At some point during the fourth quarter, as the Hawks were getting all they could handle from the Rockets and seemed on the verge of their first home loss of the season, Dominique Wilkins said the same thing you’re gonna hear from a bunch of opposing team announcers about the Rockets this year: “This is a GOOD basketball team!” in a surprised tone … In what might have been the most entertaining finish of the year, Houston went up by seven midway through the fourth when Aaron Brooks dusted Joe Johnson on a crossover/hesitation along the baseline for a layup. Read More »
You know what you’re going to get when the Cavs and Wizards play on national TV: Plenty of talk about LeBron’s “rivalry” with DeShawn Stevenson, LeBron’s rivalry with the Wizards, Mike Miller wearing LeBron’s shoes, maybe Washington’s injury problems … And then there was the story line for last night’s game that nobody wanted to talk about: The gossip-page reports saying Shaq got caught messing around with Gilbert Arenas‘ girl. Anyone think there’s a slight chance that’s really why Shaq sat out? Say what you want about being a professional and focusing on the game, but that’s grounds for any grown man to get punched in the face at any random moment. Read More »
It took about 47 and a half minutes for Don Nelson to really miss Stephen Jackson. In the Warriors’ first game since trading Capt. Jack to the Bobcats, they were actually hanging with the Cavs on the road last night. On a critical possession with under a minute to go and Cleveland ahead by four, LeBron of course had the rock, a situation where S-Jack would normally have been guarding him. This time, however, Nellie had to enlist Vlad Radmanovic for the job. (Well, he didn’t have to; Anthony Randolph might have been a better choice.) To the surprise of no one, LeBron scored easily, sticking a pull-up jumper for the dagger … Read More »
As this edition of Smack is being written, ESPN’s 24-hour marathon of college hoops is underway. Writing about basketball in the middle of the night while live basketball is showing on TV with no end in sight for hours? This is the life … Are the Hawks really this good? When we ranked Atlanta 5th yesterday on Dime’s weekly NBA Hit List — maybe the highest we’d ever had them ranked, at least in the last 2-3 years — the response was surprisingly strong that Joe Johnson and Josh Smith and crew should have been in the top three, maybe even holding the No. 1 spot. True, the Hawks had won four straight going into Monday’s schedule, but they’ve always been one of those Zab Judah/Asafa Powell-type teams: Read More »
Beast of the Night: LeBron James scored 34 points and chipped in 2 threes, 4 boards, 7 dimes, 2 steals and a block last night as he outdueled Dwyane Wade. He shot 40 percent (8-20) from the floor, but the important thing is that he shot 89 percent (16-18) from the free throw line. It doesn’t matter what number he sports on his jersey – The King is a fantasy stud who makes you numb with his steady production of solid lines. Read More »
Major League Baseball won’t let anybody wear number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. LeBron James suggests the NBA should do the same thing with Michael Jordan’snumber. As you know, LeBron rocks number 23, but is aware that he probably shouldn’t. He said he’ll eventually switch to his Olympic number 6. Read More »
During the obligatory, “Where will LeBron and D-Wade end up in 2010?” segment of last night’s Cavs/Heat game, Reggie Miller talked about his own experiences as a free agent.
The Indiana Pacers icon admitted there was a time when he seriously considered signing with the Knicks, but New York chose to spend their money on Allan Houston instead. Read More »
Think about LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the same squad, forming what could possibly the most talented duo in NBA. Better yet, imagine them playing for the Knicks together or the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets. It would be a marketing jackpot. Picture them running the break together, taking turns throwing lobs to each other. It’s good to dream, but does it make any sense? Read More »
You know you pulled off an incredible dunk when your team doesn’t even win the game, you lost to a team that features arguably the best/most famous (active) basketball player in the world and one of the two other most famous players in the world, the dunk itself happened way back in the first quarter of an East Coast tip-off, and it’s STILL the first everybody is talking about around the water cooler. A few minutes into Heat/Cavs, LeBron looked like he was gonna put somebody on a poster when he got a step on his defender and approached the rim with bad intentions. LBJ got stuffed by Jermaine O’Neal, though, creating a one-man fast break for Dwyane Wade. Read More »
