As defending champs and the clear top team in the East, the Miami Heat are the current favorites to win the NBA title. Since Feb. 3, the Heat have gone about proving as much, winning 15 straight games heading into Wednesday night's contest against the lowly Orlando Magic. Fans could be forgiven for assuming that Miami would have few issues pushing their streak to 16 wins.

That was not the case. After coming back from a 20-point early third quarter deficit, the Magic held a 96-95 lead with 12 seconds left, giving the Heat one last chance to pick up the victory. Not surprisingly, they want to LeBron James. Instead of settling for a jumper, LeBron crossed over rookie defender DeQuan Jones and drove to his left. The help was late, and James finished a one-handed lay-up at the rim with three seconds on the clock. Arron Afflalo's prayer missed, and the streak stayed intact.

Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson tolerate each other's handshakes (Fernando Medina/ Getty).

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard grabbed headlines when he claimed that his Orlando Magic team was "full of people that nobody wanted." It was a jerky move, to put it mildly, a case of a franchise ex-star casting aside a wealth of experience, relationships, and memories because his colleagues couldn't get him where he wanted. That's just a wee bit selfish and not particularly indicative of the personal characteristics we like to see in athletes and teammates, or really just people in the world.

Not surprisingly, at least one of Howard's former teammates did not take kindly to his words. From Brian Schmitz for the Orlando Sentinel (via Orlando Pinstriped Post):

Jerry West points to two Lakers greats who ain't The Logo. (Kevork Djansezian/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: Sports on Earth. Shaun Powell goes in depth with NBA legend and Golden State Warriors consultant Jerry West on a slew of topics, from his impressions of sharpshooter Stephen Curry ("He's very clever") to the demeanor of his head coach ("Mark [Jackson] is almost like a grandfather"), his front-office philosophy ("There's a difference between a risk taker and a gambler") and more.

PF: Grantland. The Oklahoma City Thunder aren't afraid of Dwight Howard's defense in the middle at all, as they showed in Tuesday night's win over the Los Angeles Lakers. You know why? Because they've already beaten this version of L.A.'s big-man defense ... when it was being played by Andrew Bynum, the guy whose performance Howard was brought in to improve upon. Zach Lowe breaks down how the Lakers D keeps breaking down.

SF: CSNNE.com. What's it like to come back from heart surgery at 29, after a decade in the NBA, without a contract or any idea what the next day might bring? Boston Celtics big man Chris Wilcox knows, so Jessica Camerato asked him.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar coaches the ball through the rim (Getty Images)

A few months ago, former Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy made no bones about his refusal to either consider, comment, or court a job coaching the Brooklyn Nets, citing the presence of an interim coach in P.J. Carlesimo that already had the gig. It wasn’t a surprising move, the Van Gundy family (and Carlesimo) are well-entrenched members of the coaching fraternity, they’ve combined to have 23 assistant or head coaching gigs spread out over college and the NBA, and Jeff Van Gundy (from 1996 onward) turned out to be one of the more successful interim coaching hires of all time.

[Also: LeBron's layup lifts Heat to 16th straight win]

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has been shunned by the coaching community since retiring from basketball in 1989, apparently has no such reservations. And we don’t blame the guy. From a talk with Dave Begel at OnMilwaukee.com, as hepped to us by Steve Aschburner at NBA.com, Kareem didn’t hold back. And his honesty was refreshing. From Begel’s interview:

I asked him flat out if he would be willing to be the head coach of the Bucks.

"Of course," he replied.

Shaquille O'Neal, The Velvet Fog (Getty Images)

Shaquille O’Neal turns 41 today. He played over 41,000 NBA minutes and committed over 4100 fouls in his NBA career, two completely relevant stats. At his peak, he may have been the most dominant center of all time – considering the competition and increased possessions of those who came before him -- he was on Twitter before just about all of us, and he is still, um, evolving as a presence on NBA broadcasts.

We at Ball Don’t Lie wish the big fella the very best, and we hope his leisurely drive to a 4:30 dinner in his silver Buick is a fun one.

Coming along nicely, Dorell. (Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports)

Before this summer, Dorell Wright couldn't do a single regional dialect beyond the one he grew up mastering in Los Angeles. Now, the Philadelphia 76ers swingman can say, "Heeeeey, I'm WALKIN' here!" in 11 different accents, including "Medford Man," as he proved during his squad's not-that-fun-to-watch 109-101 loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night.

Before you know it, he'll be popping up on animated series like nobody's business. Check out NBA H. Jon Benjamin over here.

Best caption wins 10 minutes of Mel Blanc talking to David Letterman, because you deserve this. Good luck.

In our last adventure: Stephen Curry takes a look at you now.

Heath Kufahl holds up his giant check (Getty Images)

This video combines so many elements of my favorite things – perfect form on a jump shot, cheerleaders and mascots going batty, bearded dudes going bananas, one giant novelty check, a Blur song, and a husband doing something amazing for his wife. It’s Oklahoma City Thunder fan Heath Kufahl, and via Pro Basketball Talk, here is his fine work from Tuesday evening:

Jenni Carlson, the very good Thunder-minder from The Oklahoman dug a little deeper. It turns out that Kufahl’s wife Jenni, seen in the video after he nails the shot, has been in poor health recently, and the $20,000 he earned will go a long way to supporting her fight against colon cancer. From Carlson’s report:

It's always cool to see someone make that shot, but for the Kufahls and their seven children, it means a bit more: Heath's wife, Jenni, was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in October of 2012. The money will be used for mounting medical bills.

Next time, D-Will's dunking it. Maybe. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBA/Getty Images)

This hasn't exactly been the most fun year for Deron Williams. While he's finally back to winning after two seasons in the lottery following his trade from the Utah Jazz, the 28-year-old point guard has found it difficult to live up to the $98.8 million maximum contract he inked this summer to lead the Brooklyn Nets due, in part, to injuries.

Williams said before the season that he might need surgery this summer to repair his left ankle, which he hurt while representing the United States in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and with which he's had problems dating back to his days in Utah. He missed practices and received an injection in the ankle before the Nets' first game, also battled a persistent right wrist injury and struggled to subpar shooting marks during the season's first two months. (To hear Deron tell is, though, some of the problems might have stemmed from discomfort with then-coach Avery Johnson's system.)

His stroke sharpened considerably after P.J. Carlesimo replaced the ousted Johnson, with his accuracy increasing five percentage points overall and 11 from behind the 3-point line as the Nets ripped off a 13-5 record in Carlesimo's first 18 games. Things took a turn before the All-Star break, though, as the ankle pain returned, his accuracy dipped and he missed a pair of games. After resting through the break, though, Williams has (some missteps aside) come back looking like a new man ... thanks in part to quick health kick, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:

The Nets point guard revealed Tuesday that he used his extended All-Star break to go through a three-day juice diet cleanse, detoxifying his body and dropping weight at the same time his fitness was called into question. He also said the latest injections into his inflamed ankles (cortisone and platelet-rich plasma) were “finally in the right spot.”

He had two previous rounds of cortisone shots into his ankles since training camp, with less effect.

"I feel a little better," Williams said. "I can actually go up and down stairs. I can run around with my kids. I can go to the playground with them. I don't hurt every time I take a step." [...]

“He’s really made a strong move addressing diet,” interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “I remember we were at a dinner the other night and he was drinking that cleanse stuff. He’s lost some weight in the week off, close to a week off. I think it helped him.