Hopefully Kobe knows who Jeremy Lin is now. After spending time between the Lakers’ win in Boston and last night’s 92-85 loss in NYC doing his best to try to say he had no clue who the NBA’s newest sensation was, Bryant got one-upped by the man who has now scored more points in his first three starts than any player ever has since the NBA/ABA merger. Lin blew up for 38 points and seven assists, incubating Derek Fisher (He had one spin move in the first half that sent Fisher back to 1996) and running the lazy Lakers all over the half-court. Read More »

It’s a misnomer to call Thursday’s picks for the rest of the All-Star squads “reserves” considering their place as some of the world’s best ballers, but we learned who filled out the All-Star rosters last night on TNT. Some experts weren’t thrilled by all the picks, which opens up the annual conversation: Do fans want the big names or should they deserve the best in the moment? A perfect example is LaMarcus Aldridge, who was balling last season in Portland but got cut because he wasn’t a hot name. He got his much-deserved All-Star spot last night. Paul Pierce, Luol Deng and Dirk Nowitzki, though? And no Rondo? Read More »

All hail Jeremy Lin. That’s now two games in a row that the seldom-used backup has torched opponents and lit the Garden on fire as if he was John Starks. Lin dropped 28 and eight in New York’s 99-88 win over Utah. Beast? Lin seems to finish every three point play, make all the right decisions out of the pick-n-roll and has even shown off his deep ball. At one point in the second half, he dropped a high-arching shot and then trotted back on defense with a swag unlimited smirk before sticking his tongue out (It looked like he had been sucking on some blue lollipops during the quarter break). Read More »

When the NBA’s All-Star starters were announced last week, there was only one new face: Andrew Bynum as the West’s center, in his debut All-Star game. The other nine were the game’s biggest names, a list that included Bynum’s Laker teammate Kobe Bryant for a record-tying 14th consecutive year (The All-Star reserves will be revealed Thursday on TNT.).

Bynum may have bested Bryant when he entered the league as its youngest player ever, but he’ll have a hard time topping the Black Mamba’s bananas All-Star debut. Read More »

Forget Steve Nash and Baron Davis. Jeremy Lin is taking over NYC. The Knicks survived New Jersey 99-92, and it was their popular bench warmer who had the city juiced. Deron Williams (21 points, 11 assists), the former best point guard in the world, was getting worked over by Lin (25 points, five rebounds, seven assists) down the stretch. Jumpers. Pick-n-rolls Everything was out of wack for New York. Carmelo (3-for-15) couldn’t make a shot, and Amar’e Stoudemire wasn’t much better, but Lin was pulling out reverses, and after a three-point play, Tyson Chandler was doing the Brandy Reed celebration from back in the day … Read More »

Ron Artest/Metta World Peace has had too many memorable moments in the NBA to keep track of all of them. But since he’s come to Los Angeles, he’s at least been able to keep his inner crazy off the court for the most part. Whereas he was once a basketball time bomb, now we all just wait for the next hilarious thing he says. Our friends at LakersNation.com pointed out this video for us. Completely hilarious. Basically, this is three-plus minutes of all the crazy stuff World Peace has done as a Laker. Read More »

Joe Johnson is absolutely balling right now. He dropped 24 in the first half of Atlanta’s blowout win in Toronto. After he closed the frame with a rainbow three from the top of the key, the ATL play-by-play guy yelled, “Nothing but the bottom of the sack.” It’s not even a question anymore whether he’s an All-Star. If he keeps this up, we’re only asking for him to give back $30 million to the Hawks, rather than $40 mill. 30 points on 13-for-18 from the field, in only three quarters … Tracy McGrady added 15 off the bench … Read More »

Derrick Rose said he was gonna go crazy against Washington last night, and dude did go a little nuts. Not only did he pick up a technical, but he was as aggressive as we’ve seen him all year in the first half, weaving into the lane and throwing up more of those high-arching floaters he’s grown fond of. John Wall gave him some run during the first half of Chicago’s 10-point win, but there’s still one glaring difference between the two: John Wall makes tough shots. Derrick Rose makes tough shots look easy. Read More »

If the Atlanta Hawks had been involved, they could’ve just called a re-do of the last minute. They really should’ve. Miami had an ugly missed shot and a turnover and were on the edge of falling behind for the first time all game. But Derrick Rose clanked two free throws, then got another chance after LeBron had clanked two freebies of his own, but was short on a floater. Forget the win/loss records, the Heat can hold the Eastern crown a little longer, 97-93. Read More »

Nothing hurts more than losing your spot at the gym because you lost to a bunch of random dudes. That’s what happened to the Lakers last night in Milwaukee. With Stephen Jackson corporate thuggin’ it off-court (suspended for verbal abuse of an official), Andrew Bogut out with his yearly injury and Brandon Jennings playing more passively than at any point over the past month, the Lakers took body blows from Drew Gooden, Mike Dunleavy and Ersan Ilyasova before finally falling 100-89. Read More »