Erick Dampier was almost the headline photo for today’s Smack. Seriously. In the late stages of the fourth quarter of Mavs/Hornets, Damp (16 pts, 14 rebs, 3 blks) was the most clutch player in the building, getting a putback off a Dirk Nowitzki miss to break a tie, catching an alley-oop from Jason Kidd on the next possession, then scoring on another tip-in with 16 seconds left. That should’ve been the dagger, but Dallas killed themselves at the free-throw line in the final seconds: Jason Terry missed one after Chris Paul got T’d up for arguing a push-off call (CP had pushed off on J.J. Barea like 3-4 times in the fourth, but didn’t get called for it until what looked like N.O.’s last-chance possession), then Barea missed two freebies to keep the Hornets alive. Read More »

Breaking down the first-week performances of the serious 2010 title contenders, Spurs announcer Sean Elliott messed up his words and said the Lakers took an “old-fashioned butt cooking” from the Mavs on Friday night. As it turns out, that was the best way to describe what the Spurs were about to do to the Kings on Saturday … Despite Sacramento starting probably the worst frontcourt in the League (Jason Thompson, Sean May, Desmond Mason), it was one of those nights where Tim Duncan didn’t have to do much and could let the smaller guys go to work. Read More »

Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…

Added: Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, Rodrigue Beaubois, Kris Humphries, Quinton Ross, Tim Thomas

Lost: Brandon Bass, Antoine Wright, Jerry Stackhouse, Ryan Hollins, Devean George, Gerald Green Read More »

Logically, after ticking off points, rebounds, assists and steals, it’s time to move on to looking at late-round players who can help you in the blocks category. This is a list of big men, naturally, so most can help field goal percentage as well, but our focus today is on blocks. Listed below, in no particular order, are some players that will likely be available in the later rounds of your fantasy drafts and can help fulfill your need for blocks. As always, let us know what you think. Read More »

Thank Oscar that the program directors at NBA TV decided to start showing some of the best games from the ‘08-09 season in neat little one-hour increments this week, otherwise the general inactivity these days would draw a basketball fan stir crazy … The NBA free agent landscape is like combing through the used CD rack at a store that’s already been raided by the broke college students: There’s still some interesting, slightly attractive product, but nothing too great. Case in point: The most intense “bidding war” lately has been over C.J. Watson — a second or third-string PG on most teams — and that just ended since the Magic pulled out of negotiations and it’s looking like C.J. is headed back to the Warriors … Meanwhile, David Lee is the biggest name left on the board that anybody seems to want (sorry, A.I.). Read More »

Once upon a time, Drew Gooden would be considered a big-time offseason pickup. And even though he’s technically still a guy who can get you close to a double-double every night (11.9 points, 7.1 boards last season), nobody seems to consider it a big deal that Gooden signed with the Mavs yesterday. Dallas needed depth in the frontcourt after losing Brandon Bass and just missing out on Marcin Gortat (plus Ryan Hollins could leave as a free agent), and Gooden’s one-year deal for $4.5 million isn’t a bad risk. Read More »

Facing elimination, Dirk Nowitzki played like Video Game Dirk last night. And not just because his numbers were ridiculous (44 pts, 13 rebs), but because video games can’t account for things like heart and nerves and a conscience, there was no trace of the big-game/crunch-time meltdown Dirk critics had come to expect. He was closer to a machine in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 in the quarter including the go-ahead bucket on a pretty fadeaway over K-Mart. Read More »

The e-mails started early yesterday morning, and unfortunately I was asleep through most of the exchange. (Occupational hazard of living on the West Coast.) If I’d been awake, I wouldn’t have gotten a headache from Dime’s Top 25 Motherf*ckers of All-Time.

The original list we debated had more than SIXTY names on it for consideration. Darrell Armstrong was on it. Kenny Smith was there. Clarence Weatherspoon’s name popped up. Read More »

What are the two toughest places in the NBA right now for a road team to walk in and get a win? Cleveland is the obvious one. But if you haven’t been paying attention lately, you might not realize that Denver deserves to be right up there, too. Both the Cavs and Nuggets rolled yet again in their respective gyms last night, with LeBron’s squad taking a 1-0 lead on the Hawks, and Carmelo’s crew going up 2-0 on the Mavs in another blowout … Read More »

Game 7 of Hawks/Heat ended up being a(nother) blowout, but it at least offered a helpful reminder of how small the margin for error can be in the playoffs. Early in the second quarter, Atlanta was up by two in what had been a back-and-forth game. Then Flip Murray hit a wide-open three off a scramble for a loose ball, Joe Johnson drained a trey from one step behind the arc, then J.J. pulled up for another triple waaay behind the arc. In the course of about one minute the Hawks went from up being two, to being up 11, and after that it was just target practice. Read More »