There aren’t many fringe benefits that come with a 66-game schedule, but one cool quirk is that All-Star Weekend is splitting the season almost exactly in half. When the Lakers and Thunder wrap things up late Thursday night, all but six teams will have played half their games as the league takes a four-day break in Orlando, where the forecast is less than ideal. Speaking of less than ideal forecasts, below are our midseason award winners, delivered with the complete understanding that “they
Kevin Love will be in the Three-Point Contest. The field was announced by the NBA on Wednesday, and Love is among the six gunslingers who will be hoisting on All-Star Saturday night Feb. 25. Known more for his rebounding, Love is shooting 36 percent (44-of-122) from 3-point range this season, slightly below his career mark. The All-Star forward of the Minnesota Timberwolves is participating for the first time. Also in the field are defending champion James Jones and Mario Chalmers of the Miami
Highlight Performance: Kevin Love MIN– There is simply nothing this man cannot do from a basketball standpoint. Standing at a relatively small 6”10, the All-Star power forward is an absolute rebound machine, as well as a deadly scorer from every spot on the court. Last night was a perfect example, as he scored 32 points, and ripped down 21 rebounds. He became the franchise leader with his 6th 30-20 game of the season, passing Kevin Garnett. When Love is on, he’s
Is Paul Pierce part of the Boston Celtics’ all-time team? On Tuesday, Pierce passed Larry Bird on the team’s career scoring list, moving into second place for the most historic franchise in the NBA. He is creeping up on 22,000 career points and still going strong. Pierce has a ways to go to catch Celtics all-time leader John Havlicek, whose total of 26,395 is even more remarkable when you consider he began his career as a sixth man. If Pierce passes Havlicek
Five games in seven nights. Five wins. 26.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 2 steals per game. Most points for any player in his first four starts since the ABA/NBA merger, surpassing Allen Iverson. Thus ended one of the most improbably historical weeks the NBA has ever witnessed. And to cap it, Jeremy Lin, for the win. In a much anticipated matchup between two of the most up-and-coming point guards in the league, Lin ended his Cinderella week by holding off Ricky
There’s a good chance Twitter will crash Saturday when exciting young point guards Ricky Rubio and Jeremy Lin face off in Minnesota as the New York Knicks play the Timberwolves. Carmelo who? Amar’e huh? The Knicks were free-falling, losers of 11 of 13 before a frustrated Mike D’Antoni inserted Lin – a third-string point guard cut twice in training camp – against the New Jersey Nets exactly one week ago. he responded with a then-career-high 25 points in a 99-92 victory. Lin smashed
Last June, the Dallas Mavericks were on top of the basketball world, while the Minnesota Timberwolves were at rock bottom. Less than eight months later, the teams are separated by two games in the standings, and it’s hard to tell which club is better. The Mavericks (15-11) and Wolves (13-13) meet for the third time this season in Friday’s best NBA game. Minnesota has won the first two, easily handling the defending champions. If the Wolves win again, they will be one
Dirk? Apparently, the Western Conference coaches chose this year’s All-Star reserves based upon last year’s accomplishments. The 14 All-Star reserves were announced tonight on TNT, and there were a couple of surprises. None was bigger than the selection of Nowitzki, who is averaging the lowest numbers since his sophomore season. His points per game (17.6) are down 5.4 from last season, his field-goal percentage has dropped from.517 to .461, and whose 3-point percentage has nosedived from .393 to .211. He even acknowledged recently