Tonight’s TNT doubleaheader includes the league’s two best teams and a strong contingent of All-Star Weekend participants. In the first game (7 p.m. ET), the Miami Heat (26-7, .788) hosts the New York Knicks (17-17, .500), while the Los Angeles Lakers (20-13, .606) travel to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder (26-7, .788). Miami and Oklahoma City are tied for the league’s top record. This marks the second of three meetings between New York and Miami. Despite hitting a season high
Wow, was Kevin Durant in a zone. KD had 51 points, a new career high, plus 8 REB, 5 3PTM, 3 AST, 4 STL and great shooting percentages. Russell Westbrook scored 40 (yes, that’s 91 for two guys!) with nine assists, and Serge Ibaka notched a triple-double the hard way: 14 PTS, 15 REB and 11 BLK. Somehow, the Nuggets took the game to overtime before losing. Arron Afflalo led Denver with 27 and Andre Miller chipped in 21 &
Amar’e Stoudemire is an afterthought, and Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler are hurt. So meet the new “Big Three” of the New York Knicks – Jeremy Lin, J.R. Smith and Steve Novak. The trio combined to lead the Knicks to a nationally televised 104-97 victory over the defending champion Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, their eight win in nine games. Remember the calls for coach Mike D’Antoni’s job and the blind hope that Baron Davis and his balky back would be the season’s savior?
Steve Nash, at 38, is about to play in his seventh career All-Star Game. 2012’s oldest NBA All-Star — he joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Karl Malone as the only All-Stars 38 years or older — is leading the league in assists (10.3 apg) and is third overall in field goal percentage (.563). Nash is on pace to lead the league in assists for the sixth time. Only Hall of Famer John Stockton has accomplished that feat, having led the NBA in that category nine times.
NEW YORK — Linsanity has been rewarded by the folks working in commissioner David Stern’s office. Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week for games played Monday, Feb. 6, through Sunday, Feb. 12. Lin led the Knicks to a 4-0 week, averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals. His 109 points over his first four career starts are the most by
Lakers forward Pau Gasol received news right before the game that he was not selected for the All-Star Game. He let the Celtics know how he felt about the snub with 25 points, 14 rebounds and a game-saving block to help beat the Lakers escape Boston with an 88-87 overtime win. Kobe Bryant scored 27 points and made a handful of tough shots but was generally ineffective down the stretch. He missed a potential game-tying shot at the end of the fourth
Dirk? Apparently, the Western Conference coaches chose this year’s All-Star reserves based upon last year’s accomplishments. The 14 All-Star reserves were announced tonight on TNT, and there were a couple of surprises. None was bigger than the selection of Nowitzki, who is averaging the lowest numbers since his sophomore season. His points per game (17.6) are down 5.4 from last season, his field-goal percentage has dropped from.517 to .461, and whose 3-point percentage has nosedived from .393 to .211. He even acknowledged recently
