In one of those dreaded Saturday afternoon Atlantic Division games (seriously, who came up with these?), Boston turned a close game against Toronto into a rout during the second half of a 107-89 beatdown. Jason Terry, still starting in the Bean, went off for 20 points, and Rajon Rondo had a dozen assists just a few minutes into the second half. He’d end up with 20 in just 32 minutes, his streak of consecutive regular season games with double-digit assists now at 33. Is anyone in the league dominating a single statistical category like Rondo is assists? Read More »

Has the torch been passed?

The new crop of elite power forwards has officially arrived. The young superstars at the position are beginning to push the aging vets out of the top spots and are cementing their status as the best in the game. While some of these changes can be attributed to new frontcourt rotations, others are a direct reflection of just how good the new crop has played, and are expected to play this season. Two of the best power forwards of all-time don’t play the position anymore (no, you won’t see Duncan or Garnett on this list). Read More »

Not since 1999 at Brookline has the chaste golf world let its hair down quite like it did yesterday at Medinah for the Ryder Cup. If you didn’t happen to catch the only tournament that sounds like a college football game, Europe tied a record for largest comeback to beat the U.S., and rallying from a 10-6 hole to win 14.5-13.5. It sent the Euros into a Moet-soaked celebration and the wife of former world No. 1 Luke Donald to tweet, “FYI Sergio gets drunk on 1 beer…” Read More »

Thirty names. The best 30 names. The dramatic summer of 2010 crafted the landscape of the NBA, when LeBron James and Chris Bosh landed in Miami, Amar’e Stoudemire joined up with the Knicks and fans everywhere started burning jerseys at an alarming rate. The following two summers lacked the same drama, and honestly, it would be foolish to expect another 2010 summer anytime soon. Those two-to-three months were game-changing. Read More »

Coming off the high from Alex Morgan‘s “Miracle On Grass,” we were more than hyped for the inevitably memorable Team USA/Argentina matchup. Lithuania pushed the Yanks, but no one ever truly believed they’d win, and even if by some lucky bounce that they actually did, it would’ve been chalked up as merely a bad night rather than a sign of things to come. But Argentina? They’re legit. They showed it for a while against Team USA too, until LeBron James and Kevin Durant (28 points) decided to take their games to a level no one else on the world can reach. Read More »

When Linas Kleiza lined up a triple and splashed it to put Lithuania up two with under seven minutes to go against Team USA, it must’ve felt like all of Buckingham Palace was crashing down on their heads. Coming off a ridiculous thrashing of Nigeria, nobody figured the Yanks would have a game on their hands this early. Even on Twitter, more people were talking about Serena Williams‘ crip walk than a potential USA dud. But Lithuania, who do have Kleiza, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Toronto’s potential stud, Jonas Valanciunas, ALWAYS play Team USA tough. Since 2000, they’ve beaten us, taken us to a game-deciding shot, and have only been beat by double digits once. They’re solid. They just don’t have LeBron James, who was the difference in the 99-94 win. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Chris Paul finished with 34 points, five rebounds, eight assists, two steals and four three-pointers. He shot 50 percent (10-20) from the floor and 91 percent (10-11) from the charity stripe, and had two turnovers. CP3 has been a top three stud this season, which is about as surprising as Metta World Peace contradicting his surname. Read More »

You see that? That’s what all those people in Boston and Minnesota used to talk about; what all those people in Utah still talk about. Last night, that was Al Jefferson showing his entire skill set, showing why he should be right up there in the discussion with Andrew Bynum and whoever else you think might be the second-best center in the NBA behind Dwight Howard … In a game the Jazz needed to win to clinch the final playoff spot in the West and eliminate the Suns from contention, Jefferson put up 18 points and 16 rebounds to go with four assists and two blocks. Read More »

The thunderous dunk, the deep three-point shot, the dazzling pass and the game-changing block are usually the highlight of every game. But the often overlooked out-of-bounds save can be one of the most athletic plays in the game. Sacrificing one’s body just to save the ball from going out of bounds is an admirable feat, especially as players are often only rewarded by fans’ cheers. Read More »

Carmelo Anthony‘s clutch instinct, seemingly in hibernation most the winter, came alive Sunday to will the Knicks past Chicago. Given two chances, he rattled in threes from the near elbow to tie the game in regulation and take the lead in overtime (if you haven’t watched TV in two days, it would hold up as the game-winner). Read More »