The summer basketball circuit feels like it never ended. Once again, the NBA is finished and the players will go back to wrecking havoc on YouTube and gyms across the country. We’ve already seen John Wall going at it with Chris Brown. Now here’s Donte Greene and Tyreke Evans catching two alley-oops off the backboard. Passes courtesy of Kiwi Gardner. Read More »

It’s wasn’t long ago that Tyreke Evans had billboards in Sacramento, historic-level statlines and appearances in national magazines (like ahem, this one). He’s always been one of my favorite players, and was the subject of my first major NBA feature in this magazine. His crew and his handlers spent an entire childhood molding Evans into a future superstar, and for years, his destiny didn’t appear as anything other than preordained. Two summers ago while I writing about Evans, everyone associated with him wasn’t thinking All-Star Games or All-NBA Teams. It was about MVPs, and whether Evans could get there soon enough. Almost tragically, he hasn’t been the same since, and now there are reports from Sacramento saying the Kings may be looking to trade him. Read More »

There were some spectacularly embarrassing moments this season. From Nick Young and Vince Carter air balling layups to Devin Harris and Brandon Knight getting showers in the crowd, you needed a thick skin to survive these 66 games. Everyone was getting roasted. But upon watching this video, I only have one question: WHERE IS JAVALE MCGEE? Read More »

Normally, we’d start a 13-game night off with some recaps, but since the average margin of victory across the NBA last night was like 87 points, it felt good just to look forward to the weekend. The regular season is over and the matchups are set. In the West, it’ll be San Antonio and Utah, OKC against Dallas, the Lakers taking on Denver and then Memphis hosting the Clippers. The East looks pretty good as well: Chicago takes on Philly, Miami and New York do battle, Indiana will host whatever’s left of the Magic, and even though they’re the No. 4 seed, Boston will open the playoffs in the ATL. Read More »

When a crowd is chanting your name on the road, in part because you dropped 21 points in the first quarter, it doesn’t matter if that road crowd is only “road” in a technical sense. It was only a few miles away, but New Yorkers pretty much took over the Nets’ arena last night and spent the better part of the fourth quarter chanting for their new hero, Carmelo Anthony, in the Knicks’ 104-95 win. ‘Melo had 33 on just 21 shots, and added seven boards and four dimes as New York played one of their most balanced games in a long time. Read More »

Beast of the Night: DeMarcus Cousins finished with 25 points, 18 rebounds, three assists, six steals and two blocks last night. He shot 52 percent (11-21) from the floor and 75 percent (3-4) from the free-throw line, and had three turnovers. Cousins has been erratic lately, but he’s still averaging 19.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.0 block per game so far this month. Read More »

The two winningest programs in NCAA history met in the N.O. Bayou last night, and when it was all over, one thing was clear: Kansas would’ve had to be perfect to stop Kentucky. The game didn’t really heat up until the second half, but we knew pretty early it was going to be a great game. By the game’s first TV timeout, there were already more highlights than all of last year’s title game. And when Kansas finally did make their push, in part behind Tyshawn Taylor (19 points), it was the sniping from Doron Lamb (22 points) and Marquis Teague (14 points) that put the kids to bed … Read More »

Beast of the Night: Paul Pierce finished with 25 points, nine rebounds, two assists, one steal, two blocks and three three-pointers last night. He shot 67 percent from the floor and 67 percent from the free-throw line, and had three turnovers. For the season, Pierce has maintained top 45 value, which is about in line of most owners’ expectations heading into the season. Read More »

The Pacific Division’s second half is a tale of two teams from one city. No one is catching either the Clippers or Lakers as the rosters of the other three — Warriors, Kings, Suns — stand. If you’re trying to build a case in those teams’ defense, just stop.

This is what commissioner David Stern dreamed of in December when a trade of Chris Paul from New Orleans to the Lakers was rejected like a shot in Serge Ibaka’s airspace. That could have resulted in enough cap room to realize the owners’ great fear, Dwight Howard to the Lakers, and the run of titles in purple and gold to go with it. Read More »

Beast of the Night: LeBron James posted a sick line to the tune of 38 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, five steals, one block and two three-pointers. He shot 59 percent (13-22) from the field, 83 percent (10-12) from the free-throw line and had zero turnovers (in 41 minutes of play). Sure, the absence of Chris Bosh helped, but these sorts of nights are expected from the No. 1 fantasy stud in the land. Read More »