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
Fantasy Spin: Sunday Feb. 26
With fantasy leagues on hold during the all-star break, here’s a quick trip through the rumor mill. There’s interest from multiple teams in Jose Calderon and Leandro Barbosa. The Lakers may have already signed Rasheed Wallace, covet Michael Beasley and have been linked to Raymond Felton. Non-stop speculation about Dwight Howard will continue. A few fantasy VIP — very important players — are expected to return soon: Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph, Danilo Gallinari, Elton Brand and Manu Ginobili. Other useful
Lin streak over for Knicks; LeBron hot in Cleveland
Jeremy Lin’s joy ride was going to end at some point. But who believed it would be the bottom-feeding Hornets that channeled their inner Susan Powter to stop the Linsanity? Yeah, sure, Lin had another big stat line with 26 points, five assists and four steals. But he also had a league season-high nine turnovers, which went a long way toward an 89-85 loss that ended the Knicks’ seven-game winning streak. Lin committed eight turnovers in the first half. Five came in
Fantasy Spin: Wednesday Feb. 15
Tuesday’s Lin-tangibles I loved seeing the latest episode of the Jeremy Lin show in person. The phenom was outplayed by red-hot Jose Calderon (25 PTS, 7 REB, 9 AST) until Mike D’Antoni made a defensive switch. In the fourth quarter, with Iman Shumpert on Calderon, Lin took over, as you already know. His fantasy value (like his real value to the Knicks and the NBA) rocketed off the charts the last two weeks. The deeper the league, the more he’s an outlier.
The legend of Linsanity grows with game winning shot; Heat win three road games in three nights
Once upon a time, Air Canada Center was all about Vinsanity, which captured the hearts of the Toronto fans until he broke those hearts by leaving. On this Va-Lin-Tine’s Day, the season-high sellout crowd of 20,092 Canadians experienced another type of insanity. Linsanity. Doubt was in the air. Turnovers were aplenty. Once again, a defense seemed to have figured out how to contain him — force him left and back off him at the 3-point line. The world
Fantasy Spin: Sunday, Jan. 22
Highlight Performances: Paul Pierce, BOS– The Celtics veteran had a big game Sunday Night in their win over the Celtics, posting 34 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals. Pierce has been having a solid yet unspectacular season, and has been very inconsistent scoring the ball. His rebounding and
assists numbers have hovered around 5 per game each, and although he’s averaging aboutSpain wins EuroBasket, but can they beat Team USA
KAUNAS, Lithuania — There is only one thing that is ultimately relevant for Americans about the team that just won EuroBasket: One year from now, will Spain have what it takes to defeat Team USA in the gold medal game of the London Olympics? Because let’s face it, this Spanish team showed it is clearly the second-best team in the world right now, just as they were three years ago in Beijing when they put 107 points on the board (in a
Eurobasket: Navarro’s “masterpiece” puts Spain into 2012 Olympics
By Chris Sheridan KAUNAS, Lithuania — “He was like a maestro today. He was like a picture in the Louvre or something like that — just beautiful. Juan Carlos, you’ve got to recognize, is one of the artists of European basketball.” It was a DaVinci of a quote that Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo delivered Friday, about as eloquent of an assessment a man could deliver after what he witnessed from his own personal Michelangelo. Juan Carlos Navarro scored 19 points in the third quarter to single-handedly break