The marathon NBA season came to its end last week and for some, it’s a blessing in disguise. Everyone had players that didn’t live up to expectations this season. We are going to look at some of these poor souls with one minor disclaimer: The excessively injured will not be included. Read More »

It wasn’t quite like LeBron returning to Cleveland or like Death Row Records coming to New York City. But Dwight Howard was showered with more than a few boos in his return to Orlando, and more than a few creative signs. There was a “Judas Coward” and a “Congratulations: we despise you more than Shaq!” and a “Dwight: my four-year-old can make free throws.” It’s too bad none of those signs could play defense because Howard looked like Superman again, obliterating the Magic for 39 points, 16 rebounds and 39 free throw attempts in a 106-97 Lakers win. Read More »

Hoops demands that we break down its players not just by stats but by the time and place they occur. Not fantasy hoops, though, where cold calculations rule the day and the matchup. Who are the Fantasy Doctor‘s choices for this week’s best pick ups? Hit the jump to find out. Read More »

Once we saw the schedule had Denver and Cleveland last night, we set our watches. Ty Lawson. Kyrie Irving. Could it get any better? The matchup never materialized, however, and Lawson is probably thankful for that. He scored just 11 while Irving dropped 26 points and seven assists. But part of that stems from Denver being one of the deepest teams in the league, and Irving being asked to do everything outside of fill his team’s water bottles. Read More »

Hopefully you didn’t start throwing back cold ones too early in anticipation of the holiday yesterday, or else you probably missed some really good basketball. Case in point the battle in Florida between the Magic and Heat, which felt like an intra-squad scrimmage because so many Miami “fans” infiltrated the Amway Center. But there was one big difference: the game’s intensity was bordering on Duke/North Carolina levels. Read More »

They said they were going to stop the game in New Orleans once Kobe Bryant hit 30,000 career points. He did that just before the end of the first half, going off the dribble and hitting a running floater over Robin Lopez. But the game never ceased, and Bryant – fittingly, as always – didn’t stop either. He hit three more free throws in the final minute of the half to add to his total. The 30,000-point club also includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. How would you rate that five? Read More »

With so much softness leaking into the modern game, we’re always anxious to annoint the next great rivalry. Where is the next Bulls-Knicks going to come from? Or the next Sacramento-Los Angeles? Everyone loves when players get a little nasty, and last night in Boston, the Celtics and Nets put on the first real throwdown of the season. Late in the first half, the Celtics weren’t getting any foul calls, and were getting run off their own floor. Read More »

Think back. Can you remember who shot the Bulls back into contender form with countless threes in between the post-Michael Jordan and pre-Derrick Rose eras? He’s a two at heart in a point guard’s body. He was drafted No. 3 in 2004 after leading UConn to a national championship. Ben Gordon is 29 now, in his ninth season in the league, and as all the expectations that he would lead Chicago back to the promised land faded, so did his name. Read More »

The one salvation for all long-suffering fans in the NBA is this: anyone can be traded. At any time. It doesn’t matter how egregious their contract is or how awful their production is. We’ve seen everyone from Gilbert Arenas to “Theo Ratliff‘s expiring contract” be moved for one reason or another. One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure, and as long as we have GMs in the league who love to needlessly make moves (Kaaaaahn) or make moves while smoking Cubans on the 10th hole (MJ), bloggers will continue to have things to complain about. Since burying his game in a grave somewhere in the Windy City, Ben Gordon has done nothing but frustrate fans in Detroit. They’ll probably be happy to know he’s gone: the Pistons traded the former Ben Jordan to Charlotte for Corey Maggette and his expiring contract. Read More »

Seven games. Four overtimes. One hundred and eight lead changes. No Kevin Garnett (outside of him mean mugging a lot on the bench), but a whole lot of drama. The 2009 Eastern Conference First Round Series between Boston and Chicago was tighter than the Virgin Mary, and it spawned everything from a ridiculous Ben Gordon contract to a budding rivalry between Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo. With the Bulls and Celtics both playing in big Game 6′s tonight, we figured we’d take a look back at one of the greatest playoff series we’ve ever seen. Read More »