Say hello to the bad guy. We have a new beast in the West. In probably the most physical game of the NBA season so far, the Blazers showed why everyone is so frightened of playing them up in the Northwest by punking the Clippers and Blake Griffin, 105-97. With the NBA’s newest A-List team threatening them over and over, Portland answered every call. Between Gerald Wallace, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby, they did work on Griffin, holding him to the most up-and-down 18 and 12 night you’ll ever see. Read More »

Up: Ryan Anderson is owning opponents this season, posting averages of 19.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.6 threes per game. He’s also shooting 48 percent from the field and 94 percent from the free-throw line. Many fantasy owners expected Anderson to be good this season, but I’m not sure anyone thought he’d be this good. If you drafted him, two thumbs up; if you somehow nabbed him out of your league’s free-agent pool, bragging on your league’s message board is in order. [Hold] Read More »

I now understand what it’s like to be Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. During the 149-day lockout, I was repeatedly asked the same question over and over again: “How does the lockout affect your job?” By about the eighth time I heard this, I had developed a stock response that I could tell people. “NBA or no NBA, we’re still good. There’s college, high school and overseas ball, and now we just have more time to cover the players’ lives off the court.” Truthfully, I only partly believed myself. Read More »

Up: Spencer Hawes is averaging top 10 numbers so far this season. Yeah, that doesn’t say too much, but his two-game averages of 9.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.5 blocks and 2.5 turnovers, along with 56 percent shooting from the field and a perfect one-for-one from the free-throw line are impressive. If you say you saw this coming, I’ll call you a liar. But if you scooped him up, I’ll call you a savvy optimist. Hawes won’t keep this up for the whole season, but his current owners should squeeze him for all he’s got or shop him like there’s no tomorrow. [Sell] Read More »

Are you making some bets and need help deciding who to take this Christmas Day? Check out the simulations from NBA 2K12. Okay, I wouldn’t do that, but as the most realistic sports video game yet, these videos are a good start. In anticipation of opening day in the NBA, 2K12 simulated all five scheduled games in an attempt to predict who will come out on top. While you might disagree with the results, the means are justified. The game recently released an update with pretty much every roster move that took place over the course of this offseason, including adding rookies, free agent signings, foreign players and even Metta World Peace. Read More »

As we wrote in Smack, Baron Davis has been pretty busy during the lockout. He’s in the midst of putting together a documentary called “American Schlub” that will focus on the downfall of men’s fashion. Davis’ new fashion trends are definitely different, and his look at one of the lockout meetings earlier this summer was very memorable: flannel lumberjack shirt with some goofy-looking glasses. He’s willing to take chances. Davis has been supporting the movement LAUNFD all summer and recently had a charity event with them. Dorell Wright, Craig Smith and Tina Thompson showed up, and so did we. Photos courtesy of Cassy Athena. Read More »

If you were following along on Twitter Saturday night, then you saw we were coming to you live from San Jose for the We Believe vs. Dub Charity Game hosted by Matt Barnes. Yesterday, we posted Stephen Curry‘s mixtape showing off his triple-double. Today, our friends at Yay Area’s Finest come back with full highlights from the game, featuring seven current and nine former Warriors pitted against one another.

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Since introducing you to Under The Armour, we’ve seen Brandon Jennings do his thing in Capital Punishment, travel to L.A. and get it in with guys like Bow Wow and Dime cover boy Aquille Carr & take us on a tour of the Under Armour offices. In his latest episode, Jennings shows off his boxing workout and continues to be a playmaker for his undefeated flag football team. Plus, we all get put on the guest list for his crazy 22nd birthday party.

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Let’s be honest: Who hasn’t had this idea for years? Once Dwyane Wade joined Jordan Brand, I would stay up all night thinking what a three-on-three game between Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul against Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant would look like. Now, sans Kobe, we’ll get to find out. According to Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine, the squads for The South Florida All-Star Classic will be headlined by Jordan Brand players (Wade, Anthony, Paul) vs. Nike (James, Durant, Chris Bosh). Oh yeah, and Kevin Hart and Rick Ross are coaching. Read More »

The Golden State Warriors have perennially been one of the more favorable NBA teams for fantasy basketball fans. The arrival of new head coach Mark Jackson may mean more energy spent on the defensive end of the court, but make no mistake – the crew from Oakland still has plenty of appeal for fantasy purposes. After all, not many teams boast four players who can potentially be drafted in the first three rounds of drafts whenever the NBA resumes. Read More »