It’s crazy that both major highlights last night came from a team that blew a 17-point lead at home to lose to the Suns without Steve Nash OR Grant Hill. Pathetic. But you can’t hate on this play because Chris Paul barely looks forward on the entire play, sets the whole thing up perfectly and then hits DeAndre Jordan with a lob without taking a glance. It’s good to have extraterrestrial vision. It’s also good to have DJ jumping to the top of the box. Read More »

Monday night belonged to the block shot artists — but who did it best?

Think of last night’s slate of games like a buffet line of blocked shots. You had your two-hand Bismack Biyombo variety to save the win against New Orleans to start things off. Move down the line a little later and Washington’s Chris Singleton came with the one-handed “long arm of the law” kind on Manu Ginobili at the rim, the kind where you see the ball freeze in mid-air. Check it out at play No. 7 below. Read More »

Brandon Jennings was content to wait. While the Nets came out hot Monday in New Jersey, Milwaukee’s oft off-target star found his stroke wherever he wanted as the game went on. Jennings stepped back for six threes on 11 attempts and had a game-high 34 in the Bucks’ win. He’s in the best shooting season of his career at 40 percent from the field (Progress, people. Progress.). While it’s progress that he’s better year-over-year, it’s still not good. It was nice though, to see his third night of 50 percent shooting or better this month, after not hitting that mark once in February … Read More »

Weekend Wonder: Ersan Ilyasova makes his debut here after averaging 28.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 threes in two games over the weekend. In that stretch, he shot 69 percent from the field, 92 percent from the free-throw line and averaged turned the ball over just once. In his last 13 games, Ilyasova has averaged top five numbers, making him a serious contender for pickup of the year. Read More »

The Pacific Division’s second half is a tale of two teams from one city. No one is catching either the Clippers or Lakers as the rosters of the other three — Warriors, Kings, Suns — stand. If you’re trying to build a case in those teams’ defense, just stop.

This is what commissioner David Stern dreamed of in December when a trade of Chris Paul from New Orleans to the Lakers was rejected like a shot in Serge Ibaka’s airspace. That could have resulted in enough cap room to realize the owners’ great fear, Dwight Howard to the Lakers, and the run of titles in purple and gold to go with it. Read More »

Beast of the Night: DeAndre Jordan finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds, two steals and four blocks last night. He shot 78 percent (7-9) from the field and shot not free-throw attempts and had no turnovers. This was Jordan’s third straight game with double-digit rebounds. He remains a fantasy stud for owners punting free-throw percentage. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Chris Paul finished last night with 36 points, one rebound, nine assists, two steals and three three-pointers made. He shot 69 percent (11-16) from the field, 92 percent (11-12) from the charity stripe and had three turnovers. For the season, CP3 has been the third best fantasy basketball player, which is right in line with expectations. Read More »

The college basketball scene has seen this story too many times. Scratch that, the basketball world has seen this story too many times. The mystery surrounding Baylor, Connecticut and Illinois makes us wonder one thing: What is going on? These three teams all have one thing in common – one very talented big man. Perry Jones (Baylor), Andre Drummond (UConn) and Meyers Leonard (Illinois) all seem incapable of consistently leading their team to success. Read More »

With Linsanity temporarily suspended, a nation turned its eyes to the next best thing: Bulls-Celtics. Paul Pierce came out on fire, knocking down his first three shots in Chicago, but it was Luol Deng (23 points, 10 assists) who capped the night for the Bulls’ 89-80 victory. He dropped 14 in the fourth quarter, with a huge three from the left corner (one of his six threes) to go up nine in the final minute. Since we brought it up, don’t overlook who fed him on that three — 10-day contract signee Mike James, who’s now with his 10th team (and also looks like Jason Weaver‘s father)… Read More »

The field is set for the 2012 NBA Dunk Contest, and… Jeremy Lin will be there! Ah, not what you might expect though. He’s been included to be the helper for his teammate, Iman Shumpert. Joining Shumpert in the dunking field will be Chase Budinger, Derrick Williams and Paul George. Underwhelming? As SBNation’s Mike Prada tweeted, these four are tied for 41st, 45th, 97th and 149th in dunks this season. That doesn’t mean it’ll be a weak contest, but it’s leaning that way. Read More »