There’s some sort of event called the Pac-12 Conference tournament being held in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. I think it has to do with college basketball. Anyway, it has forced the facility’s regular tenants – the Lakers and Clippers – to hit the road for a stretch. And things are not going well for either team. The Lakers were dispatched on a brief three-game sojourn and already have lost the first two, dropping to an abysmal 6-14 on the road.
Ouch. The Celtics were crushed 33-17 in the opening quarter and never made a run. In just his second game as a starter, Evan Turner poured in 26 points and grabbed 9 boards to lead the Sixers. This is not good news for Jodie Meeks owners, but it makes Turner a very hot pickup, especially in keeper leagues. Thaddeus Young (illness) didn’t play, so Nikola Vucevic (14 & 12) got a little extra burn. In Other Action UTA @ CHA: Corey Maggette
With the recent success of Jeremy Lin at point guard position in New York, NBA owners have pressed their scouts to search the Ivy League for the next edition of Linsanity. Rumor has it there’s a pretty good guard in the Ivy League. His name is Zack Rosen. There’s no reason to believe that Rosen can redefine a franchise, but the kid is a quarterback. Heck, Jay Fiedler called the shots for the Miami Dolphins. The idea is to manage expectations, but I
The Philadelphia 76ers have had the Atlantic Division lead for much of the season and looked ready to run away with it by taking advantage of an easy early schedule. Since then, they have taken a tumble, and the Boston Celtics may be ready to reclaim the throne as the best team in the division, which has been the case since the arrival of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in the 2007-2008 season. The streaking Celtics (20-17) visit the reeling 76ers (22-17)
NEW YORK — Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Kidd has been fined $25,000 for public criticism of officiating, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations. Kidd was fined for comments made to the media after the Mavericks 95-91 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 5. The Thunder trailed by a point with 46 seconds remaining Tuesday night when Dallas center Ian Mahinmi appeared to cleanly block Serge Ibaka’s shot, but the whistle was blown for a
Eight days until the trading deadline. Eight days for the Indiana Pacers to find the missing piece for a legitimate run at the conference finals, or for the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire the player that makes them a playoff team. Eight days for the Orlando Magic to go all in on Dwight Howard or blow it up and start over. Eight days for the Atlanta Hawks to avoid the luxury tax or the Los Angeles Lakers to add to it. Eight days to
Gee, who’d have thunk this Jeremy Lin thing couldn’t last? Whatever it was, an Asian-American version of Cinderella as NBA star with a global audience and perhaps just a little (or a lot) of New York tinsel and hype, it’s just a basketball story now. Since averaging 24 points and shooting 53% over 11 games with the Knicks winning nine, Lin dropped to 14 and 33% over the last four, of which they lost three. Of course, Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, who
The lowly Charlotte Hornets upset the Magic as Corey Maggette scored 29 points and teenager Bismack Biyombo, matched up against Dwight Howard, had 10 PTS, 15 REB and 7 BLK. Boris Diaw, who wants to be traded or released, was benched in favor of D.J. White. This is fantasy gold in some deep leagues. You can pick up White as a FA, then get Diaw ridiculously cheap and hope he ends up in a better situation. If you already own Boris,