In a nationally-televised game, sophomore Evan Turner scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to help the 76ers beat New York. Lou Williams poured in 28 in as many minutes. Can a bench player be a keeper in a 12-team league? Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 22 and Tyson Chandler returned, but Amare Stoudemire was quiet and Jeremy Lin off-target. The Garden crowd did not sound happy. Elsewhere MIL @ TOR: An ankle injury to Jose Calderon made Jerryd Bayless (16 & 6) the starting
Unless you caught the second-game of the day-night doubleheader at the Staples Center, you might not be aware that a second masked man is playing there, a masked man named Chris Paul whose Los Angeles Clippers just dropped into second place in the Pacific Division. Yes, Paul, Blake Griffin and Lob City are no longer perched atop Tinseltown. First place in the division is now back in the hands of Kobe Bryant, the guy who called the game-clinching play in the huddle Sunday
The Knicks have now lost five straight, falling to 18-23. Metta World Peace is the Lakers worst shooter, shooting a paltry 35% on the season. Kyle Lowry has been hospitalized with abdominal distress and fever since last week. According to the Associated Press, Kyrie Irving was saddened after hearing of Ricky Rubio’s injury, saying “It’s tragic. He was my nemesis — me vs. him at times. I’m used to seeing his stats every single night, seeing how many points and assists he had.” Dwight Howard
Orlando Magic Chief Executive Officer Alex Martins indicated Sunday that the team has not decided whether it will trade Dwight Howard before the NBA trade deadline on Thursday afternoon.The Magic face one of the most momentous personnel decisions in franchise history: Do they trade the best center in the sport before the deadline to ensure they receive assets in return or do they hold onto Howard and accept the risk that he could sign a free-agent contract with another team
The Boston Celtics head into Staples Center on Sunday to play the Los Angeles Lakers where the heated rivals finally have a mutual enemy: the NBA rumor mill. Thursday’s trade deadline is fast approaching and both Boston’s Rajon Rondo and L.A.’s Pau Gasol have been linked to multiple trades. On Friday, Gasol’s name was mentioned as a done deal to the Houston Rockets, for the second time this season. Gasol will suit up for Sunday’s marquee matchup, just as he did Friday, scoring
Not a lot of big movement at the top of this week’s rankings. Down below, you’ll see I’ve taken a liking to the Pistons. OK, maybe it’s the long work days, the coffee/stromboli/y nada mas diet. Maybe it’s that I just like Lawrence Frank. But those guys could catch the Knicks, for whom rock bottom will never be quite like this bottom made famous on Twitter by the newest Knick. Gonna be a busy week with the trade deadline approaching. We’ll try to steer
We always begin here with a quick review of last night’s games. The Sunday Spin, posted a few hours later than our usual 8:00 a.m. deadline, previews not just today’s contests, but the week ahead for all 30 teams. Finally, there’s an account of my efforts to learn daily fantasy games on DraftStreet.com, which I hope is as much fun for you to read as it was for me to write. UTA @ CHI: As expected, Luol Deng got the night
