even the series.
Dwyane Wade's game is built on his ability to blow past defenders and soar to the hoop. On Wednesday, Miami's star guard could hardly walk. On Thursday, hours before Game 4, he ran, jumped and dunked, and pronounced himself ready to play.
More Shaq. More Rileyball. A whole lot less finesse. Those are the big ideas in the Miami Heat's plan for Game 2 of the NBA finals Sunday night. If coach Pat Riley's club can execute it, this championship series could become a different kind of ugly.
Jason Terry scored 32 points to spark the Dallas Mavericks to 90-80 Game 1 victory over Miami Heat in the NBA finals.
The NBA finals begin tonight. The Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks will be well rested heading into game 1 at Dallas.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 50 points to carry the Mavericks to a 117-101 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night and a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Dwyane Wade scored 12 of his 31 points in the final quarter Monday night, leading a late charge that carried the Miami Heat to an 89-78 win over the Detroit Pistons and a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference final series. Miami is on the cusp of its first trip to the NBA Finals.
The NBA basketball season is just around the corner, and that means it is time for power rankings!
I feel for the Boston Celtics fans, but they just don't have the D.
It has long been my opinion that the Mavs of the 2000's have a yo-yo quality to them. You might naturally think I'm goingto talk about owner Mark Cuban, but that's not where I'm headed with this. And I'll discuss him later.
NBA FINALS - Television ratings are down, the series isn't competitive, the superstar we thought we had hasn't shown up, interest in the Finals is dwindling, and all we have now is the Spurs. The NBA Finals are underrated.
DAY FORTY-THREE - We thought LeBron would be great. We thought the series would be close. It looks like we thought wrong.
Bill Simmons, from ESPN, gives us evidence that the NBA Playoffs needs to be fixed. Then, he gives possible solutions for making the NBA Playoffs more interesting.
With Father's Day this weekend, I'm glad that my daughter is still too young to think a scribble drawing or some dinky "I love Dad" coffee mug will pass muster as an acceptable gift. I'm glad she's way too young to think I want a new tie, too.
Here are 3 things the NBA can do to increase NBA playoff viewership. Also, these things will make the NBA Playoffs less boring.
So what happened to Tony Soprano Sunday night? Did he get whacked? Did he live happily ever after? Did he choke on his onion rings? The word around the water coolers and all over various media outlets was that most were vastly disappointed with the way such a great show ended.
CLEVELAND -- Ben Harper and Taylor Hicks will perform the national anthem before games 3 and 4 of the NBA finals in Cleveland. Harper, a Grammy Award-winning musician, will perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" on slide guitar.
DAY 42 - The NBA Finals descend on Cleveland for the first time in franchise history under trying circumstances for the Cavaliers.
DAY FORTY-TWO - LeBron James was held to just 14 points in his NBA Finals debut as the Spurs defense prevailed. LeBron and the Cavs try to even up the series tonight in Game two of the Finals.
Coming off a 85-76 win by San Antonio against the Cavs in game 1, the Spurs look to continue their dominance. The Spurs were able to keep control of game 1 by forcing Lebron to constantly take bad shots by double and triple teaming him everytime he got the ball.
DAY FORTY - Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the NBA Finals. After 82 games in the regular season and three rounds of playoff basketball behind us, all that's left is for the two final teams to square off for the right to be called the NBA Champion.
NBA Finals - The NBA Finals herald the arrival of the league's next great superstar. After taking down the long reigning Pistons in the East, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers get ready to battle the veteran Spurs.
There are important Cavs that got great NBA experience from the Spurs organization.
An Eastern Conference scout gives his keys to victory for both the Spurs and the Cavs.
Spurs vs. Cavs. Dynasty vs. Destiny. One team is looking to coronate themselves as the best team in the last decade by winning their 4th title in the past 9 years.
The Cavs have a superstar that believes in his teammates. The Cavs play defense. The Heat don't have enough firepower. The Bulls need an low post scorer. The Pistons are inconsistent. The Magic and Raptors are inconsistent. The Nets can't score. The Wizards don't play defense.
After blowing a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals (go ahead and take a few minutes to laugh at the Mavs) they Mavs bring back their entire starting line-up but did major changes with their bench.
The guys at 82 Games break down (in extreme detail) the officiating from Game 5 of the finals.
Scoop: "It's one of those words you hate to toss around lightly: genius. You hold on to it, reserve it; you hate to apply it to anyone who hasn't lived up to it or deserved it.
The Miami Heat are the NBA champs, like it or not. Like it or not, when a team achieves something great, something that compounds all their hard work and dedication, you shouldn't snivel in the corner about people blowing whistles.
My top 8 "Good Guys" of the finals: 8. Gary Payton - I'm a Seattleite, he'll always be a Sonic to me, he deserves a ring, even if he is a brat. 7. Antoine Walker - He cried. He must be a good guy.
DAY FORTY-SEVEN -- The Dallas Mavericks face elimination tonight on their home court as they try to extend their season one more game and delay Miami's claim to the title.