Beast of the Night: Dirk Nowitzki not only hit the game-winner in Milwaukee last night, he also finished with 32 points, 1 three, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block while shooting 48 percent (12-25) from the field, 88 percent (7-8) from the line and didn’t have any turnovers. He’s the hottest fantasy commodity to come out of Germany since Heidi Klum. Read More »

As this edition of Smack is being written, ESPN’s 24-hour marathon of college hoops is underway. Writing about basketball in the middle of the night while live basketball is showing on TV with no end in sight for hours? This is the life … Are the Hawks really this good? When we ranked Atlanta 5th yesterday on Dime’s weekly NBA Hit List — maybe the highest we’d ever had them ranked, at least in the last 2-3 years — the response was surprisingly strong that Joe Johnson and Josh Smith and crew should have been in the top three, maybe even holding the No. 1 spot. True, the Hawks had won four straight going into Monday’s schedule, but they’ve always been one of those Zab Judah/Asafa Powell-type teams: Read More »

Beast of the Night: Danny Granger shot 50 percent (12-24) from the field and perfect (5-5) from the line on his way to 31 points, 2 threes, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 4 turnovers. The double-digit boards were out of the ordinary as Granger seems to be dealing with a sore heel quite nicely. He’s still a DNP risk but his owners have to be enjoying the ride so far. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Tim Duncan put up 28 points, 16 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks in 34:23 against the Bulls last night. He also shot 68.4 percent (13-19) from the floor, 50 percent (2-4) from the free throw line and turned the ball over twice. His minutes won’t climb much higher for most of the season, but on nights like these it doesn’t matter. Read More »

Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…

Added: Andre Miller, Juwan Howard, Jeff Pendergraph, Dante Cunningham, Ime Udoka

Lost: Sergio Rodriguez, Channing Frye, Michael Ruffin, Shavlik Randolph Read More »

Martell Webster is finding himself in an unfamiliar position heading into the upcoming season. The former Seattle Prep star and Blazer starter from ’07-’08 is playing catch-up in Portland.

Webster’s foot injury, which kept him from seeing the floor for all but five minutes last season, is ready and cleared for action. Still, Webster is stuck in a logjam of small forwards vying for the starting nod. Read More »

Last week we brought up the point guard battle going on in Portland, and were pretty certain that after signing Andre Miller to a three-year, $21 million deal, it was a no-brainer that the 12-year vet was going to start. Not so fast. According to The Oregonian, Nate McMillan was very clear with Miller when the team recruited him this summer saying that he “envisioned Miller coming off the bench, running pick and rolls with Oden and funneling fast-break passes to Fernandez and Webster streaking on the wings.” And it appears that’s how it’s going to be. Read More »

Thanks to some sloppy play by the Nuggets and that same ol’ sharp execution by the Jazz, there wasn’t much excitement left by the end of last night’s NBA preseason opener. Deron Williams (16 pts, 6 asts) and C.J. Miles (16 pts, 3 stls) led Utah as they teased a 20-piecing before halftime, allowed Denver to cut it to single-digits by the break, but pulled away in the second half to win 103-87. Carmelo (13 pts, 4-11 FG) and James White (13 pts) led the Nuggets, who had 27 turnovers as a team … Carlos Boozer started at PF and finished with seven points and seven boards in 20 minutes, while Paul Millsap came off the bench for seven points and three rebounds in 18 minutes. Boozer somehow didn’t get resoundingly booed by the home fans, but he didn’t exactly get a hero’s welcome, either. Read More »

In yesterday’s gold-medal game at the FIBA European Championships, Spain made their opening-round hiccup against Serbia look exactly like what it was — a random hiccup. In a rematch with Serbia, Pau Gasol’s crew waxed the opposition, going up by 15 in the first quarter, making it a 20-piece McNugget by the second quarter, and ultimately winning by 22. Big brother Gasol led the way with 18 points, 11 boards and three blocks, while Rudy Fernandez scored 13 and J.C. Navarro added 12 points. Ricky Rubio had 10 points and one assist. Spain dominated the glass, getting almost as many offensive boards (18) as Serbia had total rebounds (24). Read More »

After an up-and-down couple of weeks that saw them perform up to their potential and down to some lesser competition, Team Spain is right where they’re supposed to be at the FIBA European Championships: playing for the gold medal. In yesterday’s semifinal, Pau Gasol scored 18 points and Rudy Fernandez added 14 and three steals to lead Spain in a blowout win over Greece, while Ricky Rubio continued his underwhelming (at least stats-wise) tourney with a 5-point, 3-assist effort. Spain will face Serbia in the final, the team that upset them on the first day of the tournament. In Serbia’s semifinal, Milos Teodosic dropped 32 points (6 threes), and Nenad Krstic had 18 points to lead them past Slovenia … Read More »