Marcin Gortat posts up and tosses Tyler Zeller aside for an easy dunk: Read More »

The Knicks went on an easy little stroll Sunday afternoon at the Garden and not even Jrue Holiday‘s spot-on mimicking act of Carmelo Anthony could spoil the ride in a 100-84 win over Philly. Holiday was there more often than not to serve as the counter to a big play by the Knicks, but he was just one guy – albeit, one guy whose 5-of-6 shooting from deep helped Philly shoot better from behind the line than it did overall. Read More »

Slightly less complicated than ranking the best centers in the NBA is determining who should and who shouldn’t be called a center.

In this faster, more fluid and more versatile NBA, where more coaches are using three-guard lineups and embracing “small ball,” players once pegged as power forwards are not only playing center, but they’re also admitting it. Yao Ming is out, Chris Bosh is in, and suddenly the stigma of the center as a lumbering behemoth quarantined to the low post is gone. Read More »

Dwight Howard has a lot to look forward to next season. He’s set to be a key piece on a legitimate championship contender in a city that has a history of collecting Larry O’Brien Trophies. At age 26, he is just beginning to enter the prime of his career and will be surrounded by incredible (albeit, aging) talent. While the pressure to win a title in the City of Angels will be immense and immediate, Dwight will be able to share the heavy expectations with future first-ballot Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, as well as four-time All-Star Pau Gasol, who may end up in the Hall as well (compare his Laker’s numbers to Hall of Famer James Worthy). Life is good for Mr. Howard. Read More »

Shannon Brown actually passed the ball last night in the midst of his career-high 32 points? Joking aside, Marcin Gortat makes a catch and finish here that rivals just about anything we’ve seen from an NBA center in the last few years. Read More »

Maybe LeBron James is just stubborn. Maybe he’s perfectly capable of delivering game-winning hero moments whenever he wants, but since it seems the whole world is dogging him, he doesn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of feeling like they’re telling him what to do. And maybe we’re really reaching there, but how else do you explain why LeBron does the things he does? … Read More »

The Pacific Division’s second half is a tale of two teams from one city. No one is catching either the Clippers or Lakers as the rosters of the other three — Warriors, Kings, Suns — stand. If you’re trying to build a case in those teams’ defense, just stop.

This is what commissioner David Stern dreamed of in December when a trade of Chris Paul from New Orleans to the Lakers was rejected like a shot in Serge Ibaka’s airspace. That could have resulted in enough cap room to realize the owners’ great fear, Dwight Howard to the Lakers, and the run of titles in purple and gold to go with it. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Andrea Bargnani posted 36 points, six boards, two assists, two steals, a block and four three-pointers in his mighty comeback from a calf injury. He shot 48 percent (10-21) from the floor, 100 percent (12-12) from the free-throw line and had two turnovers. Bargnani is having himself a solid all-around season with no real signs of a letdown in sight. Read More »

Weekend Wonder: Kyle Lowry averaged 29.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 3.0 threes in two games over the weekend. He shot 49 percent from the field and 92 percent from the free-throw line in that stretch. For the season, Lowry has maintained top three fantasy value, far exceeding even the loftiest expectations. Don’t be too surprised if he finished the 2011-12 NBA season with top 15 overall value. Read More »

Talking All-Stars two weeks into the season? It happens when David Stern and co. attempt to stuff 66 games into 120 days. The All-Star balloting is already up on NBA.com, and you’ll start hearing campaigns emerge for players like Andre Iguodala, Andrea Bargnani, Tyson Chandler and LaMarcus Aldridge. But they’ll be players this year missing out just as there always are. Read More »