All things being equal, the NBA’s best sixth men would rather be starting, of course. On other teams, there’s a chance they certainly would be. You don’t have to look much further than Jason Terry. He’s been the second-best player on a championship team and one of the fourth quarter shoulders the Dallas Mavericks have leaned on for the past eight seasons. Is he good enough to start? Of course. Even though his numbers are down this year (13.9 points, 41 percent shooting), Terry’s been hitting big jumpers and spot up threes for the past decade. As a starter, he’d be a nice player. As a bench player, he became a staple of what it means to be a great sixth man. Read More »

Who stole Orlando’s offense? With the Celtics reeling from injuries and actually giving legit minutes to people like Sasha Pavlovic and E’Twaun Moore, the Magic could’ve stepped on their necks. Instead, they folded like a bad hand, scoring only 56 for the game and leaving Boston with a 31-point L on their foreheads. 56 points sounds awful. But 20 second half points and 24 percent shooting for the game sounds even worse. Dwight Howard had 18 and 14, but didn’t even make a shot in the second half while Paul Pierce and Brandon Bass dropped 19 to lead all scorers … Read More »

Right before Christmas, Lou Williams found himself in an attempt to be robbed at gunpoint. Luckily for him, he was able to use his celebrity status to avoid any harm. This situation got us to thinking, what if Lou Will had any of his basketball buddies with him? Which current athletes would make the best bodyguards? Although Shaq might have topped this list if he was still playing, there’s still plenty of security to be found in these ten players. Read More »

You talkin’ about playoffs? The atmosphere in the Clippers overtime win over Miami felt like an NBA Finals game. Down the stretch, we can’t remember the last time we’d seen so many bodies hitting the deck. Miami really should’ve won it during regulation. But LeBron (23 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists) fouled Chauncey Billups on a three, as well as going half n’ half at the line two times in a row at the end of the game (Damn he looked uncomfortable at the end of the game). It stayed close all the way through the overtime until Mario Chalmers (18 points) missed a three. With the Heat down three, they couldn’t get a foul, DeAndre Jordan (six huge blocks) got a wide-open jam, Erik Spoelstra flipped out and got tossed and the Clippers had a 95-89 win … Read More »

The Knicks haven’t exactly been outclassing people, but a win is a win even if it took them all of 48 minutes to get one over the Bobcats. Carmelo Anthony (6-for-18, 22 points) struggled for most of the night, but when it counted he hit the buckets and free throws, and gobbled up enough boards to send New York home with a much-needed four-point win. Charlotte had their chances. Down one in the final 20 seconds, D.J. White missed a crazy jumper off the bounce (who drew that one up?). Then, D.J. Augustin (12 points, eight boards) hit a wild three on the following possession to make it a one-point game. Read More »

Beast of the Night: LeBron James had himself a typically big line to the tune of 35 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks. He shot 57 percent (13-23) from the field, 100 percent (9-9) from the free-throw line and had two turnovers. Through three games, James is averaging 32.7 points on 59 percent shooting from the field and 87 percent shooting from the charity stripe. The odd thing is that he has yet to attempt a single three-pointer. The fact that he’s been such a stud without a three-pointer says volumes about his fantasy value. It’s early, but James looks like the probable top dog in fantasy basketball this season. Read More »

Who would’ve ever thought the most exciting game of the season would happen in Charlotte? The Bobcats dominated with energy in the first half as the Heat gave up 58 percent shooting and 60 points. But the real fireworks came late. LeBron James (35 points) had the best dunk ever that wasn’t, slamming a backdoor cut so hard that the ball hit a dude in the head and came back up and threw the net, as well as a ridiculous double-pump reverse IN THE LANE. Chris Bosh (25 points) had a monster smash down the lane that Michael Jordan probably felt from the bench, and finally Dwyane Wade (10 points) made the game-winning shot in the closing seconds to send the Heat out with a 96-95 comeback win. Read More »

These are strange times in the NBA. Strange times, indeed. We want to believe this whole fiasco revolving around the Chris Paul-to-the-L.A. Clippers trade is over. But we know, and y’all know, it isn’t. That’s what happens when a league is forced to trade one of its most visible and valuable assets. That’s what happens when there are accusations someone screwed around with the amnesty waiver process to make sure Chauncey Billups ended up a Clipper. That’s what happens when reporters ask a GM from Houston who thought he had a trade done last week, to comment on what exactly happened and the man backs off saying he isn’t allowed to speak on it. Read More »

Congratulations David Stern. You’ve officially turned the New Orleans Hornets into the Little Giants, perhaps the one team in the league I might not watch all season. It is what is is though. The Hornets were already a disaster. Now your franchise is in L.A. because Stern was left to pick up the pieces. I was going to come in here and have someone argue with me over which deal was the better one – the Lakers nixed trade or this one – but let’s face it, you get a possible future All-Star, an athletic wing player, a huge expiring contract and an unprotected lottery pick; that’s a great haul for Chris Paul. But as John Schuhmann of NBA.com pointed out this morning, this trade will probably turn New Orleans into the worst team in the league. Read More »

Finally, Chris Paul is dealt away from the Hornets. On Wednesday night, the Clippers agreed to a deal where L.A. gets Paul and two future second-round picks, while New Orleans gets Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota’s unprotected 2012 first-round pick. Here’s a quick list of the fantasy implications: Read More »