Why are we dropping Part III of the Tyson Chandler video series on a Saturday morning? Because the Caron Butler-less Clippers play tonight. Listen to Chandler talk about how in many ways, Caron can mean just as much to a team in his absence than he can on the floor.

Chandler’s description of just how badass Caron Butler can be is pretty ridiculous: Read More »

Tony Allen was on the wrong end of too many highlights last night. Right here, Chris Paul gave him a ball fake that had Allen doing the Superman at air. On the night, Paul had 29 points on 17 shots as the Grizzlies turned him into a scorer rather than a facilitator. It worked… for the most part. Read More »

Seeing this DeAndre Jordan finish live last night, it reminded me so much of Dwight Howard‘s incredible alley-oop slam over Jrue Holiday from the end of last season. Jordan only had six points, and has struggled at times to be a factor in his first postseason series. But this finish on top of Tony Allen‘s back might be the best play of the playoffs so far. Read More »

Dante Cunningham gave Blake Griffin a taste of his own medicine last night, coming from off his back to slam down a follow-up jam on the dunking machine’s head. Overall, it just wasn’t a good night for BG, and this punctuated it. Cunningham used his back as a ladder, and afterwards it wouldn’t have been complete unless he told Griffin, “Welcome to the playoffs.” Read More »

The only thing seemingly happening more often than freak injuries through the playoffs first two days are blocked shots. We saw Roy Hibbert sending away all sorts of shots from the Orlando Midgets. Kevin Durant somehow had four of them. And Serge Ibaka was just… Serge Ibaka. But only one guy this weekend tied the NBA Playoff blocked shot record, and that was Andrew Bynum. By the four minute mark in the third quarter of the Lakers’ blowout win against Denver, 103-88, Bynum already had seven rejections and before the night was over, he not only had a triple-double (10 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocks), but he had also broken the franchise playoff record and tied Mark Eaton and Hakeem Olajuwon for most blocks ever in a playoff game. Read More »

On March 28, someone in Chicago sent Lawrence Norman a text message. The adidas vice president of global basketball picked it up, read it, and starting getting chills. It read “48 out of 48.” Four words were all he needed to realize adidas struck gold with the adiZero Crazy Light 2. This was the first year they had partnered with the McDonald’s All-American Game, and between both the girls’ and boys’ games, 48 of the most accomplished players in the country were chosen to represent the very best of high school basketball. Adidas supplied the sneakers, outfitting every locker with their as-yet unreleased Crazy Light 2s, hoping, but not entirely believing that every player would wear them. People have different tastes. You can’t please all. A backup plan was in place with backup sneakers just in case a few players didn’t take so quickly to the bright and stylish new shoes. Read More »

We know Randy Foye dropped 15 in the third quarter and was doing work all night for the Clippers (28 points), but still L.A., here’s some advice: don’t go to him with the game on the line. Foye had a pass deflected off the backboard in the final seconds for a turnover, and then threw up an air ball. The Clippers had raced back after trailing by as many as 18, and even though the man once traded for Brandon Roy‘s knees was at the center of that, you’d think they would’ve gone somewhere else to avoid what ultimately became a six-point Knick win. Read More »

Blake Griffin complained recently about all of the cheap shots he’s been taking. Does this count? Robin Lopez nearly put the headlock on the NBA’s best dunker, and the results were a double-edged sword. He got tossed for it, but the Suns gained momentum and ended up beating the Clippers. Read More »

Derrick Rose isn’t the only NBA superstar who’s tired of the hard fouls and cheap shots. Blake Griffin was the notorious recipient of one of the worst fouls of the year – Jason Smith‘s attempted fast break murder from March 22 – and now the Clipper superstar is speaking out as well. At some point, you knew Griffin’s celebrity would come back to haunt him. DeMarcus Cousins doesn’t enjoy it, and neither do any of the players that have been publicly embarrassed by the most explosive player in the world. I just didn’t expect it all to happen so soon. Read More »

There was a point in the third quarter where you could see it on LeBron James‘ face. New Jersey was flowing. Miami was in a trance. And LeBron was annoyed. A late regular season game in New Jersey isn’t exactly the NBA Finals, but it’ll do for now, especially when he puts together a performance that had shades of 2006, Game 5 in Detroit. LeBron scored 17 straight for Miami to bring the Heat charging back in a 111-108 W, all while everyone in the building screamed “MVP!” Read More »