I’m not trying to sound like a sore loser, but Dirk definitely dropped that off arm into Reggie Evans‘ chest right? I know that’s a tough call to make in that situation, but it still hurts…

Check out some NBA players’ reactions to Barack Obama‘s big day…

My bad for missing a couple of days, but I’m back to hook you up with the lineup special. HEADS UP!!! EARLY GAMES TODAY! Get your lineups in early! Marcus Camby – He’s day-to-day but it really doesn’t sound like you can risk starting him. Sprained ankles have been the injury of the year (my regards to “the plantar”) and nobody has really bounced back from the injury. Knowing Camby’s injury history, I don’t think he’ll be the first to make it back in a hurry. I’m a Camby owner and am going to start Marc Gasol. It’s going to hurt because 4 games of Camby can almost win you a week.

Brian Skinner – What’s that gross sound you hear? Why yes that was me throwing up in my mouth after picking him up for a one week start. With no Camby and four Clippers games this week and a whole lot of injuries at forward I needed a one week pick up. If Camby sits the week, Skinner will put up decent numbers. Read More »

On the list of questions that Kobe doesn’t want to answer, this has got to be No. 1: Who is the MVP right now?

“LeBron,” he said. “Leave me alone about that stuff.”

But corporate Kobe then came to his senses, no matter how much it hurts to admit that someone else could be having a better season.

“I’m a big fan of his, obviously,” he said. “I just think the world of him. Playing with him this summer [at the Beijing Olympics], and seeing his work ethic and what he’s about, I just think he’s terrific.”

Source: Real GM

Stepping aside for the NFL conference championship games, the NBA had a light two-game schedule Sunday. The star of the day was D-Wade, who as usual carried the Heat to a win, this time past the feisty OKC Thunder on the road. Wade dropped 32 points and 10 assists, highlighted by one play where he started to drive toward the baseline going right, then pulled his dribble back and nailed a three while Desmond Mason kept running to Stillwater. When Miami’s big second-half lead was cut to five in the fourth quarter, Wade had to come back in off the bench from what he probably thought was a rare Kobe/LeBron rest period and shut the door. “He will look you right in the face and stab you in the HEART,” said the Thunder play-by-play guy, incredulous as Wade stuck another dagger … Can we get a re-count on the Dunk Contest fourth-contestant ballot? Rudy Fernandez won the spot, but Russell Westbrook kept up his more impressive (in every way) resume yesterday. Read More »

Nobody would have blamed Orlando for losing to the Nuggets last night. Second game of a back-to-back, last game of a cross-country road trip, plus the high elevation/thin air factor in Denver — all valid excuses for Dwight Howard‘s team to put up a forgivable stinker. Except the Magic didn’t just play well; they dominated. Smacking the Nuggets by 18 with pretty much zero input from their bench, Dwight (14 pts, 20 rebs), Hedo (31 pts, 5 threes), Jameer (23 pts) and Rashard (23 pts) blew open a close game late in the third quarter and kept it up in the fourth, at the exact time when you’d assume they would run out of gas … If anything, it was the Nuggets who looked ready to get on a plane. Chauncey, J.R. Smith and Nene combined to go 10-for-40 from the field in one of those games where it was very apparent that Carmelo was M.I.A. … In the second quarter, J.J. Redick learned the benefit of having a shot-blocker on his side. The notoriously bad-defending J.J. had let J.R. blow past him to the rim, but since Dwight stepped in and tossed J.R.’s shot to the pretzel man, no one’s gonna remember who blew their defensive assignment … Read More »

Do you believe in the Magic now? After quietly putting together one of the best records in the League through the season’s first couple of months, Orlando is still always mentioned in the sentence after the Lakers, Celtics and Cavs, sometimes even the Spurs. But after knocking off San Antonio on the road last week and then the Lakers at Staples Center last night, Dwight Howard‘s team has to be taken seriously. Dwight destroyed Andrew Bynum inside, putting up 25 points and 20 rebounds (Bynum had three boards), and Jameer Nelson took another step toward securing an All-Star berth, dropping 28 points (15 in the fourth quarter) and eight assists. Nelson’s biggest play came with 35 seconds left in the fourth, when L.A. was up by two and he knocked down a go-ahead three from the wing. Just like when these two teams played in Florida, Kobe had opportunities to be the hero at the end, but his shots wouldn’t go down … For a half-second just before tip-off, we saw Courtney Lee getting the start at two-guard and wondered why J.J. Redick didn’t get the nod. Then we remembered that Lee would be the guy guarding Kobe and it all made sense. Read More »

If in fact the Bobcats really were interested in Eddy Curry — a rumor that surfaced out of nowhere and never really went away even as E-City was being Marburied in New York — I’m assuming they’ve given up on that dream. The fact that Curry’s two-minute season debut led to more knee problems, plus his involvement in an embarrassing sexual harassment lawsuit (EC may or may not have picked up the nickname “Towelie” in the office) had to have turned Charlotte off, and today they went out and got DeSagana Diop to address that lack of depth behind Emeka Okafor issue that might have made Curry attractive. Read More »

The Pacers welcome back Jermaine O’Neal tonight (7 p.m. EST); there’s just no guarantee he’ll actually play. O’Neal has been out more than two weeks with a knee bruise, and while it’s possible he’ll suit up against his former team, either way he expects to be coming off the bench when he does return.

Andrea Bargnani has been killing in J.O.’s absence, averaging 22 points and seven boards as a starter and hitting about 60 percent of his threes. It’s a stark contrast to last season, when Bargs often played out of position at center and looked lost most of the time. From the Toronto Star: Read More »

It was bound to happen. This morning, the Spurs signed veteran Austin Croshere to the first 10-day contract of his career, buying some insurance for their frontcourt. In case you didn’t know, Croshere has been in the League this season, playing for the Bucks up until he was waived last week. Read More »