Beast of the Night: Chris Paul edges out Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and David Lee with his 39 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, along with 61 percent (14-23) shooting from the floor and perfect (8-8) shooting from the line. He also hit 3 treys in an overtime victory over Dallas. CP3 got off to a relatively slow start this season but has really turned it on for the past three games. He’s playing with some extra ferocity nowadays and that’s a great thing for his fantasy owners. Read More »

Allen Iverson made last night’s Grizzlies/Kings game worth checking out from the beginning, but Kevin Martin made it worth staying until the end. What was originally billed as A.I.’s big debut turned into K-Mart’s showcase, it may have been the best game of the season so far, and it was a hell of a timely ad for NBA League Pass as the free preview week wraps up … Checking in to a nice ovation from the Sacramento crowd, Iverson looked like he was just testing out his hamstring in his initial rotation, a scoreless five-minute stretch of the first quarter. Read More »

Weekend Wonder: Chris Bosh is furiously putting up drool-worthy lines so far this season, including two gems on Friday (37 points, 1 three, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover) and Sunday (35 points, 2 threes, 16 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 turnovers). He shot 51 percent (23-45) from the field and 70 percent (23-33) from the line in those two games, while also hitting all three of his three-point attempts. If he continues to hit threes, Bosh could be vaulting himself into a higher tier of fantasy stardom. Read More »

Breaking down the first-week performances of the serious 2010 title contenders, Spurs announcer Sean Elliott messed up his words and said the Lakers took an “old-fashioned butt cooking” from the Mavs on Friday night. As it turns out, that was the best way to describe what the Spurs were about to do to the Kings on Saturday … Despite Sacramento starting probably the worst frontcourt in the League (Jason Thompson, Sean May, Desmond Mason), it was one of those nights where Tim Duncan didn’t have to do much and could let the smaller guys go to work. Read More »

With the emergence of Danilo Gallinari, it looks like the New York Knicks’ highest paid player, Larry Hughes, will be odd man out in coach Mike D’Antoni’s rotation. Situation sound familiar? Last year, the team’s highest paid player and the former face of the franchise, Stephon Marbury, was basically blackballed by D’Antoni at this exact point in the preseason. While Steph bit his tongue at first, it wasn’t long until things started to spiral out of control and the Knicks’ season started to play out like an episode of the Hills. Read More »

Light schedule of only four NBA preseason games on a day where the biggest (rumored) news was that the replacement refs probably won’t make it to the regular season due to the League being close to an agreement with the union guys. We hit on this a little bit yesterday, but it’s funny how so many media and fans are bashing the replacements as if they’ve been so much worse than the regulars. We even heard one TV talking head praise the return of the “real” refs, because the ones they’ve had in the preseason are obviously fake refs. How long will it take for NBA players to start complaining about every call again and for the rest of us to remember we thought the “real” refs stunk at their jobs, too? About 24 minutes into the first game? … Read More »

As you know, Dime Magazine is a basketball lifestyle publication. We are all about giving you guys an all-access pass into the lives of NBA players, whether it’s showing you their cars, homes, jewelry and gear. Today, we’re going to tell you what players bring with them to the games. Prior to the Knicks/Sixers games on Tuesday, we asked a couple of guys: What’s in the bag? Read More »

In last night’s Sixers/Knicks game, there were only two times the entire game where the crowd erupted in cheers. One of them being when Larry Hughes was subbed out of the game, the other was when Darko Milicic got this fast break dunk.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Madison Square Garden is my favorite place to watch basketball. The first time I’d been there was in the summer of 2003 when I was swindled by a scalper who sold me a fake New York Liberty ticket. Fortunately, a group of ladies had a soft spot in their heart for a naïve guy from Utah and gave me their spare ticket in exchange that I buy them a few beers. The second time was in 2006, where I caught a Knicks/Nuggets game that ended with the crowd chanting “Fire Isiah.” And the last time I went to a Knicks game at the Garden was last fall, which also coincidently ended with the crowd chanting “Fire Isiah.” Read More »

The NBA preseason is underway, meaning it’s time again for Dime’s team-by-team season previews. Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceilings and basements for each team. In other words, what is the realistic best-case and worst-case scenario for the 2009-10 campaign?

Added: Jordan Hill, Darko Milicic, Toney Douglas, Gabe Pruitt Read More »