Beast of the Night: Brandon Jennings finished with 31 points, four rebounds, eight assists, four steals and seven three-pointers last night. He shot 36 percent (9-25) from the floor, 75 percent (6-8) from the free-throw line and had zero turnovers. Since Jan. 17, Jennings is averaging 24.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.9 steals and 3.6 threes per game, while shooting 45 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free-throw line. For the season, he’s putting up top 10 averages. 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 »

Beast of the Night: LeBron James posted 31 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, four steals, three blocks and two three-pointers last night against the Lakers. He shot 44 percent (12-27) from the field, 71 percent (5-7) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. Maybe it wasn’t as momentous as MJ’s “flu game,” but this was a huge line from a guy who was questionable with the flu-like symptoms until about an hour before the start of the game. LeBron has hit nine three-pointers in his last three games, which is noteworthy because he hit zero threes in the 10 games before that. Read More »

This play was nice and all, but it’s kind of crazy that this was only Blake‘s sixth block of the season. If the Clippers are going to make some noise, he needs to make plays like this on a nightly basis. Read More »

Say hello to the bad guy. We have a new beast in the West. In probably the most physical game of the NBA season so far, the Blazers showed why everyone is so frightened of playing them up in the Northwest by punking the Clippers and Blake Griffin, 105-97. With the NBA’s newest A-List team threatening them over and over, Portland answered every call. Between Gerald Wallace, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby, they did work on Griffin, holding him to the most up-and-down 18 and 12 night you’ll ever see. Read More »

Talking All-Stars two weeks into the season? It happens when David Stern and co. attempt to stuff 66 games into 120 days. The All-Star balloting is already up on NBA.com, and you’ll start hearing campaigns emerge for players like Andre Iguodala, Andrea Bargnani, Tyson Chandler and LaMarcus Aldridge. But they’ll be players this year missing out just as there always are. Read More »

The rich keep getting richer. The Heat have a new toy and last night, he dropped 14 points in the fourth, drugged the crowd into chanting MVP for him at the line and used his Sam Cassell in ’94-sized balls to hit two straight jumpers in the final minute against the Celtics. Boston had to endure the wrath of D-Wade (24 points, eight assists, four blocks) and LeBron (26 points) for three quarters, but some great shooting and a zone defense brought them all the way back. Too bad Norris Cole wasn’t having it. Read More »

All hell is about to break loose in the NBA. Teams need players (preferably good ones) to fill out their rosters. Serious runs will be made at lots of guys, especially the ones who play positions where the talent field is most thin – point guard and center. That is how guys like Sam Dalembert are lining up for yet another monster free agent contract. Athletic 7-footers don’t grow on trees.

So who are the best of the best? Read More »

Thanksgiving leftovers are finding their way into our meals, holiday music is playing everywhere we go and the Rockefeller Christmas tree is lit. Yes, the start of the 2011-12 NBA season is finally near. Though we’ll have to wait for free agency and amnesty activity to wrap up in order to make truly educated approximations of where many players should be picked in our fantasy basketball drafts, it’d be unwise to lie idle before then. If you haven’t already started mapping out your potential round-by-round selections in your head, it’s time to get cracking. Read More »

‘Tis the season, right? First word broke this morning that Boston would be open to trading Rajon Rondo in the right deal, while chatter in Utah is now saying that the Jazz are willing to do the same with Paul Millsap. Read More »