Author: John Sbisa

Kevin Durant scored 37 the night after reaching 30k career points, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Suns’ 119-111 loss to Houston. Phoenix enters the All Star break 26-28, 11th in the West a game behind the Warriors for the final play-in spot. Playing without co-star Devin Booker (back) and Bradley Beal (toe), Durant kept his team in the game with another efficient performance, shooting 15 of 22 from the field to go with 5 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals. Postgame, he discussed his mindset on a night where he was the Suns’ only real scoring threat. Undermanned Phoenix…

In anticlimactic fashion, on a third quarter free throw trailing the Grizzlies in a game the Suns would lose, Kevin Durant secured his 30,000th point to become the 8th member of the all-time scoring club. Durant called it a “true honor” to join the players ahead of him on the list (active players in bold). 1 LeBRON JAMES 41,623 2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387 3 Karl Malone 36,928 4 Kobe Bryant 33,643 5 Michael Jordan 32,292 6 Dirk Nowitzki 31,560 7 Wilt Chamberlain 31,419 8 KEVIN DURANT 30,008 He finished the game against Memphis with 34 points on his typical efficiency, going…

The Phoenix Suns have dropped four out of five and stumbled to a 26-26 record, 10th place in the West with what was supposed to be a title-contending roster. Coming off a frustrating trade deadline that saw them unable to move Bradley Beal–and make a bad situation worse by trying and failing to trade the Suns’ best player, Kevin Durant, leaving him surprised and potentially alienated–Phoenix fell 122-105 to Denver on Saturday with Durant, Beal, and Grayson Allen all out injured. Their absences opened up court-time for players farther down the depth chart, including fan favorite Bol Bol, who has…

Down 14 at the break, the Michigan State Spartans ran away with the second half, drubbing the Oregon Ducks 50-24 for an 86-74 final as they secured their 19th win of the season. It was also coach Tom Izzo’s 353rd career win versus Big Ten opponents, tying Bobby Knight for most all-time. To leave the Breslin Center victorious, handing the Ducks a fifth consecutive loss in the process, the Spartans needed a career-high 29 from freshman Jase Richardson, inserted into the starting lineup to replace Jeremy Fears, who was out with an illness. 18 of those points came in the…

In a familiar scene for the Maize and Blue, the #24 Michigan Wolverines took it down to the wire but ultimately emerged victorious Wednesday night over Oregon, 80-76, handing the Ducks their fourth straight loss. Reserve Will Tschetter led the team with a season-high 17 points on 6 of 9 from the floor in just 16 minutes of action. On the season, the Wolverines improve to 17-5 overall and 9-2 in the Big Ten. It was their third in a row and their fourth straight by four points or fewer. A win is a win is a win, but these nerve-wracking…

In the wake of the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade, biggest blockbuster in recent memory, Dallas  Mavericks sources cited conditioning concerns as a driving factor in the decision to ship the face of the franchise to the Lakers. Luka’s father, Sasa Doncic, was outraged by how the Mavs handled the move. Per ESPN, he told Slovenia’s Arena Sport 1 network: I understand there comes a moment when you disagree with a certain philosophy. You don’t like this or that player, all good–I get it. But exactly this secrecy, or should I say from some individuals, maybe even hypocrisy, this hurts me…

Up five early in the second half on the Arizona Wildcats, the Sun Devils unraveled down the stretch to fall 81-72 at home in the Territorial Cup Series rivalry matchup. With Arizona State on offense in the game’s final seconds, senior BJ Freeman headbutted Arizona’s Caleb Love after play stopped with a deflection out of bounds. Love and other Wildcat players had been yapping for quite some time. Love was ejected immediately and Freeman too after replay review. Postgame, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley voiced his disgust with the opponent’s trash talk: “Right near our bench, it was relentless, constant…

Wednesday as a guest on “The Dan Patrick Show,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver dropped something of a bombshell suggestion: what if the league shortened quarters from 12 minutes to 10? “As we get more involved in global basketball, the NBA is the only league that plays 48 minutes, ” Silver said, as quoted by ESPN’s Chris Herring. “And I would be — I am — a fan of four 10-minute quarters. I’m not sure that many others are.” The NBA was conceived in 1946 and has used 12-minute quarters since 1954. Reverting to the 10-minute periods used for a three-year…

Friday night the #5 LSU Tigers fell to the #2 South Carolina Gamecocks, 66-56, but the victors did not announce the suspension of DJ “T.O.” until Sunday afternoon. The punishment comes in response for her song selection following the game, “Cut Friends” by rapper Camouflage, a.ka. James Johnson, late father of LSU guard Flau’Jae Johnson. Victim of a fatal 2003 shooting at the age of 22, Johnson senior released four albums in his lifetime, the last in 2002 titled Keepin It Real. Per ESPN, his death occurred 6 months before Flau’Jae’s birth. After the game, Johnson voiced her unhappiness on…

For twenty minutes, the season’s first rivalry clash between the #24 Michigan Wolverines and #21 Michigan State Spartans remained a back and forth affair, ending in a 33-29 UM advantage at the half. But 75 seconds into the third quarter marked the last time Michigan held a lead. Spartans coach Robyn Fralick must have fired up her team during the break as they torched the court with a 15-0 run to begin the third period. Oliva Olson hit a three to draw the Wolverines within 7, but after that MSU never gave them a chance to breathe. It was a…

The Phoenix Suns traveled to Brooklyn Wednesday night and drubbed the hosts 108-84 to improve to 22-21 on the season. The result was not surprising as the 14-31 Nets slog through another season stuck in a rebuild. Kevin Durant put up 24 points and 8 rebounds on 8-15 shooting, but the trip to the Barclays Center also prompted media members to ask him about his time in the city, an era that ended midway through 2022-23 when Brooklyn traded him to Phoenix. He had been the last surviving member of the team’s brief “big three” including James Harden and Kyrie…

12 weeks into the season, the Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans have enjoyed an incredible level of shared success. Both schools, for both NCAAM and NCAAW basketball, have their programs in the AP Top 25. At #8, the Spartans men’s team boasts the highest mark of the bunch, followed by a tie at #21 between the MSU women’s squad and the Michigan men. The women Wolverines sit 24th, re-entering the rankings after three straight conference wins over Purdue, Washington and Rutgers. While no single program has been dominant, with the possible exception of 16-2 Michigan State in NCAAM play,…

The Phoenix Suns improved to 20-20 with a 125-121 win over Detroit on Saturday, powered by Kevin Durant’s 36 points and Devin Booker’s 35. In many ways, though, the star of the show was newly acquired center Nick Richards, who posted 21 points and 11 rebounds in his Phoenix debut on 7 of 8 from the field and 7-9 on free throws. His +22 plus-minus led the team.  It was a wire-to-wire affair versus the 21-20 Pistons, who never lost a quarter by more than two points and had an opportunity to claw back within one when Booker fouled Tim…

The Eastern Michigan Eagles fell Tuesday at Central, 82-63, but a far bigger story would emerge from the Mid-American Conference clash. Per ESPN’s David Purdum, the game is the second EMU contest this season being audited for suspicious gambling activity after several bettors tried place massive wagers on Central Michigan to cover the first-half spread. Earlier this season, sports betting watchdog Integrity Compliance 360 also investigated EMU’s December 21 game against Wright State. In this instance, too, users placed abnormally large bets on the opponent’s first-half line. The size and similarity of the wagers are what immediately garnered attention, but,…

In a deal with the Charlotte Hornets reported Wednesday, the Phoenix Suns acquired center Nick Richards and a second round pick in exchange for reserve forward Josh Okogie and three second rounders. Assuming Richards slides into the starting role, the trade provides a modest but material improvement to the Suns’ lineup. With Jusuf Nurkic omitted from the transaction, it also brings in the roster’s fourth center and more pressure than ever to send Nurkic packing.  Sports Illustrated reports that Phoenix tried to involve him in the Richards deal, but his paycheck, $18 million this season and $19 million in 2025-26,…