Well, at least the Raptors video production crew is in playoff form. Twenty-four hours after losing Chris Bosh for at least the rest of the regular season, the “Who will step up?” video before last night’s Toronto/Boston game was a dramatic epic that put Jarrett Jack only slightly behind Morgan Freeman as a narrator, and almost had you believing Marco Belinelli and Amir Johnson are really gonna come off the bench like Marlon Wayans in The 6th Man and carry the Raptors to a ‘chip. Read More »

If nothing else, Northern Iowa needs to keep this run going so we can see how many more times Greg Gumbel butchers the name Ali Farokhmaneh. One of the 14 variations he had yesterday was pronouncing the kid’s first name “Aloof” … In case you missed it, Farokhmanesh is becoming the breakout star of the NCAA Tournament. After dropping the game-winning three against UNLV in the first round, the 6-foot senior delivered the dagger yesterday as the Panthers took out overall No. 1 seed Kansas. Northern Iowa was up by one with 40 seconds left when they broke KU’s full-court press and got it ahead to Farokhmanesh. Read More »

Carmelo Anthony did everything he was supposed to do against the Rockets on Monday, except win the game. All night long ‘Melo was proving why Clyde Drexler called him “probably the best — no, he IS the best offensive player in the game,” scoring 45 points on 18-of-35 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and only one turnover … ‘Melo was clutch in the fourth, dropping 15 of Denver’s 28 points and putting the Nuggets up double-digits. But next thing you know, Houston hit a few threes and suddenly it was a one-possession game. And every time ‘Melo seemed to stick the dagger, somebody would respond on the other end. Read More »

Too old. Too slow. By now it sounds like a recording for the Boston Celtics, but there’s a new problem beginning to surface that may be the real reason why this team is looking like a fake contender. Forget age and speed — these Celtics aren’t as hungry as they were in ’08 and ’09. During last night’s 20-piecing at home at the hands of the Grizzlies, the Celtics looked a lot like the UConn men’s team when they went through the motions before quitting in the Big East Tournament; maybe it’s something in the New England water … Rudy Gay (28 pts, 8 rebs) is exactly the kind of motivated thoroughbred giving Boston problems. Read More »

After three quarters of feeding the post and flexing their size advantage, the Lakers went back to their bread and butter when things got tense against Toronto: Give it to Kobe Bryant and vacate the premises … Midway through the fourth, L.A. was down on the scoreboard and in danger of losing their fourth game in a row. Predictably, that’s when Kobe (32 pts, 6 rebs, 6 asts) went to work. In the span of what seemed like a few seconds, he strung together a jumper and some free throws to turn a four-point deficit into a Lakers lead. A couple minutes later, Kobe put L.A. up four with a short baseline fadeaway. Read More »

After the Celtics lost – at home no less – to the Nets at the end of February, I was almost ready to give up hope. With the additions of Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels this past summer, along with a healthy KG, I really thought it would be like 2008 all over again. But things are never that easy. So after the C’s responded with a four-game winning streak, things are back on track and my wavering faith has been restored. Sorry LeBron, Dwight and Kobe, but I think Boston’s got it this year. Read More »

This just came across on Marc Spears’ (Yahoo! Sports) twitter feed:

Michael Finley has decided to come to Boston and will sign in next couple days, source tells Y! Sports.

Imagine if it was 2004 or 2005 instead of 2010 and the Celtics were adding Finley? Boston is definitely getting a version that is light years away from the beast that used to be Michael Finley, but he can still really help Boston. Read More »

Last week, in the wake of the NBA Trade deadline, I put together a list of five free agents who can help your team right now. But let’s be honest: The pickings were slim. And as I said, any player who has spent time on an NBA roster this season had to be waived by March 1 in order to be eligible for the playoffs with another team. So in light of a bunch of need commodities that surfaced on the market, here’s an updated and expanded list of free agents available to the highest bidder. Read More »

Yesterday I turned 28 years old, and I can’t help but feel like a grandpa. (Although as my Dad makes sure to point out, “They said 50 is the new 30. Nah. Fiddy if FIDDY!”) This means I’ve legally been a grown man for 10 years. I graduated high school 10 years ago. And 10 years ago, the NBA All-Star Game was a magical fantasy land — far from something I thought I’d ever attend, write about, and call it “work.”

Do you realize that of the 24 players who appeared in the 2000 ASG, half of them aren’t even in the League anymore? Even looking at the survivors makes me feel old: Read More »

The thematic stat you’re going to hear whenever the Mavericks get into another close game is that, dating back to last season, the Mavs are 10-0 in their last 10 games that were decided by one point. The Mavs are also 3-0 this season in games decided by two points, including last November when Dirk Nowitzki hit a game-winner in Milwaukee. Last night the Mavs hosted the Bucks, and again it went down to the wire … Read More »