As much as we talk about Dwight Howard, have you thought about how much of a beast Joakim Noah would be if he developed an offensive game? With the Bulls battling for a playoff spot and getting a gift on Thursday with LeBron James (rest) sitting out their game as a late scratch, Noah helped them pull into a tie with Toronto thanks to those intangibles he’s known for; namely effort, energy and being in the right place to make the right play at the right time … Twice in the final two minutes, Noah (17 pts, 15 rebs, 4 blks) gave Chicago the lead: once with one of his ugly mid-range jumpers, and again with a tip-in. Read More »

LeBron vs. Carmelo was the one intended to define the era. LeBron vs. Kobe became the one we’ve been trained to anticipate. But a lot of people will tell you the NBA’s real must-see rivalry is LeBron vs. D-Wade. Last night in Miami they turned in another classic … It took LeBron a whole quarter and a half to make his first field goal, but once he did, the floodgates were open. For one stretch of the second quarter, ‘Bron and Flash combined for 24 consecutive points, blending pull-up threes with and-one drives to the rack. Read More »

For the second night in a row, Cavs/Hawks played out with postseason-type intensity, ratcheted up a notch because it came 24 hours after their last physical down-to-the-wire contest, and with an extra spotlight due to it being LeBron‘s birthday … The Hawks led by as much as 17 in the third quarter, but midway through the fourth, Cleveland cut it to three on Anthony Parker‘s Wade-esque spinning no-look layup where the replay showed he tapped the ball in from waist-level rather than release an actual shot. “Wow, no foul!” cried Cavs announcer Austin Carr, forgetting that LeBron pretty much manhandled Josh Smith while going for the loose ball that set up AP’s shot. Read More »

One 15-second sequence before halftime of Cavs/Hawks delivered the kind of excitement promised by a national TV matchup of the two best teams in the East (watch out for the batteries and water bottles being thrown by Boston and Orlando fans), but it was some unexciting basic defense that proved the difference down the stretch … Read More »

To put it lightly, Dwight Howard had a hard time getting easy looks at the basket against the Pacers last night. One of the few opportunities where he was able to do what he does best without much interference came in the second half, when Vince Carter drove left seemingly on a mission to draw a foul, and when no whistle came, threw up a blind … something … with his back to the basket that turned into a perfect lob for Dwight at the rim.

It was kind of strange to see: One guy who used to be (and sometimes still is) in that special category of “Just throw the ball somewhere near the rim and he’ll dunk it,” working the other end of the equation and finding today’s premier finisher of bad passes. Read More »

Contrary to what Chris Webber said last night, the Celtics are not going to win the 2010 championship because they picked up Rasheed Wallace. While ‘Sheed will definitely play a role, Boston isn’t winning jack (or Larry) unless Paul Pierce performs up to Paul Pierce standards. Last night was vintage Truth, as Boston downed the Cavs in the opening game of the new season, a rare home loss for Cleveland. With a little over a minute remaining in the fourth and the Celtics up by four, Pierce (23 pts, 11 rebs) ran a pick-and-roll with KG near midcourt against LeBron and Shaq. Advantage: Boston. Shaq reached, Pierce teached, then stuck a jumper from the top of the key that was essentially the dagger. 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: Shaquille O’Neal, Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker, Leon Powe, Danny Green, Coby Karl

Lost: Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Sasha Pavlovic, Lorenzen Wright, Tarence Kinsey Read More »

Imagine the disappointment that swept across the NBA TV studios when they found out LeBron was sick and going to miss last night’s big preseason game between the Cavs and Wizards. No tense ‘Bron/DeShawn encounters, no real reason for highlight montages of LBJ taking Washington’s heart in the playoffs, no smooth segues to talk about Mike Miller wearing LeBron’s signature shoes. And to top it off, starting in LBJ’s place was Jawad Williams, who scored 21 points (4 threes) in his last Smack mention of the season, a Cleveland loss … Gilbert Arenas put up 18 points for the Wiz, while Miller scored 24 (5 threes) and Randy Foye scored 21. However, Antawn Jamison hurt his shoulder in the first quarter and didn’t return. Read More »

Back during his peak, one of the things we loved about Gilbert Arenas was that he’d randomly show up at D.C.’s famous Barry Farms court to play in the Goodman League, putting in work against the D.C./Maryland area’s best playground ballplayers with the same attitude that he’d go at Deron Williams or D-Wade on an NBA court. But then the injuries started to pile up, and even when he was healthy here and there, Gilbert understandably wasn’t as much of a presence on any concrete court while Kevin Durant took over the mantle as the NBA’s Barry Farms regular. On his way back from this latest injury, though, Arenas has not only looked like his old self indoors, he’s also back on the playground. Read More »

While it’s been speculated for weeks, a source in Cleveland is saying that the Cavs have finally signed Leon Powe. One of my favorite Celtics (if not the favorite) for the past couple years, if Powe can recover from the torn ACL in his left knee, he could be the X-factor Cleveland was looking to add this summer. Read More »