Carlos Boozer (photo. Jeffrey Salter)
Carlos Boozer returned to the land of the living on Friday, playing his best game in about six weeks and ruining any plans the Lakers had of pulling a “Fo, fo, fo and fo” on the ‘08 postseason. Booz slapped up 27 points and 20 boards as the Jazz handed L.A. […]

We told you so…
Everyone wanted to see what Kobe Bryant would do on the night he was presented with the MVP trophy; one notoriously loud national analyst casually predicted he’d score 50, while others talked about triple-doubles and game-winning buckets for the game’s ultimate big stage performer. After telling his adoring L.A. minions that it […]

Kobe (photo. Chris Sembrot)
What excuse could the Lakers-haters use after yesterday’s display? Even against a well-coached team that actually plays team defense and doesn’t have any — as far as we know — significant internal locker-room strife or heart/balls issues, the Lakers looked as sharp as ever: Kobe Bryant (38 pts) was unstoppable, Pau Gasol […]

Carmelo Anthony (photo. Mannion)
Is Carmelo Anthony destined to become the next Tracy McGrady? Same lead-the-League-in-scoring type offensive ability, same game/personality that’ll keep him a superstar as a player and endorser for the long haul, and — well, we’re in Year Five of Carmelo’s pro career, and he’s now looking at a fifth straight first-round playoff […]

Photo. Marc Morrison
Anyone who’s actually watched the Rockets/Jazz series (not just the highlights) can tell you this much: Tracy McGrady didn’t play any differently in last night’s Game 3 win than he did in the previous two losses. But because he knocked down some shots in the fourth quarter and found a way to shake […]

Gilbert Arenas (photo. David Deal)
You saw it coming. After getting out-bullied when they tried to be bullies in Game 1, then getting blown out last night and staring an 0-2 series deficit right in the face, the Wizards began falling apart. Leading the charge, naturally, was DeShawn Stevenson. With his team trailing by 19 in […]

Baron Davis (photo. Tim Tadder)
Watching the Warriors’ postseason hopes evaporate in Phoenix, there was only one question on everybody’s mind: Why isn’t Baron Davis playing? After a pretty awful first half (2-for-13 FG’s), Baron was on the bench and never played in the second half. It was originally reported as a “coach’s decision,” but most […]

Ben Gordon (photo. Stephen Hill)
Is it really possible that this comic tragedy of season could culminate in a playoff berth for the Bulls? Things have been so crazy around this team that someone needs to write a book (if the beat writers are unavailable, we nominate Joakim Noah), and yet here it is six weeks […]

Photo. Marc Morrison
Rockets vs. Cavs was the good defense/bad offense affair you’d expect from those two teams until Houston pulled away in the fourth quarter behind a bunch of Cleveland turnovers and Houston fast-break buckets. T-Mac (17 pts, 8 asts) was playing point guard better than Rafer or any of the team’s other official PG’s […]

S-Jack (Photo. Eriberto Oriol)
With Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson sharing the court, the Insane-O-Meter at Oracle Arena was in danger of going on overload. The damage wasn’t too bad: Ron-Ron picked up a technical foul in the first half, and S-Jack probably should have gotten one when he went temporarily ballistic on ref Violet Palmer […]

Photo. Mannion
Cleveland’s perfect record against the Spurs last regular season meant nothing when the Cavs were getting cracked in the Finals, so presumably that means last night’s win over the defending champs didn’t mean anything, either. Right? Or you could say that last night, at least we saw the Cavs’ role players getting the job […]