This time of year is so strange for fantasy owners. We’re trying hard to win our Head-to-Head playoffs or Roto leagues, but have no idea who might — or might not — actually play. Raymond Felton, assumed to be shut down for the season, started for the Blazers (13 PTS, 7 AST) but Nolan Smith (10 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST) still got 34 minutes. As usual, the Spurs used 13 guys and limited everyone’s court time, yet still romped.
Usually, the winners make the headlines. In today’s roundup, however, the losers were the story of Saturday night as a handful of teams fighting to make the playoffs came up short. With three different teams — Milwaukee, Utah and Phoenix — still within reach of the eighth and final playoff seed in their respective Conferences, how many of them came out with a victory? None. Starting with the most inexplicable blowout of the night – the only game on national television – the Spurs
Dwight Howard played, without much enthusiasm: 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 5 turnovers and a swirling controversy about his relationship with Stan Van Gundy. Jameer Nelson also played, without much success (10 PTS on 3-14 shooting) and Glen Davis (15 & 7) got another start in place of Ryan Anderson (ankle). Carmelo Anthony led the visitors to a convincing win with 19, Tyson Chandler (12 PTS, 12 REB) was strong and J.R. Smith (15 PTS, 9 AST) continued to
Derek Fisher returned to the Staples Center for the first time since being swapped for Jordan Hill at the trade deadline two weeks ago. Los Angeles showed its appreciation for him in a big way — playing a tribute video just before tip-off followed by a rousing ovation from the crowd. Perhaps inspired by the exciting atmosphere, he picked the perfect time to snap out of a personal funk, too. Coming into the game averaging just 3.8 points on 22.7% shooting since joining his new
The trade deadline had passed at 3PM EST on Thursday afternoon. Everything seemed settled and players could finally take a deep breath and play basketball again. Not so fast. Moments after the official deadline had passed, word arrived out of Denver that they had traded away long-tenured Nene Hilario in a three-team deal, receiving JaVale McGee, Ronny Turiaf and a future second-round pick in the process. The loss of Nene turned out to be too much for George Karl and the Denver Nuggets
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
LeBron James has been the subject of debate for much of the season due to his perceived inability to perform in the clutch, despite having a jaw dropping statistical season for one of the most dominant teams in the league. He has been referred to by many as a choker and a second-tier closer. On Saturday night at home against the Pacers, the opportunity to show late-game execution presented itself again as the world watched to see what James would do in the
