Last night, Denver ran away from L.A. in the Staples Center because they dominated at points in the second and late in the third quarter. George Karl trusts his bench, almost too much in fact. His goal this year might be to coach this team like its intramurals. That’s just speculation, but with the way he hands out minutes, 11 guys all average double figures, we wouldn’t be surprised. Having a decent bench is always important, but it’s never been stressed like this. Five games in six nights will leave your team playing more up and down than a seesaw if the second unit can’t hoop. Read More »
Miami’s pretty good when they put it together. The Spurs played perfectly through 24 minutes, and even got two ridiculous buzzer beaters from the same player, and yet it couldn’t stop them from getting completely stomped out on South Beach. After surrendering 63 first half points, the Heat responded with 71 of their own in the second half, LeBron and Bosh combined for 63 points and Miami ran away with the game, 120-98. Going into last night, the Spurs hadn’t won a road game all year. Miami had lost three in a row. One of the streaks had to end last night, and the Heat broke their visitor’s back. Read More »
This might be the year Josh Smith finally makes the All-Star Game. We don’t want to jinx him – everyone knows the type of luck he has when it comes to this – but his game has matured, he has his body in the best shape it’s ever been in and the Hawks figure to be, at worst, a No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Last night in Atlanta’s 92-75 drubbing of Charlotte to end the preseason, Smith had 21 points and six rebounds, hitting 10 of 15 shots in the game. Read More »
So what did Otis Smith say? Or what did he do? Something happened. Something weird, because just hours after Dwight Howard basically came out and said “Look man, trade me. I’m not feeling like we can work things out. You and I don’t have a good relationship,” the big man is now saying he loves Orlando and doesn’t want to leave. Whereas Chris Paul had made it pretty clear he’s not trying to stay in New Orleans, Howard has been going back and forth for the past few weeks on whether he wants to stay or not. Read More »
While all these charity basketball games are clearly no substitute for the NBA, I’ll take anything I can get at this point. And if you’re like me, a trip to Dallas may be in your future. On Nov. 12 at 6 p.m., Josh Howard will take his talents back to The Big D to host The Josh Howard Celebrity All-Star Basketball Game at the P.C. Cobb Complex. Read More »
While exhibition games are cool, there’s nothing quite like basketball in league form. And with the NBA on hold, this month’s “Lockout League” at Impact Basketball in Las Vegas brought us the next best thing. With that, check out the full recap from our friends at Hoopmixtape. Enjoy!
The first task for fantasy owners looking at the Dallas Mavericks is to take extra care to separate reality from fantasy. Yes, the Mavs were the underdogs-turned-NBA-champions in June, but that means absolutely nothing for fantasy basketball purposes. Assuming the team can reassemble itself into something resembling the 2010-11 champs, the Mavs will have one first-round stud and a handful of other usable parts, many of whom will be well into their 30s when the next season starts. Get those coughs out of your system and read on to see what the Mavericks can offer to fantasy owners next season. Read More »
He’s back. After getting up with Rudy Gay last week in NYC, he told me that he could not wait to get back on the court. And after a positive report from the doctor on Monday, that’s exactly what he did. With that, check out Gay in his first game back from injury at the “Lockout League,” as well as all of the highlights from Day 6 in Vegas.
When it was all said and done, the Dallas Mavericks grew while the Miami Heat wilted, going from underdog to favorite led by a cold-blooded monster in Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs beat the Heat in six games because as a team filled with players abandoned and lost in the seas of NBA roster movement, one thing became clear: all of them were hungry.
But of course, blame will fall on Miami’s preseason introduction ceremony of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, and mostly on King James himself. Yet, it isn’t that simple. Miami had one season of cohesion to Dallas’ years of scarring playoff losses on Nowitzki’s mind. Read More »
Closing: it’s the most difficult part of any endeavor, whether it’s at the bar, in business or in the NBA Finals. The Mavs have an opportunity to close out the beleaguered Miami Heat in six games if they can take their talents back to South Beach and steal one of the next two games. Of course, it won’t be easy – closing never is – but here are three keys that will help Dallas go home happy tonight. Read More »
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