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 […]

J-Kidd (photo. Jordan Hollander)
Sometime during the end stages of the Mavs joining the Dub Club (a.k.a getting 20-pieced) in New Orleans, this e-mail came through from one of the Dime crew: “Chris Paul, you’re under arrest for the murder of Jason Kidd.” That was cold, but you saw the numbers: 32 points and 17 assists […]

Kobe Bryant (photo. Chris Sembrot)
Kobe took another step toward locking up his first MVP, as the Lakers grabbed sole possession of first place in the West by blowing out the Spurs. Keeping that top spot is another thing: L.A. has a home date with Sacramento left on the schedule, while the Hornets have the Clippers […]

Shaq (photo. Chenoa Maxwell)
Defense wins championships and blah blah blah, but the Spurs still need to score points if they’re gonna get that fifth Larry O’Brien. Last night’s loss to the Suns makes it three straight games where San Antonio has failed to crack 80 points, not to mention two of their last three have […]

Photo. Chenoa Maxwell
Other than Shaq dominating Marcus Camby on the game’s first few possessions — or as Suns announcer Eddie Johnson called it, “gangsta’ing” Marcus Camby — Phoenix couldn’t get anything going against the Nuggets in the first quarter last night. Guys were forcing too many bad shots on offense and giving up too many […]

Dirk (photo. Monte Isom)
Remember a couple years ago when Tim Duncan played almost the entire season with a bad foot because the Spurs couldn’t afford to give him a rest and lose ground to the Mavs in the Southwest? At stake then was the difference between a #1-seed in the conference and a #4-seed. Yesterday, […]

Photo. Gary Land
Wednesday’s big story was Allen Iverson’s return to Philly. (If you haven’t seen the special RBK kicks A.I. wore for the occasion, click HERE.) Very cool scene as the sold-out arena showed A.I. lots of love during intros and he returned the favor, coming pretty close to tearing up. The closest thing we’ve […]

Photo. Chenoa Maxwell
If we know our readers, last night’s late League action got no burn on your TV. We’re going to guess that most of you were watching (and then mourning) the series finale of The Wire. Luckily the game of the day was the afternoon showdown between the Suns and the Spurs. Are these […]

“Have your ball back, Chauncey.” (Photo. Gary Land)
Early on it looked like the Pistons were going to make life miserable for the Nuggets: It seemed every Detroit bucket in the first quarter was a layup or a wide-open jumper, and every play Chauncey Billups called was executed to perfection. But some 1-on-1 play by A.I. […]

M.D.E. (Photo. Chenoa Maxwell)
Suns/Celtics had just as much pre-game buzz and the same playoff atmosphere as Suns/Lakers did the other day, except this one wasn’t as run-and-gun. The Suns jumped on Boston early to build a big halftime lead, and although the C’s kept things more at their pace (neither team cracked 90) and made […]

Photo. Chenoa Maxwell
After a first half that sat somewhere between “awful” and “aiight” depending on what you expected, Shaq showed increasing flashes of Cloverfield-style, old-school Shaq down the stretch of Suns/Lakers. As the Suns were trying to mount a fourth-quarter comeback that ultimately fell short, Diesel (not feeling that “Big Cactus” nickname) got some shot […]