The Houston Rockets put on a historically great shooting performance on Tuesday night, defeating the Golden State Warriors 140-109 at home. Houston tied an NBA record with 23 3-pointers on 40 attempts, with three players making at least four triples and no one on the roster making less than half of their long-range shots. It was amazing to behold.

Of course, it might have been even more impressive if not for certain actions by the Warriors in the final minute. With 34 seconds remaining, Warriors forward Draymond Green committed a flagrant-2 foul on Rockets guard Patrick Beverley as he lined up a long 2-pointer from the corner. That foul earned Green an automatic ejection. It also came after a dunk and a taunting technical foul for Beverley just 30 seconds before. Suddenly, the end of the game wasn't so routine.

Beverley sunk both foul shots, but the festivities were far from over. The Warriors intentionally fouled Beverley on the Rockets' last two possessions, forcing Beverley to the line for four more free throws and ensuring that Houston could not attempt to beat the record for made 3-pointers in a game.

[Related: NBA Power Rankings: Little movement at the top]

Above, take a look at all the Warriors' late-game fouls. After the jump, check out the post-game aftermath complete with quotes, as well as a clip of Houston's barrage of 3-pointers.

Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson force Josh Smith into a turnover. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: Grantland. Zach Lowe sings the praises of Tom Thibodeau's defensive coaching, the Chicago Bulls' defensive execution and the all-too-rare confluence of genius design, relentless effort and all-consuming buy-in. (Also drawing hosannas: Second-year swingman Jimmy Butler, who's gotten an opportunity to see a ton of floor time over the past 10 games and is making it count with his versatile defense, athleticism and smart cutting.)

PF: Boston Magazine. Another, different kind of NBA-related breakdown — this time of Kevin Garnett's scarf game. Dude looooooooves scarves, so BoMag's Boston Daily blog enlisted a Hub-area clothier to evaluate the Boston Celtics center's multiple looks.

SG: The Oregonian. There were plenty of good vibes in the Pacific Northwest after the Portland Trail Blazers hung on for a 100-98 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night, but the positive feelings did not extend to star swingman Nicolas Batum's injured right wrist: "It doesn’t always really bother me, but today it was really painful [...] I was really scared about every contact.” Portland just started a six-game road trip and sits a half-game back of the eighth seed in the Western Conference; they're pushing for the postseason. But they also just invested $46.1 million in the 24-year-old wing — should they think about giving his injured wrist a rest?

As much as those of us at BDL love the NBA, the fact of the matter is that we have lives outside of the world of basketball. Like you, we enjoy things like puppies, rainbows, and babies. But it's also true that if a puppy, rainbow, or baby ever played basketball we'd really love it, because it'd combine our professional passion and a source of universal human enjoyment.

So, with that, we are proud to present this video of a baby named Titus sinking all sorts of trick shots. It's pretty amazing for anyone to accomplish these feats, but it's even better when it comes from a child that's still learning basic motor skills. In 18 years, I'm pretty sure we'll see Titus leading the NBA's London SuperSonics to an intergalactic championship. He has that much talent.

LeBron James rides a bike, hates Ohio drivers (David Liam Kyle/ Getty).

If you have a car and want to express your personality, then a vanity license plate may be for you! In a mere seven characters, vanity plates give American motorists to tell their fellow citizens what they stand for. Unlike a bumper sticker, it doesn't even detract from the vehicle's value.

A lot of Americans stand for their favorite sports teams, of course, and that means they often use their plates to rep those organizations. Sometimes, though, hate gets the better of love.

That's exactly what's happened in Ohio, where state officials have had to reject several plates that expressed hatred of Miami Heat star and former Cleveland Cavaliers standard-bearer LeBron James. From Amelia Robinson for the Dayton Daily News:

Paul Pierce laughs in the face of anyone that thinks they can get to "O" (Getty Images)

Even during his rookie campaign, during the lockout season of 1999, Paul Pierce seemed like a crafty veteran. He busted out of the gates with the best first month of any rookie in 1999 before ceding to the flashier Vince Carter, featuring an array of spins and smart shots that seemed to fly in the face (sometimes literally) of all the college freshman or high schoolers that were drafted into NBA teams during the late 1990s.

That reputation has sustained, which is why someone like The Truth would seem to be the perfect pick to dominate a game of H-O-R-S-E. It might not be the biggest reason the state of Massachusetts picked Paul Pierce’s participation in the state’s most recent lottery promotion, but Pierce’s image doesn’t hurt. Whoever wins this particular lottery gets to play a game of H-O-R-S-E with Paul, in a complete turnaround from the 1998 Los Angeles Clippers – a team that won the lottery but got to watch as Michael Olowokandi took and missed shots a horse could make for years after they selected him nine spots ahead of Pierce.

Watch the promo video:

Not the tightest of bros. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBA/Getty Images)

As I noted earlier Tuesday, Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol has turned in consecutive strong outings with Dwight Howard sidelined by a shoulder injury, averaging 22.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in nearly 39 minutes per game at the center spot in back-to-back wins. The 32-year-old Spaniard will get another chance to log heavy minutes at the five at Barclays Center on Tuesday night, as the Lakers will face the Brooklyn Nets without Howard and suspended forward Metta World Peace. Given how Gasol has bristled on multiple occasions about coming off the bench to begin games and sitting on the bench to finish them under Mike D'Antoni, it's a safe bet he prefers the present arrangement ... but, apparently, more starts, more minutes and more touches haven't totally wiped the slate clean between player and coach.

[Also: NBA Power Rankings: Little movement at the top]

In an interview with T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times, Gasol said that while he's sat down with D'Antoni to discuss his role shift, "I don't think it's translated to an understanding" and that their relationship has "probably even gone a little backwards." That, as Gasol said, casts his future in forum blue and gold into doubt:

"If this coach stays and Dwight Howard remains with the Lakers," I asked, "what about you?"

"It would be hard for me to deal with another season knowing the facts you just mentioned," said Gasol, 32 and with one year remaining on his contract.

"So do you ask for a fresh start elsewhere?"

"It's a possibility," he said, "yes."

It's a possibility for the offseason, that is — Gasol told Simers he wouldn't spoil for a swap before the Feb. 21 trade deadline, because he's "not a quitter" and "not going to take the easy way out." Which sounds about right, if only because "repeatedly making public pronouncements about how you don't like the way things are going" sure doesn't seem like it's designed to make anything easier.

A year ago we had a hard time figuring out just exactly what shut out the lights during an Indiana Pacers/(then) New Jersey Nets tilt at Indianapolis’ Banker’s Life Fieldhouse. A few days after Sunday’s Super Bowl, we’re still trying to determine what shut off the lights in the third quarter of The Big Game. Perhaps we’ll wait for Alex Jones to chime in.

We’ve got a pretty good idea of why the lights went out in Minneapolis during the relatively tame first and second quarters of a Minnesota/Portland contest, one in which 1/1,000,567,009th as many people watched as Sunday’s NFL finale. The Timberwolves – a pretty self-aware organization in terms of promotion that enjoys taking the mickey – decided to shut off the lights for a bit. Sports Illustrated’s Point Forward blog pointed it out this morning, because like most other people on earth, we weren’t watching the Minnesota Timberwolves/Portland Trail Blazers game last night. Watch:

I see what you did there, Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Lakers will be missing two frontcourt starters when they take on the Nets. (Harry How/Getty Images)

On Monday, I wrote that I suspected the NBA's disciplinary czars would take a second look at the maybe-possibly-kind-of-sort-of punch thrown by Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace to the chin of Detroit Pistons guard Brandon Knight on Sunday, but that I wasn't sure whether the video would prove conclusive enough to actually punish World Peace. Well, as we learned Tuesday morning, it did. From the NBA's release on the incident, via the Lakers' official website:

[Also: NBA Power Rankings: Little movement at the top]

Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers has been suspended one game without pay for grabbing Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons around the neck and striking him in the jaw, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 1:43 remaining in the 2nd period, of the Lakers’ 98-97 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, Feb. 3 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

World Peace will serve his suspension tonight when the Lakers visit the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.

The play again, in case you missed it the first time around:

As if that news wasn't bad enough, Lakers fans were dealt another blow right around the same time as the league made its announcement, as center Dwight Howard — who's missed the last two games with a right shoulder injury suffered during last Wednesday's loss to the Phoenix Suns — declared himself out for L.A.'s Tuesday night visit to the Barclays Center, too.