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In case you hadn’t gathered, ^that’s LeBron’s shot chart from Miami’s 99-94 win over Charlotte.  It should probably be added to every English dictionary next to the word “efficiency.”  As he missed just one of 14 attempts, LeBron racked up a game-high 31 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 8 assists.  He scored 10 of those points in the fourth quarter, when the Heat totally took over what had been a three-point game and led by as many as nine (final score makes it out to be a bit closer than I felt it was).  As I watched Miami’s fourth-quarter run unfold, I couldn’t help but draw a parallel to Sunday’s victory over Toronto.  Like the Bobcats did last night, the Raptors hung around through three quarters.  Then LeBron James (and to a lesser extent Chris Bosh) simply decided it was time to dominate.  Upon his doing so, both games were as good as over (James + Bosh: 21 4th Q PTS vs TOR, 20 vs CHA).

The most incredible single statistic in regards to LeBron’s efficiency? Add up the distances of all 14 of his attempts.  You’ll come up with a combined total of 44 feet (average of 3.14).  That’s like one JR Smith heat check in 14 LeBron James attempts.  To think about it like that, it’s truly flabbergasting.

As the Clippers lost their sixth of eight (98-90 to the Wizards) it became quite apparent why Blake Griffin and Chris Paul are kind of vital to this team.  It was a one-point game at the midway point of the fourth quarter and Jamal Crawford had been cooking (28 points), but the Wizards would go on an 11-0 run brought about by Clipper mistakes that likely never happen if Paul and Griffin are present.  The first error was made when Grant Hill threw a terrible entry pass, which was stolen, resulting in Washington free throws.  When Nene missed the second of two, he was able to get his own rebound and pass it off to Trevor Ariza for a three-pointer.  Next, the Clippers made yet another poor entry pass and the Wizards secured yet another offensive rebound, leading to a two-point score by Garrett Temple.  A third Clipper turnover and back-to-back John Wall buckets (one of which was a jumper!) completed the run and essentially put the game out of reach.  While I give the Wizards all due credit for pulling this one out, I have a feeling the Clippers wouldn’t have experienced such incredible struggles in completing basic passes and securing free-throw rebounds had Paul and Griffin been on the court.  Please, guys, get well soon.  This team is not the same right now and League Pass is worse for it.

Eric Bledsoe, though. Look at this freaking block:

Though one of the referees halfheartedly blew his whistle out of sheer bewilderment, the play was eventually (and correctly) ruled a blocked shot and the ball was awarded to the Clippers.  This, my friends, just might be the block of the year.  Bledsoe, who is generously listed at 6’1”, now has at least one rejection in eight straight games.  He also averages more blocks than Blake Griffin.

One of the craziest comebacks of the season nearly went down in a game involving — guess who — the Porland Trail Blazers!  However, it was actually the Blazers’ opponent, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who came within a point of rallying all the way back from down 19 at the start of the fourth quarter.  In that fourth quarter the Blazers turned the ball over seven times, which actually wasn’t the difference as they coughed it up 28 times in the game.  The difference was Dante Cunningham, who scored 17 of the Wolves’ 40 points in the period.  Cunningham (23 points) and Ricky Rubio (15/14) really had the ESPN going on as they teamed up for four scores on consecutive possessions over a two-minute span.  Ultimately, though, the Wolves fell two points short in a 100-98 loss.  Cunningham had a decent look to tie the game on a mid-range jumper but shot an airball, which is kind of weird considering that he’d just made four of them in a row.

Ricky Rubio had a couple of pretty bad moments, but overall this was probably his best game since returning from the ACL injury.  Fifteen points and 14 assists are both season highs, he was one of the two catalysts in the near comeback, and he was effective in shooting the ball from outside the paint (3-5).  Rubio’s shooting, which has been atrocious on the season (31%), has actually improved quite significantly over the past week or so.  In his last five games he’s gone 19-41 from the floor, which cranks out to a relatively-blazing-hot 46.3%.  Though he still misses some uncontested layups and the vast majority of his three-pointers, he has looked marginally more comfortable finishing on the inside and launching from the outside lately.

All of the other games were either decided by 10+ points or involved the Kings, so… I think I’ll just leave it at that.  Before I move on to the box score observations, though, here are your nominees for the Chuck Hayes Excellence In Free-Throwing Award:

• First contestant: LaMarcus Aldridge, 80%: Goes 0-2 with six seconds left in a two-point game.  A pair of complete bricks.  Didn’t cost the Blazers, however, as they hung on to win.
• Second contestant: JR “Swish” Smith, 79%: Airmails the first of two, leaving the bench in stitches and Mike Woodson completely befuddled.  Somehow, he did manage to get it together and make the second.
• Third contestant: Emeka Okafor, 57.3%: Airballs the second of two after bricking the first.  Barely grazed the net.

As the judge of this competition, allow me to break it down: Emeka Okafor is out because he shoots like shit and can be expected to fire an airball from time to time (hell, he once shot consecutive airballs).  As for LaMarcus Aldridge, he choked hard under the pressure.  He could feel the T-Wolves breathing down his neck, but he was also the only contestant who hit the rim twice in a row (he actually bricked the second one so hard the Blazers very nearly got the rebound).  JR Smith, though… what was up with his shot?  He’s a 79% shooter, there was no pressure, and he’s a perimeter player.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a shooting guard airball a free throw, so I’ve got to go with JR “Swish” here, even though he made one of two.  Just look at the expression on Coach Woody’s face; his complete and utter dumbfoundedness really says it all.

Box Score Observations, Tyson Chandler Edition: In ripping down precisely 20 rebounds against the Detroit Pistons, Tyson Chandler became the first New York Knickerbocker since Willis Reed to grab 20 or more boards in three consecutive games.  Coincidentally, DeAndre Jordan corralled 22 rebounds of his own in the Clippers’ loss to the Wizards on Monday.  Who’s next on the Knickerbocker’s schedule, you wonder?  Ah yes, the Wizards!

Box Score Observations, Everyone Else Edition: The Sixers, who’ve won three in a row, beat the Magic, who’ve lost ten in a row, 78-61.  As Orlando failed to shoot even 34% from the floor, Spencer Hawes got busy to the tune of 21 points and 14 rebounds.  Reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Nate Robinson put up 19/5/9 against the Pacers, but that wasn’t enough to earn the Bulls a victory.  Indiana somehow managed to score 111 points, beating the Bulls by 10.  The 111 points are the most scored by the Pacers in a non-overtime game this season.  Serge Ibaka made his ninth three-pointer of the season as OKC beat Dallas by 21.  The Jazz defeated the Kings 98-91 in overtime after a variety of John Salmons hero-ball fails (1-9).

Highlight Recap, Paul George Edition:

Nowadays, there is substantial money to be made by basketball players in destinations all around the globe.  From Europe to China, top talents are amassing small fortunes — multiple millions of dollars every year, in some cases — to put the ball in the hoop.  While this is somewhat uncommon, it’s actually possible for some players with NBA offers to earn a higher wage overseas.  A minimum contract in the Association is typically worth a little less than a million dollars, which is obviously a nice living, but a fringe guy like Sonny Weems or present-day Tracy McGrady can do better playing in Lithuania or China.  That’s why they’re there.  Most guys, however, are there because the NBA is not an option and the pay is astronomically higher than it is in the D-League.  The tradeoff, of course, is that one cannot be “called up” from Timbuktu.

In 2011, Detroit native and former Memphis Tigers star Chris Douglas-Roberts was one of those players for whom the NBA was not an immediate option.  His first (and to date, only) guaranteed NBA contract had just expired, and no suitors emerged to ink him to a new one.  By his own admission, Douglas-Roberts had brought the predicament upon himself.  He hadn’t always handled himself in the most professional of manners during his stints with the Nets and Bucks, and word of his questionable attitude was scaring everybody away.  So, Douglas-Roberts signed to play in Italy during the lockout.  As is the case with many international contracts, his deal was for one season only.  Following his season abroad he’d be forced to reassess his situation.  His options would be unchanged — accept another lucrative deal in a place like Italy, or come home and try to refurbish his image in hopes of catching on with an NBA club.  This time, he chose to take his chances stateside.

All summer, Douglas-Roberts remained unsigned.  Then, finally, with just one week to go until the start of training camps, the Lakers called — not with a guaranteed deal, but with an opportunity: they wanted CDR to join them for camp and earn his spot.  Though he was ultimately unable to secure that spot, he received the complimentary education of a lifetime.  From a Tumblr post authored by Douglas-Roberts himself:

The very first day I was 1 on 1 partners with Kobe. And we were going at it. Shit talking…elbows were thrown. To my surprise, after that first practice Kobe went to media and spoke highly of me. Everyday I played well and practiced well. Kobe continued to mentor me along the way. The Laker fans embraced me. I just knew I was in. Then I got a call from Leon (my agent) saying they were going to let me go. They told me I played great. The numbers on the business side just wouldn’t work. It was one of the worst phone calls I’ve ever gotten, but I was at peace because I knew I played my ass off. I brought it every day. My motto is “control what you can control” and I did that. That didn’t matter though. Once it got released that the Lakers let me go, the people thought it was due to my game. People had jokes. People wrote me off. It was embarrassing. However, I took positives away from my month with the Lakers too. I developed a relationship with Kobe Bryant. He showed me how to be a pro. He showed me real work ethic. Playing against him everyday made me so much of a better player. He understood me. He understood that its a difference in having a bad attitude and being competitive and wanting to win every drill/game. One night after a game and we were in the showers and he told me “you have no other choice. You were put here to be basketball player. You have to fight until you’re one of them boys. You’re too talented. I played behind mfers that I was better than up until my third year but I KNEW I would be who I am today then. I work too hard not to break through.” That stuck with me. So I appreciate the opportunity the Lakers gave me. I looked at that month with the Lakers as an internship under Bean. I gained knowledge that I couldn’t have gotten any other way. That’s what I took from that situation. It’s all about how you respond when times are rough.

More determined than ever before, Douglas-Roberts decided to join up with the Texas Legends of the NBDL.  CDR knew that the Legends, an affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks, offered him the most direct path back to the NBA.  Armed with a skillset superior to that of most minor league ballers, he scored 49 points in his very first game in the D-League.  About a month later, the Mavericks called him up to join them for a road game in San Antonio.  Chris Douglas-Roberts was officially back in the NBA.  His fresh start with the Mavs would be short-lived, however, as they waived him after just six appearances.

Now, you can follow Chris Douglas-Roberts as he continues to work towards his ultimate goal — to carve out his niche in the NBA — in a web series entitled “I’m Not A Star.”*  I’m Not A Star will document CDR’s workouts as well as other aspects of his life as a professional athlete.  It’s a window into the world of a fascinating young man, and I suggest that you check it out.  Here is the trailer…

*’I'm Not A Star’ is not produced by NBA247365.COM.  I’m simply recommending it to my readers.

Good afternoon, basketball fans!  Scott from Crabdribbles.com here to bring to you the second installment of “The Best of the D-League,” in which I highlight stellar plays and performances from the league’s premier prospects.  For consistent updates, follow me on Twitter @crabdribbles.  Now, on to business…

As usual, an assortment of performances caught my eye this week:

• Samardo Samuels’ 26 points and 16 rebounds in a loss to the Sky Force on Thursday night.
• Donald Sloan’s triple-double (22 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds) in an overtime win against the Big Horns on Thursday night.
• Travis Leslie’s 31 points (14-18 FG), seven rebounds and six steals in a win over the Legends on Thursday night.
• Josh Selby’s 27 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to the Bay Hawks on Wednesday night

As impressive as those performances were, this was really a no-brainer for a couple of different reasons.

As a big Houston Rockets fan, I tune in to watch their D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, whenever I can. They happen to be a top team in the D-League this year, which makes sense because they’re pretty stacked. Former Laker Andrew Goudelock is currently manning the starting point guard spot and they have one of the most imposing frontcourts in the league, thanks to their four bigs standing taller than 6’10″. But the main reason for their success has been the play of two rookies — Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas — who’ve put the team on their backs time and time again.

While Terrence Jones would miss this game after being called back up to the Rockets a few nights before, Motiejunas had a chance to showcase his talents against one of the Vipers’ bitter rivals, the Autsin Toros. In 32 minutes of action, Motiejunas did okay as he scored 17 points and corralled seven rebounds. However, he was thoroughly outplayed by someone I had never heard of before — someone by the name of Rick Jackson.

From an aesthetic standpoint, it certainly wasn’t the prettiest of performances, but Jackson was incredibly efficient. In 40 minutes, he scored 21 points (9-19 FG) and pulled down a career high 25 rebounds (10 of which came in the third quarter alone). He also recorded a game-high three blocks and shot 3-3 from the free throw line (which is a pretty big deal when you only shoot 36.2% from the charity stripe on the season).

In addition to the huge numbers, the thing that really made Jackson’s performance so special is that his season averages really aren’t anything overly impressive — just 9.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It just so happened that he put his Dwight Howard (circa 2010) “Superman” cape on the night that Motiejunas and the Vipers came to town as the hottest team in the D-League. Another reason why I gave it to him is because the win actually meant something, as the Toros are now only 2.5 games behind the Vipers for the best record in the Central Division.

Will you see Rick Jackson ever again on ‘The Best of the D-League’? Probably not. So lets just take a moment to appreciate his career night.

Welcome, readers, to the NBA247365.COM video podcast, episode two!  For this edition I, Stephen Coston, am joined by NBA247365.COM/ESPN True Hoop Network contributor Jacob Frankel (@jacob_frankel) primarily to discuss this past weekend in NBA basketball.  From Kyrie Irving’s crunch-time exploits to JR Smith’s garbage-time domination, it was certainly an exhilarating two-day stretch of sport, so tune in and bask in the information!  Additionally, we rank a few of the popular ’90s throwbacks, hand out our midseason awards, and provide our ink-stained thoughts on a couple of new tattoos.  All in all, it’s an hour of great fun!

If you can spare a moment, please leave feedback by dropping a line below, e-mailing admin@nba247365.com, or tweeting @NBA247OFFICIAL.  Both Jacob and I would greatly appreciate your thoughts whether they be positive, negative, or somewhere in between.  Thanks again for tuning in!

Twenty-five-point games aren’t really anything unusual from JR Smith.  He’s had seven of them this season and probably a hundred in his career.  Plus the Knicks played the Kings on Saturday.  If you don’t drop 25 on the Kings then you basically aren’t an offensive player of any consequence.

So, why exactly am I presenting you with the news that JR Smith scored 25 points against the Kings?  Well, that’d be because JR Smith’s 25 points against the Kings were extremely… JR Smith — especially the 15 that he racked up in the third quarter.  This isn’t making any sense to you?  Allow me to put it this way: if JR Smith was an adjective, what he did in this third quarter would be the definition.  Well, actually, some sort of reference to his Chinese escapades would be the primary definition, but this third quarter would be the second or third entry, for sure.

Also, 15 is a very JR Smith number, as is any number that happens to be divisible by three.  JR’s preferred method of scoring the ball is in three-point increments, so any time he records a sizable point total which is an even multiple of three it’s a pretty solid indication that he was feeling it.  In this particular instance, he was feeling it enough to take eight shots from 24 feet or deeper in a span of seven minutes.  His single longest/most JR Smith shot, by the way, was charted at precisely 32 feet.  That was the non-buzzer-beating heat check from the “S” in the Knicks logo at midcourt.  Unfortunately, it didn’t go and therefore isn’t shown in the video below.  You can, however, enjoy the five threes he did manage to make, and the accompanying swaggabrations (JR Smith doesn’t celebrate, he swaggabrates), of course.

Skip to 2:35 if you can’t be bothered with the filler.

Having watched this all unfold live on League Pass, I’m not exactly sure which was more awesome and hilarious: the 32-foot heat check or the possession where he took three threes in ten seconds.  Even my dad, a pretty serious guy, got a huge kick out of this.  Basically, we were both screaming at the rest of the Knicks to pass JR the ball, and then at JR to shoot it from wherever he was standing when he caught it.  Both parties pretty much obliged, and we laughed our asses off.  Unfortunately, Mike Woodson decided to cut the party short at the end of the third quarter.  Had he not, I’m pretty confident that Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall would’ve seen a record of theirs removed from the books.  As you can see, JR was having one of those nights where he’d shot so relatively well (9-16 overall, 7-14 from distance) that he wasn’t even going to let the ball cross the three-point line first.

And yes, this is why some people were actually willing to pretend that JR Smith deserves to play in the All-Star Game.  Can’t say that I blame them.

On Saturday night, Kyrie Irving dropped 35 points.  Against Kevin Durant.  And the Thunder.  In a five-point Cleveland victory.  Impressed?  I’m just getting started.

Of Kyrie’s 35, 13 were recorded in just three minutes — those three minutes being the final three minutes of the game.  During that three-minute stretch (2:52, technically), Irving made two free-throws, four two-point field goals, and one three-point field goal (though not in that order, but that isn’t important).  All in all, he scored on five of the last six Cavalier possessions.  On the possession in which he didn’t score he assisted a Tristan Thompson score.

I would say Kyrie Irving out-dueled Kevin Durant.  I had planned to make that the title of the post — Kyrie Irving out-duels Kevin Durant.  However, I took a few moments to think about it, and I came to the conclusion that entitling this post in such a way would be to sell Kyrie’s performance short.  After all, he not only bested Durant; in those final three minutes, Irving outscored the entire Thunder team 13-9.

And no, Kyrie Irving is not fucking kidding you.

As much as we’ll always love the NBA for the high level of basketball that is played in it, there are some characters whose personalities are so grand that they endear themselves to us in ways that transcend the enjoyment we experience in watching them partake in the sport.  Without them, unfortunately, the league will never be quite the same.  One such character is Dikembe Mutombo, who you simply can’t help but love for his great enthusiasm, laudable philanthropic efforts, and cookie monster voice.  One of the saddest moments I’ve ever witnessed on a basketball court occurred in April of 2009, when Mutombo’s 18-year career was ended by an injury to his left knee.  That was the only time I’ve ever watched an athlete fall to the floor and known immediately that he’d never play again.

Though this was in fact the case, Dikembe hasn’t disappeared completely.  In the NBA, his presence lives on in his signature finger wag gesture, which is performed quite frequently by those who block shots with the same emphasis that he did.  In popular culture, Mutombo has popped up in advertising campaigns for products such as Old Spice, and now GEICO.  Behold, by far the funniest thing you might see during the next break in your television program:

Well, that’s certainly a welcomed break from “gameday bucket go boom,” and “six callers ahead of us Jimmy!”

Especially the part where he swats the kid’s cereal box.  I nearly hyperventilated after it exploded in midair.  Keep up the good work, GEICO.