There’s something purely Americana about the hometown kid making good in front of the hometown crowd.

Whether it’s David Freese blasting home runs to lead his St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series title, or Chauncey Billups going from prep legend to college superstar to NBA bust back to NBA superstar in Denver, or even Jerome Bettis winning a Super Bowl in Detroit in his final NFL game while playing for another team, we like these stories. In a sports culture where free agency and stressed-out GMs eager to trade make it increasingly tougher for fans to claim one group of players as “our guys” for any length of time, hometown ties remain nearly impossible to break. Read More »

Beast of the Night: LeBron James had himself a typically big line to the tune of 35 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks. He shot 57 percent (13-23) from the field, 100 percent (9-9) from the free-throw line and had two turnovers. Through three games, James is averaging 32.7 points on 59 percent shooting from the field and 87 percent shooting from the charity stripe. The odd thing is that he has yet to attempt a single three-pointer. The fact that he’s been such a stud without a three-pointer says volumes about his fantasy value. It’s early, but James looks like the probable top dog in fantasy basketball this season. Read More »

It’s not just us, and it’s not just you. It’s everyone. Everyone is sick of charity games, of celebrity games and nights ending up 170-168. It was cool for a while. That got us through the summer of no basketball, trade rumors or signings: “Capital Punishment,” “The Big Payback,” and all the rest. But Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams are promising something different. Seattle and Atlanta are two consistently overlooked hoop hotbeds. But now we’ll have the chance to see which city is better. Expect it to be heated. Expect it to be real. Read More »

Call it a spoon-feeding. A Costco free sample. But when your NBA team is swiped away like a waiter prematurely assuming you’re done with your meal, you’ll take anything. (Thousands of Sonics fans simultaneously nod their heads.) This Saturday, an exhibition game known as the H206 Charity Basketball Classic will take place at KeyArena in Seattle featuring over 20 NBA players broken up into two separate teams – the “Seattle Team” and the “League Team.” Trust us, you want to be there. Read More »

Not only was this block by Marvin Williams on Derrick Rose nasty, but it was the key play in Atlanta’s 19-point comeback win.

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With the Celtics and Heat taking up seven of the 12 Eastern Conference All-Star spots, some have jokingly (or not) predicted this being the first year All-Star teammates get into a fight during the typically laid-back game. So if you’re watching for tension between the Boston/Miami camps, check out the interactions between Amar’e Stoudemire and Al Horford.

The two All-Star teammates face off at Madison Square Garden tonight as the Knicks host the Hawks (7:30 p.m. EST), and leading up to the game have gotten into a little verbal sparring through the media. Read More »

In one of the most storied rivalries in sports, Duke and North Carolina played last night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, in what turned out to be a great game. For a collegiate clash that date’s all the way back to 1920, Duke got their 100th win in the all-time series, although UNC still leads 130-100. With everyone still buzzing about Tobacco Road this morning, we decided to ponder what an alumni game with current NBA players would look like today. Read More »

Sometimes the Spurs make it look so easy. On their way to becoming the first team in the NBA to reach 40 W’s this season, San Antonio’s defense suffocated Houston in the second half, and Manu Ginobili (22 pts) led the offense in a 13-point win … The efficiency was ruthless. In the first quarter, Tony Parker (17 points) threw a lob to Tim Duncan, which was the quietest, most difficult alley-oop we’ve ever seen: Duncan going backdoor, getting a pass that stopped right next to the rim as TD casually laid it in. Read More »

The Big Three was down to the Chosen One for last night’s Heat/Pistons game, which naturally meant for LeBron James that the role of fourth-quarter hero would fall into the hands of — Eddie House? … With five minutes left in the fourth, the Pistons were up three before House tied it with a corner trey. A few possessions later, House hit an off-balance jumper from the wing. Then after Austin Daye’s triple with one minute left put Detroit up by one, House ended up with the ball in his hands with the final seconds ticking down. Read More »

We’ll say this much: Had LeBron James been able to (or wanted to) convince Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to move to Cleveland last summer, they would be playing in a much more electric building for their home games. Last night, as the Heat fell behind early on the scoreboard and couldn’t penetrate Atlanta’s brick wall of a defense, the Miami crowd was more dead than Dr. Conrad Murray’s office phone … LeBron was back after missing two games with an ankle injury, while Bosh sat out with his own ankle injury. Read More »