For a team that was truly garbage last year, the Nets still had one of the best point guards in the league, one of the most explosive dunkers in the league, one of the most exciting rookies in the league, and one of the most hated players in the league. Not bad for a lottery team playing its final season in New Jersey. Naturally, those four players dominate this top 10 list. Read More »

Most of the buzz since free agency hit at midnight was about, surprisingly, Omer Asik. He was courted by the Trail Blazers but ultimately has signed an offer sheet with Houston, one the Bulls now can match. The deal is for three years and $25 million, with about $12 million of that likely to come in the third year. Before you scoff, he can rebound like few others — only six guys in the league had a 25 percent defensive rebounding rate and 12 percent on offense, SI’s Zach Lowe tweeted out. Read More »

Israel is known as the Holy Land and a place rich with history and culture, but what many people don’t know is that it is also home to high level basketball. Since 2000, Israel has been one of the biggest basketball hotbeds in Europe. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel’s top team, won Euroleague titles in 2001, 2004, and 2005, and reached the Euroleague title game in 2006 and 2008. They also produced NBA players Anthony Parker, Omri Casspi, Maceo Baston, and Sarunas Jasikevicius, and beat the Toronto Raptors in an exhibition game, 105-103, in 2005. Additionally, many NBA players including Jordan Farmar, Trevor Booker, J.J. Hickson, and Avery Bradley spent the lockout playing in Israel. I caught up with David Pick, a writer for Eurobasket.com covering the Euroleague and Israeli basketball, to talk about the lockout, the Israeli Super League, and LeBron James. Read More »

I might be one of the few out there who prescribes to the theory that being clutch isn’t real. It’s merely a mirage; it comes and it goes. But still, I can respect someone stepping into the moment, and driving a knife through the chest of an opponent. Plus, if there was no such thing as “clutch,” we would’ve never seen the Sam Cassell “Big Balls” dance. Read More »

Not all clutch three-pointers are made the same, as Carmelo Anthony showed on Sunday against Chicago. His threes to tie and win the Easter classic came with at least 10 seconds left in the game but caught the Bulls unaware each time precisely because of the timing.

But sometimes you don’t have that luxury of time he did. Read More »

They could’ve just re-titled this as the best game winners from March and it would’ve worked as well. From Dwyane Wade to Derrick Rose, some of the best shots this season came last month. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Brandon Jennings finished with 34 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and six three-pointers last night. He shot 52 percent (12-23) from the floor, 80 percent (4-5) from the free-throw line and had one turnover. After struggling through February, Jennings is averaging 25.0 points, 4.0 boards, 7.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.0 threes in his first seven games this month. He’s been a top 30 stud so far this season. Read More »

On a night of basketball that had it all, we were given four ridiculous game-winning shots: One by an MVP; One by a rookie; One by a journeyman; And one by a couple of no-names. Four game-winners in one night like this can get even the most hardened League Pass vet to shake their head and smile. We’ll kick things off with Derrick Rose ending Brandon Jennings‘ nightmare of a game with a step-back J in his mug. Read More »

After Derrick Rose‘s step-back game-winner barely touched the net, the Bucks’ announcers said they thought it was the first jump shot he hit all night. But in Chicago’s 106-104 W, that’s all he needed. Rose had one of his better games of the season (30 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists), and canned the money maker directly in Brandon Jennings‘ grill as the buzzer sounded. It was actually the third time the two point guards had isolated against each other in the final minute, but the first time either of them hit the shot. Read More »

Weekend Wonder: Kevin Love came up big this past weekend, averaging 32.0 points, 16.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.5 blocks and a three in two games. He shot 49 percent from the field, 100 percent from the line and averaged 4.0 turnovers in that stretch. For the season, Love is averaging top five numbers, which is exactly where he was pegged by most fantasy owners in this season’s drafts. Read More »