Unless you’re Skip Bayless and your job is to swim against the current of popular opinion — that being LeBron James keeping Miami almost single-handedly from exiting the playoffs was an incredible, once-every-50-years performance — LBJ was the first thing you talked to your friends about around the water cooler. And why wouldn’t he be? The wrong-footed jumpers (he even banked one in over Kevin Garnett; so filthy), the tip-dunk where his head was at the rim, the 15 rebounds, there was more than enough to go around for conversation. Read More »

The Thunder will be your 2011-2012 NBA Champions.

Book it.

After Monday night’s performance in San Antonio – a game in which absolutely no one thought they could win – the Thunder shocked us all. They battled a loud and emotional crowd desperate for a victory, overcame a breathtaking Manu Ginobili performance on a night where it looked like he was shot out of a cannon (34-6-7), endured early foul trouble with Serge Ibaka, handled each and every different look Pop threw at them, and set the tone for the rest of the game by ending the first quarter on a 18-6 run that took the air out of the arena and scared the s— of out fans. Read More »

Even the best teams normally give you a chance to steal one of the first two games on the road. OKC had their chance, up double-digits in the fourth quarter of Game 1, and blew it. Did it surprise anyone at all that the Spurs jumped out almost immediately to a 13-4 lead last night? Not really, at least not us. What did surprise us though was how out-classed the Thunder looked in San Antonio’s often-dominant 120-111 Game 2 win. It felt like someone tossed the jayvee out there to get eaten alive in a scrimmage against the varsity at times. Despite a nice run by OKC, there isn’t much to say for the Spurs because they’re almost laughably good. Read More »

Some teams get rusty with a seven-day delay like Miami was coming off of. The Heat got nastier while still being down an All-Star with Chris Bosh gone. Portland got run out of its own gym, 107-93, as the team still trying to find itself ran into a buzzsaw of a team that’s discovering how vicious it can be. Dwyane Wade (33 points, 10 assists) had a big follow block that led to Mike Miller’s three on the other end to go up five in the second. If you liked that, the James-Wade combo platter included a two-on-one fast-break alley-oop to LeBron that had Portlanders covering their mouths. Read More »

Hello? KD, you there? Russell? Heeelloooo? Scottie Brooks is that you? Damn, Dirk really shut up an entire team, an entire city. Brooks said in the postgame that if you aren’t upset after a loss like this, then you can’t get upset over any loss. He’s right. Blowing a 15-point lead in the final four-plus minutes in a pivotal Game 4 is about as low as it gets. Oklahoma City had everything lined up to punch a 2-2 ticket back to Dallas. Except Dirk wasn’t cooperating, and after Dallas’ epic 112-105 overtime win, it’s not even a question anymore. Dirk Nowitzki won’t let his team lose. Perhaps the Thunder’s only hope? Calling Mike O’Hara and Jimmy Flaherty … Read More »

Dear Dallas, watching you shred the Thunder in the first half was almost too much. We couldn’t take it, the beatdown was too ruthless. And also thank you for killing the stereotype. As the game jumped into the fourth quarter, OKC started rolling and the Mavs started disintegrating. Again. But this time, there would be no fun. The Mavs held on 93-87, riding Dirk Nowitzki (10 of his 18 points in the final frame) late to jump out 2-1 in the series and regain control. Read More »

By now we all know what went down in the 4th quarter of last night’s Thunder/Mavs game (if you need a refresher on the drama, GO HERE).

We just want to know one thing from our readers: Did Scott Brooks do the right thing by benching Russell Westbrook in the 4th quarter of last night’s game?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below and we will post the best/most interesting responses on our Twitter and Facebook pages.

For four games, Zach Randolph was held down. His shooting percentages dropped (never hitting above 36 percent). But the odds that the NBA’s Cinderella would go another 48 playing like Oliver Miller? 1 to 10. Or something like that. Randolph took over Game 6 in the fourth quarter, helping Memphis grind out a 95-83 win to send it back to Oklahoma City for Game 7. Randolph (30 points, 13 rebounds) was a beast throughout the final quarter, scoring on drop steps and hook shots. Read More »

So let me get this straight: two alpha basketball talents, two guys who have grown up as number-one options, two All-Stars convinced they are bound for royalty, had words the other night during Oklahoma City’s first loss to Denver during this postseason? One guy took 30 shots and only made 12; the other had 31 points on 18 shots. But yet someone kept shooting, kept looking off the other, and kept screwing up, ultimately leading to an extension of the Nuggets’ season. Read More »

No disrespect to Caron Butler — who is one of our favorite guys to work with in the NBA and tougher than your first night in prison — but at this stage in his career, if he is your primary scoring option against a team like the San Antonio Spurs you’ll have to play an almost flawless game to win. Without Dirk Nowitzki (knee) in the lineup on Thursday, the Mavs had to lean on Caron (30 pts) against the Spurs, and they just didn’t play perfect enough to get the W … Meanwhile, the Spurs were overloaded with options. Read More »