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.
The Bulls went into Cleveland on Thursday and pulled out a hard-fought win over the Cavaliers. It was a low-scoring, defensive struggle, as neither team shot the ball very well, so it's not surprising that the game came down to the final play.
LeBron James drove to the basket with three seconds left and his team trailing by one, and was met by two defenders when he got there -- Luol Deng, who was guarding him from the play's outset, and Joakim Noah, who came over to help at the last second. James appeared to jump into Noah, and there was definitely contact. But somewhat incredibly, the refs swallowed their whistles, and the Bulls won the game.
Was it the right call? Read on and judge for yourself.
You're going to have to forgive us here in the early season for a bit. If we don't report on trends that are developing, we're ignoring what we're seeing. If we do tell you what we see, we're over-emphasizing games that are so young in this season that they can't even legally get into a screening of New Moon.
Basically, that's my way of imploring you to remember that we do take these things with a gigantic mountain of salt, but here's what happened. And trust me, the Spurs are going to want to brush this one off.
The 2008 Bulls, hopefully, won't be remembered for defining mediocrity at 41-41. Instead, they'll likely be remembered for a thrilling first round series against the Boston Celtics in which were able to only do so much (it's italicized because it's a shoddy theme, y'all!) before heading home for the offseason.
And that offseason saw them very quickly lose -- even if it was expected -- their top scorer from last year. Ben Gordon's explosive, albeit one-dimensional, game will be missed a team that was already middle of the pack in terms of offensive efficiency last year. And John Salmons, a trade-deadline addition along with Brad Miller, will help counter Gordon's loss, but, guess what? He can only do so much.
There's always a fine line between unearthing a late-round sleeper and reaching on a hot name too soon, leaving proven talent left on the board. It happens every year, and in some cases can lead to an early stumble out of the gate. In other cases, however, taking a chance on a player with promise late in the draft might just improve your shot at winning your league. Just ask the guys who passed on Samuel Dalembert and Tyson Chandler and opted for Brook Lopez and Nene Hilario instead.
This is especially true when it comes to drafting centers, one of the thinner positions and one in which you are required to start two in most leagues. Based on the current average draft position (ADP), per Mock Draft Central (MDC) and Yahoo! (Y!), I will give you a list of five potential sleepers, or value picks.
Hard to believe that several NBA general managers can have regrets after two years, but it's true. The results of the 2007 NBA Draft are slowly reaping, which should teach a lesson to their 2009 brethren on Thursday about taking chances on raw college players, international prospects and even those who are allegedly "proven."
The biggest debate two years ago was whether the Portland Trail Blazers should take Greg Oden or Kevin Durant first overall. Oden was a franchise center out of Ohio State while Durant was the smooth scoring swingman from Texas. Durant had the better workout with the Blazers, apparently blowing the mind of coach Nate McMillan. Yet, the Blazers stuck with conventional thinking and took the big man.
Cherry Picking recaps the previous day's NBA playoff action.
That was some Game 6 between the Celtics and Bulls, wasn't it? Kirk Hinrich and Rajon Rondo mixing it up early, Ray Allen scoring 51 points, and the two teams taking three overtimes to decide that they're going to need a Game 7 on Saturday to ultimately sort things out. An absolutely epic NBA playoff game.
Unless, of course, you're a fan of either the Houston Rockets or the Portland Trail Blazers.
CHICAGO -- It was a primal scream, delivered with all the rock-star force and decibels that Joakim Noah could muster in a half-raucous, half-exhausted arena. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" he yelled, or something like that. After another three hours and 56 minutes of psychoball, part of an epic series with four overtime games, seven overtime periods, 65 ties, 105 lead changes, 16 stitches, a claw to the face and a slammed body into an NBA Cares advertisement, what else would The Greatest First-Round Series Ever do but produce a Game 7?
Calling Game 6 of Bulls-Celtics epic is a vast understatement. The game was completely unbelievable. As in, if you didn't see it, you wouldn't believe everything that happened actually happened. I don't doubt trying to dissemble the game into mere memories will drive some fans mad with anxiety and frustration.
The Bulls ended up victorious after four hours of battle with the defending champs. This series had already tied the NBA record for most overtime periods in a series ... before tonight's triptych of extra frames. And for each overtime, there was a mess of incredible and unforgettable plays.
Bulls 128, Celtics 127: Recap | Box Score | Scoreboard Series Tied 3-3 | Next Game: Saturday, 8 PM @ Boston
NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.
-- "Shaquille O'Neal didn't just stay an extra day in Dallas because, as he claims, he wanted to visit the Grassy Knoll. We're told the Suns legendary center also stayed behind because he thinks all the grass in Dallas might be greener – and that he is angling with Mavs owner Mark Cuban for an offseason trade to Big D." -- Mike Fisher, DallasBasketball.com
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 
You're going to have to forgive us here in the early season for a bit. If we don't report on trends that are developing, we're ignoring what we're seeing. If we do tell you what we see, we're over-emphasizing games that are so young in this season that they can't even legally get into a screening of New Moon. 
FanHouse 
There's always a fine line between unearthing a late-round sleeper and reaching on a hot name too soon, leaving proven talent left on the board. It happens every year, and in some cases can lead to an early stumble out of the gate. In other cases, however, taking a chance on a player with promise late in the draft might just improve your shot at winning your league. Just ask the guys who passed on 
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in 
Calling Game 6 of Bulls-Celtics epic is a vast understatement. The game was completely unbelievable. As in, if you didn't see it, you wouldn't believe everything that happened actually happened. I don't doubt trying to dissemble the game into mere memories will drive some fans mad with anxiety and frustration.
