Beast of the Night: Stephen Curry finished with 36 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and six three-pointers last night against the Nuggets. He shot 77 percent (13-17) from the floor, 57 percent (4-7) from the free-throw line and had one turnover. For the season, Curry is averaging top five numbers, which is a shade better than what was expected of him heading into the season. So long as he’s healthy, Curry will remain a fantasy beast. Read More »

It’s a misnomer to call Thursday’s picks for the rest of the All-Star squads “reserves” considering their place as some of the world’s best ballers, but we learned who filled out the All-Star rosters last night on TNT. Some experts weren’t thrilled by all the picks, which opens up the annual conversation: Do fans want the big names or should they deserve the best in the moment? A perfect example is LaMarcus Aldridge, who was balling last season in Portland but got cut because he wasn’t a hot name. He got his much-deserved All-Star spot last night. Paul Pierce, Luol Deng and Dirk Nowitzki, though? And no Rondo? Read More »

Last night’s Warriors/Thunder game was full of great highlights. Potentially lost in the flood of Monta Ellis craziness and Kevin Durant buckets was this Stephen Curry fake-pass-bullet to David Lee under the hoop: Read More »

Beast of the Night: Stephen Curry owned the Jazz last night, finishing with 29 points, five boards, 12 assists, three steals and a pair of threes. He shot 71 percent (10-14) from the floor, 88 percent (7-8) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. This was a nice bounce-back game for Curry, who had just 18 points on 7-of-23 shooting in his previous two games. For the season, he’s averaging top 10 numbers, which is right in line with expectations. Now let’s hope his ankles stay intact. Read More »

There’s no grander stage than Madison Square Garden, and Derrick Rose shined like stars should in NYC as Chicago bounced the Knicks, 105-102. The basics first: 32 points, 13 assists. What left you gasping: a blow-by Toney Douglas dunk in the third, a deke of Tyson Chandler at the rim a little later. The capper, however, was a layup where he avoided Chandler, Amar’e Stoudemire and Jared Jeffries driving through the lane while playing hide-and-seek with the ball around his head. Read More »

I don’t know about you, but doesn’t it sometimes feel like the missed dunks are the ones that can get the crowd hyped? It’s those plays that are just out of reach, so close, that have players pushing the boundaries and fans getting excited. Our friends at Hoopmixtape put together the 10 best misses of the entire year, which includes people like Shaquille Johnson, Stephen Curry and John Wall getting oh so close to some incredible jams. Hit the jump to check out the best of the best misses. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Stephen Curry finished with 32 points, six rebounds, seven assists, four steals and six three-pointers last night. He shot 63 percent (12-19) from the field, 67 percent (2-3) from the free-throw line and had just one turnover in 38 minutes of play. Curry has racked up 74 minutes of run in his last two games, which is a good sign that his ankle is fine for the time being. Barring any further setbacks, he’ll handsomely reward owners who bought low or exercised patience on him. Read More »

If you thought this year’s class of point guards was strong, think again. In fact, go back three years to 2009 to find a draft class deep enough to hide the Hulk. Eight of the point guards drafted in the first round are now starting in the NBA, and while none of them can boast the star power of Derrick Rose or the potential of John Wall, they can all play. As offenses have slowed to a crawl this year, and with shooting percentages melting, having a point guard that can make plays and create for others is almost a necessity. Read More »

Weekend Wonder: LeBron James averaged 28.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks in two games over the weekend. He shot 57 percent from the floor, hit 94 percent of his free throws and turned the ball over 3.5 times per game. James is shooting 56 percent from the field so far this season, thanks to his apparently deliberate attempts to shoot fewer three-pointers and take shots closer to the rim. Read More »

As much as ESPN hyped the head-to-head matchup between Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum before last night’s Magic/Lakers game, you would’ve thought that, you know, Bynum had actually done something to earn space on Dwight’s marquee. But choosing to ignore all the warning signs that this might be the most disappointing big-man “battle” since Emeka Okafor turned Luke Schenscher into an Australian Toaster Biscuit in the 2004 NCAA title game, the national media seemed bent on making Howard/Bynum the dominant headline on the NBA schedule … Unfortunately, that headline belonged in the Police Blotter section. Six minutes into the first quarter, Howard served Bynum with a nice lefty hook shot and a back-to-the-basket shimmy that led to a finger roll, and Bynum wound up on the bench with two fouls. Bynum came back to start the second quarter, but after blowing a defensive assignment and then picking up his third foul, he was on the bench less than three minutes in. Read More »