New York may do EXACTLY what New York did in the last lockout season: Barley get into the playoffs but then make a crazy run. That season also had their star player (Ewing) battle injury, which ended up actually helping them sort of.

What's interesting out East is that the top two teams (Miami/Chicago) may end up playing the most dangerous teams in the first round (Orlando/Boston/New York). Those three teams have the talent to beat Miami/Chicago in a seven-game series. The other teams (Philly/Indiana/Atlanta) don't and would lose for sure against them.

The quality of play this season is finally picking up to standard level. The next few months are going to be awesome for any NBA fan.

First Yao, now the amazing Linsanity!

great game last night, lin is truly a star, want to see lin vs rubio tonight but not on national tv, any good links?

Simmmons pointed out that Carmelo Anthony has made history, for he is the first double "Ewing Theory" candidate, meaning that both Denver and New York are playing better without him. The Ewing theory refers to Pat leaving the Knicks in '98 only to have them go to the finals the very next year without him. Tiki Barber is another good example.

the Ewing theory is flawed though. The Knicks still got to the ECF with him. And they still lost the Finals. There are a lot better examples IMO of the main star of a team leaving and that team winning (Manning/Tennessee is honestly the better example).

Also, Denver didn't really get better overall without Melo. They're the same level team they were with him: a #3-#7 seed that will always be in the running but won't ever make it to the Finals. They pulled off a very good trade in getting rid of him that gave them a lot of depth. They still lack a 4th quarter guy though and thats the main reason why they arent legit contenders.

What a comeback win by the Knicks against the Wolves tonight 100-98.
Huge 3 by Steve Novak to tie it up at 98-98.
Jeremy Lin had a un-linsanity game with 20pts. His free throw put the Knicks in the lead for good.
But also had a bad 2nd half only making 1 of 12 field goals

Knicks have an three straight easy games (Toronto, Sacremento, New Orelneas). They need to get three straight wins there. After that, they pretty much have tough opponents all the way till mid-March.

HOLY LIN

this shit is at Tebow level now.

Dayum

Lin + Amare = Lin Fuego

its hilarious that despite winning six straight games, the Knicks are still under .500.

That was a pretty damn epic ending to that game. BALLS.

They were 8-15 on Feb 3rd when they lost to Boston.
After that it's Lintory

Bostons done. This team is not winning four games against Miami or Chicago.

If they're smart, they'd trade Ray Allen. Get some young guys for him while you can.

Friday and Sundays performances by the Knicks just show why they are a scary team to play and yet not legit contenders to win it. When they're hitting their 3-ball like they did today (12-29), they can beat anybody. When they don't (4-24 on Friday), they can lose to anybody. In one series, they can get hot enough. But over the course of the entire playoffs? Not likely.

Durant and Westbrook combine for 91.

What was overshadowed in that amazing game was that Ibaka had 11 blocks

and a triple double
14 PTS + 15 REB + 11 BLK

lol, sucks their defense wasn't good enough that they had to have Durrant & Westbrook score 91 points

they are soooo going out in the 2nd round of the playoffs

Even though I picked the Thunder to get to the Finals, I'm starting to think they actually won't. Clippers, Mavs, Spurs, or Grizziles could all easily beat them in a seven-game series as long as their healthy. There's just something missing from this team.

It's a shame that the Sonics moved and both Oden/Roy got injured. A few years back, I was thinking the Western Conference would turn into this great northwest battle between Portland and Seattle that would last for years. Would have been horrible for ratings but would have been a great rivalry. First ever northwest rivalry outside of college.

Philly has lost 5 in a row and the Knicks are catching up.

Exciting season so far. Especially in the West. 3 to 13 separated by only 6.5 games. By contrast, in the east 3 to 13 is separated by 12.5 games. And will Orlando trade Howard or make one last title run? I say go for it. Anyone can win this year.

Final Four in the NBA playoffs
Heat
Bulls
Spurs
Mavs

book'em, Danno!

Anyone in the West can win it. Out East, its really just Miami or Chicago.

The problem with trading Dwight though is that its kind of silly to trade him within conference because you really don't end up helping your team because you're making a really shitty team (the Nets) become a top 5 team in the conference. The other problem though is that none of the teams out West can really give you anything for Dwight.

Orlando would be better to just let Dwight go and have him sign with Dallas or Lakers (which are the two teams he likely would end up with in free agency) and then rebuild with mid-level guys rather than trade him to the Nets for some guys that only make you marginally better but make your competition significantly better.

Could get DeAndre Jordan from the Clips. Better than Brook Lopez, but not quite as good as Bynum.

That doesn't make any sense. They'll either have to offer him what he wants or they have to be content with the fact that they won't be a good team for several years whether he's traded or leaves on his own. Why would they just let him go without at least getting a draft pick from some team? Who cares if he goes to a team within the conference? They won't be good enough to compete with those teams for several years.

The only way they don't trade him is if they're sure they can lock him up to a deal, and that's very unlikely.