In the fourth quarter in South Beach last night, Tracy McGrady outplayed even LeBron James. We shouldn’t have to remind anyone it’s 2012 and not 2003. But watching T-Mac bang threes (he hit a trio of big ones in the fourth quarter), grab rebounds in traffic and close out the Heat for their first loss of the season, we caught a serious case of deja vu. Miami, after looking invincible at times through their first five games, controlled the game throughout the first three quarters. But with McGrady (16 points, seven rebounds, four assists) turning back the clock, Dwyane Wade (12 points, 10 assists) scoring only three points in the second half, and Atlanta shutting down the fast break with a zone defense, the Hawks walked out with a 100-92 win. Read More »

Minnesota has finally won a game. Dating back to the end of last season, the Wolves were on an 18-game losing streak before surprising Dallas yesterday, 99-82. For all of the highlights and optimism they’ve provided so far this year, it’s a little weird they lasted 294 days in-between wins, and it’s probably even crazier that when they finally did get the W, it came against the reeling defending champs. Minnesota didn’t just beat Dallas. They ran right through them. Kevin Love was the best player on the court, dropping 25 and 17 and even making five threes (Dirk would be proud with the way this man is shooting.). Read More »

Beast of the Night: LeBron James had himself a typically big line to the tune of 35 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks. He shot 57 percent (13-23) from the field, 100 percent (9-9) from the free-throw line and had two turnovers. Through three games, James is averaging 32.7 points on 59 percent shooting from the field and 87 percent shooting from the charity stripe. The odd thing is that he has yet to attempt a single three-pointer. The fact that he’s been such a stud without a three-pointer says volumes about his fantasy value. It’s early, but James looks like the probable top dog in fantasy basketball this season. Read More »

Everyone wants to talk about super teams. Of course, the Heat, Knicks, Clippers, Celtics and all the rest of ‘em capture the imagination of the NBA fan base. There’s nothing quite like feeling the anticipation and excitement in the air when you see that news hit telling you Chris Paul has finally been traded and he’s going to the Clippers. What immediately follows is typically more invigorating than what eventually happens. The promise of what could be is almost always better than what is. Even here at Dime, we find ourselves talking about one third of the NBA about 80 percent of the time. That doesn’t mean we don’t care about everyone else. Read More »

By the looks of this clip, it appears Kevin Garnett didn’t let his taunting skills get rusty during the lockout. 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 »

Let’s be blunt: the Toronto Raptors are a sorry bunch, in real life and in fantasy terms. Sure, there are a decent number of potential breakout candidates on this squad whenever the next NBA season begins, but there are also timeshares awaiting a few positions. There’s no true stud here, but when you’re in the latter rounds of your draft, keep some of these Canadian dinosaurs in mind. Read More »

You can thank Kevin Garnett for the lockout. No, he isn’t playing the same role he did in the last one when his newly-minted $126 million contract was seen as the albatross that the owners needed to kill and never allow to come back from the dead. Now he’s in another mode: old veteran looking for one more big pay day. From that angle, it’s cool that he came to NYC and pointed a finger at the owners and at his fellow players. No more concessions, he told his guys over and over. Things got nasty in the meetings – as they’re bound to do with someone like KG – and then progress was halted. In some cases, things went backwards. Read More »

He might be saying he has nothing to prove, but someone is definitely playing like he’s a little pissed off he went so Bambi on us last spring. Pau Gasol had his third straight big game yesterday, dropping 21 points in an easy 17-point win for Spain over Britain. His little brother chipped in 18 and 11. If the elder Gasol keeps balling like this well into the season then perhaps Ron Artest is on the money when he says the Lakers will win the title. Actually, if both brothers keep this up, we could be looking at a very interesting Memphis/L.A. playoff series should they meet at some point. Read More »

It’s a simple idea, really. Writing funny songs about sports. Current Toronto resident Kathy Anderson does exactly that on SongsAboutSports.com. Let me be the first to tell you that she’s got a knack for it. Although she grew up watching hockey, Kathy is no stranger to basketball or the pain of Chris Bosh’s departure. Or the fact that he looks like Raptor. Or the fact that Andrea Bargnani can’t rebound. Or that Nate Robinson tweets way too much. In fact, she’s written songs about all of these things. In a recent interview, I caught up with Kathy to discuss Songs About Sports, her hoops career and why the Raptors need to have an all-European team. Read More »