Highlight Performances: Kobe Bryant, LAL– A second time highlight performer, Kobe was unstoppable Tuesday Night, dropping 48 points against the Suns. Kobe hit 18-31 shots from the field, did not make a 3, and added 3 steals, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Kobe is on pace to score 30 points a game this season, and he does not look like he is slowing down any time soon. I covered Kobe earlier this year, stating that he will shoot close to 30
// Dwyane Wade came back, but so did the Golden State Warriors. Derrick Rose dueled Ricky Rubio. And Kobe Bryant erupted for 48 points. But they all have to take a momentary backseat to the Washington Wizards, who finally won a game. All it took was an overhaul of their starting lineup, a spark from their previously invisible prized rookie and a visit from the weary Toronto Raptors. The last winless team in the NBA broke through Tuesday night with a 93-78 win
And the best team in the Western Conference is … Ah, you don’t want to read about the Portland Trail Blazers, do you? You’d rather fawn over the Miami Heat for their 3 1/2-hour, triple-overtime victory in Atlanta, or dump on the Dallas Mavericks and those who said two weeks ago that they were the best team in the NBA. Perhaps you’d prefer to postulate over where Dwight Howard will end up (just a thought, but if I’m Rich DeVos, and I’m 85
The good news for LA: Andrew Bynum is back and playing out of his mind, recording the first 20-20 game of his career two nights ago against Houston. Now the bad: The Lakers are heading to the Rose Garden, where Kobe Bryant’s career record is 6-23. Tonight’s best game is in Portland, where the LA Lakers make their first, and only, visit of this season at 10:30 ET in the second game of a nice doubleheader on TNT. Preceding that matchup, Atlanta hosts
In recent years, we have gotten extended looks at the San Antonio Spurs without Manu Ginobili. And what we have seen is a contender reduced to a pretender. In 2009, Ginobili suffered an ankle injury in early April that cost him the final six games of the regular season and the postseason, which ended abruptly with a five-game exit vs. Dallas. As my colleague Jan Hubbard pointed out some time ago, the Spurs were the best regular-season team in the NBA last
So, let’s go right ahead and get a little carried away over what went down during the fourth quarter in Chicago last night. We now know who the leading candidate is for MVP. It’s the same guy who won it last year, Derrick Rose, who knocked down three 3-pointers in the final period to bring Chicago back from a 12-point deficit. We now know who is the leading candidate for Coach of the Year, Tom Thibodeau, who has drilled his team every
Highlight Performances: Andrew Bynum, LA– Talent has never been the question for Bynum, but more of a matter of health. Bynum looks incredibly improved following his 4-game suspension, and continued posting monster numbers Tuesday night with his 21 point/22 reb. double-double. When healthy, Bynum’s upside is through the roof, and his production should continue as long as his knees hold up. Kobe Bryant, LA– Sticking to the Lakers, Bryant also had a huge night, scoring 37 points and nearly a triple double
For a six-game night, there are some nice matchups. The Nets are visiting the Magic, which means the New York metro area media will be zoning up Dwight Howard. There should be a relay race in Portland, where the Blazers entertain the Nuggets. And on TNT, the Mavericks try to figure out their myriad issues as they travel to take on the Thunder, where Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are bickering. But the best game is the back end of TNT’s