Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 4:13 pm  |  54 responses

L.O.N. – James’ Historic Series

And the battle of the triple-double machines.

Dunk Contest? Really?

by Shannon Booher

Line Of The Night:

LeBron James — 36 points, 13 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

Sure, the Detroit Pistons’ wives, girlfriends and children would have put up a better fight in this series, but Bron’s output is nonetheless historic. He joined Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird as the only players to ever average 30 ppg, 10 rpg and 7 apg in a post season series. You’re all welcome.

Worst Of The Night:

The other Spurs:

Matt Bonner, Drew Gooden, Roger Mason, Kurt Thomas, Ime Udoka — a combined 0-15 from the floor

That’s horrid. And if those guys failed, then Michael Finley got a D- with his 2-6 performance. Probably the most disappointing of these guys is Mason, he of the regular season hype. If the Spurs hope to do the impossible, we’re guessing these guys will need to hit at least one shot in Game 5.

Fat Lever Of The Night:

Rajon Rondo — 25 points, 11 boards, 11 assists, 2 steals

Kenny Smith verbalized the Fat Lever comparison, and Rondo put down the nasty statline. But despite the brilliant game, did he end up preventing a win with that pull up J at the end of OT 1? Even if Doc called the play for him, he needs to get into the lane, and not pull up for a 22-foot J. Or better yet, ignore the coach and get the ball into the hands of the guy that keeps hitting clutch shot after clutch shot — Ray Allen.

Near Fat Lever Of The Night:

Derrick Rose — 23 points, 11 boards, 9 assists

A few days ago we put Courtney Lee at the top of the Playoff rookie pack. We’re sorry, Mr. Rose. The crown is yours.

Near Beast Of The Night:

Dwight Howard — 18 points, 18 boards, 3 blocks, 1 steal

The stat Sour seriesline looks dominating, but you couldn’t really tell it during the game. The Magic barely eeked by the Sixers on a game-winning 3 by the Turkish Michael Jordan. This series is up for grabs.

Contraction Club Of The Night:

Atlanta Hawks — 78 points vs. Miami

The team was terrible on Saturday, but we really want contracted is Coach Hootie’s ridiculous goatee.

Detroit Pistons — 78 points vs. Cleveland

Good gracious… put these cats out of their misery. The Pistons performance this season can only be described as sad and depressing.

Question Of The Night:

Prior to a free throw on Saturday in N’Awlins, what could have made both ‘Melo and Peja laugh, simultaneously? Do we need a buddy copy movie starring those two?

I. Will. Not. Lose. Of The Night:

Kobe Bryant — 38 points, 6 boards, 2 steals, 1 assist

The Kobster wasted no time in Game 4. Early in the first quarter he started systematically ripping the heart out of each and every member of the Jazz organization, taking a bite out of it, then throwing it on the court and stomping on it. Not sure if Phil Jackson yelled: “FINISH HIM!!!” in the midst of this.

Really Ryan Hollins? Come on, settle down… What is wrong with the New Orleans crowd? Awesome participation in the t-shirt promotion, sure, but the place sounded like a library… Nice to see Travis Outlaw join the Playoff festivities finally… Did the NBA actually murk the Playoffs marketing game this year? Kanyeezy? The slow-mo orchestra joints? Never thought amazing would happen in the NBA marketing offices…

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  • Moose Posted: Apr.27 at 4:18 pm
    An “I told you so” about Rajon Rondo is due here.

  • GotHandles? Posted: Apr.27 at 4:24 pm
    LBJ poops on Kobe. Unanimous MVP

  • L.O.N. » Blog Archive » Line Of The Night 04/25/2009–04/26/2009 NBA Basketball Posted: Apr.27 at 4:28 pm
    [...] As seen on SLAMOnline: [...]

  • Mendel Posted: Apr.27 at 4:28 pm
    How about dunk of the night? LeBrons super duper windmill.

  • Ryne Nelson Posted: Apr.27 at 4:29 pm
    Ryan Hollins has to win the award for most annoying player on the court. And this isn’t a new thing. Dude was talkin’ from the moment he stepped on the floor with Charlotte. He’s been picking up unnecessary taunting Ts throughout his brief career.

  • Mendel Posted: Apr.27 at 4:29 pm
    Can Lebron do a double windmill in next years dunk contest?

  • Ryne Nelson Posted: Apr.27 at 4:31 pm
    Mendel, CWebb had a good point — Lebron shouldn’t be in the Dunk Contest because he wouldn’t take it seriously. Stuff like last night is much better than I can see him doing in the actual contest.

  • Jukai Posted: Apr.27 at 4:31 pm
    I’m finally going to have to start acknowledging Rondo as an all-star level guard. I can’t believe how well the dude is playing.
    That being said, he REALLY needs to learn how to shoot.

  • Jukai Posted: Apr.27 at 4:32 pm
    Ryne: That’s absolutely awful and untrue. Lebron is a baller first, but a showman close second. He’s ALL about making it look good. You think he wouldn’t try his damndest to put on a show at all-star Saturday? Webber doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.

  • Izzo Posted: Apr.27 at 4:32 pm
    Ryne:Someone should remind him that he’s Ryan Hollins.

  • Z Posted: Apr.27 at 4:33 pm
    in the same way that nash REALLY needed to play D to be an all-star/mvp?

  • Ryne Nelson Posted: Apr.27 at 4:38 pm
    @Jukai, I see what you’re saying. But honestly, LeBron’s in-game power dunks are all he has. He can try all he wants to pull off acrobatic competition crams, but I doubt he’ll be any more impressive (or more creative) than Dwight Howard.

  • Z Posted: Apr.27 at 4:39 pm
    co-sign juks. cwebb is talking out of his arse, if lbj signs up for the dunk contest best believe he’s going to make a grandiose show out of it. no props, no nothing : just four filthy dunks.

  • Z Posted: Apr.27 at 4:40 pm
    ryne, it’s not all he has buyt all you’ve seen! how would you know that dwight could get creative based on his in-game dunks?

  • Jukai Posted: Apr.27 at 4:45 pm
    co-sign Z. After that insane pre-game dunk where he put the ball through his legs and simultaneously threw it against the backboard, ran up to catch the ball and herky jerky bring it down and then up to slam it down… well, he’s got more than one dunk, I’ll tell you that!

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Apr.27 at 4:51 pm
    maybe you are all forgetting lebrons incredibly boring performance in the mcds dunk contest. all he did was throw it off the glass then hard tomahawk. he actually did the exact same dunk twice and got perfect scores. he has no tricks, just jump high and dunk hard. windmill and tomahawk is all he has. jr giddens was doing crazy things but got hurt in the finals so lebron won by default.

  • Z Posted: Apr.27 at 4:54 pm
    tarzan might be forgetting that that was 6 years ago.

  • Z Posted: Apr.27 at 4:57 pm
    wow crazy to think that giddens and james were in the same mickey d’s game and jr JUST got to the L.

  • kwame Posted: Apr.27 at 5:20 pm
    at the end of the day…nike wins

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Apr.27 at 5:21 pm
    z, lebron has no tricks, thats the point. jr transferred so he sat out for a year.

  • Big J Posted: Apr.27 at 5:27 pm
    Tarazan how do you know he has no tricks nobody even knew Spudd webb could dunk let alone win a dunk contest

  • nbk Posted: Apr.27 at 5:30 pm
    Tarzan what are you going to do if LeBron does 6 different dunks from the FT line? He doesn’t need that many tricks, he can do everything everyone else can do from farther away.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Apr.27 at 5:48 pm
    nbk, its crazy things people say like that that convince me the fluoride in the water is working.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Apr.27 at 5:51 pm
    lebron is scared of being exposed to get in the dunk contest. if he was going to do it, he would have done it years ago. and why wouldnt he? the marketing/money/etc would be tremendous. hes scared. jr smith would make lebron quit, let alone jrich. get fn lucid!

  • Izzo Posted: Apr.27 at 6:06 pm
    Clearly JR Giddens is the superior basketball player.Jesus.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Apr.27 at 6:16 pm
    izzo gets it.

  • Anton Posted: Apr.27 at 6:22 pm
    LEBRICK SUX!!! HE DUNKS HARD CUZ HE’S ON STEROIDS WHY SHULD IT MATTER IF KOBE IS MVP? LEBROOM AINT GOT NO KILLER INSTICT HE NEVER FINISHES GAMES SO HE CAN JUST WATCH KOBE MVP WIN IT ALL THIS YEAR LIKE A LEBCRAB THAT HE IS…KOBE MVP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • nate the great Posted: Apr.27 at 6:36 pm
    cosign anton, haha jk.
    hmm, both sides i can see being possibly.
    Lebron does have everything to be a great dunker, but i havnt seen anything from games or highlights. iv never even seen him pull off a 360. but i feel jr smith, or jrich would murder him in a contest. i feel like those players could pull more off than a lebron tomahawk.
    but its all up to judges. they are getting r@ped by lebron just as much as david stern.
    Roy for mvp.

  • Anton Posted: Apr.27 at 6:40 pm
    Is Dwight Howard’s religion holding him back? The bible teaches to turn the other cheek when slapped, not take over 4th quarters.

  • playboy Posted: Apr.27 at 6:44 pm
    by the way, he wouldnt be averaging that if the cavs weren’t averaging more than 20 free throws more than the pistons were. so far there has been do disparity like that in the WHOLE FIRST ROUND. we havn’t seen something like this before wade won the finals by himself at the freethrow line. and slam compared his performance to jordans. GET THE FUUUUK OUTTA HERE WIT DEM SUPERSTAR CALLS

  • Bryan Posted: Apr.27 at 6:55 pm
    No one is a better dunker than josh smith.

  • Bryan Posted: Apr.27 at 6:58 pm
    In lebrons defense though.. Nique was pretty much a power windmill off the backboard guy and his dunks were pretty f*cking amazing. Also lebrons hang time/ power combo is unmatched in the league right now. He could probably dunk from the free throw line with unseen authority.

  • MeloMan13 Posted: Apr.27 at 7:11 pm
    @ Bryan: VC was/is/will always be the best
    and nick young needs to get in on this

  • Chukaz Posted: Apr.27 at 7:22 pm
    LeBron ain’t got sh*t. He always jumps off of one foot and always does a crappy tomahawk or windmill (which doen’t look cool when done off one foot). Good dunk contest dunkers can jump off two feet (see: Richardon, Jason & Canada, Air). With all that said, I still think that LeBron will win cuz of the judges and fans sucking his c0ck!

  • Chukaz Posted: Apr.27 at 7:24 pm
    @Bryan: I don’t think he can dunk from the free throw line. Maybe when he was younger, lighter, and leaner. @270 lbs? I don’t think so.

  • lol Posted: Apr.27 at 7:56 pm
    he did it from like a foot inside the line IN-GAME this season. youtube it.

  • Todd Spehr Posted: Apr.27 at 8:26 pm
    Rondo needs to improve his jumper. Once he does, then he WILL be Fat Lever

  • BostonBaller Posted: Apr.27 at 9:07 pm
    I co-sign The Moose ion his 1st comment. The world thought we were blowing green smoke up their tale pipes..lol As far as James and the dunk contest goes I think he would get some 10′s b/c of who he is but unless he has some stuff in his arsenal that he doesn’t show during games then he is a better in game dunker than contest dunker. He does get up pretty high though. Wilkins looked pretty good doing his windmills but not enough to actually beat a stylish dunker. There are only so many times you can be amazed at a tomahawk or windmill. Rondo WILL improve his J if he works out with Ray.

  • Anton Posted: Apr.27 at 9:36 pm
    @ Chukaz: he dunked from the free throw line against the Bucks this season, didn’t look like he was trying. Thanks for coming out.

  • Dacre Posted: Apr.27 at 10:52 pm
    rajon rondo is the fastest talker in the L… I think Lebron could throw down in the dunk comp. jumping over stuff…forget Nate’s krytonite dunk… I’d give the man the trophy if he just waltz straight down the lane, stepped ON NATE and took off (one foot of course) for a standard hammer dunk. easy 50.

  • madamerica Posted: Apr.27 at 11:00 pm
    wow what’s going on in the big easy? 113-56?!?! is this a joke?

  • Jukai Posted: Apr.28 at 12:03 am
    Are Chukaz and Tarzan the same person? They both seem to have the same limited mental capacity and raw, unadulterated hatred for Lebron James.
    Lebron can probably reverse dunk it from the free-throw line. His hang time is tremendous.
    I mean, from my memory, Michael Jordan really only had two JAW DROPPING dunks in-game, and the rest were just really high power dunks over seven footers. He had some ridiculous all-star game dunks.

  • Jukai Posted: Apr.28 at 12:04 am
    And JR Smith is a failure of a dunker. Hasn’t, well, just about EVERY SINGLE TIME HE’S ENTERED THE CONTEST proved that? Dude can’t seem to do anything he sets out to do.

  • Z Posted: Apr.28 at 1:05 am
    1) I don’t know why people are so enamored with the in-game 360, it’s quite an easy dunk. Everybody with average leaping ability can pull it off. 2) Tell me what superstar has time to waste with complicated in-game dunks (Not guys liek Ricky Davis, JR Smith or J-Rich). Kobe? Nope. Wade? Nope. LBJ? Nope. Does that mean that they CAN’T do anything else in the air? Well if you’re a moron, you’d come to that conclusion. 3) Chuckaz… sit yo a– down. You’ve been exposed by saying that LBJ couldn’t dunk from the ft line, you’re obviously talking out of your a–.

  • Joel O's Posted: Apr.28 at 1:10 am
    121-63?!! Good f*cking grief.

  • jaymes Posted: Apr.28 at 2:29 am
    This is some of the dumbest sh)t you’ll ever read..There’s cats on here saying Lebron can only jump off one foot, and only has power dunks?…Do ya’ll ever actually watch games or just catch Sportscenter?

  • Hisham Posted: Apr.28 at 4:20 am
    kobe has done the in game 360 many a time

  • Manumaniac Posted: Apr.28 at 4:51 am
    Lebron is awesome and Kobe is great. But if I had to choose the player who has impressed me the most in this year’s playoffs so far, that would be Chauncey Billups. And that’s not only because of his impressive numbers (25.0 points, 6.5 assists), but because of the fact that he’s been so productive playing against the best point-guard in the league (Chris Paul). I mean let’s face it: Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton were not a match for Lebron. And Kobe can beat Kirilenko, Brewer and Korver even with his right hand tied up. But Chauncey is really drawing a msterpiece in front of our eyes as we speak. Let’s give him credit for that!

  • Manumaniac Posted: Apr.28 at 4:55 am
    P.S.: Saying that Rip Hamilton and Prince are not a match for Lebron doesn’t mean that these two are not good players (especially Rip, a 3-time All Star). But that’s how great Lebron has become!

  • J. Posted: Apr.28 at 9:10 am
    @ Ryne….Mendel, CWebb had a good point — Lebron shouldn’t be in the Dunk Contest because he wouldn’t take it seriously. CWebb didn’t say Lebron wouldn’t take it seriously. He said that the fans and the judges wouldn’t appreciate his dunks because the expectations would be so high, so he shouldn’t do it.

  • Jukai Posted: Apr.28 at 9:11 am
    Manumaniac: I’m not sure I agree. Lebron really isn’t ALL that great. I mean, he can’t even dunk off two legs!

  • Jukai Posted: Apr.28 at 9:17 am
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSZY75UC8m0
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMtK48c3y2M
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLx8tyydzLM
    Yeah, this dude just can’t dunk.

  • Manumaniac Posted: Apr.28 at 9:19 am
    Jukai,
    Hahaha, that was a good one! Really!

  • MooButter Posted: Apr.28 at 11:33 am
    Lebron might be able to dunk from the three point line.

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