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.
Author: Anthony Rome
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…
Marked Improvement The Atlanta Hawks haven’t finished with a winning season since 1999, and are also owners of the league’s longest postseason drought. But if this season’s first two games are any indication, that could change. The improving Hawks face a third straight playoff team to start the new campaign as they play the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night.
Record Breaker Ilya Kovalchuk’s first career hat trick was against Washington. A three-goal game in a matchup with the Capitals on Tuesday night would put his name in the NHL record book. Kovalchuk has a chance to record his third straight hat trick as he leads the Atlanta Thrashers against the Capitals in a matchup of the Southeast Division’s worst teams.
Opposite Directions The Anaheim Ducks and the Dallas Stars both got off to disappointing starts, but only one of the Pacific Division rivals appears to be turning its season around. The Ducks go for their third straight win while the Stars look to avoid their fourth consecutive loss when the teams meet at the Honda Center on Monday.
Put Out The Flames After losing at home for the first time this season, Joe Sakic and the Colorado Avalanche look to rebound Monday night by continuing their dominance of the Northwest Division rival Calgary Flames. The Avalanche (8-5-0) have won their last six meetings with the Flames (6-5-3), including four at the Pepsi Center. They have taken two matchups this season, including a 3-2 overtime victory on Oct. 26 when Ryan Smyth scored 23 seconds into the extra period.
Tough at Heinz It’s back to divisional play Monday night as the (4-3) Ravens invade Heinz Filed to take on the (5-2)Steelers. This has been a fierce rivalry over the year’s that’s seen a wide variety of games. There’s been blow-outs, OT battles, season sweeps, but the main constant has been the fact that neither club has lost much in this series in their own house. That however wasn’t the case last year when Baltimore swept the season series from the defending Super Bowl champs. Expect the men in yellow and black to be out for blood this evening.