Wherever you stand on Chris Bosh’s status (or non-status) as a legit superstar in the League, he was definitely a superstar when he had to be last night. Dealing with double-teams almost every time he touched the ball against Atlanta, Bosh produced a modest 14 points (6-19 FG) and 10 boards, but in crunch time he delivered against one of the NBA’s best front lines … Toronto was down four with under a minute to go before Bosh beasted Josh Smith in the paint for a hook shot. Then after Smith missed a layup, the Raptors got the exact scenario they wanted: Read More »
For the most part, opinions were split when Ben Gordon signed a five-year contract with the Detroit Pistons last summer reported to be worth $55 million.
On one hand, the 26-year-old BG was just coming off the best season of his pro career, which he capped by averaging 24.3 points and hitting a slew of clutch shots in a close playoff series loss to the defending champion Celtics. On the other hand, was it smart for the rebuilding Pistons to give All-Star type money to an undersized two-guard (with zero All-Star nods) who is widely regarded as a one-dimensional scorer? Read More »
Bulls/Magic was over the moment Derrick Rose crashed to the floor and sprained his left wrist. On a night when the Bulls were already playing without Joakim Noah (foot) and Luol Deng (calf), and Orlando has been smashing all non-contender squads during their now seven-game win streak, Chicago’s only chance would be if D-Rose went off like Shep in Above the Rim — or if Vinny Del Negro hopped in a Hot Tub Time Machine and brought Mike and Scottie back with him … Late in the first quarter, Rose went to the rack and threw his body into Dwight Howard, hurting himself when he tried to break the fall. The play was exactly like the one from last month when Dwight and Rose collided and Rose wound up with a hip injury. Read More »
Hawks/Heat was only notable last season for being the worst playoff series of ‘09: A brutal seven-game stretch of blowouts, dead crowds, a subpar Joe Johnson, an exhausted D-Wade, and some good ol’ Pat Riley-approved ’90s Knicks prison yard basketball sprinkled in here and there. This season it’s been more of the same, as the three Hawks/Heat meetings leading up to last night had been decided by an average of 16 points. And yet Saturday’s matchup turned out to be the best game on the NBA schedule … It was nip/tuck throughout the fourth quarter. Read More »
Two games. If you were in the office pool to get action on the first time Tracy McGrady would start showing signs in New York of why the Rockets never trusted him enough to give him a featured role this season, whoever had “two games” gets the pot. In the second half of last night’s home loss to Milwaukee — the Knicks’ seventh L in a row, by the way — McGrady was noticeably limping around. After the game Mac admitted his knee had taken some punishment and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to play against the Celtics tonight … On top of the knee issues, McGrady got his first taste of what it’s really like to be a Knick in the 21st century. Read More »
As the League pulls into the All-Star break, we rank each team from worst to first…
30. New Jersey Nets (4-48)MVP: Brook Lopez (18.8 ppg, 9 rpg, 1.9 bpg)
We know Louisville isn’t having the best year, and Rick Pitino has some skeletons falling out of the closet down there, but does he really want to get involved in this mess? Jersey seems like more of a job for Whoopi Goldberg.
29. Golden State Warriors (14-37)
MVP: Monta Ellis (26.2 ppg, 5.4 apg, 2.1 spg)
With their collection of D-League call-ups, guys in and out of the lineup with injuries, national college sweetheart Stephen Curry prominently involved, and perhaps the League’s most passionate fan base, the Warriors would be a feel-good story on par with the Rockets — if only they could win some games. Read More »
There were just too many elements conspiring against the Mavs going into last night’s game in Denver. Facing the second part of a road back-to-back in the Mile High altitude is bad enough, but it gets worse considering the previous game was a grueling 48-minute track meet at Golden State. On top of that, Dallas was without Shawn Marion (back) and Erick Dampier (knee). And finally, Carmelo and Chauncey were back after missing time with respective ankle injuries. Stir it all up, and you have Dallas getting almost 40-pieced in what amounted to a scrimmage for the Nuggets … Read More »
Last night’s Hawks/Celtics game was about as close as you’ll get on TV to seeing good ol’ confrontational angry NBA action in-person without the actual risk of Jermaine O’Neal punching you in the face. We’re not sure if the Atlanta crowd was extra quiet or the court mics were just extra loud, but throughout the game you could hear pretty much everything Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett were saying, especially ‘Sheed … Playing in the building he called home for about 20 minutes once upon a time, ‘Sheed was in vintage form: Yelling at every teammate, cussing at every opponent, and abusing every ref. Read More »
