Buy Low: Wesley Matthews is averaging 7.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.3 threes in his last three games. He’s also shooting 33 percent from the field during this forgettable stretch. Stepping back and looking at the picture will show fantasy owners that Matthews is shooting 41 percent from the floor this season, notably below his career average of 45 percent. His game log shows that he’s only cracked 50 percent from the field three times in his 12 games since Jan. 14. Before that night, Matthews was hitting 48 percent of his shot from the field. Chalk his recent struggles up to a slump. He’s still starting and getting 32+ minutes a night and remains a solid source of threes and all-around production. 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 »

Beast of the Night: Kyle Lowry lit up the Lakers for 22 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and four three-pointers. He shot 42 percent (8-19) from the field, 100 percent from the free-throw line (2-2) and turned the ball over twice. Believe it or not, Lowry is putting up top three overall averages so far this NBA season. Read More »

When we saw Kyrie Irving catch D.J. Augustin slipping, we figured that would end up being the top block of the night. Channeling LeBron James in his old home? Not much can beat it. But then Kevin Durant – during one of his worst games as a pro – came out of nowhere on our man Wesley Matthews to give perhaps the best defensive highlight we’ve seen from him in a while. Chase-down blocks are becoming all the rage in the NBA recently, and we’ve got another death match for you right here. Hit the jump for the videos. Read More »

A lot of people made fun of us for talking the Clippers up, but what can you say? When you’re younger, more athletic, things just come easier. That’s just the way it is and as much as we love the game, as much as we love Kobe and Pau and the accolades they’ve won in the past, if you can’t see the Clippers are poised to take that crown than you are losing it. Or you just have more faith in the Lakers’ front office than we do. The Clippers let their big brother hang around for a while, and then in the second half they turned it up to a level the old heads couldn’t keep up with. 114-95, the Clippers ended up winning with Chauncey Billups (23 points) and Chris Paul (17 points, nine assists, five steals) doing the most damage, dominating the Laker guards at times … Read More »

The two guard is the most glamorous position in basketball. You can thank Michael Jordan for that. Every kid of my generation grew up wanting to play the two, rock a sweatband on the left elbow, wear baggy shorts and the number 23, and we all thought we’d grow up to be 6-6. Power players may traditionally determine who’s got the juice, but shooting guards are nearly as important. The very best can create shots anywhere on the floor, and routinely finish games by getting shots in the closing moments. These are normally the very best athletes in the world; graceful, but still powerful… explosive, but still finesse. No one has the same combination of jaw-dropping athleticism and phenomenal ball skills the greatest shooting guards wield. Read More »

Besides having an insanely fine wife, Steve Lavin is doing a phenomenal job at St. John’s. Coming into their matchup with Arizona last night, they were 3-0, full of life and full of potential. In a few of their wins so far, they’ve already stormed back from big deficits, letting their defense and athleticism do the talking, and with fifteen minutes left (down seven), it looked like it might happen again. They raced back, overwhelmed ‘Zona in pretty much every way possible and retook the lead. The ‘Cats didn’t have any standout performances, but they got solid games from a number of players, including Solomon Hill (15 points, six rebounds) and when they found their stroke at the end, they just had too much, winning 81-72. Read More »

We wouldn’t exactly call it airing dirty laundry, but Shaquille O’Neal is definitely getting a few things off his chest now that he’s retired. We aren’t hearing anything new. It’s just that O’Neal is making no mistake about anything: he had some serious problems with Kobe, he left Pat Riley on really bad terms, and that he’s not into Dwight Howard‘s whole Superman routine and thinks Orlando’s big man needs to be his own man. In Shaq’s new book (Shaq Uncut: My Story), Superman takes a couple shots at Superman 2.0, telling Howard to “be his own man.” Shaq and Howard have never really gotten along, so this news comes without any surprise. Shaq has always been someone who spoke his mind, and in his new book, he holds nothing back. Read More »

It’s been a while since a team in the Pacific Northwest has had a surefire go-to-guy to call their own. While one team has long bounced to the Great Plains, the other has already gone through two potential superstars – both now likely lost to injury. Which is why when LaMarcus Aldridge decided to have his breakout moment in his fifth NBA season, it was beyond a breath of fresh air. Read More »

Ricky Rubio has arrived. He’s arrived as much as you can during a lockout, when no one can really talk about him or see him play too often. But it’s being reported that the Spanish prodigy is in Los Angeles right now taking in the sights and testing himself against other NBA players. He’s already balled with Danny Granger, Joakim Noah, Enes Kanter and Omri Casspi. We haven’t heard a reaction, but it must’ve been good enough that Michael Beasley asked him to play in his All-Star Classic game on Friday at Osseo High. We wonder what Rubio’s thinking. Read More »