Forget the first 82. The NBA playoffs get underway today: Cavs/Bulls at 3 p.m. EST (ABC), followed by Hawks/Bucks at 5:30 p.m. (ESPN), Celtics/Heat at 8 p.m. (ESPN), and Nuggets/Jazz at 10:30 p.m. (ESPN). Naturally, the Atlanta vs. Milwaukee series is getting the least amount of hype and attention, but honestly? It could be the best of the bunch. Ever since John Salmons came to the Bucks in a deadline trade, their games against the Hawks have routinely gone down to the wire, with Salmons and Joe Johnson serving each other heaping bowls of Bucket Pudding … Read More »

Beast of the Night: Stephen Curry blasted the Timberwolves with 27 points, 3 threes, 8 rebounds, 14 assists and 7 steals. He shot 55 percent (12-22) from the field and had 4 turnovers. There’s not much else you can say about his stellar rookie season except for the fact that it holds tons of promise for 2010-11. Read More »

When I woke up this morning, this was the text I had from Austin: “Yo! Did you see what Amar’e just did to Anthony Tolliver? Call CSI Oakland cause he just killed that man.” Check the evidence after the jump. Read More »

In a lot of ways, Lakers/Celtics shouldn’t have even come down to Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce looking to trade daggers in the final seconds. The Lake Show dominated the first quarter as Andrew Bynum (19 pts, 11 rebs) took ownership of the paint and Kobe (19 pts) hit his typical array of tough shots that he made look easy. Then, after Boston recovered to make it a ballgame, L.A. found themselves down by double-digits in the fourth thanks to Rajon Rondo (21 pts, 12 asts) carving up the defense and Eddie House throwing in some big threes. So the Lakers rallied, and with 45 seconds left, Ron Artest made an awkward runner — yes, you could say all of Ron-Ron’s buckets are awkward — to cut the lead to one. Read More »

In the past few weeks, NBA teams have been reaching into the D-League pool incessantly. Since our last D-League Hot Hand post on Jan. 11, there have been four more D-League call ups: Mario West (Hawks), Anthony Tolliver (Warriors), JamesOn Curry (Clippers) and Cedric Jackson (Cavs). The total of D-Leaguers called up in the 2009-10 season is now up to nine.

On top of guys earning 10 day contracts, several former D-League players have been making some noise. Sundiata Gaines hit a game winner against the Cavs a couple of weeks ago and has recently been signed for the rest of the season. With NBA players getting injured left and right, expect more and more D-Leaguers to get promoted in the coming weeks. Here are five players we think will be next. Read More »

This morning, we listed several D-League prospects that we thought had good chances of being called up soon. One person who was not on our list was Mario West of the Maine Red Claws. Today, the 6-5 guard signed a 10-day contract with the Hawks, the team he spent the last two seasons playing with. A day after the Warriors signed Cartier Martin, West becomes the sixth D-League call up for the season. Read More »

As some of you Blazers fans might know, Anthony Tolliver of the D-League’s Idaho Stampede was called up by Portland yesterday. With Greg Oden out for the season, the Blazers were given the “Hardship Exception” and used it on Tolliver, who is a 6-9, 240 pound power forward. He is the second D-League call up of the 2009-10 season, the first being Chris Hunter of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, who was called up by the Warriors. Read More »