Steve Blake offensive rebounds. Pau-to-Dwight lobs. Kobe Bryant M-V-P chants reverberating through the arena. With the way the Lakers’ 113-106 win in Portland ended, you would’ve thought all was right for L.A. They had finally held off the hot-shooting Blazers, going on a 17-2 run to start the second half and then an 8-0 run in the middle of the fourth before putting the clamps on Portland for the final five minutes. Read More »

How hot was Stephen Curry last night in Madison Square Garden? He said afterward that his teammates were treating him like a pitcher in the middle of a no-hitter. No one would speak to him. It worked for most of the night. Curry was a savage, scoring 54 points and making 11 of 13 three-pointers. Read More »

Unless you’re Skip Bayless and your job is to swim against the current of popular opinion — that being LeBron James keeping Miami almost single-handedly from exiting the playoffs was an incredible, once-every-50-years performance — LBJ was the first thing you talked to your friends about around the water cooler. And why wouldn’t he be? The wrong-footed jumpers (he even banked one in over Kevin Garnett; so filthy), the tip-dunk where his head was at the rim, the 15 rebounds, there was more than enough to go around for conversation. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Danny Granger notched 29 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and four three-pointers last night. He shot 35 percent (7-20) from the floor and 100 percent (11-11) from the free-throw line, and had one turnover. For the season, Granger has pretty much fulfilled expectations by putting up top 30 numbers. So far in April, he’s averaging 23.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.6 blocks and 2.9 threes per game, while shooting 48 percent from the field and 96 percent from the free-throw line. Read More »

Serge Ibaka can do many things, such as seemingly block every shot possible. I don’t think people quite realize how dominating he’s been as a shot blocker. He’s averaging 3.6 a game this year in only 27 minutes. But right here, it’s not his timing that impeccable, it’s that death grip that nearly turned Mike Dunleavy‘s arm into mush. Dunleavy was scared enough for his life that he had to bring out the sinister Judo Chop. Read More »

Oklahoma City should show some love to Russell Westbrook for getting them back into first place in the West. The Thunder rolled on Milwaukee by 20 behind their superstar point guard. Westbrook destroyed the new look Buck backcourt, going for 26 easy points and seven rebounds in only 26 minutes. Kevin Durant added 19 and Thabo Sefolosha had a reverse dunk that even Kobe would’ve enjoyed … Who caught the Mike Dunleavy and Serge Ibaka tussle? Ibaka reached out to grab him by the shoulder, and Jr. busted out the most epic karate chop we’ve ever seen in an NBA game … The Thunder are back in first because Devin Harris got revenge, and Paul Millsap got freaky in the fourth. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Paul Pierce blasted the Bobcats with 36 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals, three blocks and a three-pointer last night. He shot 50 percent (10-20) from the field and 83 percent (15-18) from the free-throw line, and had four turnovers. Since March 2, Pierce has averaged 22.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.7 threes, while shooting 47 percent from the field and 87 percent from the charity stripe. Those are top 15 averages. Read More »

Are they for real? We guess we could’ve said that about either one of the teams taking the floor in Indiana last night. The Pacers beheaded the Heat by 15, and Miami has now lost two in a row by double figures, and are just 8-6 since the All-Star break. Title contenders? They need to get their heads out of the sand first. Then on the other side, the Pacers made a statement: Don’t overlook us. They almost had Miami calling for the mercy rule on the boards, destroying them 49-33. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Brandon Jennings finished with 34 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and six three-pointers last night. He shot 52 percent (12-23) from the floor, 80 percent (4-5) from the free-throw line and had one turnover. After struggling through February, Jennings is averaging 25.0 points, 4.0 boards, 7.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.0 threes in his first seven games this month. He’s been a top 30 stud so far this season. Read More »

Weekend Wonder: Ersan Ilyasova makes his debut here after averaging 28.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 threes in two games over the weekend. In that stretch, he shot 69 percent from the field, 92 percent from the free-throw line and averaged turned the ball over just once. In his last 13 games, Ilyasova has averaged top five numbers, making him a serious contender for pickup of the year. Read More »