Beast of the Night: Brandon Roy torched the Warriors with 41 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. He shot 64 percent (14-22) from the field, 77 percent (13-17) from the line and had 4 turnovers. The good news is that Roy plays the boys from Oakland once more in the Blazers’ last game of the season. The bad news is that Roy’s squad has the worst fantasy playoff schedule in the NBA. Read More »

Bulls/Magic was over the moment Derrick Rose crashed to the floor and sprained his left wrist. On a night when the Bulls were already playing without Joakim Noah (foot) and Luol Deng (calf), and Orlando has been smashing all non-contender squads during their now seven-game win streak, Chicago’s only chance would be if D-Rose went off like Shep in Above the Rim — or if Vinny Del Negro hopped in a Hot Tub Time Machine and brought Mike and Scottie back with him … Late in the first quarter, Rose went to the rack and threw his body into Dwight Howard, hurting himself when he tried to break the fall. The play was exactly like the one from last month when Dwight and Rose collided and Rose wound up with a hip injury. Read More »

Ranking the NBA from worst to first…

30. New Jersey Nets (6-53) — Mad Dog Carter and the rest of the ‘73 Sixers might have to cancel that champagne-popping party. The Nets are 2-5 since the All-Star break, recording wins over the Celtics and the (maybe) playoff-bound Bobcats.

29. Minnesota Timberwolves (14-47) — A disappointing season gets worse for Al Jefferson, suspended for this week’s games against Dallas and Houston after a DWI arrest. On a less serious note, Al’s team has dropped nine of its last 10 games. Read More »

Jason Richardson should just lay it up next time. Don’t get us wrong, J-Rich is still one of the baddest to ever look down into a rim, but he’s developing a weird habit of blowing crucial dunks in the fourth quarters of close games. Last year it was the 360 for no reason that LeBron snuffed out. Yesterday it wasn’t even that complicated … Phoenix was down two in San Antonio with about 40 seconds left, Spurs ball. Jared Dudley got a steal and threw it long for J-Rich, who had gotten behind the defense. All by himself, J-Rich went conservative and tried a basic one-hand dunk that he’s probably been making since he was 13, but somehow missed it. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Gerald Wallace put up 32 points, 2 threes, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals in 48 productive minutes. Crash’s February was a bit dull up until this game, but his value is unchanged. Read More »

Two games. If you were in the office pool to get action on the first time Tracy McGrady would start showing signs in New York of why the Rockets never trusted him enough to give him a featured role this season, whoever had “two games” gets the pot. In the second half of last night’s home loss to Milwaukee — the Knicks’ seventh L in a row, by the way — McGrady was noticeably limping around. After the game Mac admitted his knee had taken some punishment and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to play against the Celtics tonight … On top of the knee issues, McGrady got his first taste of what it’s really like to be a Knick in the 21st century. Read More »

Friday was the night for some big-name players who’d been dealt at the NBA trading deadline to debut with their new teams. And none of them will have a more direct impact on the 2010 championship race than Antawn Jamison … The moment Jamison checked into Cavs/Bobcats in the first quarter, LeBron got a steal and looked off his new teammate on the break, barreling through two defenders for a statement dunk instead. (Statement: This is my show, homie.) Read More »

Another trading deadline past, another batch of winners and losers. The names may change, but the contrast stays the same: For every superstar who’s pleased that his team just improved his chances of winning a championship, there’s a role player facing the realization that his PT just went up in smoke. For every GM elated with pulling a fast one, one of his colleagues is feeling the sting of getting burned. (Unless he doesn’t know it yet.) And for every fan base who has grown to like their team a little more since last week, another fan base has lost another bit of their will. Read More »

The Cavs are locked and loaded for a solid run at the championship, a disgruntled former superstar finds a new home (and maybe another one before the day’s up), the Bulls are in an even better position to make a splash this summer and a perennial lump of dead weight now finds himself with 10,000 lakes to drown in. That pretty much sums up all the NBA trade action from Wednesday night into Thursday morning, in what has shaped up to be a trade season that has lived up to expectations so far. Here’s a quick rundown of the fantasy implications. Read More »

Before the season, I made a pretty bold declaration by writing that the Washington Wizards could win the championship this year. And on paper, I still stand behind that statement. But when your whole starting five from the beginning of the season is gone by the trade deadline – something that I bet has never happened before – all expectations are thrown out the window. Read More »