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.
If you're not a close follower of the NBA, then just six games or so into the season, we can't necessarily hold it against you if the name Tyreke Evans doesn't ring a bell. Besides being a rookie, Evans plays for the Sacramento Kings, a team that won just 17 games a season ago, and figured to be about as bad this year with stud scorer Kevin Martin sidelined indefinitely with an injury.
But after what Evans did to Deron Williams in leading his undermanned team to a road win in Utah on Saturday, he won't remain anonymous to basketball fans for much longer.
Atlanta's trade acquisition of Jamal Crawford was seen either as a questionable ploy to correct the Hawks' most deafening weakness (bench guard play), or a quiet coup bound to boost the team to solid ground. Atlanta coach Mike Woodson -- a fundamental-focused, stoic defensive mind -- figured into the argument of the former. Crawford is a mysterious player, not conducive to Woodson's dependency on consistency (Josh Smith aside).
But the latter has actually been true: Woodson seems to really understand what Crawford offers, and Jam has rewarded the coach with stellar play through five games. Atlanta is sitting pretty at 4-1 after a successful 2-1 road swing. And Crawford is having the best season of his career so far.
Joe Johnson wants to believe that his Atlanta Hawks are on the verge of being contenders in the Eastern Conference. They should be getting close.
But going into the start of the NBA's regular season next week, Johnson isn't so sure anymore.
"Sometimes, I can't tell if we really want it,'' Johnson told FanHouse after his Hawks were embarrassed by a 37-point loss Friday night in their final exhibition game by the Orlando Magic. "It's discouraging. Sometimes, you never know what you're going to get from this team. And that won't work.''
There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.
Here's a quick look at the trades that went down and what they mean:
The Thinking: The Cavaliers get an aging O'Neal, with the hope that he can have a productive year playing alongside LeBron James. The only way this trade is a success is if the Cavaliers are the 2009-10 NBA champions. For the Suns, trading O'Neal means that they are beyond tinkering and are leaning toward turning over the personnel of a team that missed the playoffs last season.
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.
One of the factors leading to the lack of respect Chris Paul receives from some quarters is that his numbers often look muted. Sure, 22 points, 11 assists and three steals a game looks lovely. But it doesn't get mentioned with the gaudy numbers of Wade or Kobe. Paul's Q rating comes from his leadership and playmaking, not his stat line. That's criminal! His stat line is amazing.
New Orleans plays slow -- No. 28 in the league in possessions per game. This serves to dampen Paul's numbers. As such, when the Hornets (are forced to) play quicker, Paul puts up ridiculous numbers. Like 43 points, nine assists and three steals.
Stephen Jackson is shutting it down because of a nagging toe injury. If there's one guy you can't fault for calling it a season, it's Jackson. He's battled through injuries, through an embarrassing season, through the complete lack of a plan formulated by the franchise heads. And with the playoffs long ago a dream, there's just not much point in pushing what is probably a pretty painful injury any further.
But what are the long term goals of this club anyway? And how does this affect Jackson's future?
The Warriors swapped Al Harrington for Jamal Crawford earlier this season mostly because Don Nelson and Harrington couldn't get along. Now, Nelson wants Crawford to leave, telling the guard in a recent team meeting that if he doesn't grab hold of his own destiny by opting out at the end of the season then the Warriors will make every effort to trade him.
Matt Watson noted Friday that Don Nelson planned on sitting a few healthy Warriors veterans in order to clear some minutes for the team's youngsters. Friday night's home game against the Bobcats constituted the first use of the tactic, with Jamal Crawford sitting down.
How'd it go? The Warriors lost by three. Crawford's replacement, second-year player C.J. Watson, shot poorly and turned the ball over three times. Fans have complained about the apparent tanking. And Crawford's agent, Aaron Goodwin, is not one bit pleased.
Jamal Crawford will be a spectator tonight, watching from the bench as the Warriors host the Bobcats. Is he injured? Not at all. Suspended? Hardly. Instead, he's the victim one of Don Nelson's whims.
Despite the fact that Golden State's backcourt is already short-handed -- Monta Ellis (ankle) has already missed one game and will likely miss several more -- Nelson decided that tonight is a good time to begin randomly benching veterans in order to give younger players more playing time. C.J. Watson is expected to start, and Anthony Morrow and Marco Bellinelli should see a few more minutes, as well.
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.
Atlanta's trade acquisition of 
Joe Johnson wants to believe that his 
There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." 
Ah, it's that magical time of the season. 
The Warriors swapped 
Matt Watson noted Friday that 
