This is turning out to be Ray Allen‘s year. Going into Thursday’s national TV matchup against the Lakers, Ray is just one three-pointer (2,559) behind Reggie Miller for the NBA’s all-time record. He is shooting a career-high 46% beyond the arc while averaging 17.5 points per game, he was named to his 10th All-Star Game, and his Boston Celtics have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Read More »

Every now and then, James Jones becomes the third member of the Big Three. Last night was one of those occasions.

While the Miami Heat took on the Knicks without injured All-Star Chris Bosh (ankle), Jones stepped into the role as safety outlet for Dwyane Wade (34 pts) and LeBron James (24 pts). Jones scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range — one of only five Miami players to register on the scoreboard in the loss and the only one besides James and Wade to hit double figures. Read More »

On a night where everybody walked out of Madison Square Garden talking about Danilo Gallinari, the Dime crew had perfect seats for the show. A few rows behind our spot on press row was a fan who was screaming out rooster calls whenever Gallo was at the free-throw line, and right beside us was an Italian journalist who didn’t even pretend to be objective while rooting for The Rooster: He scoffed when the crowd chanted “MVP” for Amar’e Stoudemire — apparently still banking on Andrea Bargnani making a late push — and when Gallinari knocked down some huge clutch shots in the fourth quarter to help New York upset the Miami Heat, dude’s reaction sounded like something you’d hear in a Peter North movie … Read More »

Apparently the Timberwolves are to the Spurs what the Bobcats were to the Celtics a couple years ago. Remember when the ‘Cats were generally bad, but somehow managed to always give the Big Three C’s a hard time? Last night’s Spurs/Wolves game was the third time in three matchups this year that the game went down to the wire, and the third time San Antonio walked out with a close win … Read More »

It’s officially Back to the Future time for the Hornets. After starting the season winning 11 of their first 12 games and eliminating all of the persistent rumors about Chris Paul leaving, they’ve since lost four out of five and reality is beginning to set in. Last night in Oklahoma City — 24 hours after blowing a 17-point lead in a loss to the Spurs — the Hornets led for much of the second half until a flurry of OKC awesomeness sent N.O. home with another loss … Late in the fourth quarter, the Hornets were up by four before Russell Westbrook (25 pts, 11 asts) hit a foul-line jumper. Read More »

Last night we saw the best and the worst of the Miami Heat. The best was on display as they built a 22-point first half lead against the Jazz: Nine or 10 Miami players got on the scoreboard, LeBron was collecting rebounds and directing the offense while letting the scoring happen naturally, and D-Wade attacked and put pressure on Utah’s defense. Miami took a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter, but as it slipped away, we saw their worst — namely, poor frontcourt and rotation defense as Paul Millsap was a steroid mix of Karl Malone and Sam Perkins, finishing with 46 points (19-28 FG) and 9 rebounds … Read More »

Whether your team is already dominating your fantasy league, decimated by injuries or just plain stinking up the joint, the waiver wire can be your best friend. If you’re in a shallow to medium-sized league, the waiver wire is usually filled with players ripe for the picking that can help your roster if it’s in a tough spot and in need of all-around help or assistance in certain categories. Below are five players who could be dangling on your league’s waiver wires that you should consider picking up right now. Read More »

Sometimes the mismatch is as clear as the nose on Humpty Hump‘s face. As soon as the Lakers and Grizzlies tipped off last night, L.A.’s announcers noted that O.J. Mayo has traditionally been unable to contain Kobe Bryant. On cue, Kobe went for the kill. It seemed every Lakers possession in the first half started with Kobe posting up his shorter, younger counterpart and figuring out how he could torture him. First it was a quick spin move to draw a foul, then it was a turnaround fadeaway, then a pull-up from the elbow, then a straight blow-by for a layup … Read More »

Coming into this season, I knew that this year would emphasize the fact that basketball is the ultimate team sport. Put it this way: There’s going to be more sharing of the spotlight than a Wu-Tang Clan interview. Sure, every pack has its alpha dog, but that alpha is nothing without the rest of the pack.

One of the most underrated attributes of a championship teams is a good and feisty bench. The bottom half of the roster has to be ready to pounce on opportunities when their number is called. So far, some key players have had some adjusting to do in order to get back to their starting form. As result, the bench guys have shown their readiness to step in and dominate. Here are the top five bench performers from the first two days of the season: Read More »

As expected, the majority of the mainstream covered last night’s Celtics/Heat season opener from the “Miami lost” angle more than the “Boston won” perspective. So rather than focus on what went wrong for the Heat — Dwyane Wade played like Dwayne Wayne, and the team generally played like they’d first met at shootaround that morning — show a little appreciation for what the Celtics did right. Like Paul Pierce (19 pts, 9 rebs) being clutch all night, or Ray Allen (20 pts, 5-8 3PA) hitting a huge three in the final minute to snuff out Miami’s late rally … Read More »