All-Star Weekend is measured by the plays that make everyone get out of their seats — whether it’s a courtside chair or your couch — and howl. There’s no other metric to capture the buzz of the three days every player looks forward to. Since 1994, when All-Star Weekend started its young guns’ showcase, some of the biggest highlights have come from the weekend’s youngest stars. Read More »

At some point in the fourth quarter of Boston’s 91-83 win in Orlando – it might’ve been after another one of his threes or perhaps when he had a behind-the-back assist to Brandon Bass or even when he hit a technical free throw – we sat back and realized, “Damn, Boston is really going to win this thing,” and they did it because Paul Pierce turned back the clock with one of the most incredible comebacks we’ve ever seen. Early in the fourth quarter, Pierce had banged two straight threes and then hit a pull-up in the lane and suddenly it was a four-point game. Read More »

The rich keep getting richer. The Heat have a new toy and last night, he dropped 14 points in the fourth, drugged the crowd into chanting MVP for him at the line and used his Sam Cassell in ’94-sized balls to hit two straight jumpers in the final minute against the Celtics. Boston had to endure the wrath of D-Wade (24 points, eight assists, four blocks) and LeBron (26 points) for three quarters, but some great shooting and a zone defense brought them all the way back. Too bad Norris Cole wasn’t having it. Read More »

In his first nine months as majority owner of an NBA franchise, Michael Jordan has been through a few years’ worth of experiences:

He watched his Charlotte Bobcats make their first-ever playoff appearance, then watched them suffer their first-ever postseason series sweep. In free agency he re-signed a promising future building block (Tyrus Thomas), then let a potential All-Star point guard walk (Ray Felton). Now he has helped facilitate the departure of his team’s head coach, Larry Brown, meaning Jordan’s next big task will be hiring a replacement. Read More »

Congratulations if you actually stuck around for the fourth quarter and overtime of Lakers/Magic, in which Kobe and crew took a 2-0 series lead in their first tough test in what seemed like weeks; If you hung in there, you were rewarded for the overall grossness of the first three quarters with some entertaining ball down the stretch … While it looked like Orlando and L.A. had been possessed by the ghosts of Mike Fratello‘s Cavs and John Chaney‘s Temple Owls, at least it was a close game all the way through. Read More »