Playing against the Warriors is like being a kid in the driveway (or the playground, or on that telephone-pole plastic crate, etc.), pretending to be your basketball idol. As the Blazers rained a barrage of buckets on Golden State’s stop-and-stare defense last night, Steve Blake was looking like Steve Nash (crossovers, fake passes into layups, automatic threes), Rudy Fernandez looked like a hybrid Drazen/Manu, Nic Batum flashed his Young Grant Hill, LaMarcus Aldridge resembled Young Rasheed (LA was even rocking the headband, the first time we’ve noticed him doing that), and Travis Outlaw looked like what Darius Miles was supposed to be; less real-life version and more The Perfect Score version. As for Brandon Roy — making his return after missing a week or so with a hamstring injury — he kind of low-keyed it, going Steve Smith-style (19 pts, 6 rebs, 5 asts) before flipping through the MJ playbook for a second. In the fourth quarter, B-Roy caught an inbounds alley-oop where he skied like Mike in Game 1 of the ’92 Finals. Portland fans know what play we’re taking about … Read More »

Almost immediately, you knew the Cavs had their swagger on 1,000% for last night’s tip with the Celtics. Even before LeBron made his first field goal, his team had built a decent lead, which ‘Bron helped stretch into near-blowout territory in the first half once he got going. Boston got a little closer when KG, Pierce and LBJ all went to the bench — cue Mike Brown drifting into a catatonic state with his entire offensive playbook sitting in a chair next to him with a warm-up jacket on — and also made it competitive following an early second-half run. But LeBron just couldn’t be stopped, whether it was going to the rack or shooting from deep. He ended up with 38 points, seven boards, six assists, four steals and three blocks, and dogged Pierce into 11 points on 4-for-15 shooting. Long story short, this wasn’t a good night for those in the “Pierce is the best player in the world” camp … Even when the Cavs f*cked up they looked flawless, like the play in the first half when Daniel Gibson was trying his hardest to turn the ball over, but somehow stumbled into hitting a cutting LBJ for a monster dunk … Read More »

First, the Blazers threatened to sue anyone who signed Darius Miles, as his status on an NBA roster for another two games would force Portland to take on $9 million on their cap.

But that didn’t just fall on deaf ears. In fact, Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert is rolling up his sleeves and telling the Blazers just how he feels about that threat. Read More »

With just about every team in the NBA having at least one foreign-born player/Euroleague alum on its roster, and seemingly one-third of the second round of the Draft consisting of European players, we’re well beyond the point of using terms like “trend” and “fad” when it comes to the NBA’s overseas influence.

From legit superstars (Dirk Nowitzki) to borderline All-Stars (Hedo Turkoglu) to solid rotation guys (Sasha Vujacic) to end-of-the-bench types (Buckets Pecherov), the international stamp is all over the League. And now that NBA free agents view the Euroleague as a viable option and American high schoolers like Brandon Jennings are willing to choose the Euroleague rather than college as their NBA minor league stint, it’s only going to grow from here. Read More »

In case you didn’t agree with Andrew a couple weeks ago and think the Warriors are the biggest mess in the NBA, have you ever heard of an assistant coach leaving the team mid-season to become a consultant overseas?

Word out of The Bay is that Warriors assistant coach Sidney Moncrief has left the team to become a consultant for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association. Moncrief, who Don Nelson recently named “offensive coordinator,” will mentor the Ducks’ coaching staff as part of his new duties. Read More »

Although Paul Millsap’s name is not listed on the All-Star ballot, there might not be anyone more worthy of the honor than the former second-round draft pick making the NBA’s minimum salary.

No endorsements, no signature shoe, Millsap can just flat-out play. After two-time All-Star Carlos Boozer went down with a knee injury, Millsap was finally given the opportunity to shine and has made the most of his time, averaging 18.5 points and 11.7 rebounds in his 20 games as a starter, including a ridiculous 27 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in a convincing win over the Hornets on Wednesday. Read More »

While Christian gave a shout out to his favorite sneakers of 2008, Eric Woodyard of The Flint Journal decided to put us in the know about what to look forward to in the new year. Although CGF has given his two cents about a bunch of these already, check out Woodyard’s list of his top 9 sneakers for the first half of 2009 and let us know what you plan on copping. Read More »

It’s been a big couple days for Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic on Dimemag.com. First he was calling out Chris Paul, then he topped a list of the most unpopular players in NBA history. Today, I decided to let you see a different side of the Machine as he accompanies Lakers reporter Mike Trudell to Petros Restaurant in Manhattan Beach.

With a lot of the conversation surrounding Boston’s recent struggles focusing on their lack of leadership off the bench, should the Celtics consider pulling a Gregg Popovich and bring one of their three best players off the bench?

The obvious candidate in this situation would be Ray Allen. But who would replace him in the starting lineup? You can’t afford to give Tony Allen any more minutes than he’s already getting. The Examiner has a suggestion: Eddie House.

Start Eddie House, and move Ray Allen to the bench. Read More »

Bowing out of a competition with the BCS national championship game, the NBA didn’t have its usual national-TV Thursday lineup. Instead we had Knicks/Mavericks and Clippers/Spurs on good ol’ League Pass … At the beginning of the Knicks game, their sideline reporter said Mike D’Antoni has had to implement drills in practice recently to teach guys how to be unselfish. As in, they don’t know how to not shoot it every time they touch it. That’s just sad. Then the game started, and it seemed David Lee (13 pts, 15 rebs) and Jared Jeffries were the only ones who’d been paying attention … Of course more defensive drills would help, too. While Dirk Nowitzki and his 101-degree temperature had an off night (3-for-13 FG’s), New York still blew its fourth-quarter lead by letting Jason Kidd (16 pts, 4 threes) hit a couple clutch triples, and on the other end, not being able to make their own shots when it mattered … Eddy Curry is back. He checked in during the first quarter and played a couple of minutes, getting two points and two rebounds. So where does D’Antoni go from here with Curry? He can’t play big-time minutes in this system, even though he is their best low-post scorer. So do you showcase him a little just to drum up interest for a trade? Or keep burying him on the bench? … Read More »