It was the major battle of the losers with the Knicks facing off against the Nets. The Knicks needed to defeat the winless Nets to maintain dominion over the New York area.

New York Knicks 98 New Jersey Nets 91

You don’t really need to have attended this game and you do have to wonder why anyone actually did attend this game, but let’s set the scene for what kind of atmosphere was prevailing.

There were sloppy passes and errant shots, but at least it was fun for the kids, who got to see Dora the Explorer come on the court a few times and a half-deflated Elmo balloon hover over it during much of the second quarter.

And there were plenty of items tossed into the stands during giveaways — not counting Chandler’s pass that landed in the fourth row.

Sure it was messy, but these teams expected a tough go of it this season while building for the future.

During a second-quarter timeout, YES Network showed next summer’s projections for available salary cap space, where the Nets are expected to slightly edge the Knicks with around $24 million.

But the plan to save money to be aggressive in free agency leaves neither team with much hope of being competitive now. The worst start in franchise history had the Knicks considering Allen Iverson before ruling it out Friday.
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NBAObsessed wrote about the Allen Iverson possible signing before.

——Iverson to Knicks, but Brandon Jennings not——

It really got ugly just before the half when Nate Robinson did the most unthinkable thing of all. He shot the ball into the wrong basket from 30 feet on purpose. Yes, on purpose!

So there you have it, two teams going nowhere thinking with extra manufactured cap space they kind sign all kinds of players and go somewhere. They better hope their strategy works.

Now stops and think about this for a minute. Who do the Knicks and Nets want the most? Ahh, that is right, LeBron James. The Knicks and Nets have to realize that their ineptitude in both playing and managing the teams will drive stars like LeBron away. They do realize that, don’t they?

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Post from: NBA Obsessed

Sometimes we see players and forget that they are a legend in the making, a special player that has done it so well for so long that we take it for granted that it is just the way it is done, that it is nothing special at all. There are a handful of players in the league that present such a present even though we will remember and remark about them in the future. Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Shaq, and yes, even Allen Iverson.

Kobe went off for 40 points against my Pistons and no it did not hurt your intrepid author, because it is common knowledge that my Pistons play very little defense this year. Ben Wallace is too old and Tayshaun Prince cannot guard everyone. That does not diminish the feat of Kobe Bryant due to the fact that the Pistons are not allowing every team to have a 40 point scorer and most NBA players could not score 40 points in a game no matter what.

Think about it, 100 games of 40 points or more is a whole season plus playoffs of 40+ scoring games. That is truly remarkable and something we will remember and tell our grandsons.

One play in the game epitomizes the constant pressure that Kobe puts on teams. Oh, and a little bit of luck was involved too. Kobe had the ball and Ben Gordon was bodying up on him to discourage him from shooting. Kobe twisted and found himself guarded by Kwame Brown.

Suddenly, inexplicably, he turned his back to avoid the pressure of Detroit’s Kwame Brown and flipped the ball over his head. The ball rose in an arc and then fell through the basket as a sellout crowd of 18,997 roared its approval.

Bryant’s twisting, turning, no-look layup was the most improbable of all the 40 points he scored in the Lakers’ 106-93 victory over the Pistons. It certainly didn’t decide the game, but it was symbolic of his grit while playing with a nagging groin injury.

He simply refused to be denied while recording his 100th career game of 40 or more points. He also would not allow anyone or anything to prevent the Lakers from ending their two-game losing streak.

“It was a lucky shot,” he said
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One of my favorite moves by Kobe is when he jumps over the car. The video is faked, but it is hard to spot. Leave me a comment if you know how he did it, because NBAObsessed is sworn to secrecy.

Watch this YouTube.

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Post from: NBA Obsessed

What a tough choice for Ricky Rubio. He wants to go to the NBA right now. No waiting for Rubio. The NBA bargaining agreement prevents the Minnesota Timberwolves from contributing more than 500k to the buyout that Rubio will have to pay to leave his team in Spain.

This leaves Ricky with a huge bill to leave his team. 6.6 million bucks.

Ricky Rubio may not become a TWolve

He could leave for another team in Europe and that team would not have any pay restrictions and could just pay the buyout. There are teams waiting.

If Ricky can’t pay the buyout and does not come to Minnesota, they lose his rights.

Of course, Ricky could just stay with his team in Spain.

“I want to continue with the club but, after everything that’s happened, I don’t think they’re too comfortable having me in their squad,” Rubio said Wednesday. “I want to play in a winning team, on a team that can achieve many things.”

Rubio signed with Joventut at 14 years old, becoming the youngest player ever to play in a Spanish ACB League game. He rose to prominence over the next few years, playing for Spain’s silver medal-winning team in the Beijing Olympics at 17 and becoming a popular player thanks to his flashy passes and floppy hair.

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Photo source Newscom

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Post from: NBA Obsessed

Chauncey Billups is all the rage right now. It seems like everything he does works and everything he touches turns to gold. Gold Nuggets, that is.

Always known as a heady player when he was a Piston, nothing has changed while on the Nuggets. Check out this YouTube of Chauncey dropping the ball off of Kobe’s back to create a score.

If the Nuggets win they will have to point to Chauncey and say he led them there. Funny thing is, if Chauncey was still with the Pistons they might not have gone any further than they did. The Nuggets give Chauncey a chance to shine in a way that the Pistons would not have.

So please, Piston fans, understand why Chauncey had to go and wish him good luck with the Nuggets.

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Post from: NBA Obsessed