The Basketball Diaries

Chicago Bulls 108 Utah Jazz 96

I'm not sure what got into the Bulls on Tuesday night, maybe they've all united in their indifference towards Jim Boylan, but they played like an actual basketball team. Not only did they make shots and attack the lane on offense, but then they actually played defense too! Seriously. To top it all off, they even won the game. Drew Gooden had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Ben Gordon had 19 points to lead the way in what was really a team performance. "When people question our team, I respond that we have guys in the locker room with a lot of character who care about their craft and work at it," Boylan said. "The guys were hurt the last couple days. There were a lot of things swirling around our team, and no one likes to see that stuff in the paper. This is a basketball team, not a soap opera." Okay, but let's see what he says when they crap the bed against Philly on Friday night, as they're currently a half-game out of earning the right to be swept out of the first round by the Celtics.

Phoenix Suns 132 Memphis Grizzlies 111

Don't look now, but the Suns got themselves a win streak. They're not playing crappy teams like San Antonio anymore, either, taking down the might Memphis Grizzlies this time. Amare Stoudemire had 29 points and 13 rebounds, Raja Bell had 20, Grant Hill had 17, Leandro Barbosa and Gordon Giricek finished with 18, and even Dan Majerle and Charles Barkley managed to score 15 points apiece as well. The Suns had leads as big as 32 in the first half and 38 in the second half, so don't let that 21-point final margin fool you, this one was a blowout. "You feed off each other and the team feels good about themselves right now," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Before, even when we had a big victory and came back and were flat, it was hard to understand sometimes. But there's some good stuff in the dressing room and some good stuff going on, and they're starting to believe it." Oh, and Shaq managed to get 2 points. So he's really having an impact.

Los Angeles Lakers 117 Toronto Raptors 108

The Lakers stayed on top of the Western Conference with a win over Toronto on Tuesday, as Kobe Bryant scored 34 points, and Lamar Odom added 20 and 9 rebounds. Of course, the true test for the Lakers will start on Friday when they start a four-game road trip in New Orleans before flying off to Houston, Dallas, and Utah. If they want to stay on top of the West, it isn't going to be easy. "It's going to be a tough one," Bryant said. "Those teams are great teams. In the East, you have a couple gimme games. In the West, you don't get those." Yeah, that's what the Jazz were thinking too.

Elsewhere...

• Pacers 114 Sonics 107
• Wizards 105 Bucks 97
• Blazers 103 TWolves 96