As much as I enjoy watching LeBron James at the peak of his NBA powers, as much as I enjoy watching the veteran Celtics come together since Rajon Rondo went down, as fun as it is to watch Carmelo Anthony drop 35-plus night after night en-route to his first scoring title, and Chris Paul continuing to be the best point guard of this generation, what makes the NBA so great night in and night out is everyone else. Read More »

Quietly, Tyreke Evans has been having a productive, and efficient, season with Sacramento. He’s not putting up the numbers he did as a rookie, but his shooting is up to nearly 48 percent. His turnovers are at a career-low, and he’s finally starting to become somewhat of a consistent shooter. Somewhat. Evans does still have a ton of talent, showcased here with a crazy 360-degree layup in Phoenix last night. Read More »

Ohio State sophomore swingman LaQuinton Ross has shown flashes of greatness in his short college career, but last night in Los Angeles, Ross officially arrived. The 6-8 Ross is usually a solid weapon coming off the bench for the Buckeyes, but last night he saved their asses against Arizona. Read More »

“What ifs” in sports can run deeper than still waters. What can be a simple question or proposition on the surface, may also result in major changes to a player or players’ careers and, in some instances, even swing titles. Read More »

There’s so much wrong with this whole sequence – just awful in every way. It doesn’t need any real intro, just watch the mess: Read More »

Each Wednesday, we’ll be assessing how the top prospects of the 2013 NBA Draft are faring in college and overseas. Stick with us each week for assorted thoughts, including the biggest risers and fallers, the standouts, the sleepers and what we know and don’t know about the next NBA Draft class… Read More »

We hate to keep leading Smack off with LeBron James, but it’s almost like we have to lock him in here on every night he plays. The dude is just too good. Check out some of these numbers. James was 11-for-15 shooting last night in the Heat’s 117-104 flaying of Portland, finishing with 30 points and nine assists. He’s made 60 of his last 80 shots overall. On NBA Coast 2 Coast, they showed a shot chart from his last few games, and every spot outside of the left wing and left corner was blaming red. Read More »

There wasn’t as much drama to this Clippers win over the Jazz, but even more significance came with it. L.A., you see, hasn’t lost in a pure month after beating Utah, 107-96. In their 17-game win streak, 16 of them came in December. It’s only the third 16-0 month in NBA history, after the ’72 Lakers and ’96 Spurs, though the ’96 Bulls went 14-0 in January during their 72-10 season. Unlike Friday’s dramatic win in SLC, the Clippers didn’t have to rally from 19 points down. Read More »

As the first month of the NBA season comes to a close, player values are starting to fall in place. Of course there are some exceptions, like if some of these players just happened to start off ice cold or riding a hot streak. However, by this time statistics begin to even out. The early hot streaks dissolve, and the underachievers slowly work their way back into the fantasy hierarchy. Read More »

Every now and then, we could all use a reminder that this basketball thing isn’t as complicated as we think. Last night’s national TV showdown between the Thunder and Clippers was one of those reminders. Sure, we could get all Hubie Brown-ish and meticulously pick apart and break down every little subtlety, but the game ultimately came down to this: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were better than everybody else when it mattered most … Matt Barnes of all people sparked L.A.’s fourth-quarter rally to force overtime, but then KD and Russ took over the extra session and won it for OKC. Read More »