About halfway into the fourth quarter last night, Norris Cole had everyone in the building and all who were watching on national television wondering Who Dat? By the end of the night, Cole was the hero and he had national columnists asking the following morning if straight up, we were really going to love him forever… or was it just a hit and run? Is he for real? In just his second game as a pro, Cole dropped 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, didn’t shy away at all from the big shot and unlike the starter, Mario Chalmers, he stayed within his game, not constantly dribbling into the lane and turning it over. Read More »

When Kirk Hinrich was traded to Atlanta last season, he was supposed to add experience and toughness to a team that didn’t always exhibit those qualities. He was supposed to stabilize the backcourt, give the team a legit point guard and buy more time for Jeff Teague to develop. Hinrich did all of those things, and was one of the reasons the Hawks surprisingly killed the Magic in the first round. Read More »

You thought last night’s triple overtime thriller between the Lakers and Suns was good? It got me thinking about some of the best triple-overtime games I’ve seen in the last few years and this one immediate stands out. This Boston/Chicago series had everything you could ask for with nearly every game, every possession, up for grabs. But this Game 6 win by Chicago in triple extra sessions was the ultimate high. Perhaps these two will meet up again and repeat this in the Eastern Conference Finals this year.

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Breathe. Put the pacemakers back in place and relax. Chris Webber wanted to thank the Basketball Gods for blessing us with that epic Lakers/Suns game that went deep into Tuesday night. You should too … Where do we start in the Lakers triple OT 139-137 win? How about clutch free throws and buckets. Crazy passes in pressure situations. Ron Artest. There’s no way that wasn’t one of the top five games of the year. In the end, it came down to a couple of Kobe Bryant (42 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists) and Artest (18 points) shots that extended the Lakers just beyond Steve Nash (19 points, 20 assists) and the Suns. Kobe hit a three, then Artest stuffed a dunk before hitting a wild floater to put L.A. up five in the third overtime … The first half of the game was typical for this rivalry: big Suns’ runs because of lazy L.A. defense, followed by the Lakers getting enough easy layups to stay close. But the third quarter turned into a personal showcase for the best team in the league (they’re the champs until someone officially takes them out). Offensively, the Lakers were rolling. Defensively, they turned Phoenix into Wofford and L.A. was up as much as 20 points in the period … Read More »

Beast of the Night: Dwyane Wade finished with 38 points, six rebounds, five assists, one steal, two blocks and two three-pointers in a losing cause. He shot 57 percent (12-21) from the field, 92 percent (12-13) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. Wade has been a top-25 player this season, which is a far cry (pun intended) from his top-eight pick position in many drafts. Read More »

Buy Low: Steve Nash has 28 percent from the field in his last four games to go along with 8.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 11.5 assists, two turnovers and a measly 0.3 threes per game. These are not the Nashty kind of numbers we’re used to seeing from him. However, look closely at his game log and you’ll see that two of those games came against elite point guards – Deron Williams and Rajon Rondo. With a strong fantasy playoff schedule ahead of him, Nash should bounce back sooner than later. Read More »

There are obviously aftershocks from the big deals involving Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams earlier this week. With a few hours left before the trade deadline passes, there are more deals to discuss, involving guys like Baron Davis, Mo Williams and Kirk Hinrich. Here are quick takes on the implications that fantasy owners should pay attention to. Read More »

Some debuts, for all their hype, are ultimately quiet and relatively forgettable. That was not the case for Carmelo Anthony with the New York Knicks last night. Some of the Dime crew was at MSG for Knicks/Bucks, which was almost an entire workday in of itself — the introductory press conference for ‘Melo and Chauncey Billups began at 5 p.m., and the last post-game interview with ‘Melo didn’t wrap up until after 11 p.m. In between, ‘Melo dropped 27 points and 10 rebounds in his NY opener, Chauncey put up 21 points and 8 assists, and the Knicks spoiled Milwaukee’s plans to play spoiler … Read More »

UPDATE: Apparently there was a Crawford involved, but not one named Jamal. According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Hawks rookie Jordan Crawford, along with Mike Bibby, Maurice Evans and a 2011 first-round pick, have been sent to Washington for Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong.

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There have been rumors swirling all day that Kirk Hinrich could be on the move, but no one seemed to know who he would be traded for. Now, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, it appears the deal would be Hinrich for Jamal Crawford and his expiring contract. Read More »

To J.J. Redick‘s credit, he has become a much better defender in the NBA than anyone expected when he was coming out of Duke. Still, bad things like this happen every now and then…