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 »

Beast of the Night: Monta Ellis finished his big night with 35 points, six rebounds, 10 assists, four steals and three three-pointers. He shot 56 percent (14-25) from the floor and 80 percent (4-5) from the free-throw line, and had five turnovers. This was a nice bounce-back game from his 9/1/7 clunker on Monday. Ellis’ fantasy value has dropped since he arrived in Milwaukee, but he’s still a solid source of points, assists and steals. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Brandon Jennings finished with 31 points, four rebounds, eight assists, four steals and seven three-pointers last night. He shot 36 percent (9-25) from the floor, 75 percent (6-8) from the free-throw line and had zero turnovers. Since Jan. 17, Jennings is averaging 24.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.9 steals and 3.6 threes per game, while shooting 45 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free-throw line. For the season, he’s putting up top 10 averages. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Paul George finished with 24 points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals, a block and four threes last night against the Nets. He shot 73 percent (8-11) from the field, 100 percent (4-4) from the free-throw line and had one turnover. George has had clunkers every now and then this season but has still managed to average top 60 numbers. He’s an all-around producer who doesn’t drag any category down for his owners, making him a sleeper-turned-stud. Read More »

…And other things. As we wrote in Smack, DeAndre Jordan ripped out Ed Davis‘ heart and then served it to him on a platter in the opening moments of the Clippers’ home win against the Raptors yesterday afternoon. But that’s not all he did. Yes, he had 16 points and 16 rebounds, but he also caught a couple of ridiculous lobs from Chauncey Billups. Jordan owned the top 10 plays of the day yesterday in the NBA, and might actually have better highlights this year than his best bud, Blake Griffin. Hit the jump for the evidence. Read More »

To pass or not to pass? Kobe finally gave it up twice in the final minute of the Pacers’ 98-96 win over the Lakers, and we almost wished he would’ve forced up something. First, Matt Barnes missed a wide-open trey, and then Derek Fisher threw up some type of contraption (not sure what that was… a pass? a shot? a prayer?) that didn’t touch anything but the out-of-bounds paint. With the Lakers down three in the final seconds, Bryant was finally forced into a long, 30-footer off the dribble that was off. While the Mamba still finished with 33 points and and eight rebounds, for the Pacers, the outcome was a confirmation: Watch out for us. Read More »

Let’s be honest: Drafting the sleepers you want in the round you want is one of the most satisfying feelings in fantasy basketball. That said, sleepers are a dangerous breed. Like fair trades in the NBA these days, sleepers are not sure things and can sometimes burn you if you pounce too early on them. To help sort out the sleepers you should be eyeing in your fantasy basketball drafts this year, here’s a list of players who are napping, dozing and comatose (assuming nine categories). Read More »

Let’s be blunt: the Toronto Raptors are a sorry bunch, in real life and in fantasy terms. Sure, there are a decent number of potential breakout candidates on this squad whenever the next NBA season begins, but there are also timeshares awaiting a few positions. There’s no true stud here, but when you’re in the latter rounds of your draft, keep some of these Canadian dinosaurs in mind. Read More »

“We came to put on a show,” said Derrick Williams, and that’s exactly what he did. About a month ago, Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., hosted a three-day, four-team exhibition tournament to raise money for the school’s athletic department. And since countless NBA players spend their offseason training there, everyone decided to come out. Dubbed the “Short Summer Pro League,” the games featured Williams, Andre Iguodala, Brandon Knight, Jordan Hamilton, Kenneth Faried, Ed Davis, Julian Wright, Darius Morris, and Devin Ebanks. After already showing you Day 1, check out the highlights from Day 2 that were just released…

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“We came to put on a show,” said Derrick Williams, and that’s exactly what he did. This past weekend, Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., hosted a three-day, four-team exhibition tournament to raise money for the school’s athletic department. And since countless NBA players spend their offseason training there, everyone decided to come out. Dubbed the “Short Summer Pro League,” the games featured Williams, Andre Iguodala, Brandon Knight, Jordan Hamilton, Kenneth Faried, Ed Davis, Julian Wright, Darius Morris, and Devin Ebanks. With that, check out the highlights from Day 1…

Read More »