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Sunday was a day in which Kobe Bryant made like Magic Johnson and Rajon Rondo made like both Johnson and Larry Bird.

In the afternoon’s first game, Bryant hit the game-winning shot with 4.2 seconds remaining to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 94-92 win over the Toronto Raptors.

It was the 16th time that Bryant hit a game-winning shot in the final five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime, since his career began in 1996-1997. That’s the most in the NBA in that span- two more than Carmelo Antony.

Rondo raised his game a level in a 95-91 win over the Chicago Bulls, with 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds. A check of Basketball-Reference.com shows that he’s the fifth player with a 30-15-10 game since 1990, the other four being Johnson, Jason Kidd, Baron Davis, and LeBron James.

The last Celtic with a 30-15-10 game was Bird against the then-Washington Bullets in April, 1987.

The Boston Celtics have now allowed fewer than 100 points in 25 straight games. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that’s the longest single-season streak by any team since the 2004-05 Bulls (26 straight) and the seventh-longest streak in the shot-clock era, which dates to the 1954-55 season.

The NBA record is 36 straight games, set by the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons.

Elsewhere around the league the Miami Heat blew out the Atlanta Hawks, marking the sixth time this season, the Heat won by at least 20 points. Only the Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers have more blowout wins than Miami. However, the Sixers have been the on the receiving end of two of the Heat's routs.

LeBron James finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for his 106th career-game with 20-10-5. Since 2003, his rookie season, James has the second-most such games behind Kevin Garnett.

Plus-Minus Note of the Night
Washington Wizards guard John Wall finished a +28 in a 98-77 win over the Detroit Pistons. It was the best plus-minus for Wall in his 97-game NBA career.

On Monday, Ricky Rubio had eight assists in a win over the Sacramento Kings. Rubio now has 108 assists in 13 games, tied for the sixth-most assists all-time in the first 13 games of a player's career, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Rubio doesn't always start, but he certainly does finish. He came off the bench the first 10 games but has started the last three games. Rubio is at his best down the stretch. Not only does he lead the NBA in 4th-quarter minutes but Rubio also leads the NBA in fourth-quarter assists this season (30).

John Wall had 38 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals for the Washington Wizards in a loss to the New York Knicks on Monday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Wall is only the second Wizards/Bullets player ever to put up those numbers in a game. The only other player with at least 38 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals in a game in the team's franchise history was Gilbert Arenas, who had 38 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and four steals in a win over the Boston Celtics in April 2006.

Ryan Anderson had a career-high 30 points, including seven 3-pointers, and seven rebounds on Monday in a win over the Knicks. Anderson is the first Orlando Magic player since Tracy McGrady in March 2003 with at least 30 points, seven 3-pointers and seven rebounds in a game. McGrady had 37 points, including seven 3-pointers, and seven rebounds in a win over the Heat.

Anderson is one of the main reasons the Magic are 9-3 this season. Anderson, who averaged 10.6 points per game this season, is scoring 18.3 points per game this season. The Magic are 7-1 this season when Anderson scores at least 15 points, 5-1 when he shoots at least 50 percent from the field, 9-1 when he makes at least two 3-pointers, and 6-0 when he shoots better than 50 percent from 3-point range.

The Philadelphia 76ers are off to a remarkable 10-3 start this season and have a four-game lead in the Atlantic Division. Their average margin of victory in their 10 wins is 20.7 points. It's the Sixers' best start since the 2000-01 season, when they advanced to the NBA Finals.

What's the recipe for success for the Sixers? Defense. They have held their opponents to 93 or fewer points in each of their 10 wins. More specifically, it's their 3-point defense which has carried the Sixers. In each of their 10 wins, their opponent has made four or fewer 3-pointers and shot less than 31 percent from 3-point range. In each of their three losses, their opponent has made at least six 3-pointers.

The Sixers, who are 9-1 in their last 10 games, have held opponents to 31 percent or less from 3-point range in 10 straight games. Since 1988-89, only one team -- the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons (12 games), who went on to win the NBA Championship -- has had a longer single-season streak of holding opponents to under 31 percent on 3-point attempts.

• Whither the franchise tag -- or designated player -- that was one of the major talking points last summer when a discussion of the next collective bargaining agreement was just getting underway? Zach Lowe of Point Forward revisits the idea, and looks at the repercussions of such a rule.
  
  My general feeling is that, no matter how much you incentivize a player to stay put with his existing team, it's still inordinately difficult to convince a guy to stay in a place he deems undesirable. As Lowe points out, eliminating the sign-and-trade and extend-and-trade will prevent suitors from manipulating the system so that they can offer a defector more money and more years, but it's still hard to imagine a world where Top 20 players stick around for a extra dollars and an extra year. Regarding the latter, locking in an extra season isn't all that compelling to a young superstar. In many cases, he's likely to score a heftier salary in the first year of his next deal (To wit, look at how many superstars are negotiating opt-outs after the third year of lengthier deals). And as Miami's superstars proved last summer, superstars are willing to take less money in a more desirable locale.
• Given how well Lamar Odom played during his stint with Team USA, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times says Odom would be wise to look overseas during the lockout.
• Charles Barkley takes a victory lap for his clairvoyance (at 1:21:40 mark of interview with ESPN Chicago): "Oh I was the first one. If you go back and look, I remember I was on a TV show last year when the season was going on; they asked me about next year, and I said ‘dude, I don’t think there’s going to be a season at all next year.’ And everybody looked at me like ‘that dude’s crazy.’ What I always knew was the owners were going to get the deal they wanted or they were not going to play."
• Politicians, restaurant owners and a vodka company's CEO will issue demands to the Knicks that the team has already granted -- full refunds with interest for season ticket holders.
• Did Tyson Chandler's injury history coupled with his free agent status inform his decision to reportedly turn down an offer from the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions?
• I was supposed to be at the Wizards-Celtics game in Washington last night. Bradford Doolittle of Basketball Prospectus continues his Sim Season series and tells us that I didn't miss anything, apart from a 3-for-14 night from John Wall. Doolittle's simulation doesn't track the keystone cop moments JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche had on defensive rotations along the back line, but the 108-94 final score in Boston's favor suggests they were plentiful.
• Twenty-eight years ago tonight, the Trail Blazers beat the Nuggets 156-116. After the game, Nuggets head coach Doug Moe confessed that, once the rout was on, he told his team to let the Trail Blazers score. Via the Oregonian: "'Our defense was getting so tenacious, I was afraid they (the Blazers) wouldn’t get to 150,' Moe said in laughing off his actions afterward. 'And they (the Portland fans) wanted it bad. I just told the team to back off and let them have it. I said, "Part the seas."'"
• Luol Deng is loving Arsenal veteran Alex Song.
• Metta World Peace: Courting danger on the dance floor.
• Life after the Association for Lamond Murray.

• From a discussion at Wages of Win about the salaries and earnings of NBA players: "That’s right; the lottery [not the NBA draft lottery] has produced almost twice as many millionaires in the last year as the NBA has in the last twenty years!"
• Zach Lowe of The Point Forward on the union's disclosure of some vivid details of Thursday's negotiations: "It was an extraordinary public accounting of a private negotiation, one clearly fueled by anger over the alleged misrepresentations Silver and Holt gave reporters a few minutes earlier. We have seen nothing quite like it so far in these talks. It is discouraging. And the anger matters. The two sides need to cool off now, and it is unclear when they will meet next."
• Belgrade is a basketball hotbed. When Serbia took on France in EuroBasket 2011, you could hear hoots, hollers and moans emanating from alleyways in the Serbian capital. Acie Law has joined Partizan Belgrade and has been blown away by fan passion: "I've never seen anything like it, you don't see fans like that in the United States."
• A nice story in the Sporting News about SEEDS Academy, Amadou Gallo Fall's basketball school in Senegal. The piece includes a clip of a documentary, "Elevate," by filmmaker Anne Buford -- San Antonio general manager R.C. Buford's sister.
• Rex Chapman on owner-player vengeance: "League owners possess much resolve. They've vowed athlete-payback 4ever. Branded into memory are their yrs of daily P.E. dodgeball beatings."
• One ancillary benefit of the lockout? Stars like Stephen Curry who traditionally deliver boilerplate quotes are now expressing their sincere opinions.
• Raja Bell to Dan Le Batard and Stugotz on 790 AM in Miami: "I feel like that is their target to shoot just below the bar, so it looks like they are negotiating and in fact there is not a real attempt to negotiate.”
• If you didn't catch HoopSpeak Live yesterday, you missed some compelling stuff from Bomani Jones and Larry Coon. Jones speaks about how $5 million players have $5 million dollar bills, while Coon revisits the contentious issues that are dividing the camps in the labor negotiations. Equally as entertaining, with a whole lot of whimsy, is Zach Harper, who stops by 48 Minutes of Hell's 4-Down Podcast.
• John Wall in a Dougie-off at a Reebok promotional event.
• LeBron James gets zinged on twentysomething dramedy "Happy Endings." (Hat Tip: Ball Don't Lie & Your Man Devine)
• Magic big man Brandon Bass tells Zach McCann that he's spending his time in Orlando working out with Jameer Nelson, Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson. On his to-do list? Extending his range beyond 18-20 feet.
• J.J. Hickson makes aliyah, as he signs with B'nai Hasharon in Israel, replacing Trevor Booker on the roster.
• Can you name all the D-League teams? You've got four minutes on the clock. Go.
• Metta World Peace would like some company. Via his Twitter feed: "It's not a weird question to ask where the fellas at. I can't entertain 100's of ladies alone. My party yesterday was all girls."

Blake Griffin posted his first career triple-double in the Los Angeles Clippers 127-119 double-overtime win over the Washington Wizards. He had a career-high 10 assists, was one shy of a career high with 17 rebounds, and his 33 points were the fourth-most of his career. He also fouled out, making him the first player to foul out with a triple-double since Lamar Odom in April 2007.

With the Clippers winning at home in double overtime a day after the Los Angeles Lakers won at the Staples Center in triple overtime, the Elias Sports Bureau reports that the last time there were back-to-back multi-overtime games in the same arena was March 1984, at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. The San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks in two overtimes on March 13 and then beat the Hawks in three overtimes seven days later.

Overshadowed in defeat, John Wall set a career high with 32 points, topping his previous best of 29, against the Philadelphia 76ers in November.

In other triple-double news, Chuck Hayes and Kyle Lowry are evoking memories of Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but Hayes' triple-double on Wednesday (13 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists) makes him the second Rocket with a triple-double in as many games, joining Lowry, who did it Sunday against Utah. The last time Houston had multiple players with a triple-double in the same season was 1996-97, by Drexler (2), Barkley and Olajuwon.

Perhaps more impressively, Elias says that the last team to have triple-doubles from different players in consecutive games was the New Jersey Nets in March 1996, by the vastly dissimilar Shawn Bradley and Chris Childs.

Speaking of New Jersey, Kris Humphries had 18 points and 23 rebounds in the Nets overtime win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. The last Nets player with at least 23 rebounds was Michigan State alum Jamie Feick, who had 25 boards on Jan. 20, 2000 vs Detroit.

Although the Boston Celtics lost to the Memphis Grizzlies at home, Kevin Garnett made a bit of history. With his 10 points, Garnett passed Adrian Dantley for 20th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Next on the list is former Celtic great Robert Parish. At his current pace of 15.0 points per game this season, and assuming he plays every game, Garnett would pass Parish in the season's penultimate game, against Washington on April 11.

The New York Knicks lost in Cleveland for the second time this year, but there were a few noteworthy accomplishments in the game.

Our friends at the Elias Sports Bureau tell us Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups became the second and third Knicks to score at least 20 points in each of their first two games with the Knicks. The other player to do so was Bill Cartwright in the 1979-80 season.

And with his 31-point, 11-rebound, 5-block game, Amar'e Stoudemire became the first Knick to post 30 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in a game since Patrick Ewing did it March 2, 1999 in Miami.

Anthony missed his last seven field goal attempts from 5+ feet on Friday night against the Cavaliers and scored just eight of his 27 points in the second half. Anthony is now 7-27 (25.9 percent) from that range as a Knick. He shot 39.3 percent with the Nuggets.

Cleveland is now 2-0 vs the Knicks this season, but 9-47 vs the rest of the league.

Elsewhere in the NBA:

After seven players missed part of the shootaround in Philadelphia, the Detroit Pistons played only six players in a 110-94 loss. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, they became the fourth team since the merger -- and first since November 2009 -- to play six or fewer players in a game.

With his 41-point explosion, Dwyane Wade scored 40 for the second time in his last five games. It was also the 32nd 40-point game of his career. Since Wade entered the league in the 2003-2004 season, only Kobe Bryant (79) and LeBron James (45) have more.

Dwyane Wade was the focal point of the Miami Heat offense on Friday against the Washington Wizards. Wade either scored or assisted on 45 of Miami's 121 points (37.2 pct). With LeBron James and Chris Bosh making just 10 field goals, and Wizards guards Nick Young and John Wall combining for 62 points, Miami needed Wade's magic, as they were +10 with Wade in the game, and minus-2 without him.

Before hitting five of his last nine shots Friday over the final three quarters, Chris Bosh went through a stretch where he missed 20 of 21 shots from the field dating to the previous game.

Friday marked Kevin Love's 200th career NBA game (and 45th straight double-double). Only three active players had more rebounds in their first 200 career games than has Love, who has 2,301: Shaquille O'Neal (2,590), Tim Duncan (2,399) and Dwight Howard (2,307).

Also, Kobe Bryant scored 24 points for the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night taking him over the 1,500-point mark for the 11th consecutive season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the longest such streak by an NBA player since Karl Malone reached that milestone in each of 12 straight seasons (1986-87 to 1997-98).

Despite shooting just 40 percent from the field (10-25), Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 27 points in his New York Knicks debut. In the first three quarters, Anthony was 0-for-6 on jump shots from five feet and beyond.

But in the final 12 minutes, Anthony scored 11 of his 27 points, and was 3-of-5 shooting from five feet and beyond.

Anthony’s 27 points tied for the third-most in a Knicks debut. Keith Van Horn holds the record, scoring 29 points in the 2003-04 season opener.

When both Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire were on the floor, the Knicks as a team shot almost 50 percent from the floor (23-48) and scored 58 percent of their points (66 of 114). But in terms of +/-, the team was even.

They were +4 and made 7-of-9 shots from the floor when Stoudemire was on the court and Anthony was on the bench, and +1 when Anthony was on the court and Stoudemire was sitting.

When it was Anthony and four other Knicks on the court, Anthony was just 6-for-16 from the floor.

Meanwhile, Chauncey Billups went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line in his Knicks debut. Billups has made 46 consecutive free throws over his last ten games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the longest current streak for any NBA player and the longest for Billups since he made 46 in a row in 2000–01.

Elsewhere in the NBA …

For the third game this season, the Toronto Raptors did not make a 3-pointer. (Toronto was 0-5 from the 3-point line Wednesday in their win over the Bulls.) Earlier this season, the Raptors’ record streak of 986 consecutive games with a made three-pointer came to an end.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Wednesday marked only the second time in franchise history that the Raptors won a game in which they did not make a 3-pointer. The other instance was on November 4, 1997, when they went 0-for-7 behind the arc in a 104-86 win over the Golden State Warriors. Three players on that Raptors team are still active: Billups, Tracy McGrady and Marcus Camby.

In a 111-105 home loss to the Sacramento Kings, Dwight Howard finished with 31 points and 17 rebounds. It’s his eighth straight game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds, the second longest such streak this season. Rookie Blake Griffin had 14 straight 20-10 games earlier this season.

In a 23-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, John Wall had another double-digit assist game. The Washington Wizards rookie finished with 21 points and 12 assists, his 20th game this season with at least 10 assists. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, entering play on Wednesday all other rookies had combined for only two double-digit assists games this season: one apiece for Eric Bledsoe and Pooh Jeter.

Kevin Love now shares the second-longest single-season, consecutive double-double streak following his 15-point, 11-rebound game against the Memphis Grizzlies. He has 44 straight double-doubles, tying Moses Malone for the second-longest streak of its kind. He’s still six games shy of Malone’s single-season record of 50 (since the 1976-77 merger).

Justin Bieber took the court in the All-Star celebrity game, and he was not the best player on the court -- he missed eight of his eleven shots, had some frustration fouls and was a liability on defense. He wasn't the biggest, either. But thanks to fan votes determining the pick, he was both the MVP (despite his team losing), and the player who had the NBA talking:



Many thanks to Bryan Gold for editing.

The Los Angeles Clippers won their ninth straight home game and tied the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves for the third-most consecutive home wins in franchise history. The franchise record is 11 set by the San Diego Clippers during the 1978-79 season.

Blake Griffin finished with 32 points and 11 boards, improving his January average to 26.0 points per game and 13.4 rebounds per game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Griffin became the fourth rookie over the last 20 seasons to average at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in a calendar month.

Other records in danger of falling in the near future:

The Washington Wizards drop to 0-24 on the road this season, five shy of the NBA record for most consecutive road losses to start a season. The 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks started 0-29 on the road.

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost at the Miami Heat, 117-90, extending their road losing streak to 24 games. Overall, the Cavs have lost 21 straight games, joining the 1997-98 Denver Nuggets and 1995-96 Memphis Grizzlies as the third team in NBA history to lose at least 21 consecutive games in a single season. Making matters worse is that 14 of the Cavaliers' losses during the streak have been by double figures.

Cleveland finished January 0-16, becoming just the third team in the last 20 seasons to finish a month winless (minimum 15 games). The Cavaliers are now 8-40 on the season and the Elias Sports Bureau tells us that they are the first team in NBA history to be the first to reach 40 losses in one season after being the first to record 40 wins in the previous season.

Note of the day:

Jason Kidd had 11 assists in the Mavericks’ win against the Wizards, while opposing point guard John Wall dropped 10 assists of his own. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the age difference between the 37-year old veteran and the 20-year old rookie was the largest in any game in NBA history between two players who each recorded at least 10 assists.

• According to a litigation and labor attorney from Chicago, today's NBA is actually very similar to the league's golden era of the 1980s. Unfortunately, today's NBA audience seemingly wants NFL-style parity.
• Speaking of the 1980s versus today, SI.com's Ian Thomsen wants everybody to know that NBA teams in the 80s weren't any deeper than they are today.
• If Josh McRoberts' hard foul on John Wall made you mad, maybe these funny captions will make you glad.
• Want a detailed analysis of Sacramento's sixth win of the season? Of course you do. Sebastian Pruiti of NBA Playbook breaks it down for you. Although I'm not sure anybody writes up a halfcourt game-winner.
• This in-depth explanation of the "Four Factors" -- complete with charts and graphs and stuff -- will either make you smarter about basketball or break important things inside your brain. Accept the challenge. If you dare.
• The Lakers looked very crisp last night, don't you think? In comparison, the Hornets -- who grabbed a season-low 24 rebounds -- looked very small.
• The Pistons are a much better team with Tracy McGrady running the offense. Yes, Tracy McGrady.
• Relax, Celtics fans. Kevin Garnett's MRI was a precaution, not a necessity.
• Okay, don't relax, Celtics fans. John Hollinger has some new, non-KG things for you to worry about.
• Even good teams with plenty of good players need somebody who can create shots.
• Based on the current results as of today, it doesn't look like Danny Granger or Roy Hibbert will be voted onto the Eastern Conference All-Star team. In all fairness, Indiana is a small market team and even Pacers great Reggie Miller only made one All-Star start...and even that was only because Michael Jordan was retired.
• More discussion and quotes about the defense not being played in Phoenix.
• Look out NBA: The Timberwolves have one two games in a row! And according to Basketball-Reference's Expected W-L formula, the T-Wolves are actually two games better than their 8-25 record. Okay, maybe I'm reaching here.
• The Miami Heat just keep making history.

• Those of you who are sick of reading about how good LeBron James is, should definitely not read this fine Hoopspeak post. Although if it means anything to you, it's also about how Ron Artest didn't play so well on Saturday. I'm kidding, of course. Everybody should read it.
• Right now, all NBA journalism is threatening to devolve into the "did you see what Blake Griffin did yesterday?" show. On a totally different note, did you see what Blake Griffin did yesterday?
• John Wall is stunningly quick and he can do a wicked Dougie. But last night Tony Parker, like the good Spur that he is, was the one playing the extraordinarily efficient basketball. I'm sure he's also a great dancer.
• At the Heat Index, Kevin Arnovitz tells us--exactly and exhaustively--what the Heat's defense did to the Lakers on Saturday. As always, it seems, great defense comes down to trust and a "fundamental, almost religious, devotion by the entire team" to the group concept.
• I'm not what you might call a visual learner. Before I really understand a map or chart I usually have to go through a few rounds of staring, folding, unfolding, wearing it as pants. Nonetheless, the folks at Hoopism made a visual representation of every player on every team ever that is really pretty cool. As a Wolves' fan its hugely rewarding to see the names "Gundars Vetra," "Lance Blanks" and "Charles Shackleford" all in one place.
• Whenever the Timberwolves win, we at A Wolf Among Wolves have ourselves a party. That this party includes extreme expressions of exasperation at aimless defense and mind-blowing shot selection just comes with the territory. Do we care that two of the Wolves' seven wins have come against the Cavs? We do, sort of.
• Missing from my discussion of the new Suns was an assessment of the blockbuster trade that brought Marcin Gortat, Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus into the fold. Michael Schwartz of Valley of the Suns gives us just that. Here's the short term and the long term.
• At Basketball Prospectus, Sebastian Pruiti tells us that although Derrick Rose has indeed added the three to his arsenal, his midrange shooting has actually gotten worse. Just another example of the disappointing fact that, although Rose does almost everything beautifully, he doesn't always do it effectively.
• Aggressively hedging screens is a great way to deter a dynamic ballhandler like Rose. But NBA Playbook tells us that if you do it too early, you could be cooked. Yes, I just made two separate Sebastian Pruiti links. It's because he's awfully smart.
• Brian Robb of CelticsHub talks to Celtics' radio play-by-play man Sean Grande. It will make you want to listen to Celtics' games on the radio. Most interesting, I thought, was their discussion of the effect of Rajon Rondo's absence on the C's offense.
• On the New York Times's Off the Dribble blog, Rob Mahoney describes the ebb and flow of the Thunder's fortunes as a "Spursian rhythm," which sounds awesome. He also provides a really nice chart that I had to stare at for a while. Regardless, says Mahoney, you should get ready for OKC to surge. You should also read Rob Mahoney whenever you can.
• Please watch Kurtis Blow rap about basketball. Hear him say that "basketball is my favorite sport/I like the way they dribble up and down the court." See the strange way he stares at the camera as he lip-syncs. Notice that the players in the video seem to be playing on a six-foot hoop. Then watch Master P's (slightly PG-13) "Make 'em Say Ugh." Notice that there is a gold tank on the floor and a gorilla playing for a team called "The Hustlers." Then wonder about our weird culture.
• Whenever someone tells me that Pau Gasol is "soft" I disagree, and reply that he's actually just "not strong." But now even Phil Jackson is getting in on it. What does it mean when your coach says that a player is "not shooting the ball with a base, he’s kind of just lollygagging, putting a soft kind of release on his shot."? That sounds like a bad thing.
• Apparently, LeBron James literally does not know the meaning of the word "contraction." Yet another example of why I'm really glad I'm not a famous person.
• Bethlehem Shoals gives us the final word on Kobe and LeBron (kidding again): "Not only will we never see the question of 'who's better' satisfactorily resolved," says Shoals, "what keeps it going is that, at bottom, the two represent two very different approaches to the game. It's the impossibility of one ever really surpassing the other that keeps this debate going."
• A sad looking, 33-year-old Steve Francis has been cut from his Chinese professional team. After four games. Think about that and then think about this (check the 1:50 mark).

Playing for the first time in the Wizards last five games, rookie John Wall scored all 25 of his points in the third and fourth quarters as the Washington Wizards erased 17- and 15-point deficits to beat the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime, 116-114.

From the Elias Sports Bureau: Wall is the first rookie to score at least 25 second-half points after being held scoreless in the first half since Adam Morrison on Feb. 21, 2007. Morrison scored 26 points in the second half in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Wall took a season-high seven three-pointers and made a season-best three.

The 76ers lost despite having a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter (92-77 with less than eight minutes to play).

From the Elias Sports Bureau: It's the first time since Dec. 17, 2004 that Philadelphia blew a lead of at least 15 points in the fourth quarter. As for the Wizards, it was their first win when trailing by at least 15 points in the fourth since Jan. 30, 2004 against the Suns.

Around the rest of the NBA …

Shannon Brown tied a season-high with 21 points, making a career-high five three-pointers, as the Lakers beat the Bulls 98-91. Los Angeles has now won seven straight games overall against the Bulls. That ties the Lakers longest streak against the Bulls; also done from 1971-73.

This season's Lakers are the sixth Phil Jackson-led team to win 13 or more games before losing for the third time. In each of the previous five seasons Jackson's teams have gotten off to that hot of a start, his team has gone on to win the NBA title (1991-92, 1995-96 and 1996-97 with the Bulls and 2001-02 and 2008-09 with the Lakers).
Derrick Rose had another big game for the Bulls in defeat with 30 points and 8 assists.

From the Elias Sports Bureau: Derrick Rose has 307 points and 101 assists in Chicago's 12 games this season. Rose is the ninth different player in NBA history with at least 300 points and 100 assists in his team's first 12 games of a season. Oscar Robertson did it five times, Dave Bing (1968-69), Jerry West (1970-71), Nate Archibald (1972-73), Isiah Thomas (1984-85), Michael Adams (1991-92), Gary Payton (2000-01) and Allen Iverson (2005-06).

Washington Wizards guard John Wall recorded his first career triple-double with 19 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in a win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that at 20 years and 65 days, Wall is the third-youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double.

Only LeBron James (who had two at a younger age) and Lamar Odom had triple-doubles at a younger age than Wall. Here are some other notes, courtesy of Elias:

• The triple-double comes in Wall's sixth career NBA game; only four players needed fewer games to record their first career triple-double (Oscar Robertson, Hambone Williams, Magic Johnson and Connie Hawkins).

• Wall's 13 assists give him 61 in his first six NBA games, the most for a player in league history in his first six contests (Robertson had 60 in his first six NBA games).

ELSEWHERE IN THE NBA

The Utah Jazz trailed by 18 points in the second half against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, but just as they did in their previous two games, the Jazz rallied from a deficit of at least 18 points and won, defeating Orlando 104-94.

Elias tells us the Jazz are the first team in the shot-clock era (since 1954-55) to win three consecutive games after trailing by 10 or more at the half in each one.

Utah's past two rallies have been from at least an 18-point deficit in the second half and have come on the road on back-to-back days. According to Elias, the last team to do this was the Portland Trail Blazers on April 7-8, 2009.

It's also the second time in Jazz history they have posted wins in Miami and Orlando on consecutive days; the last time they did that was on Dec. 19-20, 1996 -- they went on to lose in the NBA Finals that season.

For the first time this season, the "Big 3" for the Miami Heat each scored at least 20 points in a game en route to a 101-89 win over the New Jersey Nets on Saturday. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined for 73 of those points with Wade leading the way with 29 points, James with 23 and Bosh with 21. The Heat improved to 5-2 with two of those wins coming at the Nets' expense.

LeBron James has punished the Nets in transition this season. In the third quarter Saturday, LeBron went 3-for-3 in transition and drew two fouls that sent him to the line.

It took Bosh, James and Wade seven games before each of them scored 20 plus points in the same game. When it comes to other notable trios, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce accomplished that feat in just three games while Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon did it in their first game together.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

FROM THE ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU:The Hornets beat the Bucks 87-81 to improve their record to 6-0, though their largest margin of victory this season has been by nine points. New Orleans is only the second team in NBA history to open a season with six straight wins, with none of the wins by a double-digit margin. The 1948-49 Washington Capitols, coached by Red Auerbach, was the only other team to open the season with such a streak.

FROM THE ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU: John Wall, who had 10 assists in Washington’s loss to Cleveland Saturday night, has handed out at least seven assists in each of the five games he has played in the NBA. Oscar Robertson is the only other player in NBA history to record at least seven assists in each of his first five career NBA games. The “Big O” did it in each of his first 10 games in the NBA in 1960-61.