NEWS Al Harrington of the Denver Nuggets does not want to sit out with a torn right meniscus as his team is in the middle of a playoff chase. Darren Collison of the Indiana Pacers will miss his second straight game with a groin injury. Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves is not sure if his surgically repaired left knee will be ready in time for training camp. NOTES This isn’t what Crawford expected when he signed with the Blazers four months ago. This summer,
A quick check of history reveals the saying “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” came from a 1785 Scottish poem by Robert Burns. Before translation, however, the original makes English sound like a foreign language: “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!” After reading that, I was sure I had found the perfect introduction for a treatise on Lamar Odom’s career in Dallas. He may have
Dwight Howard posted his 39th double-double, scoring 28 points along with 16 rebounds. The Sixers are now 6-12 since beginning the season with a 20-9 start. The Bulls are now 11-4 without Derrick Rose this season. Josh Smith had 32 points and 17 rebounds tonight. According to ESPN Stats & Information, this is his second 30-15 game of the season, and only Kevin Love has produced 30-15 more than once this season. Nene Hilario had 22 points and 10 rebounds in his Wizards debut. Stephen
So the winner in the Dwight Howard Derby is… Orlando? Dallas? We don’t know and now we won’t before June, 2013, with our big guy leaving more unsaid than said, as usual. If Howard’s heart, soul, spleen, liver and whatever else he listed are in Orlando, why exactly doesn’t he sign long-term so he won’t have to go through this next season, again? Yes, Dwight’s lovable but goofy, but the press may be missing an angle, or the real story—as usual–in the feeding frenzy
Does Lamar Odom want out of Dallas? And if he does, will the Mavericks let him leave? Well, that depends on who you believe. It’s no secret Odom is unhappy in Dallas. The reigning Sixth Man Award winner is having by far the worst season of his career, unable to adapt his all-around game – that normally would fit almost anywhere – with the defending champions. Right now, Odom is not even with the Mavericks. He left the team midway through last week
When it comes to running franchises, David Stern is doing a great impersonation of Ted Stepien. Stepien owned the Cleveland Cavaliers in the early 1980s and spent most of his time firing coaches, overpaying mediocre players and trading away so many draft picks that the NBA instituted the “Ted Stepien Rule,” which now prevents teams from trading first-round picks in consecutive years. Stepien’s mismanagement of the Cavaliers had to be fixed by the NBA. But the NBA – led by Stern –
NEW YORK — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been fined $75,000 for his criticism of NBA officiating, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, the NBA’s Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. Cuban made his comments on Feb. 1 following Dallas’ 95-86 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at American Airlines Center. “Look, I haven’t said a whole lot about the officiating in a long, long time, but I haven’t seen it this bad in a long, long time,” Cuban told ESPNDallas.com in the Mavericks’ weight
Who deserves the props today? The Clippers? Or the Sixers? It’s a toss-up. Sort of like that lob pass Chris Paul threw to Blake Griffin for a dunk seven seconds into their latest quality win, 107-105 on the road against Utah, where they hadn’t won since Saddam Hussein was running Iraq. And sort of like that scoop pass Andre Iguodala tossed out to Jrue Holiday after going around his back, one of several highlight-reel plays Iguodala made before exiting to a standing