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
There are a variety of ways to quantify a player’s worth to his team, with a myriad of variables with which to play. One way is by utilizing NBA.com/Stats’ PIE (Player Impact Estimate)*, which measures a player’s overall contribution to his team. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Miami Heat’s LeBron James leads the league in PIE at 23.2 percent, and is the lone player in the league with a PIE above 20 percent. James is on pace to set new career
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
One man started the rumor of a Pau Gasol trade on Twitter in the afternoon and it had swept the globe by tipoff. Possibly distracted, Gasol had 12 points and 11 boards in the Lakers win, though Andrew Bynum (26 & 10) did the heavy lifting and Kobe Bryant scored 34. Kevin Love was a very late scratch with a sore back, but the return of Nikola Pekovic (25 & 13) and a great effort by rookie Derrick Williams (22
At the end of the film Se7en, Detective Mills, played by Brad Pitt, gets into an argument with serial killer Jon Doe, played by Kevin Spacey. Doe claims what he is doing will be remembered forever. Mills dismisses him by saying, “You’re no messiah. You’re a Movie of the Week. You’re a T-shirt, at best.” That’s about where Linsanity is right now. It’s not Lin’s fault that his novelty has somewhat worn off. He is still playing pretty well, as evidenced by
Traditionally, Kobe Bryant has enjoyed playing against Minnesota: he has yet to lose to them in 17 tries in the span of five years, the longest active winning streak by one team against another. That streak could come to an end if the Lakers (23-16) continue to drop winnable games away from home. They look to avoid a fourth straight loss on the road visiting the surging Minnesota Timberwolves (21-19) in Friday night’s best game. The Lakers are a force to be
Stephen Curry had his first significant playing time in the past five games, playing nine minutes and scoring 12 points. John Wall recorded his third double-double in his past five games, scoring 20 points and dishing out 14 assists. The Jazz won their first road game since Feb. 12, against Memphis. Al Jefferson recorded 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists in their win over the Cavaliers. Van Gundy, who walked out with team doctors, was overheard complaining of chest pains. When asked about
