After last night’s loss to the lowly Phoenix Suns and a Los Angeles Lakers win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Dallas Mavericks have now been officially eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since 2000. That was so long ago, we’re not even sure Dirk could have grown a beard in an effort to spur the Mavs back to a .500 record. Read More »

“What ifs” in sports can run deeper than still waters. What can be a simple question or proposition on the surface, may also result in major changes to a player or players’ careers and, in some instances, even swing titles. Read More »

Denver had an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter and all looked good on the edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Nuggets’ drive to knock-off league-best Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant (37 points, seven boards and eight assists on 7-of-20 shooting) and Russell Westbrook (36 points, 10-of-26 shooting) were being contained via constant harassment, as much as the superstar tandem can be anyway. The Nugs looked like they were about to make amends after a sloppy loss in OKC last week. These two always make for great games and Denver’s eventual 121-118 win in OT was one of the very best, with two endings that were crazy. Read More »

There wasn’t as much drama to this Clippers win over the Jazz, but even more significance came with it. L.A., you see, hasn’t lost in a pure month after beating Utah, 107-96. In their 17-game win streak, 16 of them came in December. It’s only the third 16-0 month in NBA history, after the ’72 Lakers and ’96 Spurs, though the ’96 Bulls went 14-0 in January during their 72-10 season. Unlike Friday’s dramatic win in SLC, the Clippers didn’t have to rally from 19 points down. Read More »

The Clippers have caught the momentum of an avalanche in this 15-game winning streak, and they’re apparently stopping for nobody, no matter their reputation. The Celtics are only six months removed from losing in heartbreaking fashion to Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals, but Los Angeles made Boston look irrelevant and old in a 106-77 crush-job at Staples Center. Read More »

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I was always enraptured with Dirk Nowitzki’s game. Granted, he had moments where I questioned his toughness and hunger. I always said the man was lethargic on the defensive end and was allergic to shuffling his feet. Still at the end of the day, Dirk is Dirk. Read More »

Toronto is 1-4 without point guard Kyle Lowry this season after he injured his ankle Nov. 6 against Oklahoma City, and now the Raptors (2-6) have to deal with his absence for another 1-2 weeks. The team announced the wait-and-see approach to his bone bruise today while handing the reins to Jose Calderon, a capable backup who even had a triple-double in his last game. Even that, though, doesn’t account for the void Lowry leaves in the short term as one of the most eye-opening point guards in this young NBA season. Read More »

Even after Dallas avoided what could’ve been a knockout punch this summer (hint: Deron Williams) and instead netted some decent talent, I did not expect them to make noise in the West this year. Dirk Nowitzki was going to be out for an early chunk of the season. They had lost a handful of veteran leaders. And they were coming off yet another summer where they failed to land any big names. Mark Cuban‘s philosophy felt like it was in a tailspin, a forever cycle of Plan Bs that weren’t quite good enough. Read More »

We don’t want to say we called it, but… we kinda did. After Ray Allen splashed his first shot of the season on a wide-open corner triple, we noted that he’s pretty much automatic from that area. If he gets a look from the corner, you might as well start walking down to the other end. Well last night in Miami’s wild 119-116 win over Denver (the Nuggets offense finally showed up for the first time this year), the Nuggets had a one-point lead in the closing seconds before LeBron James (20 points, nine boards, 11 assists) drove hard to the rim and found Jesus wide open in the corner. Read More »