The Basketball Diaries

Los Angeles Lakers 124 Sacramento Kings 101

If the Lakers won this game it would clinch home-court advantage for them in the playoffs, and apparently the Maloof brothers are taking heavy action against the Lakers at the Palms, because the Kings sat everybody on their team that could have helped them win this game. Kobe finished with 20 points, and Pau Gasol had 22 as the Lakers cruised to a victory. The last time the Lakers had home-court advantage? That would be in 2000, which not coincidentally led to the first of three straight NBA championships.

New Orleans Hornets 114 Los Angeles Clippers 92

While the Lakers win ended any hopes the Hornets may have had for home-court in the playoffs, their victory over the Clippers did serve a purpose as it clinched the Southwest Division. It's the first division title in the 20-year history of the Hornets, be it in Charlotte or now in Nawlins. "A lot of people had us not even getting in the playoffs," New Orleans center Tyson Chandler said. "I don't think any of us believed that. We all believed that we're one of the better teams in the conference. If you win this division it says a lot about the team because this is the best division in basketball." Oh, go to hell, Tyson. You had nothing to do with it. If it weren't for Chris Paul you'd still be an absolute waste of cap space. (In case you were wondering if the years since Tyson left Chicago have helped ease my hatred for him, they haven't.)

Detroit Pistons 115 Minnesota Timberwolves 103

Sticking with the clinching theme, the Pistons victory over the Wolves on Tuesday night assured them of the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference. Not that they were ever really in any danger of losing it to begin with, but I guess it's a big deal. Congratulations, fellas. "That's nice to have, but I don't think it is critical," Saunders said. "With the 2-3-2 format, I don't know how much it even means." Well, way to piss on the parade, Flip.

Elsewhere...

• Magic 121 Hawks 105
• Nets 112 Hornets 108 OT
• Blazers 113 Grizzlies 91

The Basketball Diaries

Denver Nuggets 115 Golden State Warriors 104

Normally a battle for the 8th and final spot in the playoffs is a pointless exercise. Odds are the team that does win it is going to end up getting their asses kicked in the first round anyway, but not this year. This year in the West the 8th seed is just as good as the 1st seed, and the Nuggets went a long way in helping make sure they lock it up. By overcoming an early 16-point deficit to beat the Warriors in Oakland on Thursday night, the Nuggets put themselves a game ahead of the Warriors in the battle for the final spot. Allen Iverson had 33 points, Carmelo had 25, and J.R. Smith contributed off the bench with 24 of his own. "Everybody knew what was at stake," Iverson said. "It's easy for players to say it's just another game. But everybody knows it wasn't just another game. It was a game that both teams felt they had to have." Even more important than that one game lead is the fact this win also gives Denver the tie-breaker if they should finish with the same record as Golden State. All Denver needs to do is win two of their last three and it's theirs, though it won't be that easy with a trip to Utah next, and two home games against Houston and Memphis. Okay, so Memphis will be easy.

Dallas Mavericks 97 Utah Jazz 94

The reason there's only one spot left out west to play for is because Dirk Nowitzki's three-pointer with 0.9 seconds left (which answered a game tying three by Deron Williams seconds earlier) gave the Mavs a big win over the Jazz, and clinched a playoff spot. Nowitzki finished the game with 32 points, and Jason Terry scored 21, but the duo was responsible for 25 of Dallas' 4th quarter points. "I heard people say we wouldn't even make the playoffs, but now we're in," Terry added. "Tonight, we took another step in the right direction. We have to treat all these games like playoff games. We have a long way to go but winning games like these is big for us." And I'll fully admit I was one of those people who said Dallas would miss the playoffs, and I was wrong. It happens from time to time, kind of like Haley's Comet, except rarererererer.

Los Angeles Lakers 116 Los Angeles Clippers 78

The Clippers have long been the red-headed stepchild of the LA basketball scene (behind both UCLA and USC, not just the Lakers), and the Lakers beat them like it on Thursday night. The 38-point victory gave the Lakers a series sweep over the Clippers this season, and moved them within 1.5 games of New Orleans for the top spot out west. Luke Walton led the Lakers with 18 points as every single Lakers starter sat out the 4th quarter, save for Lamar Odom. Kobe finished the night with a rather pedestrian 16, but who cares, take away his points and the Lakers still win by 22.

The Basketball Diaries

Miami Heat 95 Chicago Bulls 88

Weren't these two teams battling each other in the playoffs last season? Wasn't that 4-0 sweep by the Bulls supposed to be what helped catapult them to Eastern Conference power status? My how far they've fallen. The following sentence is a complete microcosm of this Bulls season: Some guy named Kasib Powell (Who!?) was just recalled from the D-League for this game, and he led the Heat with 18 points and was a driving force in their win on Tuesday night. That's right, the Bulls can't even stop D-Leaguers. The good news is that this loss eliminates the Bulls from the playoffs mathematically, so you can now allow yourself to stop paying attention. If you are still watching this team I urge you to stop, there are plenty of other things you can do that are much better for your health. Have you ever thought about starting to smoke? Maybe you want to shoot heroin or speed (hell, why not both?) into your eyeballs? And these are just a few options, really, the world is your oyster.

Utah Jazz 77 New Orleans Hornets 66

It wasn't the kind of game you'd expect between these two teams, but I don't think the Jazz are complaining since the victory clinched their second consecutive Northwest Division title. Mehmet Okur led the Jazz with 22 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Jazz in what was a defensive struggle to say the least. Hell, the 22 points doesn't seem like that much, but they still accounted for 29% of his team's points. "I feel really good right now," said Okur. "I try to stay active on the boards, grab every rebound out there, start the game with a couple easy baskets, then I step back. I've really got my confidence." Deron Williams also had 16 assists (his team made only 35 field goals, so Deron had a hand in 46% of his team's baskets) but more importantly he continued his dominance over Chris Paul by holding CP to only 4 points and 9 assists.

Denver Nuggets 117 Los Angeles Clippers 99

Wow, something is definitely wrong in Denver because the Nuggets scored less than 135 points on Tuesday night. I know they won and everything, but still, they should be worried. Carmelo had 36 points, while Allen Iverson had 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists as the Nuggs snapped a two-game losing streak. Marcus Camby also had a big night with 13 points and 18 rebounds. Unfortunately for Denver, the Warriors won as well so they weren't able to seperate themselves in the race for the final playoff spot, and both teams remain tied at 47-31.

Elsewhere...

• Pacers 112 Hawks 98
• Bobcats 121 TWolves 119
• Knicks 98 Pistons 94
• Celtics 107 Bucks 104 OT
• Suns 127 Grizzlies 113
• Mavs 99 Sonics 83
• Blazers 112 Lakers 103
• Warriors 140 Kings 132

The Basketball Diaries

Phoenix Suns 132 Denver Nuggets 117

Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of defense being played in this game, but that's generally the case when these two teams meet. After the Nuggets took a 70-51 lead with them to the locker room for halftime, the Suns came out in the 2nd half and outscored Denver 81-47 in the second half. That's right, Phoenix scored 81 friggin points in the second half. 35 came in the third quarter, and an astounding 46 more points followed in the fourth quarter. Amare Stoudemire did most of the damage with 41 points and 14 rebounds, while Steve Nash scored 36 points and handed out 8 assists. Even Shaq got involved, going for 20 and 12 as the Suns knocked the Nuggets out of the 8th spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

Dallas Mavericks 93 Los Angeles Clippers 86

I'm still convinced the Mavs are going to fall out of the playoffs thanks to the loss of Dirk Nowitzki, but they held the collapse off for one more day at least with a win over the lowly Clippers on Monday. Jason Kidd had 27 points, Jason Terry had 20, and Josh Howard scored 12 of his 25 points in the final quarter to help Dallas hold the Clippers off. "This was a big win on the road because of the position we're in," Kidd said after his highest-scoring game with the Mavericks. "Everybody responded against a team that plays hard. With Dirk out, I'm just looking to be more aggressive and look for my shot. The coach and my teammates have been encouraging me to be aggressive and maybe score a little bit more than in the past." The win combined with Denver's loss put the Mavericks a game ahead of the Nuggets in the standings.

Elsewhere...

• Pacers 105 Heat 85
• Raptors 104 Bobcats 100
• Hawks 116 Grizzlies 99
• Jazz 129 Wizards 87

The Basketball Diaries

Utah Jazz 116 Dallas Mavericks 110

The Utah Jazz were on a roller coaster ride on Monday night. The Jazz blew a 21- point lead before going on a 16-0 run in the fourth quarter to complete their 16th straight home victory. Deron Williams had 17 points and 20 assists to lead the Jazz. "Everybody right know is fighting for their lives and fighting for a playoff spot. It was a fun game to be a part of," said Deron Williams. "I wish we would have held on to that lead. We let that slip away. We knew they were going to make a run, but we should have put them away a little earlier." Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 28, and Mehmet Okur had 20. Josh Howard led the Mavs with 25 while Dirk Nowitzki scored 23, but the Mavs fell to 4-4 since acquiring Jason Kidd.

New Orleans Hornets 100 New York Knicks 88

The Hornets had a little too much trouble with the Knicks before Chris Paul helped his team finish the game on a 10-0 run, and get out of Madison Square Garden with a victory. Paul finished the game with 27 points, 19 of which came in the second half, and had 8 assists and 5 rebounds. He's so good that even Isiah Thomas noticed. "As I said before the game, he's great. He's just as good in person as he is when you watch him on tape," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "I thought Nate in the first half did a good job in terms of applying pressure and trying to keep up with him, and then he got in foul trouble and I thought that took away some of his aggressiveness."

Philadelphia 76ers 106 Los Angeles Clippers 80

Yeah, because you really care about anything that happened in this game. Long story short, Philly outscored the Clippers over a regulated span of 48 minutes.

The Basketball Diaries

Chicago Bulls 94 Sacramento Kings 93 (Sat.)

The Bulls were able to sneak away with a victory on Saturday night at the United Center, thanks to a Ben Wallace free throw and then a Ben Wallace block on Brad Miller. And while it was nice that the Bulls actually beat the Kings for once, Sactown had won 15 of the previous 16 meetings, this win actually served to further drive home the point that the Bulls just aren't that good. I know they were without Luol Deng, but there's no way the Bulls should have had this much trouble with a Kings team that was without it's three best players(Mike Bibby, Kevin Martin, Ron Artest).

Cleveland Cavaliers 93 Toronto Raptors 90

LeBron James and the Cavs looked pretty damn mediocre for the first three quarters of action on Sunday, but then James took things over in the fourth quarter to lead Cleveland to a nice road win over the Raptors. LeBron scored 24 of his 39 points in the final quarter, to lead the Cavs on a rally from a 13-point deficit. "In the fourth quarter, he was amazing," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "He just took the game over and put us on his back. What a tremendous, tremendous performance."

San Antonio Spurs 88 Los Angeles Clippers 82

The Spurs finally started to resemble the defending champions on Sunday thanks to the return of Manu Ginobili to the lineup. Ginobili scored 23 points in his return, while Tony Parker had 26 and Tim Duncan had 17 points and 17 rebounds to lead San Antonio to victory. Ginobili's return is big because after starting out the season 17-3, they're only 6-6 in their last 12 as they've battled through injuries. "He's our finisher. He's our attacker and he just adds another dimension to our team, especially down the stretch," Duncan said. "When plays don't work or things aren't working exactly right, someone like that can break down a defense."He's a great guy to make things happen and find open shots for people. And we missed that the last few games."

Elsewhere...

• Wizards 108 Sonics 86
• Mavs 101 TWolves 78
• Grizzlies 101 Heat 94
• Bucks 93 Bobcats 89
• Nuggets 109 Sixers 96
• Lakers 112 Pacers 96

The Basketball Diaries

Los Angeles Lakers 103 Chicago Bulls 91

You know, you would think that if you hold Kobe Bryant to 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting, and Sasha Vujacic leads the Lakers in scoring, you probably beat the Lakers. But these are the Bulls, and the Bulls cannot finish games to save their lives. Nine of Vujacic's 19 points came in the fourth quarter, and Lamar Odom's 17 points and 16 rebounds didn't hurt LA's case either. Luol Deng had 26 points for the Bulls, but he also committed some of the stupid turnovers that plagued the Bulls all night on Tuesday.

Toronto Raptors 80 Los Angeles Clippers 77

Not many of the shots the Raptors took on Tuesday night actually went in, but luckily they took enough shots to outscore the Clippers anyway. Toronto shot only 37% from the field on Tuesday, but they played strong defense and took care of the ball. (You listening, Bulls?) Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 24 points, and he also set the franchise record for rebounds in his career with 2,847. "I just wanted to make fast, quick moves to the basket," Bosh said. "My shot wasn't falling, so I just wanted to be aggressive going to the basket and try to draw some fouls. As the leader of this team I knew I had to step it up in the second half and just play better and be more aggressive."

Sacramento Kings 106 New Jersey Nets 101

The injury to Kevin Martin a few weeks ago wasn't the best thing that could happen to the Kings and their playoff hopes this season. Though Martin's injury has been great for John Salmons. Salmons has picked up his scoring since Martin went down, and he had a career high 31 points on Tuesday night to lead Sacramento to only it's second road win of the season. Still, it was his assist to Francisco Garcia, who then nailed a three pointer, with 15 seconds left that finished the Nets off. "My teammates got the ball to me and gave me the chance to go one-on-one and I got a lot of good chances," Salmons said. "This team has three All-Stars and we knew that it was going to be tough to come in here and beat them. It's definitely a quality win. This is going to be a good road trip after not winning a road game all season."

The Basketball Diaries

Boston Celtics 90 Toronto Raptors 77

Whether it's Ray Allen or Tony Allen starting for the Celtics, all they ever do is win. After beating Toronto on Sunday, the Celtics have now won nine straight games, the longest Celtics win streak since 1993. They're also 20-2 on the season. Could the Bulls mark of 72 wins be in jeopardy? I'm going to have to say yes, so from this point on I'm rooting for disaster to strike Boston. Paul Pierce had 18 points while Kevin Garnett had 16, but it's how the Celtics are playing on the defensive end that's gotten them off to such a good start. "That's going to be our staple pretty much all year long," Pierce said. "We're going to take pride on the defensive end. When you get 12 guys committed and on the same page, night in and night out, anything is possible. That's what we have right now."

Detroit Pistons 109 Golden State Warriors 87

The Pistons took advantage of both weather and timing on Sunday in Detroit. With the Warriors having to fly across country to Detroit to play a game at 12:30PM in the middle of a blizzard was a bit too much for them to handle, and it was obvious on the court. "We weren't ready to play, and we got our butts kicked," Stephen Jackson said. "This is definitely uncalled for -- we're a professional team. This is terrible -- you start a road trip and get blasted like this." Tayshaun Prince led Detroit with 23 points while Chauncey Billups had 19 and Antonio McDyess had 14 and 11 rebounds.

Los Angeles Lakers 113 Los Angeles Clippers 92

Just in case the Clippers forgot that the Lakers own LA, they got a nice reminder on Sunday night. Kobe Bryant wasn't sure he was going to be able to play after hurting his groin on Friday night, but in the end he decided there was no way he could miss a chance to torture the Clippers. Kobe would finish the game with 32 points, while Sasha Vujacic scored all 14 of his points in the 4th quarter to lead the Lakers to victory. "It's sore, but you play through it," Bryant said. "We did a good job staying on top of it and making sure that it was good enough for me to go out there and play and help the team. I didn't sleep. I was doing therapy for 24 hours, iced it down, had a weight-training session for my legs, kept stretching and doing what I needed to do. I can't really open up my stride as much as I'm used to, so I've got to take shorter, choppy steps as opposed to opening my gait. So if I can just keep it in my mind to keep my stride short, I'll be all right."

Elsewhere...

• Blazers 116 Nuggets 105

The Basketball Diaries

Not pictured: Isiah telling Stephon, "It's cool, bitch!" And then grabbing a handful of his ass

Los Angeles Clippers 84 New York Knicks 81

It's the classic story really. Star player and head coach get into a fist fight on the team plane, the star player leaves the team for a game, the team fines the star $195,000, he suddenly comes back to the team and makes up with the head coach. Then they both go out and lose the game. How Dickensian! Stephon Marbury and Isiah Thomas aside, the Knicks did make a late rally to draw within a point with seven seconds left, but couldn't finish the comeback. Chris Kaman led the Clippers with 14 points and 18 rebounds, and any time you're leading scorer has more rebounds than points, that means you shot like shit. Which the Clippers did, making only 37% of their shots. Of course, the Knicks only shot 35%, so they padded Kaman's stats as well.

"Seattle" Sonics 104 Miami Heat 95

And the Sonics finally get on the board! In a night that was supposed to mark the glorious return of Dwyane Wade to the Heat lineup, Kevin Durant got his first pro victory in nine games. Durant had 18 points, but it was Chris Wilcox's 20 and 10 that led the Sonics to their first victory this season. As for Wade, he scored 15 points in 25 minutes, but he couldn't keep the Heat from falling to 1-7. Have you seen Shaq this season? He looks terrible. All that pounding he's taken over the years has finally caught up to him. If Wade doesn't stay healthy and take over again, things aren't going to get any better in Miami this season.

Orlando Magic 117 Cleveland Cavaliers 116 OT

LeBron James had a chance to win this game for Cleveland in the final seconds, but as he drove the lane and went for the shot, Hedo Turkoglu got his hands on the ball and tied him up. Time expired in the resulting jump ball. LeBron did seem to remember the play a bit differently. "I went into the lane and I got grabbed," James said. "He had some of the ball, but he had part of my arm as well. Once I feel a little bit contact, I am trying to go up and get the shot off and hopefully they will call a foul. It didn't go our way." James did finish with 39 points, 13 rebounds, and 14 assists. The last player to amass those kind of numbers in a single game was Wilt Chamberlain in 1968. Dwight Howard didn't play half bad himself, scoring 35 points and grabbing 16 boards of his own to lead the Magic. Oh, and he got the win too.

Elsewhere...

• Hawks 117 Bobcats 109
• Wizards 103 Pacers 90
• Jazz 92 Raptors 88
• Celtics 91 Nets 69
• Hornets 95 Sixers 76
• Bucks 102 Grizzlies 99
• TWolves 108 Kings 103
• Nuggets 110 Blazers 93
• Lakers 93 Rockets 90
• Pistons 111 Warriors 104

The Basketball Diaries

Los Angeles Clippers 97 Chicago Bulls 91

Are they ever going to win? If there's anything good to take from the Bulls latest loss, it's that they actually looked alive last night. So if this was kindergarten, the Bulls would have gotten a gold star. Cuttino Mobley would have gotten the biggest gold star of them all after scoring 33 points for the Clippers on 13 of 17 shooting. I don't know when Mobley became good enough to drop 33 on somebody, but the absence of Elton Brand does strange things I guess. Corey Maggette returned home to Chicago and added 18 points and 10 boards for LA. Luol Deng led the Bulls with 22 points. Joakim Noah also made his debut last night, and scored two points with 4 rebounds and 3 blocks in 19 minutes.

Houston Rockets 89 San Antonio Spurs 81

The Rockets ended their four-game losing streak to the Spurs in Houston last night thanks to Yao Ming. Yao scored 28 points and grabbed 13 boards to help the Rockets improve to 4-1 on the young season. Tracy McGrady only managed 12 points after struggling from the field all night, but he did manage to grab 9 boards and dish out 6 assists. The real reason the Rockets won this game though was that they cleaned up on the glass. The Rockets grabbed 25 offensive rebounds on Tuesday night. San Antonio could only manage 4. "It was a huge advantage that we gave up," Manu Ginobili said. "It's pretty hard to win like that."

Cleveland Cavaliers 108 Golden State Warriors 104

Whatever it as that the Warriors were doing at the end of last season, and against Dallas in the playoffs that made them so good, they're not doing it now. The Warriors are now 0-4 on the year after losing to LeBron and the Cavs on Tuesday night. LeBron nearly pulled off a triple-double, coming up just one assist short. He'd finish with 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 9 assists. A decent effort, I guess. He did it all with a swollen eye after catching an elbow in the face during the first quarter. "It bothered me some, and it's bothering me now, but I had to be there for my teammates," said James. "If I could barely see, I still had to be out there."

Elsewhere...

• Suns 115 Bobcats 83
• Nets 87 Hawks 82
• Knicks 119 Nuggets 112
• Bucks 112 Raptors 85
• Magic 111 TWolves 103
• Kings 104 Sonics 98
• Hornets 118 Lakers 104

The Basketball Diaries - Just One More Day

Cleveland Cavaliers 98 Philadelphia 76ers 92

I know a lot of Chicagoans who were Sixer fans last night, but we were all severely disappointed. None of us really expected Philly to beat Cleveland, but it would have been nice. It was a team effort for the Cavs with six players scoring double figures, led by the 22 of Larry Hughes' (who also, apparently, chopped off Andre Miller's head) and LeBron's 18. The Cleveland win puts all the pressure on the Bulls tonight in New Jersey.

Golden State Warriors 111 Dallas Mavericks 82

The Warriors tightened their grip on the West's final playoff spot with a win over half of the Mavericks. Neither Dirk, Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, or Erick Dampier played for the Mavs, but the win counts the same in the standings for Golden State. Still, the Warriors have to beat Portland tonight to make sure they play this postseason. "Win or go home. What better way?" asked Baron Davis. "Who would have thought we would be in this position at the end of the year? The mission is not over. We win tomorrow, that's when the mission starts."

Los Angeles Clippers 103 Phoenix Suns 99

The reason the Warriors have to win tonight is because the Clippers beat Phoenix on Tuesday. Elton Brand scored 21 to lead the Clippers who are using the Dallas Mavericks for motivation to win tonight against the Hornets. "From what I'm hearing, Dallas didn't play their guys," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "Obviously Phoenix played their guys, so it tells you they (the Mavericks) probably prefer to play Golden State than us. That's what it comes down to." That's right coach. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact Dallas already has home-court wrapped up. They're just scared of you.

Elsewhere...

• Hawks 118 Pacers 102
• Magic 95 Wizards 89
• Pistons 100 Raptors 84

The Basketball Diaries - LA Belongs To The Clippers

Los Angeles Clippers 118 Los Angeles Lakers 110

Oh hey, look: Kobe scored 50 points again. It's getting kind of boring, isn't it? I'd rather see a game where Bryant scored 5 points because then it would be something worth talking about. That and the 50 points weren't even enough to keep the Lakers from losing again and stop them from free-falling to the bottom of the Western Conference playoffs. Corey Maggette had 39 points as the Clippers overcame a 17-point deficit to beat their in city rivals.

Cleveland Cavaliers 94 New Jersey Nets 76

A few weeks ago people were talking about how whether or not the Bulls or Cavs get the #2 seed, they're going to have a tough time with the New Jersey Nets now that Richard Jefferson was healthy. Well, in that same time span both the Bulls and Cavs have played the Nets one time, and both beat them by an average of 29.5 points. LeBron scored 35 points as the Cavs clinched home-court in the first round.

The Basketball Diaries - Dirk Gets To Catch Up on Grey's Anatomy!

Dallas Mavericks 96 Los Angeles Clippers 86

Listening to a pregame Elton Brand interview yesterday, it was hard not to laugh. You could actually hear him trying to convince himself the Clippers had a chance. Well, Elton, you got 20 points - at least you tried. Unfortunately, Dirk Nowitzki had 26 points - 12 in a row during the 3rd quarter - and Jerry Stackhouse came off the bench with 18 points, to secure the Mavs top seed for this season. Moments later, coach Avery Johnson rewarded the two, announcing they weren't going on the Memphis roadtrip. "I told them if I see them on the plane, I'll fine them," Johnson said. If I were Dirk, I'd show up at the airport just for fun.

Denver Nuggets 115 Los Angeles Lakers 111

Finally, the IverMello titration produces results. After stuggling for a couple months to get the timing right, the Nuggets have started to gel, and last night stretched their winning streak to a season-best six straight games behind Carmelo Anthony's 33 points, Iverson's 24 points and Marcus Camby's 22 rebounds and seven blocks. "This is probably the best time ever to get the chemistry down," Anthony said. "It couldn't come at a much better time for us." This moves the Nuggets one and a half games ahead of the ice-cold Lakers. Coach Phil Jackson had little to say after the game. Here's what I say, coach: Better readjust that "beginner's mind," cuz things are going south pretty fast.

Detroit Pistons 91 New York Knicks 83

The Pistons must roll out of bed ten minutes before game time and wait for the coffee to kick sometime in the fourth quarter. It happened again last night. The Pistons were trailing by 10 in the final minute of the third quarter before Chauncey Billups had enough. Billups scored 22 points, Richard Hamilton added 19 points, getting them the win and lowering their magic number to one to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. "That's pretty much us in a nutshell. We always look for that challenge," Billups said. "When we are challenged, we always step up to the plate. When it's time to buckle down and get stops, we get stops. When it's time to buckle down and execute, we do that, and it was one of our typical games, to be honest with you." Which reminds me: Step up to the plate? Why do athletes always use cliches from other sports?

The Basketball Diaries - Gilbert Does It Again

Washington Wizards 108 Seattle Supersonics 106

Maybe every team in the NBA should find a way to piss off Gilbert Arenas. Giving him a reason to seek revenge against you may be the only way to stop him. After struggling in Portland during one of his "revenge games," Gil went to Seattle where he has no beef. He then went out and scored 42 points, including a runner at the buzzer that gave the Wiz a victory over the Sonics. Gotta feel bad for the Sonics Chris Wilcox though, the guy goes out and scores 27 points while grabbing 22 rebounds, and his team doesn't even win. That's gotta hurt.

Dallas Mavericks 98 Cleveland Cavaliers 90

Here's the difference between the Mavs and the Cavs. Both Dirk and LeBron struggled during the game, but Dirk actually has other good players on his team, and those teammates picked up his slack to give Cleveland it's second straight loss following their 9-game win streak. "That's why we are a great team, because other guys stepped up when we needed them," said Nowitzki.

Los Angeles Clippers 104 Milwaukee Bucks 103

Who the hell is this Jason Hart? The guy gets cut by the Kings last week, the Clippers pick him up and insert him into the starting lineup, and now dude is hitting game-winning jumpers. Hart's shot with 3 seconds left bounced around the rim a couple of times before dropping in, and the Clips got their second straight road win. There's some question as to whether or not Elton Brand may have tipped it in, but Hart isn't about to share any of the credit. "He didn't tip it," Hart said. "It was right there. It was clear as day. If he had tipped it, the way they were calling the game, they would have called a no-basket. The high flyers, they know not to tip the ball around because of the chance it is going to be goaltending." Hart was heard later crying to himself in the shower, "I'm the man. I'm the man."

Elsewhere...

• Heat 91 Hawks 83
• Raptors 92 Magic 85
• Bobcats 92 Celtics 84
• Spurs 90 Pacers 72
• TWolves 95 Kings 89

The Basketball Diaries - U-G-L-Y: The Bulls Ain't Got No Alibi

Los Angeles Clippers 103 Chicago Bulls 89

The Bulls have a unique ability to look absolutely horrible when they're off. Teams have bad games once in a while, but when the Bulls do it, it's just painful to watch. Ben Gordon made 2 of his 12 shots, while Luol Deng made 5 of his 15. I'm still trying to decide what's worse. The loss to Memphis on Saturday or this one. I'm going to say this one.

Phoenix Suns 108 Minnesota Timberwolves 90

Alright, Suns fans, you can get off the ledge, your team is back to its winning ways. Leandro Barbosa stepped into the starting lineup and provided a boost with 20 points. Steve Nash had 18 points, and hit 4 of 5 three-point shots. The win also clinched the Pacific Division for the Suns. "We have loftier goals," Mike D'Antoni said, "so it's something good, but again it would have been better if we didn't have this little funk that we've been in. There were some positive signs out there that we'll be back. So overall, it's pretty good."

Dallas Mavericks 92 New York Knicks 77

Couldn't they both lose? Dirk and Josh Howard both had 24 points to lead the Mavericks over the short handed Knicks. "I think offensively we're explosive. I think we can score with the best of them," Nowitzki said. "I think even though we're a slower team now than we used to be with (Don Nelson), defensive-minded, we still have a lot of offense out there." The Knicks could also add Stephon Marbury to their list of walking wounded, as he had to leave the game in the fourth quarter with an injury to his left forearm.

Elsewhere...

• Nuggets 94 Bulls 90
• Bobcats 108 Cavs 100 OT
• Pistons 96 Sixers 75
• Hornets 114 Grizzlies 103
• Jazz 104 Warriors 100
• Rockets 86 Pacers 76
• Blazers 100 Wizards 98

The Basketball Diaries - Nice Try, Cleveland

Dallas Mavericks 95 Cleveland Cavaliers 92

LeBron had himself a pretty nice game, scoring 39 points and doing a decent job defending Dirk, but he disappeared at crunch time. King James missed two free throws and two three pointers that could have tied the game in the closing seconds. It's kind of a familiar refrain about James lately. He'll get his, but when they really count he seems to come up short. Dirk on the other hand, does not. He finished with 24 points to give Dallas its fourth straight win. The Mavs continue to cruise through the preseason.

Portland Trailblazers 127 Charlotte Bobcats 90

Not exactly a clash of titans, is it? There is good news on the horizon for Portland, though, cuz if LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy keep playing as well as they are, Portland could be winning a lot of games in the near future. Aldridge had a career-high 30 points while Roy finished with 14 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds. Of course, they were playing the Bobcats, so I guess Blazer fans shouldn't get too excited.

Seattle Supersonics 77 Los Angeles Clippers 75

Remember last season when the Clippers were finally on their way to being a good team? Maybe not. Without Shaun Livingston and Sam Cassell the Clippers fell even closer to being knocked out of the 8th seed in the West by the Ray Allen-less Sonics. Rashard Lewis had 31 points to lead Seattle, but back to the Clippers. Without Livingston, I have a feeling that the Hornets are going to pass them up in the standings and knock L.A. out of the playoffs. Of course when you think about it, whoever gets the 8th seed will have to play Dallas, so what the hell does it even matter?

The Basketball Diaries - Boston Wins!!

Boston Celtics 77 Houston Rockets 72

It's been a terrible season for the Boston Celtics, what with the fact that they suck and the death of Dennis Johnson last week, so a road win in Houston has to be one of the highlights of their season. Boston blew up for 33 points in the fourth quarter after scoring only 44 points in the first three quarters to come back and beat a shorthanded Rockets team. Paul Pierce's 28 points and Al Jeffersons 16 and 17 led the Celtics to only their 14th win of the season.

Dallas Mavericks 110 Atlanta Hawks 87

The Mavericks won their 12th straight game for the third time this season, the first time in NBA history a team has done that. Dirk had 27 and Josh Howard scored 20 before spraining his ankle. Howard's x-rays were negative and he's listed as day to day.

Los Angeles Clippers 100 Charlotte Bobcats 93

The Clippers beat Charlotte on Monday night, but they lost Shaun Livingston for the season. Livingston dislocated the kneecap on his left leg in the first quarter. The injury is a little sickening to see, and in my opinion puts the Brian Butch video to shame. If you haven't seen it, and would like to decide for yourself, feel free. "I love that kid," teammate Cuttino Mobley said. "It's a tough thing to happen to him -- not only for the team, but also for our fans. He is really special."

Elsewhere...

• Sixers 89 Kings 82
• Knicks 99 Heat 93
• Spurs 107 Raptors 91
• Nuggets 111 Grizzlies 107
• Magic 94 Bulls 87
• Lakers 102 Jazz 94
• Sonics 97 Blazers 73