Wherever you stand on Chris Bosh’s status (or non-status) as a legit superstar in the League, he was definitely a superstar when he had to be last night. Dealing with double-teams almost every time he touched the ball against Atlanta, Bosh produced a modest 14 points (6-19 FG) and 10 boards, but in crunch time he delivered against one of the NBA’s best front lines … Toronto was down four with under a minute to go before Bosh beasted Josh Smith in the paint for a hook shot. Then after Smith missed a layup, the Raptors got the exact scenario they wanted: Read More »
Two games. If you were in the office pool to get action on the first time Tracy McGrady would start showing signs in New York of why the Rockets never trusted him enough to give him a featured role this season, whoever had “two games” gets the pot. In the second half of last night’s home loss to Milwaukee — the Knicks’ seventh L in a row, by the way — McGrady was noticeably limping around. After the game Mac admitted his knee had taken some punishment and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to play against the Celtics tonight … On top of the knee issues, McGrady got his first taste of what it’s really like to be a Knick in the 21st century. Read More »
For about 15 minutes, the Mavericks looked like they’d been playing with its new roster for months, building a double-digit lead in Oklahoma City while starting two-guard Caron Butler (13 pts, 4-16 FG) wasn’t shy at all about getting involved in the offense right away. Over on the bench Brendan Haywood appeared not miserable for the first time since Chapel Hill, DeShawn Stevenson had a serene “I’m probably not gonna play but that’s OK” vibe about him, and the trade seemed a rousing success. Read More »
Buy Low:
J.R. Smith has been making nightly appearances on SportsCenter highlights lately for his vicious dunks, but he’s done nothing to get the attention of fantasy owners so far this season. But if you look at his game log from last two seasons, it’s obvious that Smith is fully capable of turning things around after the All-Star break. It’s a bit speculative, but buy him at a low price from a disgruntled, impatient owner. Read More »
At least the game was good. Coming off a lackluster Saturday night, the pressure was on the NBA to bring this $700 billion All-Star production out of “forgettable” range and into something worthy of all the money and hype … The first half of yesterday’s All-Star Game was close, but then the East appeared to pull away in the third quarter, going up by 16. They were up nine with about four minutes to go in the fourth before the West rallied. Just under the two-minute mark, it officially got serious when D-Wade was called for a foul on Dirk and gave the first genuine “C’mon man!” to the refs. Read More »
As the League pulls into the All-Star break, we rank each team from worst to first…
30. New Jersey Nets (4-48)MVP: Brook Lopez (18.8 ppg, 9 rpg, 1.9 bpg)
We know Louisville isn’t having the best year, and Rick Pitino has some skeletons falling out of the closet down there, but does he really want to get involved in this mess? Jersey seems like more of a job for Whoopi Goldberg.
29. Golden State Warriors (14-37)
MVP: Monta Ellis (26.2 ppg, 5.4 apg, 2.1 spg)
With their collection of D-League call-ups, guys in and out of the lineup with injuries, national college sweetheart Stephen Curry prominently involved, and perhaps the League’s most passionate fan base, the Warriors would be a feel-good story on par with the Rockets — if only they could win some games. Read More »
