When the news broke that four of the five San Antonio starters were getting the night off, fantasy owners of Tim Duncan and Tony Parker were disappointed, and it really hurt to get a zero from Manu Ginobili after his 20-point explosion the night before. Appearing to concede a game on national TV is unusual optics, and Commissioner Stern promised “substantial sanctions” before they even started to play. Get the whole story from our Chris Bernucca. Gregg Popovich and his makeshift
It’s the same old Spurs. When Kawhi Leonard went down, then Stephen Jackson got hurt, I thought Danny Green would become a fantasy star for at least a couple of weeks. It hasn’t worked out that way. Instead, the veteran stars have stepped up their games. Tim Duncan outscored Nikola Vucevic 13-0 by halftime and Tony Parker (14 PTS, 8 AST) was needed for less than 30 minutes. Manu Ginobili was brilliant as the sixth man, hitting 6-of-9, all from 3-point
As the Brooklyn Nets (with a five-game winning streak) get set to take on the Los Angeles Lakers on the road tonight, their newly built home court will be occupied by a few players who will be in the discussion for the top pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. And if Otto Porter of Georgetown does to No. 1 Indiana what he did against UCLA, he will have officially stolen the spotlight from Shabazz Muhammad. [Read more…]
Three weeks of playing in daily leagues has taught me one thing — it’s definitely not as easy as it looks. I’ve tried various sizes of leagues: 3-player, 5-player, right up to large tournaments. A $10 shot in the dark each Friday in the $5,000 qualifying tournament for the $150,000 DFBBC Final eats up ten percent of the budget; I tend to play in $1 and $2 contests with a few forays into the $5 level. When LeBron James plays, I’ve used
With the Grizzlies’ win over the Knicks on Friday night, they took over the title of best record in the NBA, a pretty impressive feat, even eight games in. And they’re doing it with a roster that’s almost completely devoid of true star power, though today’s blog names one Memphis player who Carmelo Anthony wants another shot at. [Read more…]
While all of the focus has been on the soap opera swirl around the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA’s other similarly storied franchise has its own set of issues. The Boston Celtics also raised expectations by adding some key pieces in the offseason, then promptly stumbled out of the gate. But there were no death stares, insurrections, coach beheadings or panic moves. But there are some problems in Beantown. Let’s allow team leader Kevin Garnett to explain. “You can’t speed chemistry up,” Garnett said.
There was a scary knee-on-knee collision between LeBron James and Josh Smith just before halftime, but both were able to return. LBJ was tantalizingly close to a triple-double (21 PTS, 11 REB, 9 AST) as the Heat won a close one in Atlanta. Dwyane Wade (illness) didn’t play, but Chris Bosh picked up the slack, leading all scorers with 24, and Ray Allen (17) had another solid night. Jeff Teague was impressive in defeat with 20 points and 11 assists,
The Bobcats aren’t very good, but they are better than last year and do have a few fantasy-relevant players. Byron Mullens rewarded his owners with six 3-pointers, 24 points and 8 rebounds. Kemba Walker (17 PTS, 8 AST) had a nice line. The surprise starting SG was rookie Jeffrey Taylor, but he played only ten minutes; Ramon Sessions had 17 PTS and 9 AST off the bench and will continue to fill in for Gerald Henderson (sprained foot) for at