“Get ready for a steady dose of ‘What’s wrong with the Lakers?’ fire-alarm stories today. (Which will promptly be forgotten after they destroy the Cavs on Wednesday.) … So, um, yeah. That was from Smack earlier this week, after the Lake Show lost in Charlotte and spiced up the soap opera when Kobe ducked the post-game media and Phil gave a snippy five seconds of his time. Considering that the last Lakers/Cavs meeting saw L.A. beat Cleveland worse than Sonny Corleone beat Carlo, and considering it’s Kobe and Pau Gasol versus the worst team in the League, you can understand our early prediction. We were wrong … Read More »

Losing was the theme of the day in the NBA. In Denver, Carmelo Anthony turned in his best effort of the season, but just as you’d expect in this strange trip for the Nuggets, his team still lost the game at home to a Lottery-bound opponent … On his way to dropping 50 points (16-24 FG, 16-18 FT) on the Rockets, Carmelo treated Shane Battier like an assistant coach in a practice drill, and when Houston tried to mix it up, ‘Melo made Chuck Hayes look like Chuck E. Cheese. ‘Melo added 11 rebounds and 3 blocks … But somehow it still wasn’t enough. Read More »

Say it in your best Rudy Tomjanovich voice: Don’t EVER underestimate the heart of an underdog!

When I wrote the Cleveland Cavaliers 2010-11 season preview, I thought maybe, possibly, the defending Central Division champions would muster enough motivation to surprise the critics and snatch a playoff spot. After all, this was a 60-win team that had only lost a couple key players, right? Read More »

Byron Scott didn’t sign up for this. And if the Cleveland Cavaliers’ collapse gets much worse, future franchise building block J.J. Hickson won’t re-sign up for it, either.

The Cavs’ losing streak stretched to eight games last night when they were routed in Oklahoma City. Seven of the losses have been by double-digits, and four have been by at least 20 points. Read More »

LeBron is on the court, the cameras are stuck on his every move, and the boos are loud. TNT’s Kenny Smith said he’s never seen a basketball arena as intense as Quicken Loans Arena is right now, and even through the television I’m catching the vibe that the building is feeling real small for LeBron and the Heat right now. It’s almost like a high school rivalry game. Meanwhile, Dwyane Wade has never played in a national TV game where he’s been less of a story line than he is right now. Chris Bosh? He might as well be back in Toronto. Read More »

If Doc Rivers and the Celtics were truly evil, they would tank tonight’s game against the Cavaliers as part of a grand-scheme plot to mess with LeBron James‘ head. Imagine the reaction: LeBron and his shiny new team couldn’t beat the mighty Celtics, and yet the very next night, the guys he dumped in Cleveland host the reigning East champs and get the job done.

But assuming the Celtics are too competitive and aren’t that conniving, there is still a significant risk against Cleveland. Read More »

As the NBA regular season approaches, we preview the upcoming campaign with the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team.

Added: Ramon Sessions, Joey Graham, Ryan Hollins, Christian Eyenga, Manny Harris, Samardo Samuels

Lost: LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Delonte West, Sebastian Telfair, Danny Green Read More »

In basketball, being a go-to guy isn’t always about who takes the last-second shot. It’s the guy who regularly gets the basketball when things are getting tense in the fourth quarter; the guy expected to calm things down when teammates are getting antsy; the guy called upon to snuff out an opponent’s rally or spark a rally of his own; the guy who’s not just supposed to make shots, but make the right decisions. Bottom line: Who do you want the offense to run through when everything is on the line? Read More »

As the saying goes, one door closing means another door is opening somewhere. Or something like that.

While the immediate future looks bleak for the Cleveland Cavaliers without LeBron James, one of the few people set to benefit in the new era is All-Star point guard Mo Williams, who becomes the go-to guy on a team that’s used to being in the playoff mix. Like Homer Simpson, Mo (who got his first chance to shine in the pros when T.J. Ford got hurt in Milwaukee) is again realizing the greatness of the word “default.” Read More »

One of the more feeble darts thrown from Cleveland Cavaliers fans to LeBron James this summer is something along the lines of, “We made you.”

Right. Except now that LeBron is gone, the team that won 60-plus games in each of the past two seasons, that went to the ’07 NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, that during the LeBron era put together its first five-year string of consecutive postseason appearances since its ’92-96 run, went from a legit title contender to arguably the worst team in the League the moment LeBron said he was moving to Miami. So who made who again? Read More »