The only thing seemingly happening more often than freak injuries through the playoffs first two days are blocked shots. We saw Roy Hibbert sending away all sorts of shots from the Orlando Midgets. Kevin Durant somehow had four of them. And Serge Ibaka was just… Serge Ibaka. But only one guy this weekend tied the NBA Playoff blocked shot record, and that was Andrew Bynum. By the four minute mark in the third quarter of the Lakers’ blowout win against Denver, 103-88, Bynum already had seven rejections and before the night was over, he not only had a triple-double (10 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocks), but he had also broken the franchise playoff record and tied Mark Eaton and Hakeem Olajuwon for most blocks ever in a playoff game. Read More »

Keeping players healthy during a season is always a challenge for a NBA team’s training staff. In an abbreviated season, like this one, it becomes even harder. Proper training and conditioning is key to a team’s success, and for the Denver Nuggets, strength and conditioning coach Steve Hess has been in charge of that aspect of the team for the last 15 seasons. Read More »

Normally, we’d start a 13-game night off with some recaps, but since the average margin of victory across the NBA last night was like 87 points, it felt good just to look forward to the weekend. The regular season is over and the matchups are set. In the West, it’ll be San Antonio and Utah, OKC against Dallas, the Lakers taking on Denver and then Memphis hosting the Clippers. The East looks pretty good as well: Chicago takes on Philly, Miami and New York do battle, Indiana will host whatever’s left of the Magic, and even though they’re the No. 4 seed, Boston will open the playoffs in the ATL. Read More »

We recently crowned Kevin Durant as the 19th-best dunker in the NBA. After seeing him demolish JaVale McGee last night on this play, we might need to reconsider. The NBA’s leading scorer put in 32 to close in on a scoring title but yet still couldn’t deliver a W. He has to be happy with this one though. Read More »

We know Randy Foye dropped 15 in the third quarter and was doing work all night for the Clippers (28 points), but still L.A., here’s some advice: don’t go to him with the game on the line. Foye had a pass deflected off the backboard in the final seconds for a turnover, and then threw up an air ball. The Clippers had raced back after trailing by as many as 18, and even though the man once traded for Brandon Roy‘s knees was at the center of that, you’d think they would’ve gone somewhere else to avoid what ultimately became a six-point Knick win. Read More »

They could’ve just re-titled this as the best game winners from March and it would’ve worked as well. From Dwyane Wade to Derrick Rose, some of the best shots this season came last month. Read More »

Oh poor Jose Calderon. Should we give him credit for sticking in there? At best, he should’ve taken another step outside of the restricted area so he could take a charge. That way JaVale McGee would’ve contributed another clip to his top 5 dunk fails because he no doubt would’ve tried to jump over the Spanish point guard from Montreal. Yet Calderon hesitated and woke up this morning smelling “McGee” on his shirt. Read More »

While the Sixers were once again teaching everyone in the arena the basics of How To Run God Awful Offense At The End Of A Game 101, Jeremy Lin (18 points) was balling. The dude started the game shooting 1-for-9 and yet still had that bounce in his step. He got to the rim. He found his bigs. And most importantly, he made his free throws to close out the Sixers, 82-79. Amar’e Stoudemire chipped in 21 and nine, and his legs appear all the way back. He was dunking, spinning in the lane and had one fourth quarter block on Elton Brand at the rim that had Twitter all fired up. Read More »

No, George Karl did not lose his mind. He believes it. JaVale McGee, despite his YouTube celebrity, reminds him a little bit of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. McGee does have the shot-blocking numbers (2.4 a game) and the wingspan (7-6) to perhaps confuse a few people. He even has a semi-effective sky hook. But when you hear comments like this, Denver’s reasoning behind swapping their prized offseason signing (Nene) for McGee becomes quite clear. Read More »