NBA

[Grahaml]

Golden State and Atlanta just keep looking the sides to beat. I've been waiting for them both to cool off but if anything they're heating up. Outside those 2 standouts I think both conferences are going to tighten right up. OKC are 3 games behind #8 but it's just impossible to see them missing with Durant and Westbrook out there. Even just 1 of those guys would probably get them into the playoffs IMHO. But Phoenix, the #8 side are a pretty darn good outfit themselves so who the heck drops out? San Antonio and the Clippers are #7 and #6 and both are pretty strong looking sides with pretty significant leads over OKC. If Phoenix, as I think, miss out then they would be one of the strongest side to have ever missed the playoff boat. Come that last fortnight I reckon you might be seeing positions 2-10 changing daily with the Warriors sitting pretty watching the carnage and then being thrown into a tough, tough round 1 matchup.

The East, as usual, doesn't quite look as fiercely fought. Despite a lot of those sides seemingly improving in the off season and the major losers in Miami appearing to have not lost out as badly as predicted, the East looks even more pathetic than it did last year. At least this time last season Indiana and Miami were seen by many as the best 2 sides in the comp. Washington sit #2 and if they were in the East I reckon they miss. Cleveland had LeBron missing a big chunk and threw together a bunch of blokes who would have had very little history together. Even less than LeBron's last "big 3" endeavour. Yet they look if anything the second best side in the conference. That just 10 days or so from having a sub .500 record. Chicago should be better than they are. The blokes they have in place, they should be right up there with Atlanta but they might even miss out on home court if Cleveland keep up their recent form. Especially if the talk or Ray Allen to Cleveland eventuates. Seems a shame that 1 darn good side from the West will miss and 3 rather ordinary ones from the East will make it. Could be a long wait for the East champions before game 1 of the finals.

[Hazbeen]

Had $10 on the Celtics @ $21 to best the Warriors and they went down by 3....agh!!

[king neptune]

Great to see Joe Ingles and Dante Exum as the starting back court for the Jazz. Both had career best games recently.

[BZB27]

Kyrie Irving just dropped a NBA season high 55 points against the TrailBlazers as they win there 8th straight and Lebron didnt play because of a bad wrist. Irving also set a francishe record by dropping 11 3's.

[BZB27]

The Hawks beat the Trail Blazers to win there 18th straight game.

What an amazing run by a team that really didnt have a superstar in it.

[BZB27]

One of the worst games you will ever see on espn was the mavs heat game. Both teams couldnt buy a bucket in the first half then miami was up by 14 points then the mavs went on a 21-0 run and the heat scored only 10 points in the last qtr. The only postive for the Heat was Whiteside had 14 rebounds in the first qtr to have a francishe record. He ended up with 24 rebounds and he is playing limited minutes.

[BZB27]

Atlanta tie there longest winning streak with 19 straight now.

Cleveland have now won 10 in a row aswell and are only a game behind Chicago for 4th spot in the East.
LeBron has been unstopable since have two weeks off.

[Grahaml]

With the way the results are looking likely to fall today, Cleveland will be 3.5 games behind Toronto for the #2 seed slot. Would be a brave person to bet against Cleveland making that up.

[BZB27]

Cleveland make it 12 in a row by beating the Clips today and with the Hornets beating the Wizards now pushes Cleveland into 3rd in the East.

[Grahaml]

Yep. Toronto, Chicago and Washington all dropping games lately and the Cavs just keep winning. Today's win was super emphatic without Irving even doing a lot. Love out of his shooting slump, J.R. Smith giving some nice shooting since he arrived and the Mozgov/Thompson tandem gives them some good value.

Seems Ray Allen will decide what he's doing after the all star break. If he picks the Cavs then I think that's another plus. Not sure he'd add a lot to Atlanta with their already impressive array of shooters. Would be bad news for Mike Miller, he'd probably find his minutes going straight to Allen. Would be a little fun to see if they tried a lineup of Allen, Smith, Miller, James and Love though. Undersized defensively at most positions so you couldn't maintain it for long (or at all against some sides) but you'd have to show everyone some serious respect.

[Grahaml]

Amar'e evidently having his contract with NY being bought up. Phil is really clearing the decks over there, dishing out most of his assets and not really bothering to get any. Seems a real genuine platform for a full rebuild through free agency or the draft. Which one might depend entirely on whether Carmelo sticks around. Pick up a couple of top level players, put solid role players who can defend in the mix and the top can be not far away. Miami did that only a few years ago so it's far from impossible. If they go through the draft though it could be a long, linely time. If they went that route and it paid off then it would really cement Phil's standing in the game but if not he might just be remembered for this as much as his championship years.

As for Stoudamire himself, reports are of him going to Dallas, San Antonio of Golden State. A Dallas side with Dirk, Monta and Amar'e might put up a lot of points but they'd probably need to. San Antonio feels like an odd fit to me. Golden State would be very interesting. Bogut a top notch defensive centre comes off and suddenly replaced by an offense first big man would really shift the focus for opposition teams and would give Steve Kerr a simple way to change gears in a game. Be a real case of the rich getting richer, but this feels like the best fit to me. Just depends on how much Amar'e really has left in the tank.

[Jim05]

Amar'e evidently having his contract with NY being bought up. Phil is really clearing the decks over there, dishing out most of his assets and not really bothering to get any. Seems a real genuine platform for a full rebuild through free agency or the draft. Which one might depend entirely on whether Carmelo sticks around. Pick up a couple of top level players, put solid role players who can defend in the mix and the top can be not far away. Miami did that only a few years ago so it's far from impossible. If they go through the draft though it could be a long, linely time. If they went that route and it paid off then it would really cement Phil's standing in the game but if not he might just be remembered for this as much as his championship years.

As for Stoudamire himself, reports are of him going to Dallas, San Antonio of Golden State. A Dallas side with Dirk, Monta and Amar'e might put up a lot of points but they'd probably need to. San Antonio feels like an odd fit to me. Golden State would be very interesting. Bogut a top notch defensive centre comes off and suddenly replaced by an offense first big man would really shift the focus for opposition teams and would give Steve Kerr a simple way to change gears in a game. Be a real case of the rich getting richer, but this feels like the best fit to me. Just depends on how much Amar'e really has left in the tank.

Was always on the cards, unfortunately the Amare era didnt achieve the ultimate goal and his body just couldnt hold up.
Credit to him for doing the hard yards multiple times in regards to injury rehab, whatever he does im sure everyone in NY wishes him well. Now that the AS game is done its time to put Melo on ice and tank our way to the end of season

[Jim05]

Amare signs with the Mavs, good luck big fella.
No surprise that Melo booked in for knee surgery and will midd the rest of the season.
Looking like Dragic is leaving the Suns, trying to force a trade

[jakovasaurus]

Hopefully Amare can stay healthy and be the guy we need him to be off the bench, after Wright was traded.

Could be huge for us, could be a huge bust. Fingers crossed.

Suns should never have signed Thomas. Ruined that backcourt chemistry they had going last season. Oh wells.

[king neptune]

I'm still surprised the biggest front-runner in NBA history would take on a shambles of a team like the Knicks. That piece of crap James Dolan must have thrown a ton of cash at him.

If Phil Jackson stays true to form he'll walk away at the end of the season if the Knicks don't get the #1 pick. Then come straight back the next year if they do get the #1 pick lol

[Jim05]

I'm still surprised the biggest front-runner in NBA history would take on a shambles of a team like the Knicks. That piece of crap James Dolan must have thrown a ton of cash at him.

If Phil Jackson stays true to form he'll walk away at the end of the season if the Knicks don't get the #1 pick. Then come straight back the next year if they do get the #1 pick lol

Phil has always said one day he would come home to the Knicks.
I admire him for doing so in our current state and I believe he has even underestimated the job ahead. I hope he is in for the long haul but reckon Dolan will piss him off that much that he will be gone sooner than later

[Jim05]

Sad to hear of the passing of James "No Mercy" Kersey at the age of 52, only seems like yesterday he was winning the Championship at Spurs. Who can forget that magical Blazers side of the early 90's he was part of either

[king neptune]

I'm still surprised the biggest front-runner in NBA history would take on a shambles of a team like the Knicks. That piece of crap James Dolan must have thrown a ton of cash at him.

If Phil Jackson stays true to form he'll walk away at the end of the season if the Knicks don't get the #1 pick. Then come straight back the next year if they do get the #1 pick lol

Phil has always said one day he would come home to the Knicks.
I admire him for doing so in our current state and I believe he has even underestimated the job ahead. I hope he is in for the long haul but reckon Dolan will piss him off that much that he will be gone sooner than later

If he does transform the Knicks into anything at all resembling a contender it will be easily the most impressive off-court feat he's ever been a part of. Far more difficult than sitting back and watching Jordan add championships to his resume.

I think all Knicks fans should send Dolan an e-mail congratulating him on the fine job he's done, he responds very well to that!

[the milky bar kid]

KG comes back home!!!

[BZB27]

I have never seen so many trades i one day before.

To MIL: Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis, Miles Plumlee
To PHI: LAL pick (protected)
To PHX: Brandon Knight
—
To BOS: Isaiah Thomas
To PHX: Marcus Thornton, CLE pick
—
To DET: Reggie Jackson
To OKC: D.J. Augustin, Enes Kanter, Steve Novak, Kyle Singler
To UTA: Grant Jerrett, Kendrick Perkins, OKC round pick (protected), 2nd round pick
—
To BOS: Luigi Datome, Jonas Jerebko
To DET: Tayshaun Prince
—
To HOU: Pablo Prigioni
To NYK: Alexey Shved, 2 2nd round picks
—
To HOU: K.J. McDaniels
To PHI: Isaiah Canaan, 2nd round pick
—
To MIA: Goran Dragic, Zoran Dragic
To NOP: Norris Cole, Shawne Williams
To PHX: Danny Granger, Justin Hamilton, John Salmons, 2 1st round picks
—
To DEN:
To PHI: JaVale McGee, OKC pick (protected)
—
To BKN: Thaddeus Young
To MIN: Kevin Garnett
—
To SAC: Andre Miller
To WAS: Ramon Sessions
—
To DEN: Will Barton, Victor Claver, Thomas Robinson, POR pick (protected), 2nd round pick
To POR: Arron Afflalo, Alonzo Gee