ACC Showdown Virginia’s ability to win close games has it atop the ACC Coastal Division standings and back in the Top 25. The No. 23 Cavaliers look to remain in both positions Saturday night as they try to spoil Miami’s final home game at the Orange Bowl.
Author: Anthony Rome
Emerging Threat In just his third season, Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams has become one of the league’s emerging stars. Williams looks to continue his outstanding play Wednesday night when the Jazz host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Spurs, Heat Battle in S.A. The San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat have won the last two NBA titles, but neither team is feeling like a champion right now. San Antonio tries to shake off its first loss of the season and take advantage of a winless Heat team missing its biggest star as the clubs face each other Wednesday night.
Red Hot Wings The Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators engaged in a season-long battle for the Central Division title and top spot in the Western Conference in 2006-07. A month into this season, Detroit is playing like it wants no part of another tightly contested race. The Red Wings (11-2-1) try for their eighth straight victory as they return home Wednesday to take on Nashville (7-7-0) for the first time this season.
Northeast Battle The Ottawa Senators started building momentum when they opened the season by sweeping the Toronto Maple Leafs in a home-and-home series. They’ve been nearly unbeatable since. The Senators look to set a franchise record with their eighth straight victory and continue their recent dominance of the Maple Leafs when the Northeast Division rivals meet on Tuesday at Scotiabank Place.
Strugglers Nearly six months after their surprising trip to the Western Conference semifinals, the Golden State Warriors are just looking for a win. With Utah off their schedule until February and a struggling Cleveland Cavaliers team coming to town Tuesday, that might now be a much easier task. The Warriors (0-3) lost in five games to the Jazz in the semifinals last May, and two of their three defeats to open the 2007-08 season have come at the hands of Utah – both in blowout fashion.
Lewis Pick Up Many around the NBA thought the Orlando Magic overpaid for Rashard Lewis when they signed him to a $118 million contract after acquiring him in the offseason. Through three games, though, Lewis has proven to be worth his team’s substantial investment. Lewis leads the Magic into Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team very familiar with Lewis’ style of play.
Steel City Pounding Halfway through the first quarter, the overwhelmed Baltimore Ravens probably thought they were playing today’s Steelers and all of Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl stars of the past. Turns out they were. Ben Roethlisberger tied the Steelers’ single-game record with five touchdown passes in the first half and Pittsburgh put on a Steel Curtain-like defensive show forcing four turnovers before halftime in a 38-7 victory over Baltimore on Monday night.
Texas-Sized Battle While both Tim Duncan and Tracy McGrady have helped their teams to quick starts, McGrady and the Houston Rockets still face a big challenge in front of them to get to the level of Duncan and the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.
Scene of the Crime It was a scene nobody in the NBA wanted to witness. And according to Eddy Curry, he didn’t. “I was on the bench with my eyes closed,” the Knicks center joked Monday. “I didn’t see nothing.” Here’s some of what he missed: Players fighting among the fans. Carmelo Anthony, then the league’s leading scorer, dropping the Knicks’ Mardy Collins with a punch that cost him a 15-game suspension. That all happened last Dec. 16 in the closing minutes of the Denver Nuggets’ most recent trip to New York. The teams meet Tuesday for the first time…