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The New Orleans Hornets can do little wrong these days.

On a night featuring multiple instances of last-second heroics, the Hornets had one of the most dramatic victories, edging the Oklahoma City Thunder, 91-89 on a David West hoop with 0.5 seconds remaining.

The Hornets have won nine straight games and done so with their defensive work. It didn’t look like it was going to be a stellar defensive effort as the Hornets allowed 33 points in the first quarter. That was their first time allowing 30 points in a quarter since January 5 against the Golden State Warriors (38 points in the fourth quarter), and It snapped a streak of 39 straight quarters without allowing a 30-point quarter (three OT included).

The Hornets regrouped and yielded only 56 points in the final three quarters to pull out the win. The Thunder shot 52 percent in the first quarter and committed only one turnover, but shot only 44 percent with 16 turnovers in the final three quarters. The Thunder’s 89 points marked the seventh time in this nine-game streak that the Hornets have held a team below 90 points.

Even superstar Kevin Durant fell victim to the Hornets stingy defense as he was held to zero points in the fourth quarter. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Durant’s 0-for-5 effort tied his largest "0-for" in any period of any game this season. He was also 0-for-5 from the floor in the Thunder's win against the Utah Jazz on November 15.

Elsewhere, three teams had dubious accomplishments in defeat:

• The Cleveland Cavaliers tied the franchise record with their 21st straight road loss, losing to the New Jersey Nets on a last-second shot by Brook Lopez. They’ll get a shot at No. 22 on Tuesday against a Boston Celtics team that is 21-3 at home.

• The Washington Wizards lost to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden and lost their 21st straight on the road to start the season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the longest streak to start an NBA season since the 1997-98 Denver Nuggets started 0-22.

• The Minnesota Timberwolves set a team record for most points in a regulation loss with their 129-125 loss to the Houston Rockets. The only other time they lost when scoring at least 125 points came in 2008, when they lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 129-125 in double-overtime.

Beckley Mason is Founder of the ESPN TrueHoop Network Blog HoopSpeak.com. You can also find him on Twitter here, and contributing his thoughts on basketball and jewelry commercials to Daily Dime Live.

The thing about stereotypes is that they endure long after any relationship to reality fades. Once opinion about a player is accepted as fact, it’s easy to reinforce prevailing perceptions with selective examples that obscure changes over time. For Dwight Howard, his rough offensive performance against the Boston Celtics on Christmas reawakened accusations that he is a jolly Philistine who can’t handle being pushed around; a terrifying defender who yet lacks the offensive skills common to NBA centers.

In reality, Howard has been steadily evolving since he entered the league, and it’s time to update this collective opinion.

It’s true that there have been noticeable additions to Dwight’s reputation this year, as Howard’s well-produced three days with Hakeem Olajuwon and his improved face-up jump shot have garnered praise. But the core narrative, that Howard operates primarily by brute force, remains intact.

It’s not hard to locate the source of this perception. His shoulders look like they might pop if they don’t first destroy his opposition’s sternum, and his terribly awkward free throw release is a singular example of public self-destruction. But his menacing upper body distracts from a relatively skinny base that cannot anchor Howard to the block like the thick legs of Tim Duncan. Indeed Howard’s most important attribute has never been his size and power (he's 6-foot-9 without shoes), but his leaping ability, lightning quick feet and mid-air body control.

By casting Howard as the brute force, we easily overlook all the thinking he does on the court. Over the last few seasons, Howard has become one of the league’s best big men at passing out of the double team. This can be hard to notice because of the offense in which he plays. Unlike the Lakers’ Pau Gasol, who feeds a steady carousel of cutters from the post, racking up assists that are easy to spot in a box score, Howard’s role is to make the hockey assist for his 3-point shooting teammates. When the Magic space the floor around Howard, often the wide open 3-point shot or closeout-busting drive will come two passes after Howard kicks the ball out of the double team. Howard may not tally the assist, but his decision making and ability to absorb a full double team before finding the right teammate on the perimeter are vital to his team’s success.

Defensively, Howard’s volleyball spike blocks are spectacular, but what’s truly impressive is the amount of times each game Howard contests an attacking player by trusting the principle of verticality and jumping straight up without attempting to swat the shot. The weakside blocks are a freakish display of explosiveness; the perfect rotations that result in missed shots are the result of a cerebral defensive approach. He also is one of the best in the league at hedging on screen-and-rolls. Howard was actually a guard for much of his childhood, and his lateral quickness on the perimeter remains impressive.

It can be hard to find where these improvements show up statistically. Since 2008 his scoring and field goal shooting percentages have remained fairly static while his assist to turnover rate unimpressively hangs around .33 assist to turnover ratio. However his usage percentage, an indicator of how many plays are being run through Howard, has climbed steadily during his career to a very respectable 28.6 percent. For perspective, Kobe Bryant currently owns the league’s highest Usage rate, 34.34 percent, and Dirk Nowitzki's is 28.4 percent. So the Magic are using Dwight just as much as the Mavericks employ Nowitzki’s offensive genius, but how many people believe Howard to be the offensive focal point that Nowitzki is?

I wouldn’t argue that Dwight is nearly as skilled or efficient a scorer as Dirk, but clearly Howard is not an offensive afterthought.

Even the storyline that Howard is particularly incapable of playing well against Boston is overblown. Over the last three games of the last season’s Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics, when Howard stopped kicking out and started attacking on his own, he personally demolished the Celtics’ front line to the tune of 27.0 points and 12.7 rebounds on 64.6 percent shooting.

Is Howard capable of putting up big numbers against the Celtics? Absolutely. Why do you think the Celtics picked up Shaq (who fouled out Saturday trying to keep up with Howard)? To match up with Joel Anthony?

Last night against the Nets’ Brook Lopez, who is significantly larger than Dwight, Howard got back on track, dominating the boards (13 rebounds to Brook’s seven), recording six blocks and leading a defensive effort that held the Nets to 39.7 percent shooting from the field. Howard made smart plays all over the court, using his feet to snuff out pick-and-rolls, getting in position to contest everything at the rim and creating offense for his entire team by forcing the Nets to double him.

Certainly Howard still has offensive limitations that should not be overlooked. His lack of lower body strength sometimes causes him to fight for position with his arms, which results in easily spotted, maddeningly cheap fouls off the ball and makes it hard for him to back in his man under the basket. It would also be great if the Magic team doctor could remove whatever it is in his arm (oh, it’s his enormous bicep?) that prevents him from extending his elbow when he shoots.

Understandably, these flaws aren’t doing anything to change people’s mind on Dwight. But in the interest of progress, next time you see that 6-foot-10 guy posing as Superman, try to keep an eye on all the plays he makes using the head on top of those cartoonish shoulders.

The Los Angeles Lakers might have to learn that a little less Kobe Bryant may go a long way this season.

On Tuesday, Bryant scored 29 points but it took him 25 shots to get there in a 98-96 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. During the Lakers current three-game losing streak, Bryant has attempted at least 20 shots in each game and has averaged 26.3 FGA per game.

This season, the Lakers are 2-3 when Bryant attempts at least 25 shots in a game, compared to 11-2 when he attempts fewer than 25 shots.

Look even deeper and you will see that all five of the Lakers losses have come when Bryant has at least 20 shots. When Bryant attempts fewer than 20 shots, the Lakers are 7-0.

• Tim Duncan recorded his first regular-season triple-double since March 14, 2003 as he had 15 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists in the San Antonio Spurs 118-98 win over the Golden State Warriors. Duncan actually has more postseason triple-doubles (four) than in the regular season (three).

There were 239 triple-doubles in points, assists and rebounds in between Duncan's games. Among the many players who picked up at least one in that span were: Ryan Gomes, John Salmons and Bob Sura, who had two on consecutive days in April 2004.

• The Cleveland Cavaliers scored 87 points in their loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. When the two teams last played in Cleveland on October 27, it was the Celtics who scored 87 points in the loss.

In the October matchup, J.J. Hickson led the Cavaliers with 21 points. On Tuesday, he had just one point on a free throw and was 0-for-4 shooting.

The Celtics outscored the Cavaliers 60-26 in the paint, the second time this season in which the Celtics scored at least 60 in the paint. The 26 by the Cavaliers in the paint were two points away from their season low in a November 2 loss against the Atlanta Hawks.

• Amare Stoudemire scored 35 points for a second straight game in the New York Knicks 111-100 win over the New Jersey Nets. The last Knicks player with 35 points in two straight games was Stephon Marbury -- Stoudemire’s former teammate with the Phoenix Suns -- in March 2007.

Brook Lopez scored 36 points for the Nets in the loss, one shy of his career high set on March 26, 2010 against the Pistons.

Prior to Lopez, the only Nets center in the last 25 seasons with at least 36 points in a game was Sam Bowie on March 20, 1991 when he had 38 against the Timberwolves.

• More good stuff on the positional revolution, this time from Jesse Blanchard of 48 Minutes of Hell. Blanchard writes that defensive roles are much harder to define than offensive ones, which makes reclassifying (or declassifying, so to speak) defensive positions a nearly impossible task. The more NBA basketball I watch and the more NBA people I speak with, the more convinced I've become that off-the-ball decision making composes at least 50 percent of a defender's grade. It's important to have wing players who can smother isolation scorers, big men who can bang down low and guys all over the floor who can defend the pick-and-roll, but the margins of the game are won and lost because of the quality and speed of rotations, recoveries and anticipation. That's going to be true irrespective of how we define or redefine what a point guard, power forward or center looks like.
• We've heard a lot about the Orlando Magic's "4 out/1 in" scheme over the past few seasons. Here's what it looks like.
• While we're on the topic of what constitutes a power forward, should Rudy Gay be spending time at the 4? Joshua Coleman of 3 Shades of Blue: "Team USA is apparently content to live with their lack of size in the traditional post position of PF by maximizing their talent and athleticism at those spots by playing Rudy Gay at the 4 with Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant manning the SG and SF positions, respectively."
• An evocative piece by Bethlehem Shoals about his trip to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame has two of my favorite things in one place -- basketball writing and travel writing. On seeing Wilt Chamberlain's jersey from the 100-point game in Hershey: "I couldn't help but stand, slack-jawed, for several minutes. I took in every detail of the fabric, trying to read the game's action, or Chamberlain's mood, through the patterns of sweat and scuffs. Most telling was the long blood stain across the back, where someone had evidently clawed the big man as he took the individual game past all acceptable limits."
• Dave of Blazers Edge: "So much attention gets paid to [Greg] Oden's physical struggles that his true potential Achilles' Heel gets overlooked. The mental and emotional aspects of the game and the league will be Oden's biggest bugaboos. After three years of substantial non-playing his connection to health, basketball, championship-level play, and teammates is fishing-line thin. The organization will have quite a task reeling in such a huge specimen on that fragile line. Greg is more used to rehabbing than playing. He's more used to trying to decide what movie to watch than watching film. Competition is absent, muscle memory faded, rhythm non-existent. How will he adjust to his renewed calling and the renewed expectations...expectations with which he was never comfortable in the first place?"
• Kevin Durant's first dispatch from Madrid: "I’m really looking forward to this whole experience. It should be a lot of fun. I’ve never been to Europe, never been to Spain, never been to Turkey or Greece. I’m looking forward to that and just being able to interact and be around some of the best players in the league. Guys like Rudy Gay, Iguodala, Rajon, Lamar…just to be with those guys and learn, it’s going to be pretty cool and it’s going to help me."
• Jeremy Wagner of Roundball Mining Company on Carmelo Anthony's lame-duck status in Denver: "Carmelo already lacks defensive intensity and is not known for restraint on offense when it comes to letting shots fly. How much worse will those characteristics be accentuated if Melo is longing to be somewhere else."
• Could a breakout season by Brook Lopez propel the Nets to the postseason?
• If you take a look at the Wins Produced metric, it turns out Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley (both still with Phoenix) were the Suns' biggest overperformers during the postseason and Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa (both no longer with the Suns) were the team's biggest underperformers.
• Matt Hubert of D-League Digest lays out five Nancy Lieberman storylines as she takes the reins as head coach of the Texas Legends. Hubert wonders if Lieberman will be the target of any chauvinistic abuse from fans.
• Scott Schroeder breaks down the 10 must-see D-League games in 2010-11.
• A slew of teams introduced small modifications to their jerseys on Monday. The Jazz returned to an old motif and won the day.
• Chris Paul: Big fan of Coca-Cola's Freestyle Fountain.
• The commercial realities of globalism disappoint Donyell Marshall.
• Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post tweets: "Oh man, guys, do a search for '2010 nba rookie portraits' on Getty. Some incredible stuff up there."
• The cheapest seat in the house for the Heat's home opener will run you $185 plus service charges.
• There are few guys in the league more fun to talk shop with than Ryan Gomes. Throw Gomes on the list of "players most likely to coach." When it's all over, Gomes has his eyes set on the Providence College gig.

Every acquisition has a cost, which is one of the bedrock principles of bartering. Unless you're purchasing Manhattan or annexing the Sudetenland, it's virtually impossible to get something for nothing. The NBA's trade market has three primary currencies in circulation: talent, cap relief and flexibility -- with the latter two linked to some extent. On Wednesday, Houston, New Orleans, Indiana and New Jersey cooperated on a blockbuster trade that saw each team forfeit assets in service of a larger goal.

Houston Rockets

Coming: Courtney Lee
Going: Trevor Ariza

On the surface, the deal for the Rockets appears to be a cost-cutting measure. Houston re-upped Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry this summer, while signing Brad Miller to a free-agent contract. Deep into luxury tax territory, the Rockets unloaded the remaining four years and $28 million on Ariza's deal in exchange for Nets guard Courtney Lee.

The Rockets' front office deeply believes the best value contracts in basketball are max deals granted to transcendent superstars, and rookie scale contracts belonging to productive young players. In Lee, the Rockets get a young wing who will earn only $1.35 million in 2010-11. In addition, the Rockets hold a team option on Lee for $2.23 million in 2011-12. That's real value for a 24-year-old with the talent to start. A $6.3 million trade exception doesn't hurt either.

Lee and Rockets starting shooting guard Kevin Martin train together in the offseason -- the latter regarded as an older brother to the third-year guard. Although Lee might not be the stopper Ariza is, he is capable of covering either guard position and can certainly tread water against some of the league's less dynamic 3-and-D small forwards. Lee will find strong organizational dynamics in Houston, similar to what he encountered during his rookie season in Orlando, where he succeeded. With Ariza's departure, the Rockets will have to figure out who picks up his minutes beyond Lee and whether that means experimenting selectively with Martin at the 3 spot.

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New Orleans Hornets

Coming: Trevor Ariza
Going: Darren Collison and James Posey

The wing has been an enduring problem for the Hornets dating back to Desmond Mason, Bostjan Nachbar and J.R. Smith. Ariza might not rank on Chris Paul's list of the top 25 guys he most wants to play with, but the second Ariza puts on the teal, he'll instantly become the most athletic and versatile wing New Orleans has seen in recent years -- but at an enormous cost.

Collison has one of the best value contracts in basketball. He'll earn $1.3 million this season and carries team options for $1.46 million and $2.31 respectively over the subsequent two seasons. As a rookie, Collison played more than 2,000 minutes and compiled an impressive player efficiency rating of 16.55.

There's no guarantee Chris Paul will be sticking around New Orleans after his contract expires in the summer of 2012, and Collison's presence was a healthy -- and cheap -- insurance policy against that departure and any injury. Removing the remaining $13.4 million of James Posey's contract and the addition of Ariza's gifted -- but limited -- game seem to be an expensive bounty for a player with the potential to be very special and who is already contributing on a nightly basis.

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Indiana Pacers

Coming: Darren Collison and James Posey
Going: Troy Murphy

"Point guard, Indiana Pacers" has been the NBA equivalent of "Drummer, Spinal Tap." The Pacers haven't been able to buy a break at the top of the floor for several seasons. Jamaal Tinsley, Anthony Johnson, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Jarrett Jack and, most recently, T.J. Ford and Earl Watson have all walked through the revolving door in Indianapolis.

A.J. Price, picked in the second round of the 2009 draft, showed some promise in his rookie campaign. But the acquisition of Collison finally locks down the point for the Pacers for the foreseeable future.

Normally, a salary like Posey's would be an onerous burden, but the Pacers have one of the cleanest spreadsheets in the league going forward -- only $18.8 million committed in 2011-12 before you tack on Posey's deal. The addition of Collison gives the Pacers the freedom to buy out Ford and not overpay for the services of Watson.

---

New Jersey Nets

Coming: Troy Murphy
Going: Courtney Lee

There's a pleasing symmetry to this deal, and it ends in Newark where Murphy arrives in exchange for the departing Lee. Murphy offers a lot of appeal for the Nets. First, he's in the final year of his contract, which will pay him a hair under $12 million in 2010-11. Second, he gives the Nets a stretch 4 who can crash the defensive glass and deliver smart interior passes, assets the Nets want alongside Brook Lopez's more traditional skill set.

What about No. 3 overall pick Derrick Favors? The power forward out of Georgia Tech turned 19 the week following Orlando summer league. With Yi Jianlian moving down I-95 to Washington, there will be plenty of minutes for Favors in the Nets' frontcourt rotation.

The Nets will presumably fill the void left by Lee with a platoon of Terrence Williams, Anthony Morrow and Quinton Ross -- three players who share absolutely nothing in common. Williams' versatility and range of talents span the board. Meanwhile, Morrow could beat Ross in a shooting contest wearing a blindfold, but few players in the NBA can torment perimeter scorers the way Ross can.

• The Nets hosted the much-anticipated workouts for DeMarcus Cousins and Derrick Favors. The Nets are sitting with the No. 3 pick on Thursday night and will likely have a choice between the two big men. Cousins impressed, but the Star Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro believes that the Nets are leaning toward Favors: "DeMarcus Cousins passed every test they gave him — with honors." But, D'Alessando disclaims, "He failed to prove that he is better equipped and contoured to play the power forward position than the more athletic and equally promising Derrick Favors. And in a draft that is now predominantly about marking and developing Brook Lopez’s frontcourt sidekick, that’s a problem for Cousins."
• Every June, David Stern steps up to the podium and announces a few draft selections with international pedigrees. The immediate reaction from casual fans of the teams making those picks is generally, "Whooooo?" Jay Aych of The Painted Area offers a primer on a couple of potential first round hopefuls from across the pond.
• Dan Steinberg of D.C. Sports Bog is blown away by John Wall's skill set. One observation: "Wall runs faster while dribbling a basketball than Kevin Durant runs without a ball."
• We tend to poo-poo ballplayers who are characterized as single-dimensional. But Fran Fraschilla points out that a specialist fills an important place on an NBA roster. Fraschilla has divided his list of talented niche players into three categories: shooters, energy guys and rim protectors.
• Speaking of specialists, you could do a lot worse than plucking a monster offensive rebounder and nasty screen-setting big man like Brian Zoubek in the second round.
• Plan on heading over to Madison Square Garden for the draft? Tickets don't go on sale until the morning of the event at 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
• Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm on Evan Turner's resilience at Ohio State: "I started gawking at the kid’s numbers five games into last season. I thought they’d tail off (and they did, sort of), but the fact that they were there showed what he was capable of, and when trying to determine a ceiling, that’s a pretty good sign. Then he broke his back. I figured that meant a drop to the teens for him. I mean, the kid broke multiple vertabrae. Who comes back from that? Who fights through that?"
• The pros and cons of Xavier Henry for the Warriors.
• Is Paul George the sleeper of the 2010 draft?
• Doc Rivers says that the Celtics were too eager to help off Ron Artest in Game 7. He's also getting regular texts from Paul Pierce and Ray Allen pleading with him to stay with the Celtics. (via Sports Radio Interviews)
• Do you remember when a portrait in Life Magazine represented an official induction into the highest rungs of celebrity? Free Darko does.
• Lamar Odom, Jerry West, W.H. Auden, Joseph Stalin, Mike Tyson and Kobe Bryant all in one place.
• The arrest count in Los Angeles from last Thursday's post-game violence now tallies 45. For those who love the city, who appreciate that our municipality can ill-afford frivolous expenditures and who feel for business-owners who stuck it out downtown when central Los Angeles was being written off (and found their property destroyed when they came into work Friday morning), images of what transpired in the name of celebration evoke profound sadness.
• Zach Lowe of Celtics Hub continues his catharsis. Lowe lists some of the most painful losses in Celtics history.
• Watch the draft with Raptors Republic.

• How many of the Celtics' "Big 4" need to produce in order for the Celtics to be successful? Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus breaks down the Celtics' postseason results by examining single game scores for Garnett, Allen, Pierce and Rondo and measuring those results per 48 minutes: " In 14 of the team's 20 playoff games, two or more members of the Big Four have been above average. In those games, the Celtics have been tough to beat, going 11-3."
• When the Celtics jump out early, they're a tough team to beat.
• Lakers fans have a complicated relationship with Derek Fisher. Fisher has provided them with some of their fondest postseason memories, but many of those same fans also see point guard as the spot on the floor where the Lakers are most vulnerable due to Fisher's age and streaky shooting. Jeff Skibiski of Forum Blue & Gold offers his paean to Fisher.
• Neil Paine of Basketball Reference wonders how often a championship team's "alpha dog" goes on to win Finals MVP.
• Although he has a lot of work to do this summer, Phoenix Suns general manager Steve Kerr has enjoyed as much vindication this postseason than any player or executive in the NBA.
• Grant Hill thinks that swapping Jared Dudley for ESPN's J.A. Adande as the Suns' sixth man would be a potential disaster.
• Tom Ziller exquisitely digs into "Pacific Rims," Harper's assistant editor Rafe Bartholomew's exploration of basketball in the Philippines: "So much of the idiosyncratic image of Filipino basketball madness stems from the physical limitations of both the Filipino people (whose men, on average, stand shorter than Earl Boykins) and the challenges posed by the archipelago's sweltering climate. There's also the dedication to the art of the sport, which disconnects with our American vision of the game's aesthetic value stemming from the dunk, a task made more difficult in the Philippines due to the aforementioned height issue. Filipino players have instead translated the dunk into their language, creating the trick lay-up. And this type of cultural touchstone -- not the lay-up itself, but its creation myth -- gets at just what makes basketball in the Philippines so special: the kids in flip-flops in the barrios and the McDonald's All-Americans in the arena are all connected through this unique basketball mythology created here."
• Embracing (or rejecting) advanced analytics means that sometimes a player's quantitative value defies what the human eye sees. Such is the case with Spurs big man Matt Bonner.
• Drafting for "need" isn't as simple as filling one of five positions on the court. Teams also have to be mindful of how a specific draftee's skill set would dovetail with their existing roster. The New Jersey Nets might be choosing between two talented young big men -- Derrick Favors and DeMarcus Cousins. Both have enormous potential, but whose talents would best complement Brook Lopez?
• The Clippers continue to bring in a slew of prospects for workouts.
• Jay Aych of The Painted Area is picking Barca to sweep the ACB Finals: "... Barcelona is nearly flawless, one of the best units Europe has ever seen."
• Will Walter McCarty get his shot as an NBA assistant next season with the Pacers?
• Jeff Pendergraph: Bowled over by The Brady Bunch Movie.

Here in New Jersey, if you look out the window ... well, you hardly can. The snow is stacked so high on the sill that half the pane is covered. Even where you can see the world beyond, it's all the same anyway. Almost no cars driving by. Hardly even any tree bark showing. A polar bear could stand anywhere she wanted and be hard to spot.

Meanwhile, just about everyone in the NBA world is due to travel to Dallas for the All-Star game. All the way through Friday, planes to DFW are booked solid. The airport will be a who's who of the NBA.

If they can get there!

Imagine what kind of NBA disruption could cause if airports are all closed.

League vice president of basketball communications Tim Frank is already in Texas, and says he's "not aware of any plans to schedule anything differently" because of the weather, even though Dallas itself is due for some snow.

Not everyone will make it on time, however. For a period on Wednesday, nearly every flight from the Northeast was canceled.

Which I discovered in trying to confirm my own seat. At that point, I was looking into Amtrak to Dallas. Philadelphia-Pittsburgh-Chicago-Dallas, anyone? It's only 24 hours. The only problem is it's sold out and massively delayed -- they can't keep the snow off the tracks. How about a train or a bus to a city with a working airport? One of the nearest that was not experiencing massive delays was in Kentucky. That's 13 hours on a good day. Meanwhile, the cars I have seen moving around this part of the world by are mostly being propelled by humans running along behind, pushing. By dumb luck, as it happens, my flight is back in business. The travel agent says that if I don't make it on that one, I'd be fortunate to get even a Saturday flight.

Which made me think: Wow. What about, for example, all those players who have to play in Friday evening's rookie game?

Many are in good shape. Michael Beasley's game tonight is in Atlanta. Eric Gordon is playing at Golden State. Omri Casspi and Tyreke Evans are in Detroit, where the airport is said to be operating normally. Dejuan Blair is in Denver, Taj Gibson is in Chicago, Jonny Flynn is in Minnesota. Those airports are reportedly working.

Brandon Jennings and his Milwaukee Bucks, however, are in New Jersey to play the Nets tonight. Ordinarily, teams fly home after the game and fly straight back home. Once in Milwaukee, reports are the airport is open. But indications are that planes may have trouble getting in and out of New York area airports tonight, as the snow promises to continue into morning.

At least Jennings can leave the Northeast on a private jet as soon as the runways are open.

Most people are stuck trying to win the lottery of finding seats on commercial flights out of the New York area, just as thousands of flights have been canceled from Washington to Boston.

The Nets' Brook Lopez, for instance, is without a private jet, hoping to leave New Jersey by commercial plane tomorrow. Does he have it all worked out?

"Not sure yet," says Nets' media guy Aaron Harris. "Trying to work out the flight schedules. Don't know what's going to happen yet. Will know more later tonight or tomorrow morning."

Harris adds his own flight to Dallas "is still on, I think. But I don't think the your readers really care about me."

Of course he's dead wrong about that though. If Lopez can't make it, Harris might have to suit up.

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

• In Shoals' interview of Brook Lopez, we learn that the Nets' second-year center is the rare athlete that prefers long-form non-fiction to 140 character burps: "I'm busy writing actual books and stuff like that rather than Twittering."
• Rob Mahoney of The Two Man Game sets the bar for an intriguing Mavs team. The lede: "A simple question with varied, complicated answers: what needs to happen for the Mavs' 2009-2010 season to be considered a success?  Given the roster assembled, is winning the championship the only way to declare the campaign a successful one?  Or, in light of relative expectations, is it enough to merely challenge the natural order?"
• Allen Iverson needs a job; The Sixers need some depth in the backcourt. Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philadunkia wonders aloud if a second act for Iverson in Philly could work. 
• Finally some semblance of a resolution to the Hawks' ownership fracas. As Bret LaGree of Hoopinion writes, the ownership group in Atlanta have gradually evolved into a relatively functional bunch. Peachtree Hoops also tackles the issue in stellar form. 
• Speaking of the business of the Atlanta Hawks, Micah Hart informs us that Zaza Pachilia is diving into The A's lively restaurant scene. Also of note, "Pachulia, if you recall, participated in last summer's business seminar for NBA players at Northwestern's prestigious Kellogg School of Management."
• Basketbawful continues its "Worsties" series. Among December's lowlights: the elevator in Chris Bosh's apartment building. 
• 21 Reasons to order up NBA League Pass. I'll rank #7 as the most persuasive argument -- local ads.
  
• Not that it hasn't been shouted from the roof tops over the past couple of years, but Leon Powe remains the most rootable player in the Association. 
• Nike's footprint is all over the Michael Jordan exhibit at the Basketball Hall of Fame that the Jordan Brand -- a division of the shoe giant -- paid for. As the article rightly points out, corporate sponsorship of museum exhibitions is de rigueur these days. Furthermore, it's hard not to highlight Jordan's impact on the game without including his pivotal role in the personal branding of athletes.  Still ... "Walking around the exhibit, you never feel free of Nike's vise."
• The results of NBA.com's rookie survey are out. Jonny Flynn gets much love from his classmates.
• What can Randy Foye do for the Wizards? 
• Re: Quentin Richardson's twitter feed, I suppose a summer like Q's is enough to drive a person to astrology: "You may surprise someone with how you express your independence... More for Aries." 

Have the Cavs gone from invincibility to must-win crisis mode in a single day? Did the Magic catch lightning in a bottle, or was Wednesday night their definitive statement game? And the Celtics always manage to maintain a spot in the news cycle, even after they're eliminated. 

John Krolik of Cavs the Blog: "This one is bad. It's about as bad as a first game gets. We've lost some of our swagger at home. Game 2 almost becomes must-win. In close games, you either get it or you don't. We didn't tonight, and we've lost a 50-50 game. We now have to beat an elite team on the road, something we haven't shown we can do. We wasted an absolutely phenomenal performance from LeBron James. But you should be able to win on the road if you're a championship team, and some things will even out; you can't count on LeBron (or anybody) being that good for the rest of the series, but Mo [Williams] and Delonte [West] should get better and Rashard [Lewis] and Dwight [Howard] should lose some of their fire ... We lost. At home. In a close game. With LeBron rolling. But we're only down a game. And there's still a lot of series left. And my life is, if I can chill for a second and try and get out of my own head for a second, relatively the same as it would be if Delonte had made that shot. It sucks because this team especially, and LeBron, feels like we need validation, a championship on a macro level to bless the team and all its fans faith as worthy and a win tonight for LeBron's performance to be truly great. But the true fans know both things are true regardless, and…God, I just want to win on Friday and for it to happen right now."

Zach McCann of Orlando Magic Daily: "This win wasn't about the Cavaliers not being tested, the crowd being taken out of it or LeBron James running out of gas. All those things are true, yes - but this game was all about the Magic proving they know how to win. Proving they have the mental fortitude, the team cohesion and the resiliency to win under any circumstance ... A week ago, when the Magic allowed the Celtics to rattle off a 13-0 run and steal Game 5 away from Orlando, did you ever think we'd be here? Did you think a team that suffered one of the worst collapses in NBA playoff history would mount an implausible comeback on the road, against the NBA's No. 1 team and No. 1 player, just eight days later? The Magic are legitimate NBA title contenders. That feels good to say. Magic fans have been saying it all season, but did you really believe it until now? Did you really think this team could play at the highest level on the biggest stage under the most pressure, and win? We knew the players had enough talent, yeah -- but was the team capable of it?"

THE FINAL WORD
Nets are Scorching: Video of Brook Lopez at something called the Sun God Festival.
Celtics Hub: Competing views of Doc Rivers' injury disclosures. 
Roundball Mining Company: More smart insights on the Nuggets-Lakers series. 

(Photos by Gregory Shamus, Elsa/NBAE via Getty Images)

The guy in the Chewbacca costume, in a firefight with some Storm Troopers, is the Nets' Ryan Anderson. The seven-foot speechless dude is Brook Lopez, starstruck at meeting one of his heroes, comic book artist, Jim Lee. Some delightfully unusual NBA video.

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

After weeks of anticipation, debate, and hype, All-Star weekend has finally arrived.  The first major event on the undercard is the Rookie Challenge, which is somewhat of a misnomer...or half-nomer, because it pits the league's best sophomores against the top rookies [insert objections here].  David Thorpe has a terrific preview of the game and what to look for here. 

We'll be live-blogging the event.  Follow along, won't you...

Greg Oden is going to miss the game.  The reason?  He bumped knees last night with Corey Maggette.

The only numeric redundancy is Wilson Chandler and Thad Young sharing #21.

Who would win a cage match between Young and Chandler?  They both list at 6' 8 and 220, coincidentally.

Warmups underway.  I can't emphasize enough how OJ Mayo drains, like, every single shot attempt to perfection.

Oden not playing is a bit of a buzzkill.  He's the super-hybrid Frosh-more, which made for an interesting subplot.

Dwyane Wade is rocking his Nation of Islam ensemble.

Starting Lineup Sophs: Stuckey-Durant-Horford-Young-Greena

Frosh: Gordon-Rose-Gasol-Fernandez-Beasley

Kevin Durant at SG...Carlesimo Lives

Gatorade strikes again.  An NBA representative just came over to peel off the label on my Dasani water. 

Mayo coming off the bench. Innnntersting....

Looks like Rose/Gasol screen/roll is the tactical foundation of Rook

Judging from Horford's quick demand of the ball from the official, the Sophs want to run the Rooks out of the building.

Pace factor: Sophs>Rooks

Sophs: 7 seconds or less

Rudy in the open floor is a thing of beauty.

Eric Gordon is a quality defender, but against Durant, he's in waaay over his head.  That mismatch is working for Sophs.

Lopez and Mayo about to check in

Rudy in the halfcourt is a thing of beauty.

E Gordon: 4/4, 10 pts

Rudy from beyond the arc is a thing of beauty.

Hollinger: Suggests that, long term, Gordon's shot might be too flat -- from a trajectory standpoint -- for him to be a truly outstanding shooter.

Jeff Green's True Position...Discuss

Lopez is a surprisingly agile big man

Beasley and Green...exchange talk of trash.

Not sure Stuckey is a pull-up jump shooter.

Thornton can catch-and-shoot uncontested, but still struggles mightily from 18+

Scola is about 8-9 years older than everyone on the floor, Thornton the exception.

One of the weak parts of Eric Gordon's game is his rebounding rate.  He's strong, but small and, for whatever reason, has compiled abysmal Crawfordian numbers on the glass.

Have gone the whole way thus far: Jeff Green, Beasley, and Eric Gordon

Reduce that list to Gordon.

If Durant weren't putting up insane numbers every night, we might talk about his passing a little more.

Sort of a bailout.  Westbrook's handle still isn't Grade A...and trying to take Durant off the dribble...wellllll....

In one series we saw one of the only flaws in Westbrook [handle] and Rose's [jumper] game respectively.  Two super players with two distinct weaknesses.

Probably the prettiest set of the game .

Westbrook taunting Durant...hilarious.

ignited by the Lovian outlet by Gasol.

Dare I say this game is getting away from the Sophs?

Thornton has a really strong dribble game when he gets a running start.

Beasley is running a little hot.  Now 2-7

Stuckey knows how to deliver the ball to his bigs...now if only they can get him some in Detroit. 

It'll be interesting to see if Beasley develops a real post game as a PF [though as of today, looks like he'll be assuming the SF for MIA].  It's not *imperative* that he do so, but it would add a huge component to his game.

Is there a better practitioner of the PUJIT than Mayo?

Nice to see Beasley find some high % shots for himself.

I wish I could credit Westbrook with that drive, but the welcome mat was out.

The Spaniards almost make tapas.

The Euros have brought a lot to the NBA game, but Bigs-Who-Can-Pass might be the most exquisite.

Gasol definitely gets the Effort Award.

Where's Eric Gordon?  In Rambis' doghouse??

Momentum builder for Sophs?

The Under 13 Crowd is very excited for someone named Corbin Bleu, which sounds like a TV dinner entree.

Nice part of beasley's game.  Handle + pass

Eric Gordon: Released from Rambis' doghouse

The Los Angeles Clippers: 10/13 for 23 points in 27 minutes

Gordon mentioned today that he was hoping for a littlematchup time with teammate Thornton.  

Durant is now officially controlling this pickup game.

Kevin Durant knows exactly where to be on the basketball court at every nanosecond of the game.

Dwight Howard is now working the refs.

The less said about Aaron Brooks' atrocious betrayal of Kevin Durant's unselfishness, the better.

The Sam Cassell Special from Gordon.

Young has learned to use his right hand better.

Durant: Absolutely stroking it.  Can shoot over everyone on the floor not named Lopez

To review:  Kevin Durant -- 35 points [14/18]

That little lean-in to draw contact on the jump shot and sucker the defender is always referred to as a 'crafty veteran move.'  But it's being used here by the Rooks to perfection.

I like Russell Westbrook a lot, but this rookie team is better with Rose on the floor.

That's the thing with Beasley.  His skill set is that of a '3', but if you play him at the '4', he's more likely to draw a defender he can take off the dribble along the baseline. 

Counter-argument:  He can't defend the post.

Durant True Shooting Percentage: 86.1%

The Rooks are going with the Twin Tower alignment down the stretch.

Clipper Darryl is in the building chanting Let's Go Clippers, Let's Go.

Gordon draws contact on the drive exceptionally well.

You can sort of see the value of Durant at the 2.  I'm not suggesting that the benefits outweigh the costs, but he's unstoppable against a guy 6 inches shorter than him.

Chandler went to the right spot there...just didn't convert.  But a smart little set.

"Set" being a relative term in this game.

The Sophs got the mismatch there.  Another good set...

Beasley has had a fascinating game, an encapsulation of all his strengths and weaknesses.

You sometimes forget he can stop on a dime and step back like that, as if here were a 6' 4 guard. 

Winners get $15K each.  Losers get $5K.  $10,000 difference if my math is correct.

Aaron Brooks: Keeping the Rooks in the game.

Hollinger, re: brooks:  As Ramon Sessions sits at home and says, 'really??

44 pts...Easily a Rookie Game Record.

Only 2 Rookies in + territory:  Rudy Fernandez with a +10; Marc Gasol with +5. 

The best rookie/soph game to date?  Yes.


Kevin Durant wins the 5-0 unanimous vote for MVP.  Go figure.

Amare held the previous record: 36 points in the '04 game at Staples. 

Some unsung heroes: I thought Rodney Stuckey had a solid game for the Sophs.  He navigates the floor really well. I don't like platitudes like winning ballplayer, but Gasol has the patina of a guy who's going to help some good teams win some games before his career is over.

Brook Lopez needs some refinement, but also played a strong game.

As someone who watches Al Thornton on a regular basis, I can say that he's a guy who benefited greatly from this track meet.  He played a relaxed brand of basketball, and seemed very much in his element.   He even delivered a couple of smart interior passes on the drive. [!]

Final takeaway: Durant is a freak.  But we knew that.

Beasley's maturation will be fascinating to watch, even more so with the Heat's acquisition of O'Neal today, which will move Beasley out of the post. 

Eric Gordon should factor more prominently in the conversation as an elite rookie guard.

Jeff Green does everything very well, but nothing exceptional.    That's not intended as an insult.  There aren't 20 guys in the league you can say that about.

Thad Young's game has come along nicely.  I know he had a rough time earlier this season, but his athleticism is starting to round out into a more complete player.

See you tomorrow night for the Skillz Competition. 
 

Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail:

That Lopez guy is going to be a pretty good player for a No. 10 pick. Huge. Solid offensive game, smart defensively, he'll be a 10-year starter in the NBA, easy.

But know this: He has the biggest feet I've ever seen, I think. He's seven feet on the floor with a bunch of size 15s and 16s and his feet were like, twice as big as anyone else's. How big are your feet when they look too big for your body and you're a big seven footer? He's to feet what Zaza Pachulia is to heads. 

You can see his feet below. They look pretty big, although they are reported to be size 20, which is three sizes smaller than Shaquille O'Neal's reported shoe size. Either set of feet appears to be somewhat larger than this dude's skis. (photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images):