Hopefully Kobe knows who Jeremy Lin is now. After spending time between the Lakers’ win in Boston and last night’s 92-85 loss in NYC doing his best to try to say he had no clue who the NBA’s newest sensation was, Bryant got one-upped by the man who has now scored more points in his first three starts than any player ever has since the NBA/ABA merger. Lin blew up for 38 points and seven assists, incubating Derek Fisher (He had one spin move in the first half that sent Fisher back to 1996) and running the lazy Lakers all over the half-court. Read More »

It’s a misnomer to call Thursday’s picks for the rest of the All-Star squads “reserves” considering their place as some of the world’s best ballers, but we learned who filled out the All-Star rosters last night on TNT. Some experts weren’t thrilled by all the picks, which opens up the annual conversation: Do fans want the big names or should they deserve the best in the moment? A perfect example is LaMarcus Aldridge, who was balling last season in Portland but got cut because he wasn’t a hot name. He got his much-deserved All-Star spot last night. Paul Pierce, Luol Deng and Dirk Nowitzki, though? And no Rondo? Read More »

When Dime‘s own Sean Sweeney ventured into the Dean Dome last night, all we wanted was an overtime or a buzzer beater. We got what we came for. Austin Rivers is a stone cold assassin. He’s like Vincent from Collateral, except with blacker hair, and just doesn’t give a you know what. On the final possession of the biggest game of his life, Rivers came off the screen and roll just as he had probably 30 other times throughout the game, sized up Tyler Zeller and unleashed hell to bring Duke a one-point win on the road. Read More »

A legend passed a legend in Boston tonight. Paul Pierce needed 10 points to move past Larry Bird for No. 2 in Celtics history but Pierce dropped him by the third quarter as the Celtics beat the Bobcats, 94-84. Pierce will never move past the man from French Lick in the hearts and minds of Boston fans, even with now 21,797 points, but tonight wasn’t just about the points for The Truth. He added nine assists and eight boards to go with 15 points. Is that how a Celtic captain does it or not? … You knew Rajon Rondo (14 assists and 10 points) was looking for Pierce every time down the floor, too, and the C’s were setting up sets for him every chance they got. Not that the Bobcats could focus solely on the record man tonight. The other Big Two, KG (22 points) and Ray Allen (17 points) kept the Bobcats guessing … Read More »

All hail Jeremy Lin. That’s now two games in a row that the seldom-used backup has torched opponents and lit the Garden on fire as if he was John Starks. Lin dropped 28 and eight in New York’s 99-88 win over Utah. Beast? Lin seems to finish every three point play, make all the right decisions out of the pick-n-roll and has even shown off his deep ball. At one point in the second half, he dropped a high-arching shot and then trotted back on defense with a swag unlimited smirk before sticking his tongue out (It looked like he had been sucking on some blue lollipops during the quarter break). Read More »

The Grizzlies should’ve just hit up a Super Bowl party early because Boston slapped them around all afternoon, winning their fourth-straight game 98-80 behind a throwback (24 points, nine rebounds) from Kevin Garnett and yet another, ho-hum 21 points from The Truth. Boston’s defense was suffocating, holding Memphis to under 37 percent from the field and under 20 points in every quarter outside of the third. And with Rajon Rondo (14 assists, his first game with double-digit assists since Jan. 13) really back, they had one of their best bucket-getting halves of the year (the second frame) … Read More »

Forget Steve Nash and Baron Davis. Jeremy Lin is taking over NYC. The Knicks survived New Jersey 99-92, and it was their popular bench warmer who had the city juiced. Deron Williams (21 points, 11 assists), the former best point guard in the world, was getting worked over by Lin (25 points, five rebounds, seven assists) down the stretch. Jumpers. Pick-n-rolls Everything was out of wack for New York. Carmelo (3-for-15) couldn’t make a shot, and Amar’e Stoudemire wasn’t much better, but Lin was pulling out reverses, and after a three-point play, Tyson Chandler was doing the Brandy Reed celebration from back in the day … Read More »

With the shot clock dwindling, Paul Pierce lost the ball, backed up behind the three-point line, fought off Landry Fields for the rock and heaved in a deep jumper as the clock leaked zeroes. So what if it didn’t count? It was crazy enough to warrant the MJ shrug from Pierce. It was also a signal: Down the stretch, the Celtics would make the plays. The Knicks wouldn’t. Boston came from behind to win again, 91-89, behind 30 from the Truth and a couple of monster shots from Jesus (14 points). Read More »

There’s no grander stage than Madison Square Garden, and Derrick Rose shined like stars should in NYC as Chicago bounced the Knicks, 105-102. The basics first: 32 points, 13 assists. What left you gasping: a blow-by Toney Douglas dunk in the third, a deke of Tyson Chandler at the rim a little later. The capper, however, was a layup where he avoided Chandler, Amar’e Stoudemire and Jared Jeffries driving through the lane while playing hide-and-seek with the ball around his head. Read More »

Do you believe in Philly now? You should. The 76ers turned the stove temperature up in the third quarter and started grilling Chicago. It was like the visitors got caught up in a storm they couldn’t get out of. The defense was suffocating. Andre Iguodala (19 points) had a cuff dunk that only five or six people in the world could’ve pulled off. And Jrue Holiday (17 points) capped it all with a corner three right before the quarter ended. 26 to 11, they mauled the second-best team in the East in the third, and ended up winning 98-82. Read More »