In a weird scheduling quirk, there are no NBA Playoff games on tonight, with Miami/Chicago and San Antonio/Golden State continuing with Game 3s tomorrow evening. But if it was up to Metta World Peace, we’d have some entertainment. The Lakers forward wants to settle the score once and for all with the Clippers. Read More »

Everyone needs a little help, right? Michael had Scottie. Kobe had Shaq. Michael Jackson had The Jackson 5. LeBron needed D-Wade. Virtually everybody needs a helping hand to withstand the rigorous tremors on the road of life. But thus far in his young career, Kid Ink has established himself as a reputable independent artist with little to no help. Read More »

The complex layers of the relationship between Josh Smith, Atlanta fans and NBA fans at large run deep, and they’ve been there throughout his entire career. Not quite an All-Star. Incredible all-around talent. Not a jump shooter. But he can make them. Not a building block. But building-block level talent. In the third quarter against Indiana last night, with Atlanta slowly blowing what should’ve been an easy win, the Josh Smith demons came to the surface again. Read More »

From the intensity of the playoffs, the most memorable moments arise. Amid the chaos, reputations are forged, particularly for those whose renown does not (yet) land them gaudy shoe deals. Yesterday we took a look at hidden x-factors in the Grizzlies/Clippers series. Read More »

At the half of New York’s 87-71 Game 2 win over Boston, Charles Barkley called for Carmelo Anthony to give him more, saying New York doesn’t have enough scorers to have off nights from Anthony and still expect to win. ‘Melo had made just three buckets in the first two quarters, and New York was trailing by six. Read More »

That wasn’t much of compelling first round playoff preview was it? The streaking New York Knicks went into Boston and smacked the Celtics, 100-85. (and it didn’t even feel that close). New York has now won five in a row, and last night’s W pushed them into second place in the Eastern Conference (percentage points ahead of the Indiana Pacers) … The Knicks cruised to their victory basically playing 2-v-5 on offense. J.R. Smith led the way with 32 points on some sort of I-forget-how-I-usually-play trip. Smith shot 13-24 from the field and didn’t take his first three until there were five minutes left in the third quarter … Carmelo Anthony [Check him out in the new Game of Thrones Commercial] provided the other half of the Knicks’ punch, but if you’re looking for the same type of offensive efficiency that Smith brought to the table, move it along. Read More »

For the second time in the second half Sunday at Madison Square Garden, J.R. Smith passed the ball a little too casually from above the three-point line, allowing LeBron James to intercept it. The first time, about 16 game minutes earlier, LBJ went to the line for free throws in the middle of Miami’s comeback from 17 down to the Knicks. Uh oh. The second time, no one stopped him. And that was the story of the second half at MSG. Read More »

Don’t let the final score in Oklahoma City deceive you: this wasn’t the NBA Finals matchup we thought we’d see. Miami was too good for much of the first three quarters and Kevin Durant (40 points, eight rebounds) and Russell Westbrook (26 points, 10 dimes) couldn’t do much about it in Miami’s 110-100 win. Read More »

On Sunday, music’s best gathered in Los Angeles for the 55th annual GRAMMY Awards. Taking home hardware were Frank Ocean, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Drake, among many other artists. Conspicuously absent from the ceremony, however, were the smattering of NBA players who have tried their hand at music. Read More »

Someone forgot to tell Boston they don’t have Rajon Rondo or Jared Sullinger for the rest of this season. The Celtics ran off their fourth straight win after losing their All-Star starter point guard a week ago by devouring the short-handed Clippers, then holding on for dear life at the end, 106-104. One Caron Butler dunk aside (we’ll get to that in a second), the Celtics were clearly the dominant team in the first half and even led by 19. Read More »