FanHouse TonyParker

Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash presented the 2nd annual "Showdown in Chinatown" charity soccer event on Wednesday in downtown New York City. The game benefited the Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna Foundations, and was an 8-on-8 match filled with NBA and soccer greats. Predictably, NBA stars Chris Bosh and Grant Hill didn't fare as well as the likes of Thierry Henry and Edgar Davids. However, international hoopsters, Nash and Tony Parker, definitely held their own on the pitch. Okay, now I'm just name-dropping. Check out FanHouse's look at what was a fun, if not somewhat awkward, game of soccer. The video is below.

San Antonio needed a major infusion of offensive talent this season, and it appears the team has found it. Multiple league reports indicate the Spurs have traded for Milwaukee's Richard Jefferson, sending away only bit players Bruce Bowen (age 38), Kurt Thomas (age 36) and Fabricio Oberto (age 34), according to Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jefferson has been in Wisconsin for one year, following last June's draft day trade which sent Yi Jianlian and others to New Jersey. Jefferson has always been a moderately efficient scorer, and he should provide some relief for Tony Parker and Tim Duncan in the Spurs starting line-up. He's not quite an ace defender, but he played hard for Scott Skiles last season and hasn't missed a game in two seasons.

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It feels strange to even type it, but it's true: the Spurs have been eliminated in the first round, losing to the Mavericks on Tuesday night 106-93 and ending a streak of eight consecutive seasons in which the Spurs won at least one playoff series.

At least there's no confusion about what the Spurs need to do this summer: get deeper. This team never bounced back from the loss of Manu Ginobili, as even huge games from Tim Duncan (30 points, eight boards) and Tony Parker (26 points, 12 assists) weren't enough to keep this game competitive.

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One question for the San Antonio Spurs: Now what?

Sure, it's possible the Spurs can put together a nice effort on their homecourt in Game 5 on Tuesday night and push their series against the Mavericks to a sixth game in Dallas.

And maybe the Spurs could even follow that up with an unlikely Game 6 win on the road and make their first-round series a seven-gamer.

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It's an argument that's been around for a little while. Which would you rather have: a great point guard or a great big man?

It's a legitimate debate and a strong case can be made for each position. But this year, point guards are winning the matchup.

Yes, if this postseason has proven anything it's that you better have a pretty good point guard – or at least a point guard playing very well – if you hope to do any damage. And if you don't have one, then you better be sitting with one of the league's true stars.

Spurs lightning bolt Tony Parker ripped through the Mavericks Monday night on his way toward 38 points on 72 percent shooting and, of course, a Game 2 victory. Given the defensive backcourt struggles Dallas has had all season, this is not a surprise. Heck, in the first half of Game 1 Parker had his way with Jason Kidd!

But enlightened Mavericks center Erick Dampier has a solution for Thursday's Game 3 in Big D: beat the snot out of the Frenchman.

Cherry Picking recaps the previous day's NBA playoff action.

Everyone's eyes were on Bulls rookie Derrick Rose heading into Monday's Game 2, and in hindsight that worked out perfectly for the Celtics. On the heels of his 36-point, 11-assist explosion in Game 1, expectations and accolades had skyrocketed out of control.

How did Rose handle the pressure? On the surface, not very well: he finished with just 10 points and seven assists.

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The time has come. Playoffs. And you know what that means. No, not obnoxious commercials that dig into your skull. FanHouse Live Blog Fun Partytime! We'll be here all night, with two live blogs to keep you entertained on a Saturday night!

It all starts with Mavs at Spurs at 8PM EST. Can the Mavericks continue their hothand into the playoffs against a wounded Spurs team? Can the Spurs pull one more run out of their hat, even with Manu Ginobili on the floor? Join us at 8PM EST and we'll find out.

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FanHouse previews the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

These two pillars -- the old Spurs and the, well, old Mavericks -- have been written off at various points of 2008-09. The Spurs were cast aside when Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker suffered early injuries and the team took its time to find itself in the West's top eight teams. The Mavericks? ... Well, every single day. But here we are, with both teams facing reasonable paths to the conference finals. Right?

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.

Dang, Dwyane Wade. Isn't a little late in the season to be dropping off 55-point games? The (soon-to-be) scoring champion can't hit the three ... except when he drops six of 12 from distance on his way to a marvelous 55-point effort in the waning days of the regular season.

Of course, something was in fact at stake: Miami clinched the No. 5 seed in the East with the victory. That means Atlanta instead of Orlando in the first round. But Wade also made his final plea for MVP consideration with the effort. After a Brett Pollakoff-led assault on LeBron's predestined status, Kobe Bryant has likely supplanted Wade as the No. 2 choice. That won't do, men. That won't do.