Orlando at Boston

It could be a three-game night, or it might be a 10-game night. Doesn't matter. Actually, it is a 10-game night. Has no bearing on this. The Magic and Celtics are playing, and you need to watch.

You don't have to do it in real time. It's a Friday night, and someone might want to shower your foyer with rose pedals before feeding you stroganoff. Doesn't matter, tape the darn thing. Watch it tomorrow. Understand that it might go a long way toward giving you an understanding of what goes on in May. These two could go seven next spring, and you're going to want to know why.

You're also going to want to watch it because Orlando and Boston are two highly entertaining teams, squads that shoot well, play D, run the floor when appropriate, while slamming it home or working the baseline reverse scoop while inappropriate.

What else are you going to do? Mess with the head of some wrong number that keeps texting you? Not that this is wrong or anything, but leave the kid alone. They're scared.

10 games tonight. The Blazers are in Oakland to take on the Warriors, Houston and Atlanta will be a killer, Cleveland and Indiana will remind of glorious autumn evenings in the Midwest, Miami and Toronto makes no sense (weren't the Raptors just in Denver?), and Washington and the Oklahoma City Thunder feels like a spring training game between an American and National League team that would never meet in the World Series.

Comment away, down below. Have a lovely weekend.

Boston Celtics: 9-3, 90.9 possessions per game (25^th-most in the NBA), 109.3 points scored per 100 possessions (fifth), 97.7 points allowed per 100 possessions (first).

Orlando Magic: 9-3, 92.2 possessions per game (18^th), 108.9 points scored per 100 possessions (eighth), 102.8 points allowed per 100 possessions (11^th).

All statistics courtesy basketball-reference.com.

Los Angeles Lakers 108, Chicago 93

Joakim Noah:

"To me, the most amazing thing about it is you're out there competing hard, and these guys are hardly breaking a sweat because they're so comfortable running their offense. They look like it's very easy."

Does the talent help? Of course. Have I seen bench units dominate starting units using the triangle offense, without breaking much of a sweat? You bet.

It's the system. And the system is what sets Los Angeles apart. You try stopping a play, mon frère, when there is no play.

The Lakers just dominated Chicago in this win. They moved the ball, attacked the offensive glass, used superior spacing, and saved the real effort for the defensive end. Which, as you've probably realized by now, isn't really needed for a team like the Bulls.

97 points per 100 possessions for Chicago, which is reallyreallyreally bad, but it felt like a proper extension. Meanwhile, the Lakers just moved the ball and finished around the rim when it could.

Which is why someone like Pau Gasol could come through with 24 points and 13 rebounds in his first game back. Was he foaming at the mouth? Was he slapping the backboard, trying to make a point?

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Chicago at Los Angeles Lakers

I can't believe Utah against San Antonio is the passed over, third game for this evening. Two marquee teams featuring some bankable players? Can't possibly pick it, though. Not with both teams playing last night. Not with all those injuries.

And the Suns against the Hornets usually would warm us over, but with Chris Paul(notes) (two words) on the shelf, this could be something nasty. Then again, with the way the Suns can come and go defensively, New Orleans could make a game out of it.

Still, Chicago and Los Angeles. The Lakers could welcome back Pau Gasol(notes) tonight, while the Bulls might finally welcome the struggling Derrick Rose(notes) back to the status he enjoyed as a rookie last season. Any bit of improvement from Rose - and fellow backcourt mates Kirk Hinrich(notes) and John Salmons(notes) - would help. Especially with Kobe looming.

Comment away down below, watchers.

Los Angeles Lakers: 8-3, 94.4 possessions per game (ninth-most in the NBA), 105.4 points scored per 100 possessions (16^th), 102.3 points allowed per 100 possessions (10^th).

Chicago Bulls: 6-4, 92.3 possessions per game (16^th), 98 points scored per 100 possessions (27^th), 99.5 points allowed per 100 possessions (4^th).  

All statistics courtesy basketball-reference.com.

Milwaukee 99, New Jersey 85

Down seven at the half, the Bucks probably looked at the in-game box score that was handed out in the locker room. Noticing the names "Rafer Alston," "Trenton Hassell," "Josh Boone," and "Bobby Simmons" among the particulars, the Bucks then likely decided to act their talent-level and start the second half on a 15-0 run.

Then the Bucks, and this much is documented, actually went out and started the second half on a 15-0 run.

The Nets missed 29 of 38 attempts in the second half, and they're just terrible. The team does try, and executes as far as I can tell just up to the point where they have to make a shot. Then they miss the shot. That's not me being flip. This is New Jersey's offense.

The team features one good-to-great player in Brook Lopez, and he can't get the ball. Alston (1-10 shooting, one assist and one turnover in 33 minutes) should be a third point guard right now, at best. Guys like Boone and Hassell are only passable as rotation guys on very, very good offensive teams. Because they're zeroes, offensively.

Instead, they start. And some people still can't understand why the Nets haven't won in 12 attempts. They haven't won, people, because they're terrible. They're not owed a win or two just because they're an NBA team.

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San Antonio at Dallas

At some point tonight, there will be 11 NBA games, in live action. 11 of those suckers. My thumbs hurt, already.

12 games total, and as typical and as orthodox as it may seem, the Mavs and the Spurs always have to be counted on for a good one. They might be older, they might be aging, but they're the Mavs and Spurs. You need to tune in. ESPN, 9:30 p.m. Eastern.

As mentioned, though, 12 games to dive through. Eddy Curry(notes) returns to help the Knicks try to take the Pacers on, Golden State brings its mess to Boston, Toronto is in Utah, Orlando looks for revenge against Oklahoma City, and ... yeah, it doesn't seem like that great a night.

But it will be.

(It better be.)

Comment away, below.

Dallas Mavericks: 8-3, 92.5 possessions per game (15^th-most in the NBA), 107.3 points scored per 100 possessions (13^th), 100.4 points allowed per 100 possessions (seventh).

San Antonio Spurs: 4-4, 91 possessions per game (24^th), 111.9 points scored per 100 possessions (ninth), 109.7 points allowed per 100 possessions (22^nd).

All stats courtesy of basketball-reference.com.

Could this be it, for Allen Iverson and Jerry Stackhouse?

Stack hasn't even played this year. Iverson carped his way through three Memphis Grizzlies losses. Memphis Grizzlies losses. No other team appears to want to take a flyer, save for squads that aren't outright dismissing things so as to keep things cheery with Iverson's agent.

You don't have to stay chummy with our agent. Just pop by around 3 p.m., Eastern, hit the jump, and submit a question for Hump Day Chat. No starters, no sixth men, just hoops talk. Cheerio, and all that.

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Denver 130, Toronto 112

That got out of hand, quickly.

Toronto actually hung in there for a good two and a half quarters or so before the Nuggets absolutely blitzed the Raptors with something only known to very good teams. Something called "the extra pass."

Thirty-four assists for the Nuggets in the win, on 48 field goals, and it felt like a 34-assist game. The interior passing for Denver was spectacular, all sorts of good looks and better finishes, as this went from a rather entertaining back-and-forth contest to an out and out blowout win for Denver.

Just under 133 points per 100 possessions for the Nuggets. This wasn't a pace-inflated offensive explosion. This was legit. 61.5 percent shooting, 27 made free throws and only 12 turnovers for Denver. In retrospect, the Raptors didn't have a chance.

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Toronto at Denver

You think Carmelo's licking his chops, thinking about going up against the NBA's worst defense?

Well, he isn't. He doesn't go anywhere near chops these days, which is why he's in such good shape, which is why he's having a career year, and this is also the reason why Carmelo turns just about any team defense into the NBA's worst team defense.

A bit of a problem here, though. The Nuggets are going to have to guard what has been the NBA's best offense, thus far.

Can they handle that? Sure they can. Will they try to get into a Raptors-styled shootout, and ignore their own defensive abilities? That's the question.

Denver can be baited. Then can fly out of character, winning character, rather quickly. They could also keep it together long enough to win a championship. Good thing they have an even-keeled coach like George Karl around to ... oh, wait. Went down that path again.

Toronto? They bring the show. The other night, against Phoenix? They brought the defense. We could have a great one, here.

Denver Nuggets: 7-3, 95.4 possessions per game (sixth most in the NBA), 111.3 points scored per 100 possessions (fifth), 105.5 points allowed per 100 possessions (17^th).

Toronto Raptors: 5-5, 92 possessions per game (19^th), 116.2 points scored per 100 possessions (first), 115.1 points allowed per 100 possessions (30^th).

Atlanta 99, Portland 95 (OT)

There were a fair chunk of screwups — this was no classic  — but two of the best teams in the NBA came through with a solid-enough showing in this Hawks win.

Portland could have had this. Atlanta's defense broke down quite a few times, allowing all manner of Trail Blazers open looks that they just couldn't connect on. Toss in 17 turnovers — not particularly egregious, but more than you'd like in a 95-possession game — and you get the difference.

Atlanta won this game on the boards. The offense sometimes came and went, which was just as often a function of sound Trail Blazer D as it was a letdown on Atlanta's end (the ball movement dried up), but it was quite obvious that the Hawks had their ears pricked up. Lots of talking, lots of pointing, lots of good team play.

There were plenty of hiccups. Joe Johnson broke plays a little too often early on his way toward missing 18 of 31 shots, but he also put up 35 points, dished nine assists, had plenty of big answerin' buckets, and turned it over only three times, despite dominating the ball for nearly 45 minutes. That's huge. Johnson may not be a game-decider on the level of a Kobe or a LeBron or Wade or Paul, but his ability to keep his team within a possession without making many mistakes keeps him at an All-Star level.

The late-game heroics — 18 points in fourth quarter and overtime — also help.

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Portland at Atlanta

Don't look now, but the Atlanta Hawks are third in the NBA in point differential.

Sure, they might not be on the tip of everyone's tongue when it comes to championship contenders, but Mike Woodsen's Hawks have gotten off to a terrific start, including quality wins over Portland, Denver, and Boston, while working expertly both on the road and at home.

I think it's time to give these guys the pub they deserve. After all, only two teams are beating opponents by this significant a margin, with the first being Boston (winning by 10.2 points per game), and the second being ... Portland?

Oh, hell yes.

That's right. The much-maligned - at least in the early going - Portland Trail Blazers are second in the NBA in a stat that usually susses out the best and the brightest, year in and year out. The Blazers are winning by 8.3 points per game, the Hawks by eight, and they meet tonight.

Solid.

Sure, the Hawks beat Portland earlier this month in Portland, but this game is in Atlanta, where ... well, where the Hawks have won by 17.5 points per game. Hmm.

Still, this has to be a game. Has to be. And on a thin night, just three contests in total, this should be a gem. Comment away in reaction.

Atlanta Hawks: 9-2, 94.9 possessions per game (ninth-most in the NBA), 113.8 points scored per 100 possessions (second), 105.4 points allowed per 100 possessions (16^th).

Portland Trail Blazers: 8-3, 88.3 possessions per game (28^th), 108 points scored per 100 possessions (11^th), 98.6 points allowed per 100 possessions (third)(!). 

All statistics courtesy of knickerblogger.net. We're mixing it up.