Amid all the flopping and jawing and Chris Paul-saving the Clippers endured Monday night in their Game 4 win over Memphis, two dunks by two different Clips from two different teammates brought all 20,000-plus in Staples Center to their feet in a full-on “Lob City” moment.

Neither play is better than the work Paul did in overtime. Paul’s eight points in OT lit the entire city and the Twittersphere on fire like it was 1991 and everyone was trying to be in “Backdraft.” That was a flat-out backyard barbecue of Memphis’ backcourt. No, these are just a couple of nice alley-oops done by the gold standard team of alley-oopers. Paul’s dish to DeAndre Jordan and Mo Williams‘ dime to Blake Griffin came through as huge highlights. Read More »

Beast of the Night: John Wall finished with 26 points, four rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and a block last night. He shot 69 percent (11-16) from the floor and 100 percent (4-4) from the free-throw line, and had five turnovers. Maybe that new Wizards roster will do Wall some good. Read More »

In the midst of all their trade rumors, Pau Gasol and the Lakers delivered a W. Even if the Wolves didn’t have Kevin Love, it still took L.A. nearly 48 minutes to secure a 105-102 win on the road. Kobe Bryant had 34 points and down the stretch, he made key free throws to keep the Lakers from folding. In the place of Love, Derrick Williams rumbled to 22 points and 10 rebounds, FINALLY doing what everyone expected him to all year … Read More »

Beast of the Night: LeBron James posted a sick line to the tune of 38 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, five steals, one block and two three-pointers. He shot 59 percent (13-22) from the field, 83 percent (10-12) from the free-throw line and had zero turnovers (in 41 minutes of play). Sure, the absence of Chris Bosh helped, but these sorts of nights are expected from the No. 1 fantasy stud in the land. Read More »

Some teams get rusty with a seven-day delay like Miami was coming off of. The Heat got nastier while still being down an All-Star with Chris Bosh gone. Portland got run out of its own gym, 107-93, as the team still trying to find itself ran into a buzzsaw of a team that’s discovering how vicious it can be. Dwyane Wade (33 points, 10 assists) had a big follow block that led to Mike Miller’s three on the other end to go up five in the second. If you liked that, the James-Wade combo platter included a two-on-one fast-break alley-oop to LeBron that had Portlanders covering their mouths. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Kevin Durant was big again Monday night, finishing with 31 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals, one block and three three-pointers. He shot 53 percent (10-19) from the floor, 89 percent (8-9) from the free-throw line and had just one turnover. Durant is averaging a sick 29.3 points, 8.7 boards, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.3 blocks and 1.8 threes in 12 games so far this month, making him the runaway No. 1 fantasy player in February. Read More »

Buy Low: Derrick Rose has produced just 10 points, five rebounds, six assists and one steal in his last two games. His back is aching him, which is part of the reason why he only played a total of about 33 minutes in those two games. Clearly, Rose’s fantasy value has taken a hit with this latest setback, just as we were forgetting about his bum toe. He could be playing at less than 100 percent for the foreseeable future, but with All-Star weekend about two weeks away, recovered health shouldn’t be too far away. Read More »

The Clippers won the game last night against Orlando in overtime, but they may have suffered a devastating loss in the processs. Chauncey Billups left the game in the fourth quarter with a left Achilles injury and now it’s feared he may be lost for the season.

From the L.A. Times: Read More »

Beast of the Night: Chris Paul posted 26 points, 14 assists, two steals and two three-pointers last night. He shot 75 percent (12-16) from the field and had two turnovers. His hamstring injury was a bummer earlier this month, but CP3 is back to business as usual. His averages are second best to LeBron James this season. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Marc Gasol finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals last night against the Clippers. He shot 42 percent (5-12) from the field, 100 percent (8-8) from the free-throw line and had zero turnovers. Gasol gets some much-deserved attention here, since he’s been steadily putting up top 10 numbers so far this season. His stats will inevitably decline when Zach Randolph returns, but Gasol was still putting up top 10 numbers when Randolph was in the lineup. Read More »