Ballin: There were certainly some great lines last night — for instance, LeBron’s 32-10-11 triple-double and Tim Duncan’s 30-17 throwback performance — but let’s just all admit that the entirety of last night’s fourth quarter and overtime was the best thing of the night.

Not so much: I hate to nitpick during the Game of the Year, but there were some people who really dropped the ball last night. Those people? Anyone who left American Airlines Arena early...

We all make mistakes, you guys. For instance, once upon a time, I predicted the Houston Rockets would be the league’s worst team during this year’s regular season. Yeah, they hadn’t yet traded for James Harden, but still a big-time whoops.

However, making mistakes isn’t always bad. Not only can you learn some valuable life lessons, you might also inspire someone to make you look like an idiot. That’s what happened with Ray Allen and SLAM magazine a million years...

It’s OK, man. Everything ended up working out fine.

Like, totally fine.

Let’s just hope Danny Green doesn’t hit a poorly-timed cold streak, otherwise we might be seeing a capitalized “SMH” some time in the near future. Nobody wants that.

(via Reddit)

Here is a tricky situation: when you have a publicly-stated and very strict “Don’t care about Dwight Howard” policy for this summer, but Metta World Peace starts saying Metta World Peace things about Dwight’s free agency, what do you do? Or essentially — does Metta World Peace’s silliness make up for Dwight Howard’s insufferability?

In this scenario, the answer is yes. From CSNHouston.com:

When asked about the Lakers center who is about to be a free agent, World Peace...

No big deal, right? Just a low-top version of the LeBron X that some people are calling the “Floral” edition. Seems like a chill off-court shoe to wear with some short pants.

But check out the sockliners.

The fix is in. Or Nike might have a massive recall on their hands. Or these are a one-of-one and it won’t be that awkward if LeBron James is the only person who has a pair of his own signature shoes that taunt...

Everybody in this video is right about everything. The Pistons did draft Darko, they did go to the Finals that next year and Darko definitely did suck. This must have been filmed at a psychic’s convention.

(via Reddit)

We still don’t believe you. You still need more people.

(via CJ Fogler)

If you ranked the many compelling story lines of this year’s NBA Finals, the play of Spurs shooting guard Danny Green might or might not be No. 1, but it’d definitely be top five. Green’s play in the series has been nothing short of historic — in last night’s Game 5, his six made threes vaulted him past Ray Allen for the all-time record for treys in a Finals series, already beating Ray’s mark of 22 by three, and in...

Watching on a flat-screen television? Fun. Cruising around in a convertible? Fun. Keeping your television dry? Smart.

Putting all of those things together, then dancing down the street once your favorite team wins? GENIUS.

(via KENS5, KevCops)

On Monday’s episode of “The Fix,” The Basketball Jones recap Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Topics discussed include: Manu’s breakout performance, Tony Parker killin’ Cole and Chalmers, Danny Green’s unprecedented three-point shooting, Diaw on LeBron, whether Spoelstra should go back to The Birdman, and transition D.

All that, plus Jay-Z’s commercial, Tim Duncan’s masked kids, and women razor blades.

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If it’s OK with everyone else, I’d be just fine with letting the Heat have a Game 6 win if we can get two hours of Manu Ginobili telling stories about the Spurs. Not only would we be guaranteed an NBA Finals Game 7, we’d also get to hear a bunch of stuff like this and Manu’s Tim Duncan impression. It’s a no-lose situation.

Ballin: Danny Green made another six three-pointers on his way to 24 points in the Spurs’ big Game 5 win. He’s now made 25 in the series, passing Ray Allen’s record of 22 over the course of six games back in 2008, which is the second-craziest thing you’ll read in this paragraph. The first is that Danny Green would be Finals MVP if the Spurs were to win the title.

Not so much: Chario Malmers and Corris Nole...

Seriously, what is wrong with that super gross elbow? It’s like his elbow needed nutrients so a doctor injected a bolus of fluids in to it like a vet would to a dog’s belly after they’ve drank a bit too much pond water and get dehydrated. You know exactly what I’m talking about.

To put it more clearly, Roy Hibbert’s elbow looks like a knee.

(via Reddit, from this video)

I’ve alluded to it a couple times throughout the year in this column, but I was not a fan of watching this Nets team in their inaugural season in Brooklyn. They were assembled so hastily and haphazardly, they played a fairly unexciting brand of basketball, and minus one or two guys, they were an absolutely terrible fit attitude and personality-wise for the borough that they suddenly called home. It didn’t take too many games’ worth of Joe Johnson step-back jumpers,...

Here’s all of us after that Dwyane Wade dunk you see up there:

Oh man, this is vintage Dwyane Wade!

Here’s Dwyane Wade after that Dwyane Wade dunk you see up there, via Paul Flannery at SB Nation:

“No, I don’t feel like 2006. But it felt good,” Wade said. “When you see the ball go through the basket, then you get more confident. I knew I was on when I took it over the guy’s head and dunked...

On Friday’s episode of “The Fix” x “The Overdose,” The Basketball Jones recap Game 4 of the NBA Finals, before discussing the latest coaching carousel news (Jason Kidd, Doc Rivers, Lionel Hollins, etc.), the NBA’s new on-court advertising, and ideas for NBATV’s next documentary.

All that, plus grounders, Roxy, mean tweets, the Social Media Awards, and the Stanley Cup.

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Subscribe to The Basketball Jones show on iTunes | Download the .mp3 directly

Ballin: The Heat’s Big Three combined to score 85 points in their Game 4 win. The Spurs’ Big Everyone That Played scored 93. That’ll do it.

Not so much: Which is worse — that Manu Ginobili took just five shots last night or that he only made one of them? Here’s a hint: the answer is both. Just two assists and two rebounds for Manu, who had as many points (5) as fouls (4) and turnovers (1) combined....

To be fair, I kind of thought his super-extendo arms would get there a little faster too. But still, whoops.

This one’s for you, Tony Parker.

P.S. Is Andre Drummond the NBA’s best Viner? And is that something we need to be aware of? Discuss.

We all knew Tim Duncan had a Punisher knee brace, but apparently his airbrush obsession goes even further than that. I wonder if he bought matching t-shirts from the state fair.

(via Reddit)

Seriously, it has happened enough times that we can actually make a list of them. So here’s the list.

• July 5, 2012 — Dallas Mavericks offer Jason Kidd three years and $9 million to play basketball for them. Kidd almost takes it, then pulls a switcheroo.
• Also July 5, 2012 — New York Knicks offer Jason Kidd three years and $9 million to play basketball for them. Kidd says, “Sure.”
• June 12, 2013— Brooklyn Nets offer Jason Kidd three...

Stephen Curry is 25 years old, looks like he’s 15 and has the dad sense of humor of a 42-year-old. Befuddling.

(via Complex)

Best closeout the Spurs saw all night.

Sure, you’d have to change the eye color and make them less stonery, but if you take away the Joakim Noah hair from Blake from “Workaholics,” you’re left with a pretty solid Danny Green troll face facsimile. Danny’s probably a better shooter, but I bet the other guys have more fun.

Andrew Unterberger is the Last Angry Man in the crusade against LeBron James and his not-so-gradual march towards total unassailability. He’ll be checking in with us once a month this NBA season for an update on where he’s at with his LeBron hating, and how his attempts to channel all the world’s negative energy towards one generally well-meaning basketball player are progressing.

In my pre-playoffs editionof the LBJ Hate Index, I ranked the 10 most likely obstacles to LeBron...