Beast of the Night:Dirk Nowitzki was an absolute animal last night, putting up 40 points on 55 percent (12-22) shooting from the field and 94 percent (15-16) from the line, chipping in a three-pointer along with 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 5 blocks and no turnovers. He scored 29 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter, playing like Mehmet Okur bad-mouthed David Hasselhoff. You can’t get much better than this in fantasy ball and Diggler is in for a great year. Read More »
While the 2006 NBA Draft is not considered one of the NBA’s finest, it is still loaded with some potential NBA stars. And even in a time of financial crisis and thrifty spending owing to the Summer of 2010, it’s time to pay up or shut up before the deadline to sign any of these guys to a contract extension hits on October 31.
Imagine the disappointment that swept across the NBA TV studios when they found out LeBron was sick and going to miss last night’s big preseason game between the Cavs and Wizards. No tense ‘Bron/DeShawn encounters, no real reason for highlight montages of LBJ taking Washington’s heart in the playoffs, no smooth segues to talk about Mike Miller wearing LeBron’s signature shoes. And to top it off, starting in LBJ’s place was Jawad Williams, who scored 21 points (4 threes) in his last Smack mention of the season, a Cleveland loss … Gilbert Arenas put up 18 points for the Wiz, while Miller scored 24 (5 threes) and Randy Foye scored 21. However, Antawn Jamison hurt his shoulder in the first quarter and didn’t return. Read More »
Although the ‘09 NBA free agent class isn’t as stacked as in years past — not to mention the League is being more thrifty than ever due to the slumping economy — teams still have holes they want to plug, and players have moves they want to make. On the eve of the negotiation period (players can’t officially sign until July 8), we’re taking the next few days to break down each team’s free agent situation…Read More »
All it took was one five-minute burst — capping a fourth-quarter run that was reminiscent of his breakout postseason performance in Detroit two years ago — and LeBron James reminded everyone why he shouldn’t be counted out just yet. With six minutes left in last night’s conference finals Game 5, the Cavs were down by one and Orlando was being successfully carried by Dwight Howard and LBJ’s new nemesis, Mickael Pietrus. And then LeBron went to work: Read More »
Late in overtime of last night’s Eastern Conference Finals Game 4, as Dwight Howard stepped to the free throw line with a chance to potentially put the game on ice, Doug Collins said, “This is when young stars become men.” If that’s true, than young Dwight became a man last night, as he hit those free throws to cap a 27-point, 14-board, 3-block performance and the Magic took a 3-1 stranglehold on the series … As it should be, overtime was a shootout between Dwight and LeBron. Read More »
If there was a defining sound from Game 1 of the Cavs/Magic series, it was the crash of the shot clock hitting the basket support after Dwight Howard’s dunk wrecked Cleveland’s gym. In Game 2, it was the roar of the crowd after LeBron’s game-winner. What was the defining sound of last night’s Game 3 in Orlando? A whistle. Clearly not interested in that old saying, “Nobody pays to see the refs,” Joey Crawford’s crew sent both teams to the foul line 86 times — with LeBron (18-24 FT) and Dwight (14-19 FT) practically living there — and issued two technicals and one flagrant foul. Read More »
Until the NBA comes up with their definition of an MVP, it will always come down to a matter of criteria, to each voters’ perception of “valuable.” That’s why the 2009 race is so close. Should the trophy go to the best overall player (Kobe)? The best guy on the best team (LeBron)? The guy who had to carry the biggest load/weakest supporting cast (D-Wade)? The guy who impacted both ends of the floor more than anyone else (CP3/Dwight)? Read More »
Last night you saw reasons A-thru-Z why — even with Manu Ginobili out of the picture — nobody wants to draw the Spurs early in the playoffs: Tim Duncan. Needing a win over New Orleans to secure the 3rd seed in the West and win another division title (a loss could have dropped them to 5th place), Duncan turned into the bad guy from No Country For Old Men in overtime. Read More »
Watching Amir Johnson in his 10 minutes off the bench last night, two things occurred to me: (1) Instead of barely cracking the Pistons’ rotation, the 21-year-old could have been a senior at Louisville this year, and (2) Amir has the tightest waves in the NBA. Read More »
