Buy Low: J.R. Smith has been all over the place this season. The good news is that he’s finally getting a steady diet of minutes for the Nuggets. The bad news is that it’s hard to predict when he’ll do much with them. However, Smith remains a solid source of threes and steals, despite his low field-goal percentage, and should Carmelo Anthony be dealt away in the coming weeks (which seems increasingly possible), Smith will have more minutes and shots fall into his lap. Read More »

Last night we saw the best and the worst of the Miami Heat. The best was on display as they built a 22-point first half lead against the Jazz: Nine or 10 Miami players got on the scoreboard, LeBron was collecting rebounds and directing the offense while letting the scoring happen naturally, and D-Wade attacked and put pressure on Utah’s defense. Miami took a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter, but as it slipped away, we saw their worst — namely, poor frontcourt and rotation defense as Paul Millsap was a steroid mix of Karl Malone and Sam Perkins, finishing with 46 points (19-28 FG) and 9 rebounds … Read More »

After making headlines with their acquisition of Darren Collison and James Posey last week, the Indiana Pacers and their fans have something to cheer about for the first time in a long time.

The trade provides them with a very promising point guard and championship veteran experience. However, the task of improving is a never-ending job. The Pacers’ President of Basketball Operations, Larry Bird, has openly admitted that the team was not done making moves for the summer. Read More »

“I am raising the stakes right now … If this is a poker game, I am shoving my chips right in the middle of the table. I am raising the ante. Anybody who wants out can get out. This team is going to the playoffs. OK? This team is going to the playoffs.”

I can just imagine Larry Bird repeating the mantra to himself the morning after pulling off a win-win trade for my Indiana Pacers while he’s at his home gym cashing 92 out of 100 threes before breakfast. Read More »

As the end of the NBA regular season draws near, fans of the forgotten Lottery squads all ask themselves one question:

Should we start tanking games now to get a better draft pick?

Usually I’m 100% against that idea. Even if scoring the No. 1 pick means you’ll get LeBron or Shaq or Duncan, I just don’t want my team/coach out there trying to lose. If you get lucky and the balls bounce your way for a franchise-changing superstar, fine; it was meant to happen. But if you tank and then don’t get the top pick anyway, you might have messed around and created a losing culture in your locker room that can take years to eradicate. Read More »

The funniest thing about the NBA Draft Lottery is how team reps try to balance acting happy about getting a high pick with looking sufficiently disappointed that their team was bad enough to end up at the Lottery in the first place.

The 2010 Conflicted Emotions winner was the guy from the Pistons: During the drawing he broke into a big grin when his team landed the No. 7 pick, but as soon as ESPN’s Mark Jones said, “The Pistons missed the playoffs for the first time in since 2001,” his face immediately shifted to a somber, focused look.

Danny Granger forgot the “act happy” part. Repping the Pacers, Granger brought a John Wall jersey to the Lottery and was ready to rip off his dress shirt like the Incredible Hulk if the Pacers got the top pick. When they didn’t, he dropped his head onto the table. Lost in the comedy of the moment: Granger was advertising that he needs help. Read More »

After the success of Stephen Curry this season, and watching his flawless jumper that has been passed down from his pops (Dell Curry), this got us thinking: If there were a father/son 2-on-2 tournament with current NBA players and their former NBA dads, who would win? You might already know the champ, but the competition would be fierce. Put it this way – Steph & Dell didn’t even make the Top 5. Read More »

How many of you turned away from Cavs/Celtics in the third quarter to go about your Easter Sunday laziness or (if you’re on the West Coast) go back to sleep? After a first half where every facet of their game was on-point, the Celts extended the lead to 22 in the third quarter, with Ray Allen shooting the rock like Shep in Above the Rim, and Rajon Rondo flying all over the place like he’d been hooked up to an IV of Red Bull. Read More »

For some inexplicable reason, while the ESPN announcers were recapping last night’s Cavs/Pistons game as Cleveland was putting the finishing touches on another W, they failed to explore the possibility that Detroit was shaken up by what had happened to Rodney Stuckey, or go into how it affected their play … During a timeout late in the third quarter, Stuckey was coming of the court and said he felt dizzy. He then collapsed on the bench right next to the Pistons’ trainer, and had to be rushed away in ambulance. After that, there was a somber, strange vibe in the arena that even translated through the TV. Read More »

One night after his back locked up in San Antonio and forced him to sit out the fourth quarter of a big game — which, knowing the man, means it had to have been debilitating pain — Kobe Bryant was in Dallas on Wednesday trying to give it a go against another West contender. For the first half of Lakers/Mavs, Kobe was obviously hurting, gingerly running around like late-model Patrick Ewing and serving as not much more than a decoy. In the second half he was moving a little better, but in true dramatic fashion, saved his best for last: Tied up with 42 seconds left after Dirk Nowitzki (30 pts, 16 rebs) hit a three, Kobe got a clear-out on Josh Howard, milked the clock, took him to the right elbow and dropped a pull-up jumper for the go-ahead bucket. Read More »