Going into the second half of Rockets/Lakers, with Houston up double-digits, their play-by-play man called it early: “We’re going to get a lot of Kobe now.” Clyde Drexler gave his usual giggle of approval; no doubt he can recognize that crunch-time assassin’s look from 94 feet away. After a quiet start, Kobe cranked up the aggressiveness after the break, and when his physical head-to-head battle with Ron Artest finally boiled over midway through the fourth quarter — Kobe throwing an elbow away from the ball and both guys needing to be separated — he went into Takeover mode. Read More »

In the third quarter of a Clippers game I was watching a couple weeks ago, Zach Randolph stepped to the free throw line and notched his 20th and 21st points of the night. After one L.A. announcer noted that Z-Bo had cracked the 20-point plateau again, the other was shocked.

“How did that happen?” he said. “I was sitting here watching the game with you; when did he get 20 points?” Read More »

This picture might not look like anything special – but it’s supposed to. Seller cves0703 says that’s the ring of a teammate of Stephon Marbury‘s from Abraham Lincoln’s 1995 New York City Championship. Maybe this dude should splurge for a real camera instead of his cell phone if he wants to convince someone to pay $250,000 for it. Read More »

ESPN is so far past the CP3/Deron Williams debate, they’re asking whether Chris Paul is better than Magic Johnson on their NBA homepage.

I’m not quite ready to anoint Paul the greatest point guard of all time. I think that the SI Player’s Poll, in which they asked “Which NBA point guard would you pay to go see?” is a better question right now. Read More »

If we take Dwight Howard‘s word for it, Patrick Ewing has now said two things recently: (1) “What’s up Ryan?… AAAAAAAAAHHhhh!!” and (2) “Man if I was playing against you back in the day, I woulda gave you 50.”

If you haven’t heard yet, Nike is offering iD services for Hyperdunks. To go with the launch, they’ve dropped new TV spots, including this one with Coach K. Good stuff …

I’ve been a fan of Dar Tucker for a minute. As a freshman last year, he posted averages of 13.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in his inaugural campaign despite playing only 23.6 minutes a night. An explosive offensive player, despite DePaul’s lack of wins, the Big East sophomore had a breakout season. Read More »

Though the boxscore says that the Pacers and Jazz played last night, don’t be fooled thinking that was the real matchup. In reality, last night’s game at Conseco Fieldhouse felt a lot more like T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack vs. the Pacers. Read More »

We hit you with the NCAA Tournament Hyperdunks yesterday, now we wanted to follow up with the new uniform designs Nike schools will be rocking in the Dance.

Duke, Gonzaga, Memphis, Michigan State and Oregon will be outfitted head to toe in Nike Pro Combat gear and their unis will feature brand new designs. (see them after the jump) Read More »

If you don’t have League Pass, chances are you never get to watch an Oklahoma City Thunder game. But let me tell you something: they aren’t that bad. While Kevin Durant gets all the press (as he should), another second-year player who has improved considerably is Jeff Green. Read More »