The Heat-Clippers showdown got undermined in the last three weeks by Chris Paul‘s hurt kneecap and a flu strain that made most Miami players sick before the game. Still, even with the whole Clippers roster (Jamal Crawford had 13 points, Paul had 3 and Blake Griffin had 13 in their respective returns) mostly healthy, shorthanded Miami bludgeoned its way to a rout made almost unwatchable it was so lopsided if it weren’t for LeBron James’ hypnotizing skills. Read More »

In a world where everything is instant, overreaction is expected. Today’s world has no gray area, only black and white. Seeing things differently and reading between the lines is too much work. That’s where your 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers stand right now. Read More »

FRESH PICKINGS: Nikola Vucevic (62 percent owned in Yahoo!, 71 percent in ESPN) Although Nikola Vucevic is already heavily owned, his recent string of play should get his ownership up to close to 100 percent. Read More »

FRESH PICKINGS: Antawn Jamison (38 percent owned in Yahoo!, nine percent in ESPN) I’m going to ride the Mike D’Antoni wave until it can’t carry me any further. This week, Antawn Jamison is the Laker who is garnering all the attention around fantasy circles. Read More »

David Stern dropped a $250,000 fine on San Antonio on Friday afternoon, then said he doesn’t want to talk about it any more. Good luck with that – the topic of what a coach can and can’t do with his team will be white-hot because of mistakes both the league and the Spurs made with Starter-Gate. It’s wrong to meddle with a coach’s team but Gregg Popovich had ways to achieve the same result (resting his four best players) without sending them home on Southwest Airlines without telling the NBA, too. Read More »

After a day watching some of the nastiest rivalries in college sports on the gridiron, we were reminded once Alabama turned Auburn into flattened tire marks that it’s probably still ‘Bama… and then everyone else (although Notre Dame has their chance to complete a storybook season). In the NBA, it’s not quite as simple. But we do know that Miami’s best is better than everyone else’s, particularly if you’re Cleveland and you’re missing your best player. They proved it over the last 1:58 against the Cavs last night in their 110-108 win. Read More »

After 1,381 career NBA games, how much does Kobe Bryant still have in those German re-engineered knees? Plenty, by the looks of a recent practice video from training camp. He’s not sparing his teammates any relief with a fierce dunk on Antawn Jamison while playing like he’s one cut from being sent to the L.A. D-Fenders with a non-guaranteed contract. The backs of Dwight Howard and Jordan Hill may be the talk of L.A., but I think Kobe’s knees will be just fine early this season. Read More »

It wasn’t easy, but a W is a W. Team USA struggled early against Brazil and were down by as many as 10. A struggle? They were having problems just converting layups. Russell Westbrook was missing breakaway lay ins; the rest of the team couldn’t make a shot in the lane. At the end of the first quarter, it was 27-17 Brazil, and we thought Coach K might break a blood vessel. Everything was going wrong for the USA early, even the Kiss Cam. Barack Obama and Michelle were in the building, and they were put on the Kiss Cam. Michelle refused the president twice, even after he went in for the kill, and the crowd wasn’t feeling it. Obama was swagging out all night in Under Armour – at a Nike event – but it took him a second try at the Kiss Cam to give his woman a smooch. Read More »

The “best pure scorer” label always came with a crutch. Yes, you can score, but what else can you do? Carmelo Anthony has been answering a lot of questions lately, and last night he might’ve given the world his best all-around game as a Knick. 35 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, he was the ring leader on a night where the Knicks could’ve opened up their own sperm bank because they were shooting so well. New York got the win they needed, 118-110 over the Celtics, but it was the box score that had everyone talking. The Knicks messed with the video game sliders in the first half. They MUST have. Read More »

Mike Breen called it. A Knicks announcer when he’s not doing national TV, Breen called Carmelo Anthony’s 43-point performance Sunday against Chicago his finest moment as a Knick. How could it not be? He hasn’t had the most consistent tenure as a Knick, putting it nicely, which is par for the Knicks’ fate during his time since the Nuggets’ trade. Two months after his return during Jeremy Lin’s breakout had everyone thinking Anthony was key to the Knicks’ woes, he was king of New York for the day. Read More »