Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your buttered croissant. At least for now. We'll see how long this lasts.

Jason Quick, The Oregonian: "Yeah, it was the night of the rookie, all right. Just not the rookie many outside of Portland were expecting. On a night when national attention centered on rookie Greg Oden's return from injury, the Trail Blazers' other rookie, Rudy Fernandez, stole the show Wednesday with a late-game performance that die-hard Blazers fans have seen before. Fernandez scored a team-high 25 points —14 coming in a fourth-quarter blur of spin moves, soaring alley-oops, rainbow three-pointers and thread-the-needle passes — to lead the upstart Blazers to their fourth win in a row ... 'Rudy,' a smiling Oden said after finishing with three points and two rebounds in 16 minutes. 'Shoot, you never know what he's really going to do. And the good thing is, he gets it done. And he actually makes it look good.'"

Chris McCosky, Detroit News: "[The Pistons now] have Bynum, Stuckey and Allen Iverson. Curry used Bynum and Iverson together in a three-guard lineup with either Richard Hamilton or Aaron Afflalo in the victory over the Kings on Tuesday, and it changed the game. The Kings could not contain Bynum off the dribble, and he also was effective on defense. 'I just tried to come in and change the tempo at both ends of the floor,' Bynum said. 'The [Kings] didn't really have any shot-blockers in the game, and I could tell, even when I was on the bench, that they were slow guarding the pick-and-roll. I just tried to take advantage of that.' The question is, once Stuckey returns, will Curry continue to call on him. The answer is yes."

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald: "The question now is whether Paul Pierce is actually suffering from a sprained shooting hand and jammed fingers, or whether it’s simply overheated from scoring 70 points during the last two games. 'We’re gonna keep the hand the way it is,' said Kevin Garnett, casting a worried look at the ice pack on the back of Pierce’s right hand after the Celtics [team stats] captain hit the game-winner with half a second left in the Celtics’ 103-102 win over Atlanta last night at the TD Banknorth Garden. Pierce, who said he sprained the hand just more than a week ago, hasn’t had an MRI or any other test taken. 'It’s getting better,' he said quietly. 'The swelling is going down.' That comment seemed to alarm Garnett. 'We have to put some swelling on that,' he said."

Sekou Smith, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Whoever said the sequel is never better than the original didn’t count on the Hawks and the Boston Celtics hooking up for another instant classic. [...] 'I knew it wasn’t over when Marvin hit that shot,' said Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson, who finished with a team-high 28 points and seven assists. 'I knew they were going to come back and get up a good look because there was so much time on the clock. And they did that. Our heads aren’t down. We showed a lot of character and heart coming off a back-to-back and playing like these guys the way we played them tonight ... they just made the shot at the end.'"

Michael Wallace, Miami Herald: "Converted center Udonis Haslem long ago grew accustomed to being overlooked nationally among the top players at his position. So he initially took being left off the All-Star ballot, released Tuesday, in typical shrug-it-off stride. Then he was notified Wednesday of some of the players listed among the 24 power forwards and 12 centers to make the Eastern Conference ballot. The list included Eddy Curry, who has yet to play for the Knicks this season because of conditioning issues. Wizards center Brendan Haywood also is on the list despite being out at least four months after wrist surgery. 'Oh, for real?' Haslem said, half-jokingly, when asked about being left off the list. 'Oh, that is funny. That sounds personal. I don't even expect to be on it. There are a lot of All-Stars that don't have a [championship] ring. I've got one in my closet. Ask them if they would trade their All-Star for my ring?'''

Roland Laird, Sixers Shots: "Earlier today, I noted that the Sixers were 9th in the league in field goal percentage defense. Tonight against the Raptors the defense was solid again, and instead of walking the ball up the court off of misses, they ran, and they won. Kudos to Coach Cheeks, for getting these boys to run for almost the whole game. If they continue to play that way, they'll win more than they'll lose."

Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: "Cleveland Cavaliers: Offensive juggernaut. [...] The way they have been able to do it so far is by increasing their ball movement and by deploying lineups with numerous offensive options. It has prevented teams from setting up and tilting their defense toward James and slowing the machine down. The addition of Williams and Brown's decision to play smaller lineups that have challenged opposing defenses has also enabled the Cavs to show more teeth. With the ball and bodies moving more, the Cavs' amount of open shots has gone up and pulled all the stats with it. That includes James, who has been playing more inside and taking more shots closer to the basket. Last season, James took 90 3-pointers more than anyone else on the team. This season, he's fourth in 3-pointers attempted so far as he's taking higher-percentage shots."

Dave D'Alessandro, The Star-Ledger: "Sean Williams has played 24 minutes all season — that includes an adventurous eight-minute stint Wednesday night. And when Stromile Swift returns from his back injury in a week or two, Williams' chances of seeing court daylight may diminish further. So while the Nets haven't exactly discussed the possibility of sending Williams to the D-League for some grooming, team president Rod Thorn didn't deny it's crossed his mind. 'Right now there are no plans for that, but it could be a possibility at some point in time,' Thorn said. 'Obviously Sean needs to play, but we don't have any plans now. We have to see what happens.' The Nets' affiliate in the NBDL — the Colorado 14ers — open their season in 14 days."

Doug Smith, Toronto Star: "You would not blame Sam Mitchell and Bryan Colangelo if they snuck into Jose Calderon's bedroom under the cover of darkness so they could be there, anxious, when he wakes up today. Calderon, as vital a piece as there is to the Raptor puzzle, left last night's 106-96 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers with a tight right hamstring and the entire organization started holding its collective breath. 'It feels a bit better now,' Calderon said after almost an hour of treatment in the locker room. '(Today) we'll do some tests to see if everything is okay but I feel much better than I did out there on the court.'"

Marc Berman, New York Post: "The Knicks announced last night rookie Danilo Gallinari will see a host of back specialists in the next several days as season-ending surgery for their prized first-round pick still is not off the table. The Knicks did not release the findings of Tuesday's MRI, but indications are the club's medical staff believe extended rest could be the remedy for Gallinari's bulging disc. Gallinari will see a back specialist today in New York and has further appointments with specialists next week for more testing, the Knicks said. A club spokesman said there will be no 'conclusive information until after these appointments.' Knicks president Donnie Walsh isn't overly concerned, but the club won't be able to exhale until next week. Even if Gallinari doesn't have surgery, he likely will be out for an extended period."

The Painted Area: "CNN's John King appears to be unwinding with a little sports after the marathon 2008 election season. In addition to demonstrating the Magic Wall to Ahmad Rashad on NBA TV on Tuesday, King was also recently interviewed by the Sports Business Daily. I thought this was the most interesting Q/A from the interview: Q: What pro or college coach/manager reminds you of Obama and McCain? King: Obama's like Phil Jackson. You know, live the moment. Block out everything else and be in the present. That is Barack Obama. And I think that McCain in some ways is like Bobby Knight. He wants to win. He has this appetite to win, and sometimes that appetite to win comes across as crusty and grumpy because he's so competitive."

Sports On My Mind: "What’s the difference so far [with the Knicks]? Coaching. Thomas wasn’t anywhere near as bad a Knick GM as people think (BTW, keep on eye out on Renaldo Balkman in Denver), but far worse a Knick coach than people think. For D’Antoni, his new uptempo system favors contagious passing that gets all involved, creates team assists, and actually makes other teams work on defense. After a year of 'will Jamal or Nate take his man off the dribble,' it is a breath of fresh air.  Also, his system maximizes the Knicks athletic personnel and minimizes their team’s defensive weaknesses."

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