Chris Bosh is on a roll. His 29 points on 12-16 shooting, plus 8 REB and a couple of STL, led the Heat to an exciting, come-from-behind win over the inspired Suns. LeBron James was shaken up twice but stayed in the game and finished with 20. Though Dexter Pittman got his first start because Joel Anthony has a sore ankle, he played less than 14 minutes while Udonis Haslem (15 & 9) got most of the work. Grant Hill led
// The New York Knicks have now clobbered two opponents since Mike D’Antoni was fired resigned from his job, which makes it a cinch that Mike Woodson will not only be Coach of the Year but will be given a five-year, $25 million extension by Jim Dolan (pardon the hyperbole). In actuality, the Knicks (Dolan) are going to have t decide whether or not to make a serious run at Phil Jackson, who is spending a year (at least) in retirement and
Pencils down and papers forward, please. Here are my grades on how teams did at the trading deadline. We aren’t going to evaluate whether Dallas was helped or hindered by Thursday’s wheeling and dealing. The Mavericks – and 13 other teams – didn’t make a deal, so consider their grade to be incomplete. Or a withdrawal, if you prefer. No one got an F, although the Nets came awfully close. At the other end of the scale, the Rockets are officially the teacher’s
It’s another edition of Trade Spin, where we try to sort out the fantasy implications of yesterday’s deadline deals. Tomorrow, the Spin will return to our usual around-the-league format as we catch up on who’s hot and who’s not. The biggest news of a busy Thursday was the three-way swap that sends JaVale McGee to Denver, Nene to Washington and Nick Young to the Clippers. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Young, the former USC star, and means Randy Foye has
As expected, Rajon Rondo was on a mission against Jeremy Lin, with a triple double (18 PTS, 20 AST and an amazing 17 REB) and Paul Pierce was superb with 34, as the Celtics needed overtime to beat the Knicks. Lin had 14 & 5, Carmelo Anthony (25) and Amare Stoudemire (16 & 13) were solid and the New York bench outscored Boston’s 45-15, only to fall short. It was a great tipoff to a Sunday of hoops on TV. Elsewhere NJN
In many ways, the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers are mirror images of each other, which is why their meeting at the Wells Fargo Center is the NBA’s best game Wednesday night. Both the Nuggets and 76ers are taking a radical approach to success. Instead of fronting their roster with two or three superstars, they have – out of necessity – instead built deep teams with quality players. Both have eight players averaging better than eight points per game. Denver is 27-12
A pair of first-place teams who figure to be upwardly mobile in the next edition of Mark Heisler’s power rankings meet Saturday night in San Antonio when the Spurs host the Denver Nuggets. Neither team has a top 20 scorer, a top 20 rebounder or a top 10 assist man. However, both have established themselves as one of the league’s better teams in the early going. The Spurs are fourth in Heisler’s rankings. They have won two in a row, including Thursday’s demolition
“Timing is everything. Chemistry is something that you don’t just throw in the frying pan and mix it up with another something, then throw it on top of something, then fry it up and put it in a tortilla and put in a microwave, heat it up and give it to you and expect it to taste good. You know? For those of you who can cook, y’all know what I’m talking about. If y’all can’t cook, this doesn’t concern