That was fun.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by last night for the liveblog. Computer issues forced me to peter out just as I was putting together what would have been a hilarious and earth-shattering bit about Brad Miller dunking, but we appear to be back on track for now.

I was a little behind the action, usually 15 minutes worth, but we'll get better at that: I usually Tivo the TNT games and don't start them until they've been on for a half-hour so that I can fast forward through commercials, but I'll get quicker if we continue to do the liveblogs. Promise.

And, to the commenter that thought I was ripping off the Sports Guy? Save it. I was doing live diaries (with the instruction to "continually hit F5, or ‘Refresh' on your browser") for playoff games in 1999 (plenty of Isaiah Rider jokes, bongs out of Coke cans, you get the picture), along with the 1999 Draft for OnHoops.com; a tradition that continued for several years after that at several different websites.

Considering that I didn't even read a single word that Bill Simmons (who I like, a lot) wrote until June of 2001, it's pretty safe to say that we were operating pretty independently of each other.

Detroit 90, San Antonio 80

I love the Pistons when they bear down and refuse to let the game get away from them.

I don't like the Spurs when Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker combine to miss 18 of 25 shots from the floor.

For more on the game, skim through the liveblog.

Sacramento 116, Memphis 113

There is precious, precious little in John Salmons' past that would suggest that this sort of play (28 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists last night) was possible.

Yes, he's 28 and in his prime. Yes, he was drafted in 2002 as a sort of all-around passing guard; Pete Myers with more skill. Yes, the Kings are missing their three best players and there are plenty of shots to go around.

Still, things are out of wack. Usually when great players go down and average-to-good players take over, they're able to put up more shots and score more points, but because the players aren't all that great to begin with, the shooting percentages go down, the efficiency goes down, and the team suffers. Not with Salmons.

Usage rate is a solid indicator of how many possessions a player uses up over 40 minutes of play. A player "uses up" a possession when he scores, dishes an assist, gets to the line, turns it over, etc. Though several factors go into the stat, it is best used as an indicator of being able to create your own shot.

Guards who have to wait for others to set them up for a three-pointer, or big men that only shoot as a last option usually have poor usage rates, whereas someone like LeBron James (the league leader this year, at 32.2) usually boasts one in the high 20s or low 30s. Entering this season, Salmons had an average Usage Rate of 14.5, including a 14.7 mark last year.

This year, he's around 20; which usually means he's being forced to chuck more shots (thus shooting a lower percentage from the floor), and turning the ball over because he's not great at dribbling his way to freedom and getting off a shot.

Well, the latter is holding serve, but just barely: Salmons is turning the ball over on 13.3 percent of the possessions he uses up, and that mark was at 12.1 last season. Still, that's passable considering the context (Dwyane Wade is at 13.6).

His shooting? Holy cow: 52 percent from the floor, 41 percent from long range. He's your anomaly in a headband, the guy who is shooting way more (about four shots per 40 minutes more as compared with 2006-07) but somehow shooting a higher percentage (John was at 45.6 percent from the field last year, and 35.7 from long-range).

The Kings and Grizzlies played a great game last night; Sacramento staged a late comeback based around shots from Salmons, Quincy Douby, and Francisco Garcia. The last guy hit a game-winner off a pass from Salmons, he's averaging about 19 points per 40 minutes this year (after averaging 13.6 per 40 last year), while playing solid help defense.

Rudy Gay was terrific for the Grizz, scoring 31 points on just 13 shots, but he lost the ball in Memphis' final offensive possession, securing the Sacramento win. As great as the Pistons and Spurs are, America would have much preferred this one on TNT.

Utah 108, Phoenix 86

Not much to take from this, Phoenix was without three of its four-best players; Utah was without Andrei Kirilenko and Matt Harpring, but still dominated for the better part of this game.

Remember how I talked about lesser players stepping up, having to take more shots, and seeing the shooting percentages go down? Marcus Banks, Raja Bell, Brian Skinner and Eric Piatkowski combined to shoot 7-40 from the floor, and Boris Diaw couldn't be bothered to try to make an imprint: missing four of six shots in 34 minutes of action. What a waste.

Ronnie Brewer: 21 points and six rebounds in just 32 minutes, on just 14 shots. Nice.

Related: Behind the boxscore