From the intensity of the playoffs, the most memorable moments arise. Amid the chaos, reputations are forged, particularly for those whose renown does not (yet) land them gaudy shoe deals. Yesterday we took a look at hidden x-factors in the Grizzlies/Clippers series. Read More »

According to Royce Young of Daily Thunder, Russell Westbrook will undergo surgery to repair a meniscus tear. No timetable has been announced at this time. Read More »

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, basketball fans. For the next two months or so, we’ll be treated to only the best of the best the league has to offer. With every game broadcasted on national television, there’s a lot of NBA to digest, and that leaves plenty to analyze. Read More »

If you ask Brandon Jennings, he probably still thinks Milwaukee is winning in seven games. Everyone else? They know this series is over, especially after the Heat’s predictable shutdown second half in their 104-91 win to take a 3-0 lead. LeBron scored 22, Dwyane Wade had one of the oddest statlines (1-for-12 shooting, four points, 11 assists, nine rebounds, five steals and two blocks) you’ll ever see, and Ray Allen came off the pine smoking. Read More »

Today is Tim Duncan’s birthday. As we were combing through our archives looking for some of our best Timmy posts to add to the celebration, we found this one from last year and couldn’t resist the re-post.

Duncan’s place in this ranking of the 10 Best NBA Players Since 2000 and his spot in among the best power forwards of this generation.

Last night on TNT’s “Inside The NBA” – R.I.P. until next season by the way – Shaquille O’Neal ran down his list of the best dunks of the postseason. If you hadn’t heard Kenny and Chuck running their mouths, you would’ve assumed it was a “best of Tim Duncan getting yammed on.” It seemed like every other play ended with Spalding imprinted on the forehead of San Antonio’s anchor. It was funny, until I went back and looked at some tape and realized, “Oh my god, Tim Duncan really did get dunked on almost every game in the playoffs!” Derrick Favors caught him during the first round. Blake Griffin dunked on him enough in the second round that even Shawn Bradley felt bad. And Serge Ibaka was throwing him all over the court in the Western Conference Finals. Read More »

OK, so not really. No one is ever going to call Kendrick Perkins a smooth operator on offense (and we crack up every time we see him shoot ever since one of our friends pointed out that he shoots jumpers like Tom Cruise in the Oblivion trailer – 1:23).

But last night he was pretty impressive leading the break and tossing an oop to Serge Ibaka: Read More »

Picture this. It’s the final two minutes of a close game between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics in this year’s NBA Playoffs. Paul Pierce gets the ball and dribbles to his old reliable spot for an elbow jumper but instead of firing… he passes to Jeff Green in the corner for the shot. Read More »

Kevin Durant needed to score 70 points tonight to beat out Carmelo Anthony for this year’s NBA scoring title. Let’s ignore the fact that he wouldn’t do it — remember, for all the talk about how great a scorer he is, KD has just two career 50-point games and his career-high (52) came earlier this year against Dallas (he also hasn’t even scored 40 since a February 14 loss to Miami) — and instead focus on what we’re missing out on. Read More »

In preparation for the start of this weekend’s NBA Playoffs, we thought that would be interesting to take a look at this postseason’s x-factors. While it is more conventional to say that Player X is the x-factor for their franchise entering the playoffs, you always need to dig a little deeper, go a little bit more in depth by taking a look at other specific variables within different team’s situations that have the capacity to swing a series. Read More »

OKC is pushing hard for the West’s top overall seed, and they took a big step last night with a blowout win over the Warriors in the Bay. Both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook had solid overall nights — actually, KD’s performance was incredible (31 points, 10 rebounds, eight dimes). They also combined for one of the best end-to-end plays you’ll ever see. Read More »