Of the four teams that played in last night’s NBA preseason games, three were of the “new-look” variety: Orlando, Dallas and Detroit. Most relevant to the 2010 championship race, the Magic debuted Vince Carter in their win over the Mavs. Starting at two-guard next to Mickael Pietrus at the three and Rashard Lewis at the four, Vince scored 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting, 3-of-12 beyond the arc. Dwight Howard had 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, and Rashard scored 18 with four threes … Dirk Nowitzki — looking like an awkward Thor with the long-hair/headband combo — scored 23 points (17-19 FT) for the Mavs, who were without Shawn Marion (rest) and Josh Howard (ankle) … Read More »

Seeing as LeBron has given 15,000 “I’m cool where I’m at/I love Cleveland” interviews and yet you’ve still got dudes in New York City hawking homemade LBJ #23 Knicks jerseys on the street, there’s really no point in superstar free-agents-to-be saying anything about their situation in the months before they hit the market. Especially when they have a chance to sign a contract extension and don’t do it. Dwyane Wade probably gave Miami fans a lift with some recent quotes in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “Next year will be a big year for myself and for the team, but the plan has always been to stay with the Heat, and that’s still the plan,” Wade said. Read More »

While the Orlando summer league wrapped up on Friday, the Vegas summer league — the more “glamorous” of the two — was just getting started. Lots of Lottery picks on display: Brandon Jennings had 10 points (3-12 FG) and three assists against Dallas; DeMar DeRozan had 10 points and five boards against the Lakers; Tyreke Evans scored 15 on the Pistons, and Stephen Curry put up 16 points (4-14 FG) with four turnovers and seven fouls against Houston. Hasheem Thabeet and Jonny Flynn will also be in action this weekend … That Lakers/Raptors game was an NBA junkyard of “Whatever Happened To That Guy” candidates. Read More »

Basketball is back. Kinda. If you don’t live in a playground hotbed like NYC or Chicago, and you’re not so desperate that you’re watching classic games on NBA TV and trying to pretend you haven’t seen them before, the Orlando Pro Summer League debuted yesterday to fill the NBA void … Since nobody really cares who wins the games, we’ll just look at the stats: The Celtics rolled out what could be both the worst and the slowest NBA frontline tandem ever, starting Robert Swift (20 mins, 4 pts) and Mike Sweetney (15 mins, 3 pts, 5 rebs) against Utah. Read More »