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• A 12-year-old kid was suspended from school for having Matt Bonner's likeness shaved into his head. Bonner responded by giving him and his folks free tickets to Game 2 of the Spurs-Clippers series at the AT&T Center on Thursday night.
• There's a ton of insight to glean from Chris Ballard's tremendous profile on Tim Duncan in Sports Illustrated titled, "21 Shades of Gray." You can read about how Duncan isn't much of a Kevin Garnett fan, how Duncan first bonded with Gregg Popovich on the beach at St. Croix and how Stephen Jackson is "humbled" to count Duncan as a friend. Ballard also offers this very telling portrait of what happens when the Spurs call timeout: "When the Spurs call a timeout and you see the San Antonio coaches huddle a few feet from the bench, it's not to hash out strategy. Rather, Pop is giving Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker time with the team. 'You'll see Timmy over there with a young kid, talking about how he should do this or that or what we meant by such and such,' says Popovich. 'I'll come back to the timeouts sometimes and say, "Are we square?" and Timmy will say, "Yeah, we got 'em."' Popovich pauses. 'He commands that type of respect because he doesn't demand it, if that makes sense.'"
• Should Tim Duncan have been a more public celebrity over the course of his legendary career? Would the NBA and the Spurs been enriched had Duncan given us a deeper glimpse of both his interior and external life? Alex Dewey of Gothic Ginobili grapples with these questions and more.
• For years, Popovich has rationed the minutes of his most important players, readily sitting Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker during tough stretches of the schedule. In doing so, Popovich has raised eyebrows around the league and the ire of basketball populists who feel that the Spurs owe it to the ticket-paying public to put the best players on the floor. History sides with Popovich and you don't have to look much farther than the Spurs' current series with the Clippers -- a younger, sprightlier team -- to appreciate Popovich's strategy. But there's also an ancillary benefit to sitting Duncan, Parker and Ginobili periodically: It means that secondary guys get the ball in meaningful spots during games that matter.
• As Zach Lowe of The Point Forward documents in pictures, the Spurs' ability to stretch the floor, mastery of the misdirection, and constant movement have the Clippers' young big men twisted in knots.
• Bill Simmons at Grantland, on the Spurs: "Thank God for the Spurs, an offensive powerhouse that has single-handedly saved the playoffs from turning into a rockfight. They're headed for a second sweep while pacing the league in points per game (103.7), shooting (49.1 percent) and 3-point shooting (42.7 percent). It's the best version of international basketball we've ever seen -- the Spurs might as well be Argentina or Spain, only with superior players. Everything revolves around their slash-and-kick guys (Parker and Ginobili), their 3-point shooters (too many to count) and their versatile big men (Duncan, Diaw and Splitter, all of whom know where to go and what to do). And unlike Nash's high-scoring Suns teams from back in the day, San Antonio can also rebound and protect the rim, which makes them our single most dangerous playoff favorite since the 2001 Lakers. They aren't just beating teams, they're eviscerating them."
• Boris Diaw might best illustrate the strength of the Spurs' system and culture. Here's a guy who, as recently as 12 weeks ago, was a punch line for his conditioning and an irritant to Bobcats coach Paul Silas. Now he's the starting center for the title favorites. When you watch Diaw dig in defensively for the Spurs, it’s a reminder of what a dominant role effort plays in defensive makeup. Prior to landing on the Spurs' doorstep, Diaw hadn't played much defense in years, but here he is grinding away for Popovich in May. On the offensive end, Diaw passes with so much confidence, and his high-low deliveries to Duncan are a reminder of his refined skill set as a big man. Yet another instance of the R.C. Buford telling the league, “If you’re not going to use that guy, we’ll take him.” At 48 Minutes of Hell, Jesse Blanchard has more on Diaw.
• Timothy Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell: "You’ve heard me say it before, but the Spurs’ ability to attract a championship supporting cast was fueled by veterans who signed on for an opportunity to chase a championship alongside Tim Duncan. Duncan was the draw. Not the city of San Antonio. And never the promise of more money. It was always Tim Duncan. Not anymore. The draw is the opportunity to play in Gregg Popovich’s system. It’s Tony Parker. It’s Spurs culture. It’s Pop himself. It’s the confidence that the front office can always shore things up by adding a Gary Neal, Tiago Splitter or Kawhi Leonard. It’s the confidence that the front office will manage its books and never the saddle the team with a cancerous contract. It’s the confidence in the ability to improve through the internal development of guys like Danny Green. The Spurs have it figured out. Players understand this."
• Paul Garcia of Project Spurs on the quiet professionalism of rookie Kawhi Leonard, about whom Popovich once said, "He just does his work and goes home."
• Steve Perrin of SB Nation on Gregg Popovich, the Alchemist.
• Jordan Heimer and I shower the Spurs with much love on the most recent episode of The Clippers Podcast, presented by ESPN LA.

HoopIdea wants to #StopTheFlop. To spotlight the biggest fakers, we present Flop of the Night. You can help us separate the pretenders from the defenders -- details below:

It was a rough night of flopping for Manu Ginobili. First, he was unable to inspire the referees to tweet -- though Twitter was noisy enough -- when he flailed on a first quarter 3-point attempt (Video).

It was the type of call Ginobili is famous for getting -- which might be why he couldn't sell it this time. As Eric Bledsoe reached in, Ginobili ripped the ball to his shot pocket and struck a distorted pose, like he wanted to shoot the ball but forgot how.

The officials' response: Silence.

Later in the game, Ginobili was even burned by one of his old tricks (Video) when Caron Butler drew a charge by stepping into Manu's path as he released a kickout pass. This sneaky play -- where the defender takes the charge after the driving player has already passed off -- is a pet peeve of many fans and has even shown up in a HoopIdea Five for Friday care of @ShotDrJr.

By the time Manu makes contact with Butler -- who appears to still be moving when he gets the call -- he has almost entirely stopped his forward momentum. But that doesn't stop Butler from flying backward and earning the call instead of flying out to the 3-point line to close out Kawhi Leonard. And that's your Flop of the Night.

When you see an egregious flop that deserves proper recognition, send us a link to the video so we can consider it for Flop of the Night. Here's how to make your submission:

• Alert HoopIdea to super flops with the Twitter hashtag #FlopOfTheNight (follow us on Twitter here).
• Use the #FlopOfTheNight hashtag in Daily Dime Live.
• E-mail us at hoopidea@gmail.com

How the San Antonio Spurs got tagged as boring never made much sense to me.

Yes, the Spurs were the proctors who broke up the spring flings thrown by the Seven Seconds of Less Phoenix Suns. For those who like their superstars to dazzle, Tim Duncan's charisma deficit and his mechanical game can be affronts. The Spurs have historically been defensive stalwarts, likelier to grind an opponent into submission, not run it off the court. Those qualities, along with a lack of interpersonal drama, might lull certain fans to sleep.

But boredom, at its very root, can be defined as the absence of choice. Get stuck with a program that uses the same formula to produce the same outcome over and over and over again, and you get bored. If you eat the same stuff every day for lunch, you grow tired of it. The same outings with the same people where you talk about the same stuff -- those experiences can become rote.

We're rarely bored when our expectations are challenged, and the most interesting way to do that is by introducing choice into the equation. Anything can happen means that the range of possibilities is endless.

When the Spurs bring the ball upcourt, that's usually the case. They relied on isolation plays only 7.1 percent of the time in the regular season. (Only the Magic used a smaller percentage of their possessions in iso.) In their first-round sweep of Utah, the Spurs ran isos only 24 times in four games. (The Knicks, in contrast, had 124 such possessions over five games.) Instead, the Spurs did what they usually do to get what they want in the half court -- rely on motion, timing, ball movement and, most of all, choice.

Choice is the overriding principle at work in an efficient offense. Take away that offense's primary objective in a half-court possession, and it will gladly move on to option No. 2. Sniff out No. 2, and a third choice will materialize. And so on.

The Spurs under Gregg Popovich have always understood that NBA defenses are too big and quick to confine your offense to one option. There have to be multiple contingency plans in a given possession; otherwise, you leave yourself vulnerable to chance. A lot of fans like the element of chance in sports -- and perhaps that's one explanation for the Spurs' "boring" rap.

But the Spurs' trademark set -- called "motion weak" -- is anything but boring. It's a magical merry-go-round of basketball possibility, a play that has an endless number of outcomes. When it begins, the players aren't even sure where the ball will land, but they know that if they read the defense and move with precision, a quality look at the basket will surface from somewhere.

Let's take a look:

The play starts simply enough: Tony Parker passes the ball off to a wing player on his right. It might be Danny Green, Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Jackson or Gary Neal. Once the ball leaves Parker's hands, he cuts through to the basket.

If the defense is napping or Duncan has prime position against his defender down on the low right block, the ball can go immediately from the wing to Parker on the move (it'll look like a simple give-and-go) or Duncan for a quick shot. Against bad defenses in January, the Spurs will pick up a couple of easy buckets this way, but deep into the postseason, the Spurs usually will have to put in a little more work.


Whoa! There's a lot going on here!

Very true, so let's break down what each of our chess pieces is doing on the board:

• Tony Parker: Rarely do the Spurs get that easy give-and-go mentioned above, so when Parker dishes the ball off in Picture 1, he dives to the basket, but ultimately clears through, then loops around to the wing on the weak side.
• Tim Duncan: If Duncan isn't fed the ball down low on the right block, he'll use a cross screen along the baseline provided by the Spurs' other wing player (2/3), then set up on the opposite block.
• 4/5 (Boris Diaw, Tiago Splitter, Matt Bonner, DeJuan Blair): The big man who isn't Duncan sets up at the top of the floor, where he'll receive a pass from the wing, then keep the ball moving by dishing it off to Parker once Parker has cleared through. When he dishes the ball off, our 4/5 man will then set a down screen for 2/3, once 2/3 has finished setting that aforementioned cross screen for Duncan. After setting that down screen, 4/5 will head over to the right block vacated by Duncan. On the rare occasion Bonner is the guy at the top of the floor and his defender is elsewhere, he can fire away. But generally, this is merely a transit point for the ball between the strong and weak sides fo the floor.
• 2/3 (Ginobili, Leonard, Green, Jackson, Neal): As mentioned above, 2/3 has two jobs: setting that cross-screen for Duncan, then looping back to the perimeter courtesy of a down screen from the big man.

When this cycle of events is over, the ball is back in Parker's hands on the other side of the floor. Duncan may or may not have a mismatch on the left block, depending on how the defense dealt with that cross screen.

The carousel has slowed down a bit, and Parker has a few options:

• Feed Duncan on the left block, six words that have yielded four championships. Duncan might have a mismatch or have his man sealed off. Whatever the case, Duncan one-on-one in the low post is never a lousy consolation prize.
• Kick it over to 2/3. It's difficult to capture the choreography with still diagrams, but 2/3 will often be buzzing at warp speed with his defender trailing in hot pursuit. If there's ample separation and Parker can hit 2/3 on the move, this can either serve as a catch-stop-and-pop midrange jumper, or 2/3 can keep moving and attack.
• Move into a pick-and-roll with Duncan on the left side. If you're the San Antonio Spurs, there are worse things than a Parker-Duncan two-man game on the left side of the floor with the defense still catching up to all the movement.

The responsibility now lies with Parker and Duncan to make the call. If Duncan moves off the block to set a ball screen for Parker, we move on ...

The final resort of the Spurs' signature set looks like the first strike from most teams -- a simple angle pick-and-roll on the left side with a variety of drive-and-dish options for Parker. He can deliver a bounce pass to Duncan on the move (or a quick dish if Duncan pops, which is increasingly the case these days). Otherwise, Parker can hit the other big man on a duck-in beneath the weakside glass or kick the ball out to either of his wings on the perimeter.

Parker recorded a career-high 28.4 assist rate this season, far and away the best mark of his career. How did he do that at age 29? By become fluent in situations like these. It takes years to master an intricate offense, even for the most instinctive players. There's a reason we see veteran teams executing best in the playoffs. It's because this stuff is tricky! Running a sophisticated offense requires tens of thousands of possessions in repetition over several seasons with the same guys.

There was a time when Parker couldn't see or wouldn't respond to all the options in the Spurs' offense. He didn't arrive in the league with the vision of Chris Paul or Steve Nash. It took several seasons and some tough love from Popovich, but Parker has arrived in full.

And that's how you build the league's No. 1 offense.

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Information in this post was provided by mySynergy Sports.com.

The San Antonio Spurs are battling the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Western Conference’s top seed and play the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night (ESPN, 9 ET), looking for their 13th win in 15 games.

The Spurs have rocketed near the top of the conference thanks to two double-digit win streaks in the past two months. No other team has won more than nine in a row this season. One of the team’s most valuable players has been guard and Argentina native Manu Ginobili.

According to the league, there have been 50 Hispanic/Latino players (not including U.S.-born Hispanic/Latino players) in the history of the NBA, including 20 active players. Very few have accomplished as much as Ginobili.

On Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers, Ginobili made a driving layup early in the fourth quarter. It’s something he’s done many times, but this one put him over the 10,000-point mark in his illustrious NBA career.

He became just the third Hispanic/Latino player in NBA history to reach the 10,000-point plateau. Only Rolando Blackman (Panama) and Pau Gasol (Spain) have recorded more points than Ginobili among Hispanic/Latino-born players.

Ginobili also became just the fifth player in Spurs history to reach 10,000 points, joining a list that includes teammates Tim Duncan (22,468) and Tony Parker (13,471).

It's quite an accomplishment that Ginobili joined such rare company during what has been one of the most injury-plagued seasons of his career. He’s missed 30 games because of hand and oblique injuries.

In the 27 games in which Ginobili has played this season, the Spurs have posted a .778 winning percentage (21-6) and averaged 105.9 points.

In the 30 games he's missed, the Spurs have a .667 winning percentage (20-10) and are scoring almost eight fewer points per game (98) than when he plays.

Ginobili returned March 4 from a strained oblique after missing five games. Since then, the Spurs have the best record in the NBA at 16-5.

Ginobili has been the spark behind the surge and one of the team’s most valuable players down the stretch.

Since his return, the Spurs have outscored their opponents by a total of 103 points with Ginobili on the floor, the second-highest plus/minus on the team (Matt Bonner, plus-166). When Ginobili is off the court, the Spurs have outscored their opponents by only 55 points.

Despite the numerous accomplishments by Duncan and Parker, Ginobili’s value to the team can’t be overstated as the Spurs go for their fifth championship in the past 14 years.

Statistical support for this story from NBA.com.

HoopIdea wants to #StopTheFlop. To spotlight the biggest fakers, we present Flop of the Night. You can help us separate the pretenders from the defenders -- details below:

Finally! A player flops and his own team's local commentator calls him out on it.

"Nice flop!" chuckled Ron Boone after Jamaal Tinsley managed to get to the free throw line with just 0.3 seconds left in the third quarter by flopping to the floor 60 feet from the hoop. Thanks to Caleb Saenz, who alerted us to the "Tinsley Twirl."

So what's going on here? How did Ginobili, who is reaching over Tinsley's right shoulder, cause Tinsley to fly backward as though struck by a viscous uppercut? Zach Harper and I offer possible explanations:

• Ghost of Davy Crockett, out for revenge at the Alamo
• Oil slick on the court
• Manu snuck up behind him and said "Boo!" in a really creepy voice, startling the notoriously antsy Tinsley
• Wanted to show off to Ginobili after attending Manu's "Master of Flopping" weekend retreat
• Tinsley fell over on purpose to fool referees into calling a foul on Ginobili

When you see an egregious flop that deserves proper recognition, send us a link to the video so we can consider it for Flop of the Night. Here's how to make your submission:

• Alert HoopIdea to super flops with the Twitter hashtag #FlopOfTheNight (follow us on Twitter here).
• Use the #FlopOfTheNight hashtag in Daily Dime Live.
• E-mail us at hoopidea@gmail.com

When Shane Battier, the patron baller of HoopIdea, called out former teammate Luis Scola for being one of the most accomplished actors in the league, it got us thinking: Who are the most egregious floppers around?

We asked the TrueHoop Network for help, and the result is our first ever All-Flop Teams.

FIRST TEAM

Chris Paul, PG: Paul quickly emerged as the consensus Most Floppy Player. As this video from Daily Thunder’s Royce Young shows, Paul is truly a fantastic two-way talent. Graydon Gordian elaborates, “I think Royce's video demonstrated two really distinct things Chris Paul does: (a) He stops dead in his tracks, backs up into a player who's behind him and then falls forward, and (b) he maintains possession of the ball and/or makes a pass while going to the ground. He doesn't lose the ball when flopping, which lots of guys do.”

Raja Bell/Manu Ginobili, SG: Controversial decision to include both of them here, but really these two have given so much to the game. Manu with his whiplash-inducing head thrashes as he drives to the basket and Raja Bell with his ability to be thrown backwards by the slightest of contact. Here’s the Raja-Manu mixtape of floppery.

Paul Pierce, SF: Pierce is another two-way player who isn’t afraid to artistically embellish any contact (real or imagined) with a sometimes ludicrous flourish.

Luis Scola, PF: Battier put it best: “The more hair you have, the better. My boy Luis Scola, he’s got that long hair and when it gets sweaty and he starts flopping and flailing, it looks like he’s getting murdered out there.”

Ben Wallace, C: Writes Patrick Hayes of Piston Powered: "Wallace is adept at going for rebounds in heavy traffic, but he also uses that traffic to his advantage. If a shot is missed and he doesn't have a great angle to get to it, he's patented a move where he jumps forward and lurches his body while simultaneously letting out a loud 'OOOPH,' which over the years has pretty regularly convinced officials he was pushed in the back. Often, video evidence suggests otherwise. Wallace's artful flopping on rebound attempts has been just another valuable skill he's brought to the Pistons that doesn't show up in his stats. Oh, and don't ever mention to him that he flops ... he doesn't like that.”

SECOND TEAM

Rajon Rondo, PG: Rondo’s habit of throwing himself into a defender 50 feet from the hoop and firing off a prayer as time expires isn’t why he’s a celebrated flopper. It’s because, as Brendan Jackson of Celtics Hub noted, he’ll fall over as a defense mechanism whenever he gets in trouble with his dribble, especially along the baseline. (Also receiving votes: Tony Parker, Derek Fisher, Deron Williams, Chauncey Billups.)

Jamal Crawford, SG: A unique flopper, as Kevin Arnovitz explains, “There's a reason Jamal Crawford holds the all-time NBA record for 4-point plays. As the sharpshooter elevates and releases his shot, he'll gracefully hinge his hips forward, kick his legs into his defender and often land on his tuchus in the process.” (Also receiving votes: Dwyane Wade, James Harden, Kobe Bryant.)

Corey Maggette, SF: Ethan Sherwood Strauss paints us a picture of a typical Maggette flop: “Two dribbles hoop-ward and he’s already leaning for contact. It’s an offensive foul, or at least it would be were it not for Corey’s sleight of hand. Somehow this ball of muscles flies backward from the 'contact.' It’s a visual trick -- Maggette uses an off arm to redirect his body movement. The ball? That thing’s flying into the stands, chased by the sound waves of Corey’s wounded animal bleat.” (Also receiving votes: Kevin Durant, Vince Carter, Nicolas Batum.)

Dirk Nowitzki, PF: Dirk is a do-it-all flopper. He can flop while driving, shooting, playing defense and rebounding, perhaps the most underrated facet of his flop game. Dirk may never jump higher than when he’s flying away from a rebound after a “nudge” in the back. (Also receiving votes: Blake Griffin, Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan.)

Reggie Evans, C: Evans has a reputation as one of the dirtiest players in the NBA, but don’t try any of that stuff on him. Reggie can induce whistles with the best of them, but only while doing the only things he does well on the court: setting screens, rebounding and exchanging elbows under the rim. (Also receiving votes: Marc Gasol, JaVale McGee.)

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One thing you'll notice is that this list contains almost every great player in the league. That's not an accident, part of excelling in the NBA is being able to manipulate officials to benefit your team.

It's not that players are sneaky or devious, they're just pragmatic. The system won't penalize flopping and will sometimes reward it, so what's the downside?

So let's change the system. What kind of penalties for flopping would you like to see, and how would they be implemented?

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

You can give us your ideas and talk with us and other fans in the following places:

• Twitter: Go to @HoopIdea and tweet to us with the hashtag #hoopidea
• Google+: Go to our HoopIdea Google+ page and discuss
• TrueHoop: Read our HoopIdea posts here and contribute on the conversation page
• E-mail us at hoopidea@gmail.com

And for the truly ambitious: Shoot a short video of yourself explaining your HoopIdea, upload it to YouTube and share the link with us on Twitter or Google+.

The least profitable death pool in history might be the one that aims to predict the demise of the San Antonio Spurs. It's been a decade-long exercise that accelerates with each injury to Manu Ginobili, every trade rumor that has Tony Parker being shipped off and every moment when Tim Duncan seems like he might finally succumb to the hands of time. Even those who appreciate the Spurs' longevity and don't care that a lot of fans find the team uninteresting whisper every fall that it might be time to blow the whole thing up, lest San Antonio risk descending into small-market purgatory with an aging core.

Then, while everyone is placing bets on their collapse and is distracted by the league's shiny new objects or sexy sideshows, the Spurs quietly get to work. As the rest of the world has been wrapped up in the Linsanity over the past two weeks, the Spurs have ripped off a 10-game winning streak out of plain view. As metaphors go, the contrast couldn't be more poetic. Lin breathed life into a team in a death spiral, whereas the Spurs never require any rescue missions. Their mode of consistency is every bit as certain as Lin's explosion was improbable. In a league dominated by spectacle, the Spurs toil in anonymity.

On Saturday afternoon, San Antonio notched that 10th consecutive victory with a 103-100 overtime win against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. The victory was bizarre, practically gifted to the Spurs when the Clippers botched an inbounds pass leading by three points with only 9.5 seconds remaining in regulation. The ball landed, serendipitously, in Gary Neal's hands. Neal squared up at the top of the circle, and sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer.

Despite the strange circumstances, the win was, in many ways, a trademark Spurs performance -- workmanlike and predicated on systematic precision. When Tony Parker wasn't penetrating, he was buzzing around twin baseline screens to tip the balance of the Clippers' defense that was run ragged by the Spurs' ball movement. The Clippers have had success recently switching their big men onto ball handlers in the pick-and-roll, but the Spurs have made a living turning the tables on less experienced opponents. San Antonio sniffed out the Clippers' defensive game plan and made a mockery of it. Parker generated three scores in fewer than two minutes toying with backpedaling Clippers forwards.

The game's most pivotal possession came in overtime when, once again, the Clippers switched on a Parker-Duncan pick-and-roll. With Chris Paul now guarding Duncan on the left block, the Clippers sent a full platoon of help defenders to buffer their diminutive point guard. Duncan has been reading double- and triple-teams for an eternity from the post. All it took was a zippy baseline pass to Gary Neal in the weakside corner for a 3-pointer that put the Spurs up 101-98 with 25.4 seconds to play.

San Antonio has been prospering on its core competence for nearly a generation, but rarely receives anything but a groan from rabid NBA fans outside central Texas. Stylists bemoan the Spurs' adherence to fundamentals as boring and a betrayal of the league's new era of supreme athleticism. The Spurs foiled the Suns squad that was everyone's second-favorite team during the Seven Seconds or Less regime, denying the basketball world a new championship paradigm, and have never been forgiven.

The Spurs' critics loathe that Duncan has stubbornly clung to a monastic public persona. His on-court success is rarely punctuated with an expression of any sort, and the only time he gets excited is when the NBA offices decree that he must go business casual with a sportcoat when sidelined. Ginobili was booed during introductions on Saturday in Los Angeles, presumably for his flopping. Parker is a point guard every bit as dynamic as the league's supernovas, but is rarely claimed by the cool kids. Then there's Popovich, who openly flouts the league's rugged schedule each season by resting his stars at will, denying the ticket-paying public the as-advertised product.

All the while, the Spurs chug ahead, staving off mortality. In a league where coaches operate in fear, a meticulous Popovich wins games choreographing sets that rely on execution rather than one-on-one play. The front office plucks an all-world backcourt of Parker and Ginobili in the NBA draft with the 28th and 57th picks respectively. Lesser players become greater ones by subscribing to a system built on leveraging the strengths of those who have few. Coaches around the league have appropriated Popovich's greatest hits. Watch Philadelphia and others run the "Motion Weak" set, which the Spurs rode to their most recent titles. See team after team run a wedge play fashioned by the Spurs for Duncan to free up their own power forwards. Imitation might be the most sincere form of flattery, but few teams can approximate the Spurs' sturdiness.

On Sunday, the NBA will be enraptured by Jeremy Lin and the Knicks as they host Dallas at America's basketball cathedral. More than 1,500 miles away at the AT&T Center, the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo will feature a Donkey & Mule Show as the Spurs soldier on to Salt Lake City, where they'll continue their nine-game road trip in obscurity -- respected by many, but unloved by most.

In a couple of weeks, we'll start hearing the inevitable chatter about hot seats in the NBA. The formula for who rides the hot seat is pretty reliable. The coach's team has underperformed and his critics believe he has been given ample time to succeed. His contract can't be too onerous because most teams don't enjoy subsidizing the salaries of broadcast commentators, which is the landing spot for many departed coaches.

There's a certain allure to death pools and elimination reality shows, but there are far more interesting sideshows this season than the guillotine. Some of the coaching ranks’ highest achievers have fascinating challenges in front of them:

Tom Thibodeau, Chicago Bulls
Challenge: Use the Bulls' ball-moving big men
Among the unintended consequences of winning 62 games and coach of the year in your inaugural season as a head coach are the expectations that bubble to the surface in Season 2. That's Thibodeau's burden as the Bulls try to topple the Heat for the East's crown.

The Bulls' defense can't get much better than it was in 2010-11, but their offense finished the season as the league's 12th-most efficient. Derrick Rose is a domineering point guard who thrives in isolation and in high pick-and-rolls, so it's tempting to leave well enough alone and allow the MVP to do his thing. But there's something missing from the Bulls' half-court offense, deficiencies that became glaring against Miami (and at times, against Atlanta and Indiana) last spring.

The Bulls' personnel is simply too skilled, too versatile and too big not to finish as a top-10 offense. In Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah, the Bulls feature two of the best and smartest passing big men in the game. Their ability to create opportunities out of the high post should give the Bulls a ton of options. Then there's Rip Hamilton, Ronnie Brewer and Luol Deng -- three wings who have the capacity to run a combined 25 miles of cuts, curls and flares over the course of a game.

With a team populated with this combination of talent, there's really no excuse for stagnation. Can the Bulls find their groove this season?

Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs
Challenge: Life in a world in which Tim Duncan doesn't warrant a double-team
There's still no better technician in basketball than Popovich, and last season's 62-win regular season was a testimonial to that.

So much of what the Spurs have been running over the past decade or so revolves around the Spurs' guards looking for Duncan on the block early and late in sets. Traditionally, defenses have been so attuned to Duncan's presence that either A) they end up leaving seams through which Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili can glide to the rim or B) they front Duncan, which leaves the back door open or C) they're forced to double-team Duncan on the block, which opens up clean looks on the perimeter for the Spurs' snipers.

The Spurs have been adjusting to a world in which Duncan's rim rum, deep seal and quick spin no longer compose the league's most deadly attack, and haven't missed a beat. They finished second in offensive efficiency last season by putting more of a premium on spacing and creating double gaps for dribble penetration. Watching that process continue this season will make for compelling basketball.

Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat
Challenge: Keeping the faith
There isn't a coach in the NBA who took a more sober look at his playbook during the offseason than Spoelstra.

As narrated by Tom Haberstroh last week, the Heat's cerebral head coach went on a coaching tour that included a couple of visits with the architect of the Oregon Ducks' spread offense -- which is played on the gridiron. Take that spread offense, add a few parts Rick Adelman and a dash of John Calipari, and you have the Heat's new high-octane offense that has racked up a scintillating 207 possessions in two games against slow-pokes Dallas and Boston.

The Heat's early success must be liberating for Spoelstra, as his team has taken to the change in philosophy like pigs in slop. Spoelstra is one of the league's most resourceful coaches -- a coach whose strength has always been preparation, precision and tactical strategy. But what happens if the Heat struggle?

Spoelstra thrives on order, and might be tempted to impose a little of it on his team. The trick for him will be finding that equilibrium between structure and freedom, a place where the Heat can still exploit teams with speed and athleticism but have a sense of purpose when the game situation demands it. That will mean remaining faithful to the principles of pace and space and keeping his foot off the break -- but also figuring out how to slip wrinkles into the offense so that it doesn't fly off the rails.

The San Antonio Spurs have plenty of veteran leaders on their team, but facing elimination in the final seconds of regulation against the Memphis Grizzlies, it was a rookie that saved them. Gary Neal hit a three-pointer at the fourth-quarter buzzer to send the game into overtime where the Spurs would go on to win 110-103.

Neal led rookies in three-point percentage at 41.9 percent during the regular season, good for 12th-best overall in the league among qualifiers. However, he wasn't even the best three-point shooter on his own team during the regular season. Matt Bonner and Richard Jefferson both shot a higher percentage.

Before Wednesday night, Neal had only one attempt this season in the final five seconds to win or tie a game -- missing a three-point attempt in the final seconds against the Suns on April 13 that would have tied the game.

From the Elias Sports Bureau: This was the first time in Spurs history that they avoided elimination from a playoff series with an overtime win. Prior to Neal, the last player to make a game-tying three-point field goal with less than one second remaining in the fourth quarter of a playoff game was the Detroit Pistons Chauncey Billups in 2004 against the New Jersey Nets. The Nets won that game in triple overtime.

A lot of credit for Wednesday's win goes to Manu Ginobili, who made a tough two-pointer with his foot on the three-point line to cut the Spurs deficit to one point with just over two seconds left in the fourth quarter. Ginobili, who struggled in Game 4, bounced back with 33 points on 10-of-18 shooting. The Spurs are 8-0 when Ginobili scores 30 or more points in the playoffs.

OTHER NBA ACTION:
The Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated the Denver Nuggets behind a dominant performance by Kevin Durant. With the Thunder trailing by nine points with 3:30 left in regulation, Durant led the comeback by outscoring the Nuggets 14-6 by himself. Durant hit five of six shots in that stretch and finished with 41 points, which tied a playoff career high. Of the four 40-point playoff games this season, Kevin Durant has two of them. The Thunder are now 7-0 this season when Durant scores 40 or more (5-0 in the regular season, 2-0 in the postseason).

First ever playoff victory (check). First ever home playoff win (check). First ever playoff series victory…not quite yet. However after the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the San Antonio Spurs they moved one step closer to accomplishing that goal as they took a 2-1 series lead.

The Grizzlies are just the seventh No. 8 seed to be up 2-1 in a series since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams during the 1983-84 campaign. This is only the third time its happened since the first round expanded to a seven-game series in the 2003 playoffs.

Memphis still has some work to do though as of the six different No. 8 seeds to lead a series 2-1, only two of them went on to win the series.

Still the Grizzlies now have proven they can beat the Spurs in the playoffs with Manu Ginobili in the lineup. In fact it was Ginobili who had the ball in his hands at the end of the game with a chance to tie, but was unable to even get a shot off.

Much like its Game 1 victory, Memphis was led by their frontcourt tandem of Zach Randolph (25 points) and Marc Gasol (17). The duo combined for 42 of the teams' 91 points, and outscored their counterparts Tim Duncan (13) and Antonio McDyess (8) by 21 points.

In the two wins for the Grizzlies this series, Randolph and Gasol have outscored Duncan and McDyess 91-to-40. However in the Grizzlies Game 2 loss the duo combined for just 23 points, only outscoring Duncan and McDyess by two.

Looking ahead to Game 4, the Spurs may have found a better way to match up with the Grizzlies front court, particularly Randolph.

After Randolph scored 14 points (6-11 FG) against McDyess and DeJuan Blair in the first half, Duncan shifted over to guard the Memphis forward for much of the final two quarters.

He held Randolph to seven points in the second half, helping the Spurs make up a nine-point halftime deficit before falling by three.

Like they did in Game 1, the Spurs struggled to make jump-shots in Game 3. San Antonio was tied for fourth in the NBA during the regular season, making 40.2 percent of its jump shots. In its two losses this series, the Spurs were held to just 30.8 percent.

Credit Memphis for closing out on shooters in the series as the Grizzlies allowed opponents to make 38.8 percent of jump-shots in the regular season, tied for 16th in the NBA.

The Grizzlies defenders really bothered the Spurs on three-point field goals as they went just 2-for-15 from beyond the arc in Game 3. During the regular season the Spurs were the NBA's best three-point shooting team making 39.7 percent of their attempts.

It took 13 playoff games, but after defeating the San Antonio Spurs, the Memphis Grizzlies finally know what it’s like to taste some postseason success.

Memphis, in the playoffs for the fourth time in franchise history, had been swept in each of its previous three appearances.

The 12 consecutive playoff game losses before picking up a win is an NBA record.

With that out of the way, the Grizzlies can focus on chasing another piece of history. Memphis is looking to become the fourth No. 8 seed ever to defeat a No. 1 seed, and just second to do so since the first round expanded to a seven-game series.

The Grizzlies got off to a good start stealing Game 1 in San Antonio, becoming just the 10th No. 8 seed to win Game 1 of the first round.

They still have a long way to go as only two of those previous nine teams were able to translate that Game 1 win into a series victory.

The Grizzlies took the lead for good on a three-point field goal by Shane Battier. That was fitting since Battier is the only member of the current Grizzlies to have played in each of the teams’ previous 12 playoff games, during his first stint with the franchise.

It came shortly after the Spurs had used a 13-to-2 run to turn a seven-point Grizzlies lead into a four-point deficit.

During this stretch the Grizzlies missed four free throws, making it appear Memphis’ playoff futility would continue.

But in the final minute Memphis regained its composure ending the game on a 7-0 run.

Instead it was the Spurs playing without Manu Ginobili, their best fourth-quarter scorer during the regular season, who looked new to the playoffs.

So what exactly does this mean for the Spurs in 2011?

Not much – assuming Manu Ginobili is able to return healthy. This is a familiar position for San Antonio who has now lost the series opener in five of its last seven first round playoff series.

The Spurs have come back to win the series on three of those four occasions.

This loss just shows how important Ginobili is to the Spurs, especially against Memphis.

Game tape has shown with Ginobili in the lineup this season, the Spurs averaged 108.9 points per 48 minutes against the Grizzlies, and outscored Memphis by 26 points while he was on the floor.

Without him though, San Antonio shot under 40-percent from the floor, and was outscored by 39 points.

Throughout Ginobili’s career San Antonio is just 1-5 in the playoffs without him, so it is vitally important he return, and soon.

The New York Knicks snapped two different six-game losing streaks with their win over the Orlando Magic. Entering Monday, New York had lost six games in a row as well as six straight to Orlando, which was tied for its longest losing streak to the Magic in franchise history.

The Knicks finished the game on a 10-2 run to close out overtime. This was a welcome change for New York, which had been on the opposite ends of those types of runs recently, including a 10-3 run by the Magic in a loss just five days ago.

Carmelo Anthony led the the way with 39 points, including 30 in the second half. It's the most he has scored with the Knicks, just one game after scoring his previous high of 36.
While Anthony's 39 points were clearly key, his 10 rebounds may have been just as big.

In the previous three games against the Magic this season, Orlando outrebounded New York by a combined 37 rebounds. Monday, the Knicks lost the rebounding battle, but it was only by one.

This was Anthony's fourth game this season with 35 points and 10 rebounds. The only players with more such games this season are LeBron James and LaMarcus Aldridge, who have each done it five times.

Anthony was helped by Amar'e Stoudemire who scored 20 points, but needed just 10 shots to do so. It was his 11th such game in his career (589 games played), and first with the Knicks.

New York is now 3-0 this season when Anthony scores 30 points and Stoudemire scores 20 points in the same game.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

• In addition to the Knicks and Magic, there were two other matchups between teams currently in the Eastern Conference playoffs on Monday. The Indiana Pacers defeated the Boston Celtics, while the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Eastern Conference-leading Chicago Bulls, giving the team currently seeded lower the victory in each game. Fortunately for these higher seeded teams none of the matchups are current first round playoff matchups.

• The Celtics have struggled as the season has progressed, posting just an 8-7 mark in the month of March. Boston has one more game left this month, Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs. If the Celtics were to lose they would finish a month without a winning record for just the second time since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined the team (minimum 10 games played).

• Speaking of the Spurs, they dropped their season-high fourth straight game losing to the Portland Trail Blazers. Elias tells us San Antonio was without Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili in the same game for just the fourth time since the trio has been together. San Antonio is now 0-4 on those occasions.

Every on-court move from LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh has been intensely scrutinized this season. A single poor game has led to questions about team chemistry and the wisdom of having three stars wear the same uniform.

A good night has resulted in declarations that Miami has finally figured things out and is sure to represent the East in the NBA Finals. But on some nights, the Heat’s three stars have justified all of the expectations, attention and hype they’ve dealt with this season.

Sunday was one of those nights, as James, Wade and Bosh combined for 94 points and 33 rebounds in the Miami Heat’s 125-119 win over the Houston Rockets. Each member of the big three posted at least 30 points -- the first time they’ve all scored 30 in the same game this season -- and added 10 or more rebounds.

The Elias Sports Bureau tells us it's only the second time in NBA history three teammates have each had 30 points and 10 rebounds in a non-overtime game. The Heat join the 1960-61 Cincinnati Royals trio of Oscar Robertson, Wayne Embry and Jack Twyman. On February 3, 1961, Embry led the Royals with 37 points as Twyman added 32 and Robertson, a 22-year-old rookie out of Cincinnati, scored 31.

Unbelievably, the Royals lost that game by one to the Philadelphia Warriors. Cincinnati had no answer for Wilt Chamberlain, who set a Boston Garden record with 52 points. (The game was the first of a doubleheader. The Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks in the main event.)

Elsewhere in the NBA on Sunday:

• With a 99-90 win over the Portland Trail Blazers and the loss by the Rockets the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched a playoff berth for the second straight season. It’s the first time the franchise has reached the playoffs in consecutive years since the Seattle SuperSonics reached the postseason every year from 1991 to 1998.

• The Los Angeles Lakers used 30 points from Kobe Bryant to improve to a league-best 15-1 since the All-Star Break. Since the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951, the Lakers are just the fifth team to win at least 15 of its first 16 games coming out of the All-Star Break.

They’re the first since the Lakers rolled to 16 straight wins after the 2000 All-Star Game. That team went on to beat the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals, giving a 21-year-old Kobe Bryant his first championship ring.

• The San Antonio Spurs lost a season-high third straight game and may have lost Manu Ginobili for Monday’s game against the Trail Blazers after he missed much of the second half with a left quadriceps contusion. Over the last five seasons, the Spurs have won more than 70 percent of their games with Ginobili (242-99) but just 55 percent without him (33-27).

For the second straight game, Channing Frye hit the game-winning shot for the Phoenix Suns, this time a three-pointer with 6.6 seconds left in overtime to lift the Suns to a victory at the New Jersey Nets.

It was only Frye’s second career game-winning shot, with both coming in the last two days. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Frye is just the sixth player since the 2005-06 season to make two game-winning field goals with under 10 seconds remaining in consecutive games.

He is the first since Manu Ginobili did so this season against the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets. Of the six players who have accomplished the feat, Frye is the only one to have both game-winning field goals come in overtime.

While Frye stole the final number, it was Deron Williams who was the star of the show in his home debut for the Nets.

Williams recorded 18 assists, giving him 47 over his first three games with New Jersey. That's an NBA record for the most assists by a player in his first three games with a team, passing Guy Rodgers who had 44 in his first three games with the Bulls.

It's already the second time in three games with New Jersey Williams has registered at least 17 assists; in 439 career games with the Jazz, Williams recorded eight such games.

Elsewhere around the NBA …

The Chicago Bulls won their 41st game, matching their win total from last season. They are the fifth team this season to match last year’s win total.

Blake Griffin recorded his 39th 20-point, 10-rebound game this season, currently the league leader in this category. If Griffin records another 20-point, 10-rebound game he will become the first player since Shaquille O'Neal to have at least 40 such games in their rookie season.

O'Neal had 52 such games during the 1992-93 campaign, but did not lead the league. According to the Elias Sports Bureau you have to go all the way back to Elvin Hayes for the San Diego Rockets in 1968-69 to find the last rookie to lead the league in 20-point, 10-rebound games.

The only other rookie in the shot clock era to have led the league in 20-point, 10-rebound games was Wilt Chamberlain, who did so with 71 such games during the 1959-60 season.

The teams with the NBA’s two best records met Wednesday as the San Antonio Spurs visited the Boston Celtics. Despite Manu Ginobili scoring 24 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter (career high for fourth quarter), the Spurs lost their second straight game. The Spurs have now lost consecutive games for the first time this season. They had been the only team all season that hadn't lost two games in a row.

One reason for the Celtics victory was that they shot 61.3 percent from the field, the highest the Spurs have allowed all season. Many of those makes came from the perimeter as Boston made 28 field goals (on 49 attempts) from outside 15 feet (highest total this season). Rajon Rondo assisted on 17 of those 28 makes.

Speaking of Rondo, he finished with 22 assists, 12 points, 10 rebounds and six steals. It’s Rondo’s sixth career triple-double (second this season) and his 22 assists were two shy of matching the NBA record he shares with Isiah Thomas for most assists in a triple-double.

The Elias Sports Bureau says that Rondo was also the first NBA player to hand out as many as 20 assists, grab 10 or more rebounds and record at least six steals in one game since the NBA began keeping track of steals in 1973–74.

Rondo joined Larry Bird (four times) as the only Celtics players to register a triple-double against San Antonio and he joined Magic Johnson (Oct. 26, 1980) as the only NBA player to post a triple-double with as many as six steals against the Spurs.

Elsewhere in the league, two young power forwards put together monster games of their own.

Blake Griffin had 22 points and 18 rebounds for his 22nd consecutive double-double, tying the franchise record for consecutive double-doubles. It's Griffin's 11th straight 20-point, 10-rebound game, most by a rookie since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also had 11 straight in the 1969-70 season. Griffin is the fourth rookie in NBA history to have 22 straight double-doubles, and the first since Elvin Hayes in 1968-69.

His Western Conference colleague Kevin Love also recorded his 22nd consecutive double-double (35 points, 15 rebounds) for his fifth 30-point, 15-rebound game of the season (most in the NBA).

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Wednesday marked the first time that two different NBA players had streaks of at least 22 straight games with double-doubles in the same season since 1976–77, when both Bill Walton (34 games) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (24) did it. Not bad company considering both Walton and Abdul-Jabbar are members of the Hall of Fame.