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Tony Parker and Steve Nash collided in the San Antonio backcourt. The Spurs guard appeared to take the brunt of the hit and stayed down for more than 20 seconds.  His Phoenix counterpart extended a hand. Parker wiped a drop of blood from his nose, but it wasn't his. Instead, Nash needed the medical attention. His nose bled until referees ruled him unfit to stay on the court. He finished his gutsy 31-point performance with one ...

Mark Cuban stood at center courtùhis Metroplex-sized grin reaching the rafters of Cowboys Stadiumùand read the record-breaking number that completed his All-Star fantasy. There, at Jerry Jones' $1.15 billion hippodrome, 108,713 had congregated to watch the world's best athletes on mega high-definition TV screens that dwarfed the court and the exhibition played on it. The largest crowd ever to watch a basketball game witnessed a spectacleùthe kind of fireworks only Jones ...

Manu Ginobili threaded a gorgeous pass between two Dallas Mavericks defenders to Dejuan Blair, who slammed the ball with authority as he was fouled. The rookie forward swooshed the free throw, affording the San Antonio Spurs a 13-point third-quarter lead. For most of the night, the home team made the more athletic plays and looked younger and more equipped to win four playoff rounds. The supposed old fella, Tim Duncan, poured in a ...

The San Antonio offense took the night off in Toronto, and some foul free throw shooting sunk the Spurs against the defenseless Raptors. That blemish and a home stinker against theácrippled Portland Trail Blazers aside, the Spurs have won 11 of 14, with a 20-12 record on which to build and sole possession of fourth place in the Western Conference. That makes success this month all the more important, with a ...

The Houston Chronicle reported Monday that the Rockets and Tracy McGrady agreed Tuesday to seek a trade for the disgruntled guard. So, that's it folks. He's gone, packing his bags as I write this. Wrong. Not so fast. Since no one has authored the necessary in-depth look at why trading McGrady could prove more difficult than Ruben Studdard winning the 400-meter dash at the next Olympics, I will do the honors. This needs to ...

I made a list. You better believe I checked it twice. The objective: separate the NBA's naughty from the NBA's nice. Santa Kleeman completed some late deliveries to players, coaches, GMs, and one group of rambunctious fans. You must excuse my tardiness. I'm out of shape, not nearly as deft at the crossover orárunning on the breakáas the real Santa. That guy may be plump, but he knows where to go and how ...

When the NBA released its national TV schedule this fall, the Houston Rockets joined four other teams deemed not worthy of an appearance on ESPN, ABC, or TNT. The Toronto Raptors and Oklahoma City were each slated for one national TV appearance. The omission was understandable at the time. The NBA and its partnering networks still sell stars, and with Yao Ming out for the season and Tracy McGrady's return uncertain, the Rockets ...

Rick Adelman called the schedule given to his HoustonáRockets in December "utterly ridiculous." With four back-to-back sets slated in a 18-day span, including tough second-nighters in Denver and Orlando, his gripe with the schedule makers was understandable. This week, however, his team delivered the response he should have expected from the start. Instead of using the absurd itinerary as an excuse to flop like Derek Fisher and Manu Ginobili at a foul-drawing clinic, ...

Writer's note : Thanks to a Bleacher Report/NBA , Best Buy, HP and Windows partnership, I interviewed Hall of Fame guard Clyde Drexler two weeks ago at a Houston-area Best Buy.   His answer to my dreaded retirement questions inspired me to write a column , comparing the ease with which he called it quits to another Texas great, David Robinson.   Here is the full transcript of my 16-minute conversation with Drexler.   Clyde Drexler : ...

At 10-9, the Spurs have stumbled out of the gates like drunken sumo wrestlers trying to run a night marathon down Lombard Street in San Francisco. á Heavy on talent but often low on the good judgment and crunch-time execution scales, the team must escape the doldrums in the next few weeks if it hopes to contend for a fifth title. á San Antonio has trudged into December with a .500 record, the worst ...