Boston 94, Houston 74

Most of you saw the final pangs: Boston wrung out another decisive defensive effort after a shaky (by their standards, mind you) start, Houston struggled to score as it was with Yao Ming and Carl Landry on board, so you can imagine how tough it was to just get a good look against Boston's impossible D - and turning the ball over on 19.8 percent of its possessions didn't help the Rockets.

But let's hear it for these guys. This was a group that could have folded its tent and blamed Rick Adelman way back in January, or could have called it a season a few weeks ago when Yao went down, and instead they fought. They fought and they passed and they helped defensively and they didn't make any excuses. And they were brilliant to watch.

Houston has three games in four nights coming up in New Orleans, Phoenix, and Golden State coming up - they might lose by an average of 20 - and it won't matter. These cats put a season's worth of effort in 22 games. Props.

And Boston's not that far behind. In the midst of the toughest four-game stretch (road games in the Texas Triangle, plus New Orleans) I can remember ... ever ... the Celtics could have felt sated with a comeback win sans Ray Allen in San Antonio on Monday. Instead, they came out, gave up an early lead, and fought back with bench help and Kevin freakin' Garnett.

The game's in good hands, you know.

Detroit 136, Denver 120

This is pretty ridiculous.

Not only are the Denver Nuggets going to have the best record of any non-playoff team in NBA history, the team is going down in my eyes as the most inconsistent defensive team I've ever seen. It's not even close.

Tonight, against the Detroit Pistons, the Nugs gave up a pro-rated 137.4 points per 100 possessions. That's an outrageous number for any team, much less one that gave up only 98.3 per 100 in its previous game.

We use pace-adjusted statistics in order to compare disparate styles of games, so understand that this sort of dynamic switch is akin to a great defensive team (like, say, the Pistons) giving up 80 points and then 120 points in a home-and-home matchup against a team playing at the same speed in both contests. It's that much of a drop-off.

As much as the Nuggets didn't want to compete (defensively, on the glass, or in the fourth quarter), credit has to go to a Piston team that was obviously ready to take care of business from the outset.

The Pistons were talking to each other defensively and exhorting their teammates in the first quarter like it was the final fourth quarter minutes of a one-possession game. They knew what was up, and it was good to see.

As shocking as Denver's defensive yins and yangs are, the Detroit body language is just as striking at times: you can tell within minutes if this is going to be one of those games where they just decide to unceasingly dominate. When primed, this is a scary, scary team.

The Nuggets, on the other hand, will probably end up holding the 76ers (on Wednesday) and Nets (on Friday) to less than a point per possession in their next two games, nobody will notice, and I'll look like a mug for insisting that (overall) this is a great defensive team.

Listen, you would consider the Pistons to be a "great" team, even if they take one in every five games off. Detroit will sleepwalk through a home loss to the 76ers without Andre Miller, but it doesn't stop them from being a great team and title contender overall.

Same thing with Denver. Some nights the Nugs dominate defensively. Most nights the team is just really, really good on D. Then there are these nights. Doesn't change the overall picture, it just makes them remarkably infuriating, and will likely lead to a lottery appearance.

Miami 112, Milwaukee 106

The Miami Heat tried!

They really did. The team worked to cover defensively, really moved the ball (33 assists), and nearly made up for what should have been a huge Milwaukee advantage on the glass (the Bucks were +1).

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks took several possessions off at a time, and assumed that just because the Heat are horrible (don't worry, they are), that a home win would take care of itself.

A bit of a worry, because it didn't.

Chicago 112, New Jersey 86

I mentioned it here: if the rotations are sound (and credit Bulls interim coach Jim Boylan, they have been somewhat sound recently - save for that insipid four guard lineup tonight) and everyone is healthy, the only thing holding Chicago back is the effort level. Tonight, for most of the game, the Bulls tried to work hard, help defensively, and move the ball.

I've also mentioned before that I won't use individual plus/minus stats unless they really represent what I saw on the court, but Thabo Sefolosha's +22 makes a whole lotta sense.

Some of New Jersey's initial offensive confusion, it seemed, was the result of new addition Devin Harris still having to be told the where to go and what do during some offensive sets. Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson were pointing him into spots on the floor for what felt like the bulk of the first quarter on Tuesday. But Harris left the game in the second quarter, and the Nets were still lost half the time.

Boylan credited Kirk Hinrich's on-court leadership after the game, I don't know if that was an attempt to motivate his point guard or a bit of the truth, but no Bull has disappointed more than Hinrich this year.

If anyone is due to give Bulls fans a little money for rope, it's the mopey Iowan, so it'd be nice if Hinrich (14 points and eight assists in the win) would be the one to spearhead a playoff run.

Also, Johnny "Red" Kerr is, and will always be, my boy:

(Thank you, Odenized.)

Phoenix 111, Portland 98

Raja Bell was phenomenal in this game, shadowing an obviously worn-down Brandon Roy and holding the All-Star to six points on 3-14 shooting.

LaMarcus Aldridge (31 points) tried to pick up the slack for the Trail Blazers, but he's essentially trading baskets with the Suns if he keeps shooting that corner jumper and never (OK, almost never: 1-2 on Tuesday) gets to the free throw line.

Shaquille O'Neal was active defensively, jawing with Joel Przybilla, while Boris Diaw continued his newfound aggressive streak with 12 and 6 off the bench in 27 minutes.

Encouraging win for the Suns, even if it came against a tired Trail Blazer team.

Los Angeles Lakers 102, Dallas 100

This was mentioned on the local Dallas broadcast, and I can't help but agree with them: the Mavs looked pretty nervous and tight early on (or, for the first 24 minutes; whatever) as they took to playing its toughest opponent in weeks.

By the time the Mavs stopped being deferential to themselves (if that makes sense, and there's a good chance it doesn't), it was too late to pull out a late win.

Dallas has yet to beat an above-.500 team with Jason Kidd on board, and while I don't think that's a stat that represents where the Mavs are right now, it made sense on Tuesday.

The team needs to get back to playing the sort of ball that won them 67 games last year, and stop waiting for Jason Kidd to do amazing things. And if they do stand around and wait for Kidd to grant them layups, then Kidd needs to up the energy.

But they can win - a championship, even, and this season - with Kidd throwing in seven points, seven assists, and grabbing a few boards. He doesn't have to dominate the ball.

The Lakers are just studs offensively; they moved the ball well in the first half and seemed to notice that the Mavs were ready to be pounced on. As for the foul in the game's final minute, a loose-ball call on Jerry Stackhouse that sent Lamar Odom to the line, I'm having a hard time understanding the uproar.

Stackhouse was boxed-out, made contact with Odom's body and arm while tipping the ball to a teammate. That's a loose-ball foul. If he hadn't made contact, Odom would have grabbed the rebound.

Had the ball ended up in Los Angeles' hands, then yeah, I could see letting it go; but illegal contact gave the rock back to Dallas in this instance. It stinks to nearly decide a game like that, but it was the right call. I don't have a lot of sympathy for teams that spot the opposition 25 points.

Sacramento 122, Golden State 105

One more time: the Warriors ain't the Suns. They're not pure shooters, they're scorers, and if the long range shots aren't falling, the Warriors are pretty shtupped.

Golden State missed 22 of 27 shots from behind the arc (18.5 percent), and though Nellie's bunch worked hard defensively, but there's not a lot you can do if 22 long rebounds are helping the Kings on their way toward 122 points.

Ron Artest did a lot of late-game chest-pounding (I've no problem with that, basketball's a pretty fun game to play and he scored 26 points), but Kevin Martin was Sacramento's man among Kings. K-Mart had 34 points on 22 shots in the win.

Related: Behind the boxscore