Tuesday was not a good day for the Dallas Mavericks, or their master plan. The defending champions opened the second half of the season with a 93-92 home loss to the New Jersey Nets. Dallas played without forward Lamar Odom, still away from the team as he tends to a personal issue. Despite their championship pedigree, the Mavs played with little urgency, trailing for most of the night and turning on the switch only when the game needed to be reeled in.
Los Spurs. El Heat. Los Suns. Los Mavs. Now add the Orlando Magic to the list of NBA teams reaching out to their Hispanic and Latino communities. The team will wear jerseys emblazoned “El Magic” for three home games, starting Thursday vs. Oklahoma City. Here’s a look at it: Of course, the jersey is not entirely grammatically correct. Although the team’s nickname should stand and not translate, the phrase “the magic” is written and said, “la magia” in Spanish. The Magic will also wear the
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
Anybody want the Atlantic Division? The Nets don’t want it. They would much rather have Dwight Howard, who paid a visit to “The Rock” on Wednesday night and got the full recruiting pitch. In Orlando’s 108-91 road victory over New Jersey, Howard provided a complete showcase with 20 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks. He also made just 2-of-10 free throws and dropped below 50 percent (184-of-373) for the season. Nets fans couldn’t care less about the incessant clanging. They cheered Howard, chanted
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
The Dwight Howard trade chatter has died down over the past couple weeks, with most of the NBA believing the Orlando Magic will wait until the March 15 trade deadline to decide what to do with their soon-to-be-unrestricted free agent franchise center. But there is a piece of news out of the Bay Area this morning that should jump-start the rumor mill. Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle says the Golden State Warriors are going to be aggressive in trying to
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
Wednesday’s best NBA game has the first-place Philadelphia 76ers figuring out a way to defend Dwight Howard as they visit the Orlando Magic. Howard seems due for a big game, having managed 11 points and 14 rebounds at Milwaukee on Saturday and 11 points and seven rebounds as he was limited by fouls vs. Minnesota on Monday. Despite the drop in production from Howard, the Magic (18-11) won both games. His presence in the post allowed Orlando to make 27-of-67 3-pointers in