The Houston Rockets are in the same place as the Boston Celtics after winning Game 4 at home, 105-103, on Monday night. They successfully faced down a possible sweep at the hands of the Russell Westbrook-less Oklahoma City Thunder, and set themselves up to play spoiler during Game 5 tonight in Oklahoma City’s raucous Chesapeake Energy Arena. They might be able to survive and put the pressure back on Oklahoma City if they continue to deny Kevin Durant the ball, which is a lot easier to do now that Westbrook is out with a lateral meniscus tear. Read More »

After last night’s loss to the lowly Phoenix Suns and a Los Angeles Lakers win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Dallas Mavericks have now been officially eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since 2000. That was so long ago, we’re not even sure Dirk could have grown a beard in an effort to spur the Mavs back to a .500 record. Read More »

We’re already in the last month of the season, and while most teams still have around 10 games remaining, we thought it was time to give our seasonal awards before we get into the thick of playoff seedings and matchups (although, we’ve predicted those as well). So, without further ado, here are our picks for the All-NBA Teams, MVP, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Read More »

There is no telling how things are going to shape out in the West with five — maybe six — teams in position to win 50 games and tie the second-seeded Pacers in the East. The West is just better, excluding Miami, so it’s more fun to look at how their final month is going to play out. Read More »

The playoffs are getting close, and that means playoff seedings, which are as jumbled as ever this year after more than two thirds of the regular season has elapsed. The East, especially, has bunched up just below the winning streak that’s catapulted the Miami Heat to the indisputable No. 1 seed. Read More »

The Brooklyn Nets embarked on an eight-game road trip last night in Detroit after just their second loss in six games on Sunday night to Atlanta. On Saturday, Brook Lopez ducked into (he’s always ducking) the Old Navy store across the street from the spaceship in Brooklyn known as the Barclays Center. After signing autographs for an hour, he was kind enough to give us a few minutes to talk defense, rebounding and that fantastic dunk on his twin brother, Robin Lopez. Read More »

With the regular season in its last few months, the cream of the league has risen to the top, and that means it’s time for prognosticators to start talking playoff seeds and possible matchups. One team once believed to be in the pretender category — the New York Knicks — have played their way into the cream category. A large part of New York’s return to the upper tier of the Eastern Conference after the Isiah Decade is the return of the Carmelo Anthony we watched in Denver since 2003. Read More »

Michael Jordan turns 50 on Sunday, a milestone that marks a half-century of the greatest player ever to play the game. He’s been out of basketball for nearly a decade, but his legend remains whether on sneakers, memories or game tape. Dime explores the greatest aspects of the GOAT’s career for his birthday. Today: Watching MJ drop 44 in person. Read More »

J.R. Smith has always been a kid at heart. Early in February, after missing everything but oxygen and nitrogen on a free throw attempt, Smith tried his hand with the kids during halftime of the Knicks 99-85 win over Detroit. The kids famously refused to toss him the ball. Read More »

Andre Drummond has been excellent through the first half of his rookie year. But he’s not getting the playing time many feel he deserves. Critics of keeping Drummond on the bench point to his high efficiency and his defensive dominance on the block. If you stretch his production to 36 minutes, he’s giving you a double-double, almost three blocks and 1.7 steals a night while shooting a ridiculous 61 percent from the floor. Read More »