So wait, you’re telling us that wasn’t Carmelo Anthony’s “Better Basketball” Mid-Range Shooting clinic DVD that TNT was running last night? If it wasn’t it could have been. ‘Melo gave the Miami Heat the hot plate, busting Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem over and over again with a steady diet of jumpers, pullups and fadeaways to the tune of 50 points in a 102-90 victory for the Knicks in Florida … Carmelo’s performance was wildly efficient, especially by his standards: 50 points in 40 minutes on 18-26 shooting (7-10 from three) and 7-8 from the foul line. For the most part, Miami chose not to double-team Carmelo, leaving Battier or whoever was matched up with him on an island to get their eyes shot out … By the way, remember two weeks ago when people were worried that ‘Melo’s knee was shredded? … Read More »

Sometimes you just want to see history. We don’t think anyone would confuse us with Miami Heat fans, but yeah, we were rooting for the Heat to win last night. We wanted to see someone break that 33-game record. Read More »

Phil Jackson has won 11 NBA championships as a coach, but he says his desire to get back in the NBA isn’t to reprise the role he did so much better than anyone else. This comes our way via a truly great breakfast interview with Sports Illustrated‘s Jack McCallum. The parts of that hour-long talk that were published by SI hover around a few topics (what’s changed? how engaged to the game are you?) but none so large as the Lakers and his future in the game. Read More »

*With all of the recent events surrounding the Carmelo Anthony/Kevin Garnett feud, and the trash talk involved that lit the Internet on fire, we figured it was a good time to repost our piece on the top 20 trash talkers of all time, originally published in October of 2012.*

David Stern and the rest of the suits might be charged with trying to take the fun out of the NBA, but trash talk will never die. Read More »

Originally posted in October of 2011, we’re revisiting some of our favorite Kobe Bryant content after he became the fifth player to ever score 30,000 points last night.

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Kobe Bryant has maintained his spot as the best basketball player in the world because, even as his nagging injuries pile up and he moves into his 30s, he relies more on his skills and fundamentals than simple athleticism and explosiveness. Read More »

Yes, we know the season is still young. There are a lot of games left to be played in what should be a great year, but still, it seems there’ll be a surprise for us waiting around every corner.

This season has already given us some unexpected gut-punches in the first two weeks of the season. Even before opening week ended, we were treated to some moves that garnered a lot of attention and excitement, and I think the regular season will have the same compelling feel as the offseason did. Read More »

If you’re trying to beat Miami, there are a few specific things you can’t do. You can’t let LeBron dominate an entire second half. You can’t let Chris Bosh shoot the same jumpers he takes in the pregame all night long. And if you have a look at a wide open, game-winning triple, you can’t shoot an airball. All of this happened in Houston’s 113-110 loss to the Heat last night, a game that LeBron James just wasn’t going to let South Beach lose. Read More »

Can I keep it real? Am I allowed to be brutally blunt and honest about this decision in regards to the Lakers hiring former Suns and Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni? This has to be probably the most idiotic move the Lakers could have made. Read More »

Mike D’Antoni‘s offenses work best when they’re taking seven seconds or less to take a shot. If the speed his Phoenix offenses worked at took many off guard when he took over the Suns, the acceleration the Los Angeles Lakers showed in naming him head coach wasn’t far behind, and took even more by surprise. Yes, that’s right: In a late-night announcement, the Lakers have hired D’Antoni to pilot the listing Lakers ship instead of 11-time world champion Phil Jackson. Read More »

Once the Lakers finished off their all-you-can-eat buffet of a summer, there was really only one man for the job. Sure Mike Brown was the coach at the time, but all along, didn’t this job have Phil Jackson‘s name written all over it? The job is his to lose now, with everyone from Kobe Bryant calling him the greatest coach in sports to Jim Buss sitting on his ego for once and acknowledging PJ is the man to even Jackson himself phoning his old assistants to check on their availability, according to the Los Angeles Times. Read More »