Mike Miller may not look all that manly to most these days, given his unfortunate choice of hair styles. But after the way he competed in Wednesday night's close loss to the Miami Heat, there's certainly no questioning his toughness.
Miller came out of the game early in the third with an injured left shoulder, and headed to the locker room for some treatment. It was considered a mild sprain at the time, and since it was his non-shooting shoulder, he re-entered the game late in the period.
Miller played through until early in the fourth, when he hit the deck on a drive to the basket, and landed on the already injured shoulder. The man was in visible agony, but as you'll see in the following video, he managed to stay in the game long enough to make the highlights.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
The last time we got together, three different players scored 40 points or more on the same night. Well, maybe it's not as rare of an occurrence as we thought, since we were just a single point away from it happening again on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON -- Peel off the cobwebs. Get out the dust pan. One of the NBA's best shootouts is back.
There was a time in the middle of this decade when Dwyane Wade and Gilbert Arenas conjured up some Wild West battles even though both play in the East.
In 2005-06, in the four games the two met, Washington's Arenas averaged 32.3 points to 31.3 for Miami's Wade. Arenas had a 47-point game against the Heat and Wade had games of 41 and 40 points against the Wizards.
But then injuries hit both hard. Wade missed 62 games in 2006-07 and 2007-08 due to shoulder and knee problems. For Arenas, it was even worse as he missed 149 combined games in 2007-08 and 2008-09 because of knee trouble.
So when the two squared off Wednesday night at the Verizon Center, it was their first meeting since April 8, 2006.
The season is officially upon us. It tips off Tuesday night as the Cavaliers welcome the Celtics to town. This moment we've all been waiting for.
Of course it seems as though you've got your fantasy teams in order. You came up with a more creative team name than "[Your Last Name]'s Team" and you're pretty sure you're the team to beat. But before you go and slack off, there's still work to be done. You need to embrace the math that is the weekly lineup.
It's not quite as easy as playing Player A over Player B just because you drafted him three rounds earlier than Player B. Sure it's safe to say that you're going to start guys like LeBron James each week, no questions asked. But for several players on your team it's crucial to look at the schedule and team matchups in order to gain the upper hand.
Each week it shall be my duty to break down the upcoming schedule and point out a few of the more favorable, and not-so-favorable, matchups. This could help make those start/sit decisions a little easier.
With the start of the 2009-10 season looming, NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.
Madison Square Garden is the crown jewel of NBA arenas. It's the oldest building in the league, and has hosted a ton of special moments throughout its history. Many of those moments likely helped shaped the hoop dreams of many of the league's current stars.
Of course, no one had a greater influence on making MSG a special place to play than Michael Jordan (sorry, Knicks fans). Since Jordan, every NBA player has wanted to come to the Garden and put on a show.
ORLANDO -- Danny Granger has all the makings of a great player who may get lost for many years.
Playing for the Indiana Pacers already makes him look like he's standing alone on an island -- waiting to get rescued.
"It doesn't matter how many points you score. If you don't win games, no one really cares,'' Granger told FanHouse Wednesday night before the Pacers played the Orlando Magic. "I've proven I can score. Now I have to prove we can win.''
Granger averaged 25.8 points last season when he won the NBA's Most Improved Player Award, becoming the first player in league history to raise his scoring average by at least five points in three consecutive seasons.
DENVER -- Defending champion Spain is planning to have its best players for next year's World Championships in Turkey. The nation's top point guard is recommending that the Americans do the same.
"I think they've got to do that,'' Jose Calderon of the Toronto Raptors told FanHouse. "You cannot just play for the Olympics. I think that, if you want to be on the team, you've got to be in all the good tournaments, and that is a good tournament.''
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how many members of America's 2008 gold-medal Olympic team will return for the World Championships. Several top players, namely Cleveland's LeBron James, Miami's Dwyane Wade and Toronto's Chris Bosh, are wavering about committing.
It's not just the young guys like Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers who are expected to show considerably improvement this season with the Miami Heat.
The old guy thinks he'll improve more than anyone else on the roster, making him the determining factor in a better-than-expected season in South Florida.
Center Jermaine O'Neal, going into his 14th NBA season, understands the skepticism, but he also believes there is another All-Star season awaiting him.
Kevin Durant is not playing around anymore. Last season he joined the ranks of the elite fantasy ballers. Now he's hoping to make that final leap toward the top tier, which is the resting place of LeBron James and Chris Paul.
Fantasy Basketball Rankings: C | PF | SF | SG | PG
Dwyane Wade is coming off the most impressive season of his career, a yeoman effort that produced a scoring title and his first All-NBA First-Team selection.
He doesn't want a repeat. In this case, less could mean more.
Wade was sitting alone on the sideline before a recent exhibition game, watching several of his teammates in a casual shooting drill, contemplating how this season might unfold, and how he wants his role to change.
"If I don't have to score as much, it would be a good thing. It would mean other guys are stepping up, and I won't have to do it all,'' Wade told FanHouse. "It's good if I'm playing fewer minutes, too. I don't care about winning a scoring title. I want to win games.''
Mike Miller may not look all that manly to most these days, given his unfortunate choice of hair styles. But after the way he competed in Wednesday night's close loss to the Miami Heat, there's certainly no questioning his toughness.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. 
WASHINGTON -- Peel off the cobwebs. Get out the dust pan. One of the 
The season is officially upon us. It tips off Tuesday night 
With the start of the 2009-10 season looming, 
ORLANDO -- 
DENVER -- Defending champion Spain is planning to have its best players for next year's World Championships in Turkey. The nation's top point guard is recommending that the Americans do the same.
It's not just the young guys like 
Dwyane Wade
