What we got on Friday night in MSG was a tale of two oddly similar yet completely different teams. Arizona has the hype, and the high ranking. They came in at 4-0 but still playing a little bit over their heads, a good team that appeared to be playing better than they actually were. On the other side was Mississippi State with enough talent that most experts see them as one of the most dangerous unranked teams in the country. Despite that, they started the year somewhat unassumingly. So if you told us pregame that the Bulldogs would finish with a flurry and take over the game late to win by 10, grabbing the 2K Sports Classic, we wouldn’t have been surprised. Read More »

The Cleveland Cavaliers won just 19 games last season, good for second worst in the NBA. They also dealt away their most promising big man before the lockout began, which is kind of a downer for fantasy purposes. While there are some things to get excited about — the arrivals of a skilled rookie point guard and a promising rookie power forward, along with the return of Sideshow Bob – this Cavs squad has “timeshare” written all over it. Put on your sad face as we dive into the fantasy prospects for Dan Gilbert‘s crew. Read More »

Unless you just came out of NBA regular season hibernation, chances are you saw Charlie Villanueva‘s on-court altercation with Ryan Hollins the other night. Yesterday, the NBA handed Charlie V a five-game suspension without pay for initiating the fight and attempting to escalate it by entering the Cavs’ locker room on two separate occasions following his ejection. That’s not smart. Read More »

The sequel never, ever lives up to the hype. The Godfather II. Jaws II. Even Caddyshack II couldn’t do it. Last night in Cleveland, the game was at least closer than the last Return of the King. But no one cared about that. They wanted fireworks. And got absolutely none (unless you’re a Cavs fan) … Despite nearly blowing a 23-point second-half lead, the Cavs held on to beat the Heat 102-90 to deny them a chance to move ahead of Boston and into second place in the East. The first time LeBron James came back to Cleveland, everyone was nervous he was going to slip up at a red light and some Cavs’ fan would pull up and get their Sonny Corleone on. This time, the reaction wasn’t nearly as antagonistic. Maybe that was because James didn’t show up for introductions. Yes, when they called his name, he was back in the locker room, waiting it out while his teammates had to soak in the boos. Read More »

As the NBA regular season approaches, we preview the upcoming campaign with the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team.

Added: Ramon Sessions, Joey Graham, Ryan Hollins, Christian Eyenga, Manny Harris, Samardo Samuels

Lost: LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Delonte West, Sebastian Telfair, Danny Green Read More »

If Cavs owner Dan Gilbert had just shown a little common sense, taken a deep breath, been realistic and admitted that his franchise will be undergoing a rebuilding process without LeBron — instead of brashly guaranteeing Cleveland would win a championship before Miami — his team’s underwhelming personnel moves wouldn’t be punchline material. Yesterday’s blockbuster brings Ramon Sessions and Ryan Hollins to the Cavs from Minnesota in exchange for Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair. Read More »

Working at Dime Magazine, a ton of headlines, news and opinions pass through our website each week. Everyday a new story breaks and we change our focus to the next game on the schedule. Before this week gets started, I’ll take the time to reflect on what the NBA taught me last week. Read More »

Sometimes it’s simple and plain, and last night the Lakers simply got a plain ol’ meat-slapping from the Suns. After Robo-Kobe cut a double-digit lead in the second quarter to six by halftime, the Suns came out shooting like a bunch of Steve Alford clones, quickly pushing it back to double digits on jumpers by Channing Frye, Amar’e (26 pts), Grant Hill and Steve Nash (16 pts, 13 asts). The Lakers never really challenged them after that, and midway through the fourth, Phil Jackson officially waved the white flag by taking Kobe out … Read More »

In case you missed it over the holidays, one of the best dunks of the year was unleashed by the T-Wolves Ryan Hollins(!) on an unsuspecting Andray Blatche.

A multiple-time NBA scoring champ abruptly left his team in the middle of a road trip yesterday, amidst rumors that the longtime superstar and the organization couldn’t come to an agreement on his playing time and role on the court. No, this isn’t Memphis, and this isn’t Allen Iverson. This is about Tracy McGrady, who after being told he wouldn’t play in Houston’s two games this weekend (at Nets, at Cavs), left the Rockets and went home. Nobody affiliated with the Rockets has officially said whether this is one of those, “Call me when you decide to play me, trade me or buy me out,” situations, but it seems obvious enough, right? Read More »