Going into this season, I honestly didn’t see much in store for the Dallas Mavericks. When we were putting together Dime’s NBA season preview for issue #53, one of my write-ups left on the cutting room floor was titled, “Last Chance Workout,” focusing on the Mavs. And while my Dallas team preview on this site put their ceiling at Western Conference Finals, I was thinking their destination was closer to the basement: “Quiet first-round exit.” Read More »

From worst to first, ranking the NBA through the first couple of weeks…

30. New Jersey Nets (0-7) — They’re dropping like panties at R.Kelly’s house in Jersey, with starters Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, CDR and Yi Jianlian all missing games with injury and/or illness.

29. Minnesota Timberwolves (1-6) — The only bright spot of this past week was Jonny Flynn outplaying Brandon Jennings head-to-head. And the Wolves still lost that game. Read More »

If you’re purely interested in the best interest of Allen Iverson, you’re glad the Grizzlies had one of their business-as-usual losses against the Clippers last night. Having gone 0-3 since A.I. joined the lineup earlier in the week, for Memphis to win after Iverson had left the team for undisclosed personal reasons — even if it was against the Clips — would have brought up all the same criticisms of Iverson you saw in Detroit and at various points throughout his runs in Philly and Denver. Mainly, that A.I.’s team is better without him, and that certain young stars (i.e. O.J. Mayo in this case) are better off when he’s not in the picture … Instead, the Grizzlies did what they typically do with or without Iverson, putting up a lot of points while giving up even more. Read More »

Even though there was no NBA game action last night, there was tons of activity in the League. As we mentioned yesterday in Smack, while there were certainly some memorable plays in the tune-up games, this preseason will be known for two things: a lack of “real” NBA refs and injuries. Thankfully the former has been cleared up after the NBA reached an agreement with the referees, but unfortunately the latter seems to be an overwhelming reality for many of the League’s standout players … On the eve of the season opener, which includes a matchup between the Lakers and Clippers in a battle for Los Angeles (well, not really), it appears the Clippers will be without their superstar. Announced late last night, Blake Griffin may miss up to six weeks with a stress fracture of his left patella. Suffered during the Clippers’ last preseason game against the Hornets on Friday, this is horrible news for the No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year favorite … 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: Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, Rodrigue Beaubois, Kris Humphries, Quinton Ross, Tim Thomas

Lost: Brandon Bass, Antoine Wright, Jerry Stackhouse, Ryan Hollins, Devean George, Gerald Green Read More »

With most of their guys back healthy from the flu and various other injuries, the Cavs smashed the Mavs by 30 last night at the University of Pittsburgh gym. (Since when do Cleveland teams get love in Pittsburgh?) Mo Williams had 16 points and 11 assists, LeBron put up 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting and seven dimes, and Big Z scored 16 off the bench … Dallas was the team playing short-handed, as Dirk, J-Kidd and Jason Terry were given the night off, and Josh Howard and Shawn Marion are still banged up. So the starting five looked like this: J.J. Barea, Matt Carroll, Quinton Ross, Drew Gooden and Erick Dampier. Pretty sure the Pitt Panthers squad would be able to give that lineup at least a decent run. Hell, put Sam Young and DeJuan Blair back on the squad and they might pull off a W … Read More »

It’s kind of odd that the once-dreaded Texas Triangle seems overlooked these days, and for good reason. The Rockets’ quick fall from grace (with key losses in Yao Ming and Ron Artest) now leaves them for perhaps an 7th seed at best, and that’s just because they still have most of last year’s team. Read More »

Missing the deadline for Sunday morning’s Smack, Carmelo Anthony had the performance of the NBA preseason so far in a very late-Saturday/early-Sunday tip in Beijing — in the same arena where ‘Melo and Team USA won their ‘08 gold medals. In just 24 minutes of work against the Pacers, ‘Melo dropped 45 points, going 14-of-19 from the field and 16-of-17 from the line. Oh, and he threw in nine rebounds and two blocks. Those are video-game numbers, like playing NBA 2K against the CPU on Easy mode. But then even more amazing than that might have been Indiana’s “defensive” numbers. Read More »

Of the four teams that played in last night’s NBA preseason games, three were of the “new-look” variety: Orlando, Dallas and Detroit. Most relevant to the 2010 championship race, the Magic debuted Vince Carter in their win over the Mavs. Starting at two-guard next to Mickael Pietrus at the three and Rashard Lewis at the four, Vince scored 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting, 3-of-12 beyond the arc. Dwight Howard had 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, and Rashard scored 18 with four threes … Dirk Nowitzki — looking like an awkward Thor with the long-hair/headband combo — scored 23 points (17-19 FT) for the Mavs, who were without Shawn Marion (rest) and Josh Howard (ankle) … Read More »

Now that NBA training camps are underway, some guys will have to get used to having all eyes on them — or more specifically, all eyes on their knees, shoulders, ankles, etc. — waiting to see if they’ll hold up or crumble like a toothpick sculpture … Chris Bosh wasn’t supposed to be on that list, especially given the results we’d seen from his offseason workout, but then he tweaked his hamstring right before Raptors camp opened. Bosh apparently hurt himself while playing golf, which just sounds like the first chapter of another bad-luck season in Toronto … Read More »