LaMarcus Aldridge hasn’t looked great in the NBA playoffs. Broadcasters have openly debated whether he had a knee injury despite the Spurs claiming he’s healthy. Many have noted his lack of lift and reluctance to run at full speed. His inability to make a difference has put an undue offensive burden on Kawhi Leonard. Luckily for San Antonio, Kawhi is good enough to handle it.
There has been a LaMarcus Aldridge sighting in Texas
Good morning. We have that and more in Saturday’s NBA newsletter.
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With Tony Parker now out for the season, the Spurs really need LMA. He delivered on Friday, scoring 26 points and giving San Antonio a needed two-headed attack. The Spurs won 103-92 to take a 2-1 series lead and recapture home-court advantage.
James Harden had a strong scoring game (43 points on 50 percent shooting) after being limited in Game 2, but the Rockets were -14 in his 40 minutes and +3 in the eight minutes he rested. Much of that has to do with matching up against the excellent Spurs starters. Harden clearly needs teammates to step up.
Game 1 seems so far away.
Playoff Scores ...
Cavaliers 115, Raptors 94 (CLE leads 3-0)
Spurs 103, Rockets 92 (SAS leads 2-1)
... And Links Galore
Surprise! The Cavaliers obliterated the Raptors ... again. DeMar DeRozan had a stand-out game, but Toronto just isn’t on the same level as Cleveland at this point or at any point. The Cavaliers raise their games in the playoffs; the Raptors (for whatever reason) seem to do the opposite. It’s kinda bizarre.
Saturday’s schedule:
Warriors at Jazz, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC (GSW leads 2-0)
Really good piece on Harden’s childhood and how sports kept him out of trouble from Marc Spears.
Kristaps Porzingis skipped his exit interview with the Knicks ... so of course teams started calling the Knicks, trying to offer trade packages for Latvian Batman.
The Sports Fan Journal has a review of 10 years’ worth of players ranked No. 1 by Rivals.
Ricky O’Donnell on Bol Bol, whose game is as tantalizing as his name.
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