BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Hyped and magnified. As the New York Knickerbockers and the Brooklyn Nets get set for their showdown tonight at the Barclays Center, they’re surely aware the meaning of this game transcends the sport; the first matchup in what will surely be a long rivalry has all the ingredients to be a dandy: 1. Two good teams: Instead of an uncertain opening night tilt on October 29th, we have teams who we know have confidence in themselves as they head toward
It won’t be a Phil Jackson encore after all. Mike D’Antoni is the new coach of the Lakers. A friend of Kobe Bryant and the perfect choice to revive Steve Nash once his leg heals, he’s also a hero to fantasy owners like me who rode his fast-paced Suns and Knicks teams to a league championship or two. Last night, with interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff calling the shots, Dwight Howard scored 23 points and grabbed 18 rebounds against a Kings team
What do you do when you have thoughts about a big event going on in the country? You get on twitter, and you type in those 140 characters. That’s exactly what a countless number of NBA players did when President Barack Obama was re-elected as the U.S. President for another four years on Tuesday night. Kyle Lowry sprained his ankle against the Thunder, but that didn’t stop him from sharing his excitement. Bryon Russell’s enthusiasm got him to say some inappropriate things. Cuttino Mobley
When LeBron James made his move to the power forward position last season, things changed drastically – in a championship winning way – for the Heat. There aren’t too many small forwards that are versatile enough to play both small forward and the power forward positions: the difference in physicality is simply too significant to handle for most. Another three that is capable of playing the four – and creating havoc in the process – is New York Knicks forward Carmelo
Here are this morning’s top NBA news stories: “Dallas Mavericks have hope Dirk Nowitzki can return closer to 3 weeks after surgery,” by Tim MacMahon from ESPN.com “Leandro Barbosa unfazed by guard logjam,” by Steve Bulpett from the Boston Herald Pablo Prigioni of Knicks is NBA’s oldest rookie in 40 years,” by Nate Taylor from the New York Times “Dwight Howard has impressive debut in Lakers’ preseason loss to Kings,” by Mark Medina from Los Angeles Daily News “Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott not happy with team’s rebounding,” by Mary
It seemed more like an inevitability than a possibility when news about the status of Dirk Nowitzki’s knee broke out earlier in the preseason. There was swelling in his knee, and the German hinted at the possibility of surgery if the condition did not improve. Unfortunately, the swelling continued, forcing Nowitzki to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery on Friday. The procedure will sideline him for about six weeks. Chris Bernucca has the details of the situation. Playing without the heart of the team
Fantasy Basketball Primer Part 4: Finding Sleepers In Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this series, I introduced you to the Fantasy Basketball Primer, reviewed Head-to-Head, Rotisserie and Keeper League strategies and shared strategies for certain league customizations. Today, we look at identifying sleepers. What is a sleeper? Everyone has a different definition. Mine is a player who is likely to outperform his draft position. There are two main points. The first is ‘likely’ to outperform. Anyone can say player X may outperform his ADP, but in targeting
