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 »

Beast of the Night: Tim Duncan posted 28 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 4 blocks last night against the Nuggets. He shot 67 percent (12-18) from the field and 67 percent (4-6) from the charity stripe. This was Duncan’s third straight game with double-digit rebounds, and he’s averaging 4.3 blocks during that stretch. Though his fantasy value remains limited by his tightly controlled minutes, Duncan remains a strong asset when healthy and given 30+ minutes. Read More »

The Atlanta Hawks are off to an 8-4 start, with five players averaging double-figuring scoring and a sixth, Marvin Williams, putting up 9.9 points per game. Aiming for their fourth straight playoff appearance with most of the same core, the Hawks are maturing as a unit, and much of the credit goes to improved ball movement and the diversity of the sets they are running under new coach Larry Drew. Read More »

After posting Paul Pierce‘s Halloween costume last night, it appears he wasn’t the only NBA player who got dressed up. After the jump, check out the NBA’s best Halloween costumes, which clearly shows the Celtics and Hawks are the winners. Read More »

They don’t jump like that in Raptors practice. (Well, unless your name is DeMar or Vince.) In Atlanta, Chris Bosh got scalped by Marvin Williams last night during TNT’s Heat/Hawks broadcast, as Marv follow-dunked right on Bosh’s head at one point. Bosh should have just left the building after that one. But at least Bosh got crowned in ATL, where people care more about Dem Franchise Boyz than they do about the Hawks … Despite LeBron going off for 38 points (13-19 FT) and 11 boards, Miami left with another preseason loss, but this time they had their big guns on the floor in the fourth quarter. Read More »

As NBA training camps get underway, we preview the upcoming season with the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team.

Added: Jordan Crawford, Josh Powell, Etan Thomas

Lost: Joe Smith, Randolph Morris, Mario West Read More »

Kwame Brown was on NBA TV twice yesterday: First when the news of his agreeing to a free-agent deal with the Charlotte Bobcats was announced, and again during the day-long celebration of Kobe Bryant’s 32nd birthday — Kwame making his cameo during the replay of Kobe’s 81-point game against the Raptors in January 2006.

Darko Milicic also made an appearance during the 81-point game. A graphic from the Lakers broadcast showed the top five picks of the ’03 Draft — LeBron, Darko, Carmelo, Bosh and D-Wade — and their scoring averages from that season. While LeBron was dropping like 30 ppg at the time, and ‘Melo, Wade and Bosh were all above 20 points a night, Darko stuck out like a white-collar criminal in a gen-pop prison yard, boasting an average of 1.6 points per game. Read More »

For his sake, considering he was a No. 2 overall pick ahead of Deron Williams and Chris Paul, hopefully the highlight of Marvin Williams‘ career isn’t going to be that he was once traded for Shaq. As we posted this edition of Smack, reports were conflicting over whether the Hawks and Cavs are actually close to completing a sign-and-trade sending Marv to Cleveland for the Diesel; some said it was close to finished, while others said it’s not that close. If we’re the Hawks, though, we’re making the move. Read More »

The Miami Heat have shed salary like Jared Fogle shed pounds on his Subway diet. After buying out James Jones before the free-agency period began, the Heat only have two players under contract for next season: Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers.

While Chalmers seems to still be in the Heat’s plans, Beasley definitely looks like he is on his way out of town, as the Heat are trying desperately to get rid of him and his contract. It will likely take nothing to pry the former No. 2 draft pick from the Heat. Here are five teams that should take a chance on Beasley: Read More »

By hiring former Mike Woodson assistant Larry Drew as its next head coach, the Hawks sent a message: Things need to change around here … but not that much.

The Hawks have improved each year for the last five, including a 53-win campaign this season where they earned the No. 3 seed in the East. And even if All-Star Joe Johnson leaves in free agency, Atlanta still has a solid young core in Josh Smith, Al Horford, Marvin Williams and Jeff Teague, plus a couple of solid vets in leadership positions, Jamal Crawford and Mike Bibby. Read More »