You may not have realized it, but some of the other local teams had games Sunday and some of them were pretty important. Take for instance the Rangers who lost 3-1 to Boston, giving the Bruins the home-and-home sweep over the weekend. New York played well offensively, but made some stupid mistakes in the defensive zone and paid the price. They are in the thick of the playoff race in a wide-open Eastern Conference,......

Some L.A. Lakers fan (we assume) came up with a brilliant plan to psych out Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa last week. Barbosa fell victim to a hoax where his hotel gave him a message saying that Suns GM Steve Kerr wanted to meet him to discuss a trade to the New York Knicks. Jeez, that's maybe the meanest prank call we've ever heard! The Brazilian player sought out assistant coach and mentor Dan D'Antoni......

That’s right Knicks fans, it was four years ago today that Isiah Thomas came to town and boldly stated, "My only goal is to win the N.B.A. championship. In my mind, everything else is failure." So, by his own standards, Isiah’s tenure has been a failure, but that only scratches the surface of the destruction he has wrought. In “celebration” of his anniversary, we present a Top-10 list of Isiah’s worst moves as President/GM of......

How many times this season are we going to say that the Knicks have hit an all time low? It seems that every couple weeks the team drops another disgraceful notch, and this weekend was the latest. No one knew how the team would react to the death of Stephon Marbury's father last week, but the sense was that they had come together as a unit out of the tragedy, and many might have thought......

Suns 115, Knicks 104: The Knicks need wins, yes, but they also need solid efforts against the league's elite teams. They got the latter but not the former Sunday in a loss to Phoenix at home. Eddy Curry's 21 points and an awakening from a recent slump couldn't power the Knicks, who stuck around for three quarters before disappearing in the fourth. Even Stephon Marbury enjoyed an efficient night from the floor -- he shot......

More trouble for the Knicks: Captain Stephon Marbury was missing from the morning shootaround in Phoenix, where the Knicks are set to play the Suns tonight. Marbury's apparent absence comes after coach Isiah Thomas may have told him he wouldn't be starting tonight and a Daily News article suggesting that the Knicks were thinking about a Starbury-less team in the future. Coming off a bad loss in Miami where Marbury threw the ball away in......

In what could be his biggest personal accomplishment ever, Mr. Met is going to the Mascot Hall of Fame. Yesterday, the Mascot Hall of Fame named Mr. Met a member of its 2007 class along with the San Antonio Coyote. The Post, which is thumping its chest with the news, talked to Mets spokesman Jay Horowitz, "We're thrilled at what he does. He does a lot of good charity work, the kids love him, and......

With Kobe Bryant's trade demands in and out of the news, Gothamist wonders what Isiah Thomas would give up to put Bryant in a Knicks uniform. If you follow basketball, you know that Kobe has on again, off again, on again trade demands, and there's a video being shopped around where Kobe says some disparaging words about Lakers management and Andrew Bynum. The Lakers say that they won't be trading Kobe - and why would......

Last month, Jason Kidd filed for divorce from his wife, Joumana, citing extreme cruelty. The Nets point guard claimed his wife kicked and punched him, as well as put tracking devices on his cars and computers, not to mention taunted him during games. The Kidds' relationship had its patches and other allegations of spousal abuse - back in 2001, Joumana Kidd had some called 911 while Kidd played for the Phoenix Suns (she said......

Phoenix 112 New York 107: Don't let the score fool you,other than a forfeit, there was little chance the Knicks were ever going to win this game. The Suns are an offensive force and New York doesn’t play defense, so the result is no surprise. It’s what happened in the game that could change the rest of the season. Eddy Curry limped off the court and the season may have gone with him. At this......

Forget the Nets' win against Toronto last night, the big Nets news was about Jason Kidd's personal life. In surprising news, Jason Kidd filed for divorce yesterday from Joumana, his wife of 10 years, citing extreme cruelty. This comes after he filed a domestic violence complaint against her on Monday for mistreating their three children. The Nets point guard is accusing his wife of "kicking, punching and throwing things at him, threatening to make false......

Knicks 99, Blazers 81: When the Knicks win, they can usually thank Eddy Curry. The big man took congratulations again for leading the Knicks to a victory in Portland, their first on this five-game West Coast swing. After seeing his team drop games to the Suns, Clippers and Kings, Curry helped his team stop the bleeding by dumping 27. Jamal Crawford -- who, behind Curry, might be the most consistent Knick -- had 25. Knicks......

Nets 91, Heat 81: Teams that score 21 straight points don't lose that often. The Nets used such a run in the third quarter to take down the Heat, who were playing without Dwyane Wade (wrist) and Shaquille O'Neal (knee). Jason Kidd, who described winning as "the best deodorant," had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as he helped his squad snap a four-game losing skid. New Jersey scored on 10 of 11......

-Suns 161, Nets 157 (2OT): Two great point guards went head-to-head, but Steve Nash's nine-point second overtime outlasted Jason Kidd's performance as the Suns won a thriller at the Meadowlands. Kidd had 38 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists for a triple-double, but he couldn't top Nash's career-high 42. The energy that the Nets lacked against Dallas on Tuesday was out in force on Thursday, but energy and firepower are needed to top the Suns.......

...and words escape us. Okay, fine: It's really, really goofy, which is probably about right for a sports team ditty (remember Let's Go Mets?) Nets part-owner Jay-Z chose the song from over 700 submissions, which makes us wish the other songs had been made public. It's by Michael Barnes, a 22 year old from Manhattan, and this is what Jay-Z/his press statement said, "In 'Going Hard' M Bars completely captured the intensity of Nets Basketball......

Beating the Mavericks at home is one thing. So is beating the Pistons at home. But to beat Detroit on the road, like the Nets did Sunday 79-74, proves something more. It proves not only that they can prove dangerous in the upcoming playoffs, but that they're peaking at the right time. New Jersey has won eight straight and has split the season series with Detriot 2-2. Sunday's win came with stingy defense and a......

At least the Knicks don't stink at everything. They may sit at 19-48 with the second-worst record in the NBA, but their dance team has made it to the quarterfinals of the NBA.com Dance Team Bracket. In the spirit of March and all things bracket, the NBA decided to pair off the dance squads and allow fans a voting period for each matchup to determine a winner. Thanks to a first-round bye and a......

Maybe a new year will bring a change in fortunes for the Knicks. 2006 got off to a thrilling start as the Knicks beat the Suns 140-133 in triple overtime. Stephon Marbury silenced his critics for an evening with an impressive 32-point effort in 55 minutes of action. Larry Brown appears to have come up with a set rotation (for now). Marbury, Robinson, Lee, Davis and Curry will start with Frye, Crawford, Taylor and Woods......

With pre-season basketball upon us, we decided to look at a few moves by the Knicks this past off-season. Knicks GM Isiah Thomas should never surprise anyone with his head scratch inducing moves, and the plethora he made this offseason fit that description. Bringing in Larry Brown to coach won't hurt, but the Knicks' personnel decisions could hinder Brown's coaching style. Trading Kurt Thomas for the Suns' Quentin Richardson sapped what little strength the Knicks......

Playoff basketball in the NYC area came and went just that fast. The Nets are done for the season after a 110-97 loss to Miami on Sunday afternoon. Dwayne Wade continued to torch the Nets with explosive play; amazingly, Wade averaged 26 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds per game for the series in just his second NBA season. Add those stats to those of 3-time champion Shaq, and the Nets were doomed. Wade......

After a season filled with injuries, trades, and change, the Nets have somehow climbed right back into the Eastern playoff race this week. Two Philadelphia losses and two Net wins leave them a mere 1.5 games out of the NBA playoffs heading into April. On Wednesday, Carter and company breezed to a 95-78 win over the hapless L.A. Clippers, who never led in the contest. VC scored 31 and youngster Nenad Krstic added 17 in......

The NBA trading deadline, Gothamist's second favorite day of the year, was yesterday (our favorite day of the year has been well documented), and since you can't spell "trade deadline" without I.T., Knicks GM Isiah Thomas made not one, but two highly questionable deals in response to other moves made by Philadelphia and Boston. The first sent Nazr Mohammed, New York's only true center, and back up PG Jamison Brewer to San Antonio for malik......

2005 continues to be a bleak year for the Knicks, and coach Lenny Wilkins is bound to take the fall for it. Another fourth quarter collapse resulted in a 98-81 loss to the way below .500 Toronto Raptors last night. The collection of embarrassing losses to sub-par teams is just another in a long line of disappointments for Knick fans, who are probably used to such mediocrity by now. The Knicks may have even topped......

It was a terrible night for fans of New York hoops. Even Isiah Thomas couldn't buy a piece of good basketball news. The Nets suffered a severe blow to their comeback hopes when it was announced yesterday that Richard Jefferson will be out with an injury for the remainder of the season. Jefferson ruptured ligaments in his left wrist, which requires surgery followed by four months of time in a cast or in physical therapy.......

The offseason in the NBA has just begun and we�ve already seen the most dominant player in the league and the reigning scoring champion both involved in trade talks. This should set the stage very nicely for tonight�s draft. We told you to expect a lot of trade activity back in Version One, and they�ve already begun. Last night the Dallas Mavericks and Washington Wizards brokered a deal that has Dallas sending 6th Man of......

It's two games into the Stephon Marbury–as–a–Knick era, and though it might be premature to say, it's looking bleak. Eight points his first game, six points last night (though he did get 10 assists). Even though everyone is talking about how a team can't click immediately, Marbury said, "I would never think that it would happen this bad." information leafblower has a good look at the Knicks–Suns trade, in which the Knicks gave up......