Laker fans should slow down. They’re better than they were earlier this year, but San Antonio has showed them recently how far they still have to go. The Spurs took it back in time, unleashing their vaunted Big Three on the visitors in an easy 121-97 W. Kobe played and scored 18, and it didn’t matter. Tony Parker (20 points, 10 assists) blended them up and turned the Los Angeles defense into a milkshake in the first half. Tim Duncan (21 points) outplayed Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum nearly by himself. And Manu Ginobili (20 points on nine shots) turned in one of those crazy lines he’s known for … Read More »

Beast of the Night: DeMarcus Cousins finished with 25 points, 18 rebounds, three assists, six steals and two blocks last night. He shot 52 percent (11-21) from the floor and 75 percent (3-4) from the free-throw line, and had three turnovers. Cousins has been erratic lately, but he’s still averaging 19.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.0 block per game so far this month. Read More »

Beast of the Night: LeBron James owned the Thunder with his 34 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists, four steals, one block and three three-pointers last night. He shot 50 percent (10-20) from the field and 85 percent (11-13) from the free-throw line, and had two turnovers. This followed his 41/6/4 line against the Sixers the previous night. Believe it or not, last night’s monster line helped James reclaim the No. 1 spot over Kevin Durant again. Read More »

The Cleveland Cavaliers won just 19 games last season, good for second worst in the NBA. They also dealt away their most promising big man before the lockout began, which is kind of a downer for fantasy purposes. While there are some things to get excited about — the arrivals of a skilled rookie point guard and a promising rookie power forward, along with the return of Sideshow Bob – this Cavs squad has “timeshare” written all over it. Put on your sad face as we dive into the fantasy prospects for Dan Gilbert‘s crew. Read More »

Mother of Lailaa; wife of Shelden; sister of Anthony. Candace Parker goes by many titles these days, but we all know her as arguably the best female athlete in the world. While she’s not in L.A. lighting it up for the Sparks, the 6-4 forward spends her offseason playing basketball overseas for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia. In between her motherly duties and obligations to her Euroleage team, we were able to catch up with Candace to talk Sparks championship hopes, playing ball post-pregnancy and her idolization of Ron Harper. Read More »

The 1997 NBA Draft is one of the worst in the history of the NBA. And that’s what makes this do-over so hard. There was no doubt that Tim Duncan would be selected at No. 1 by the Spurs, but after that it was anyone’s guess. And when you see some of the players taken in the Lottery, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Read More »

The sequel never, ever lives up to the hype. The Godfather II. Jaws II. Even Caddyshack II couldn’t do it. Last night in Cleveland, the game was at least closer than the last Return of the King. But no one cared about that. They wanted fireworks. And got absolutely none (unless you’re a Cavs fan) … Despite nearly blowing a 23-point second-half lead, the Cavs held on to beat the Heat 102-90 to deny them a chance to move ahead of Boston and into second place in the East. The first time LeBron James came back to Cleveland, everyone was nervous he was going to slip up at a red light and some Cavs’ fan would pull up and get their Sonny Corleone on. This time, the reaction wasn’t nearly as antagonistic. Maybe that was because James didn’t show up for introductions. Yes, when they called his name, he was back in the locker room, waiting it out while his teammates had to soak in the boos. Read More »

Not everyone can be Dwight Howard. That’s easy. But not everyone can be Bruce Bowen either. You know, the guy who rarely gets pub, hardly ever gets any Defensive Player of the Year love and always ends up looking stupid on television. Basically, this is a list of guys like Shane Battier before people became obsessed with Battier’s hand-in-eye tactic and started proclaiming him to have the hand of God. Read More »

For the past couple days, two teams have been in the sweepstakes for Cleveland swingman Anthony Parker: Boston and Chicago. The Celtics are said to be offering their 2011 first-round pick and the expiring contract of Marquis Daniels (who could be out for the year), while the Bulls have two first-round picks this year to sweeten the pot. But according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, two Western Conference “dark horses” have entered the mix. Read More »

There are obviously aftershocks from the big deals involving Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams earlier this week. With a few hours left before the trade deadline passes, there are more deals to discuss, involving guys like Baron Davis, Mo Williams and Kirk Hinrich. Here are quick takes on the implications that fantasy owners should pay attention to. Read More »