The second round of the playoffs is underway and with only eight teams remaining, it means another eight have been eliminated from title contention. The offseason is the time for these teams to retool to prepare for deeper runs next season. The Brooklyn Nets finished the year with a 49-33 record, good enough for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. However, their first-round opponent, the Chicago Bulls, surprisingly beat them at home in a Game 7. Read More »

Joakim Noah was the best player all night, ringing up 24 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks in a must-win Game 7 on the road. But he also got yammed on twice… by the same player. Gerald Wallace took it down the lane twice — one in the first half, the other in the second half — and caught Noah looking both times. Read More »

Game 7 couldn’t have started any worse for Brooklyn. Chicago was getting contributions from just about everyone on the roster, right on down to Daequan Cook and Marquis Teague. Deron Williams looked like the only one who had showed up for the Nets, and he had the highlight of the first half: an absurd one-handed bounce pass that went about 50 feet through Chicago’s entire defense. Gerald Wallace caught it in stride and flushed it home. Read More »

The complex layers of the relationship between Josh Smith, Atlanta fans and NBA fans at large run deep, and they’ve been there throughout his entire career. Not quite an All-Star. Incredible all-around talent. Not a jump shooter. But he can make them. Not a building block. But building-block level talent. In the third quarter against Indiana last night, with Atlanta slowly blowing what should’ve been an easy win, the Josh Smith demons came to the surface again. Read More »

Just because the season is over doesn’t mean Dime won’t be bringing you any fantasy content. We have tons of offseason coverage planned for you, including season awards like this one, NBA Draft and Free Agency Fallouts, and the unveiling of our Fantasy Rankings. Read More »

When Portland dealt Gerald Wallace to New Jersey/Brooklyn just a little over a year ago, it officially opened the door for Nicolas Batum. He’s taking advantage of it this season, putting up career-high numbers (14.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists per game) across the board. It appears the Blazers went with the right man, as Crash has fallen off faster than anyone expected while Batum is still getting better. The two of them met at the rim last night. The outcome was predictable. Read More »

We fell asleep at some point in the third quarter, and when we woke to see the Lakers were back in it, we thought it was an entirely different game. In a way, it was. L.A. overcame a 25-point deficit in New Orleans last night to beat the Hornets, 108-102. They scored the game’s last 20 points, and held the hosts scoreless for the final 6:47. It felt more like a month. Read More »

The NBA regular season, at least for the teams that hold visions of championships, is just an 82-session practice for the playoffs. So rather than worry about who is the unofficial “best” or “worst” team in the League right now, let’s look at which team is most equipped for the truly important games. Read More »

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Say what you will about the Heat’s rebounding problems against bigger teams such as Indiana this season, but the Heat’s turnovers are reliably the larger indicator for its wins or losses. That’s why its 102-89 loss to Indiana was a little worrisome even if LeBron (28 points) and Dwyane Wade (17 points) sounded afterward as if they’d just lost a charity game, insisting it’s no big deal at all. Read More »