It seemed obvious that from every angle — and the networks were kind enough to show several — that Dwyane Wade made a better open field tackle than any of the Miami Dolphins’ safeties last season. It seemed obvious that a Flagrant 1 would be assessed to him, as it was. What puzzled me, then was why it seemed that Wade and his teammates blew their cool in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semis, at home, to a Pacer team that’s ornery but hardly a juggernaut. Read More »

With today’s announcement that Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving is the NBA Rookie of the Year, the caveat that followed him from Duke to Cleveland, while still valid, doesn’t diminish his huge rookie season. That caveat, of course, involves his health: When he’s on the floor, he’s in elite company among an already elite NBA. It holds true with today’s award for the 20-year-old point guard. Read More »

From the “Nothing To Shrug At Department” come stats like these from Miami’s Game 1 win over Indiana: Twenty straight points by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in the fourth quarter; forty-eight of 53 second-half points either scored by or assisted on by James and Wade. Wade’s defense was just as nasty, however. Read More »

Ivan Johnson doesn’t go out quietly. When he played professionally in Korea, he was banned for life for making an “obscene gesture at a referee.” That is a nice way of saying he dropped a middle finger on a ref over there and was subsequently the last time he played there. Last night in Atlanta’s last game of the year, a Game 6 loss in Boston, Johnson made his mark despite getting the dreaded DNP. Read More »

Indiana coach Frank Vogel knows his team will face a huge challenge in Miami in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but believes the talents in South Beach include an inordinate amount of flopping. A hatred toward flopping, seemingly even more pronounced than usual, has become the campaign issue du jour of the NBA postseason. Will it mean the win or loss of a series? Likely not. Is it the easiest thing to work up hate about? Yes. Read More »

One thing analysts are trying to find out watching Oklahoma City’s James Harden this playoffs is whether he’s a max deal player. While we were trying to read GM Sam Presti‘s mind, however, some fans decided Harden is definitely worth a music video. Read More »

There have only been four 8-over-1 upsets in NBA postseason history, but a Derrick Rose ACL tear has brought Philadelphia to the verge of No. 5 tonight. Unfortunately for Philly fans, this series will be remembered most for the injury to the Chicago star guard as much as anything the 76ers do. That can’t be said for the other four upsets in playoff history, when a few huge moments changed everything. Read More »

JaVale McGee alone had more highlights in Tuesday’s Game 5 win in Los Angeles than there were combined in the Lakers-Nuggets series’ first four games (unless you count the clips of the reactions of his mom, Pam McGee, in the stands). Mixed into his 21-point, 14-board game were the crazy dunks, head-scratching goaltends and blocks we’ve all come to expect — plus something new. Read More »

I’ve been a West Coast guy all my life, and I distinctly remember hearing about this new guard UCLA was about to give heavy play in its rotation. In 1998, Baron Davis came out and became Pac-10 freshman of the year and had become appointment viewing for Pac-10 fans. On one hand he was tearing apart my favorite team. On the other hand, it was effortless. Read More »

Amid all the flopping and jawing and Chris Paul-saving the Clippers endured Monday night in their Game 4 win over Memphis, two dunks by two different Clips from two different teammates brought all 20,000-plus in Staples Center to their feet in a full-on “Lob City” moment.

Neither play is better than the work Paul did in overtime. Paul’s eight points in OT lit the entire city and the Twittersphere on fire like it was 1991 and everyone was trying to be in “Backdraft.” That was a flat-out backyard barbecue of Memphis’ backcourt. No, these are just a couple of nice alley-oops done by the gold standard team of alley-oopers. Paul’s dish to DeAndre Jordan and Mo Williams‘ dime to Blake Griffin came through as huge highlights. Read More »