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Despite the best efforts from Paul Pierce in the opening quarter, Boston’s offense sputtered to a halt against Memphis last night. Rajon Rondo finished with a double-double in 40 minutes (11 points, 10 assists), and didn’t seem to have a problem with defensive ace Tony Allen on this play. Read More »

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant — when they’re both at their best as they were Friday night against the Lakers — don’t resemble so much a one-two punch combo as much as they do two flamethrowers. In the first half Westbrook’s 27 points and five three-pointers scorched Los Angeles at home by doing those characteristically “Russell” plays — in a good way. Read More »

Maybe the Clippers are really this good? Or maybe the Spurs just aren’t THAT good? San Antonio has now lost two of their last three home games, and twice already this year to the Clippers. But we’re leaning to the Clippers being pretty good, because, well, they’re one of the few teams that can go one-on-one for the entire fourth quarter of a close game in San Antonio and still pull out a W. Despite leaving the Red Rocket open for multiple triples late in the game (Bonner had ten points in the final frame), L.A. walked off winners, 92-87. Read More »

Memphis handily beat the then-undefeated New York Knicks on Friday night, the seventh in a row for the Grizzlies after losing their opening game to the Clippers. Combined combined with their victory over surprisingly frisky Charlotte a day later, they now own the best record in the NBA. After losing O.J. Mayo in the offseason to Dallas and only adding Minnesota castoff Wayne Ellington and backup point guard Jerryd Bayless this offseason, they’re suddenly the top team in the league. How did this happen, and are the Memphis Grizzlies legit? Read More »

Until Thanksgiving eve, Friday night’s nine-game schedule is the most NBA action you’ll see. With all the options, however, even the biggest NBA fan has to be selective. Here’s 10 matchups to focus on on tonight. Read More »

Will Bynum may be most famous for his mighty mite dunk power that led him to challenge the world to “Dunk Like Will.” His style of play was born out of a Chicago upbringing where, as he says, there wasn’t time to mess around. You either went straight to the rim, or you didn’t. Even as Bynum is turning 30 in January, his calling card is still his straight-ahead speed toward the rim. Read More »

About a week ago, I was watching NBATV’s “Open Court” program when Shaquille O’Neal was asked about Dwight Howard. Astute NBA fans know all about the ongoing “feud” — if we must call it that — between O’Neal and Howard, and so it came as no surprise that Shaq unleashed a torrent of criticism toward the freshly anointed Laker. He claimed Robin Lopez was better than Howard, then quickly corrected that to twin brother Brook Lopez — a rare analytical double fault. Furious, I turned the show off. Read More »

In the midst of the NBA’s point guard revolution, the off guards have lived up to another moniker — cast to the side, buried underneath near endless highlight reels of Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose.

But even with positions as fluent as they’ve ever been, the shooting guard remains an all-important cog in the NBA lineup. Some of the league’s best players, old and young, occupy the position once defined by Michael Jordan, and a close look reveals a surprisingly deep crop of talent. Read More »

Thirty names. The best 30 names. The dramatic summer of 2010 crafted the landscape of the NBA, when LeBron James and Chris Bosh landed in Miami, Amar’e Stoudemire joined up with the Knicks and fans everywhere started burning jerseys at an alarming rate. The following two summers lacked the same drama, and honestly, it would be foolish to expect another 2010 summer anytime soon. Those two-to-three months were game-changing. Read More »