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Kevin Garnett has been rejuvenated in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The future Hall of Famer, now in his 17th season, carried the Boston Celtics to a Game 3 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.

Garnett, who turns 36 years old Saturday, had 27 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in Game 3. He is the third-oldest player in the past 25 seasons with those stats in a playoff game. Only Karl Malone and Charles Barkley did so after turning 36.

Garnett has been the difference for the Celtics in this series. With Garnett on the court, the Celtics are plus-47. With Garnett off the court, they're minus-31.

His effect is felt across the board. The Celtics have outrebounded the Sixers by 15 with Garnett on the court, but they're minus-15 on the boards with Garnett on the bench. The Celtics also are shooting significantly better and have a much better assist-to-turnover ratio with Garnett on the court.

Garnett helps open up the Celtics’ 3-point shooting. When he’s on the court, the Celtics are 14-for-34 (41 percent) on 3-point attempts. With him off the court, they’re just 1-for-13 (8 percent).

It's not just on the offensive end. With Garnett on the court, the Sixers are scoring 37 fewer points per 48 minutes, and shooting 11 percentage points less from the field and 23 percentage points less from 3-point range.

A Tale of Two Cities
In their Game 2 win in Boston, the Sixers led the Celtics 57-49 at the end of three quarters. The teams had already topped that score by halftime Wednesday, with the Celtics leading 60-49. In Game 2, the Celtics didn’t score their 60th point until 8:36 remained in the fourth quarter.

In Game 2, the Celtics scored just 24 points in the second and third quarters combined. On Wednesday night, they made 64 percent of their shots and scored 61 in those two quarters. Garnett scored 19 points in the middle quarters, with Rajon Rondo adding 10 points, 10 assists and no turnovers.

After scoring only 33 points in transition in the first two games of the series, the Celtics scored 28 points in transition in Game 3. They made 10 of 11 shots in transition after shooting less than 50 percent in the two games in Boston.

In Philly's first three home games during the playoffs, the 76ers' defense allowed an average of 78 points while forcing 15 turnovers per game. In Game 3, the 76ers allowed the Celtics to score 107 points with only seven turnovers.

More Than Luck of the Irish
The Celtics had three players with 20-10 games in the win, the first time they did so in a playoff game in 24 years. In Game 6 of the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge all had 20-10 games in a win over the Atlanta Hawks.

Rondo recorded 14 assists and turned the ball over only once. It was his third playoff game with at least 14 assists and one or fewer turnovers, the most of any active player. Despite playing at least 25 more postseason games than Rondo, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash have done it only twice each.

Ryan Feldman contributed to this post.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Do you trust a man without a conscience, one who operates on a different -- even nonexistent -- moral code?

For basketball purists, that’s a tough one. We subscribe to the high-minded principles of “quality shot selection,” of “taking what the defense gives you,” of “not settling.” These tenets make up the basketball code we romanticize in “Hoosiers” and in the longevity of the San Antonio Spurs.

But Los Angeles Clippers’ swingman Nick Young doesn’t subscribe to this code -- not by a long shot. When Young has the ball in his hands, he doesn't factor his decision-making the way coaches, fans and analysts would.

"I'd say I have no conscience, to a certain extent," Young says. "I feel like I can make any shot. That's something that's been in me since I started playing the game."

Young doesn't deny that he takes a few ill-advised shots a game, but he won't apologize for them. And on Sunday in the Clippers' improbable comeback, he had nothing to be sorry about. He went for 19 points on 11 shots, including a trio of 3-pointers in a span of a minute to shave a 12-point deficit to three in a flash.

Most of those shots on Sunday were open looks, but for most of his tenure with the Clippers the degree of difficulty on his shot selection has been astronomical.

"Those shots? I still think I can make them," Young said. "Some people might think, 'He's glad to shoot that shot,' but I practice those shots."

This entire premise can offend certain sensibilities. I ask Young, "Really? You practice taking contested 21-footers inside the arc with two guys on you?"

"I know I can make 'em," Young says.

This certitude can drive an empiricist nuts. An average NBA game has about 94 possessions, and if you have a guy like Young chucking up bad shots on three or four of those possessions, that can kill your efficiency. Look at the point differentials of most NBA teams -- a bucket or two per game is the difference between a top-four seed and a seat at the draft lottery.

Despite these truths, is it possible that Young has a point? Are some of those bad shots loss leaders that ultimately pay off in a game like Sunday night's?

In an effort to try to make sense of whether a lack of conscience can translate to success, I go in search of Gilbert Arenas.

After Arenas dropped 61 points against the Los Angeles Lakers in December 2006, Kobe Bryant famously said of the then-Washington Wizards star, "He doesn't seem to have much of a conscience. I really don't think he does. Some of the shots he took tonight, you miss those, and they're just terrible shots. Awful. You make them and they're unbelievable shots."

Setting aside the irony of the source, Bryant gets to the heart of the matter. Many interpreted his comments as a swipe at Arenas, but it wasn't. Bryant was just delving into the mindset of the unconscionable shooter, who is neither good nor bad -- but just is.

On Monday, Arenas had plenty to offer on the matter:

The best players in any sport in the world have no conscience.

It's like someone who has ADD (attention deficit disorder). They have a creative mind. They can see things that other people can't see. They can do things that other people can't do. But once they take the medicine, it calms them down -- just like a coach who gives a conscience to a guy who doesn't have a conscience.

It's like an assassin. In any movie, he starts off killing everybody, but then he finds the girl who stops him from being an assassin. That's just like players. The reason Steve Nash can make the passes he can make is because nobody has ever told him when he makes a turnover, "Don't make that pass." Same thing with Rondo. It gives them that freedom to expand and create anything he can think of.

I challenge Arenas on the notion that really bad shots are part of the creative process, that a guy somehow can't be both judicious and aggressive, but he rejected the premise that there's anything wrong with taking a 20-footer with a defender in your face and time on the shot clock:

His creativity lets him do that. It's a shot he thinks he can make. Just like Kobe. If you think about the best players in the world, they have no conscience. They try anything. They do anything. Brett Favre -- he threw any pass he thought he could throw. That's his creativity. That's what he's like. He's going to fail and he's also going to win.

But a guy with a conscience won't pull that trigger.

I ask Arenas whether you can be a great player and still have a conscience.

"I don't think so," Arenas says. "Michael Jordan never had a conscience. A.I. didn't have a conscience. Kobe doesn't have a conscience."

I counter that Kevin Garnett has a conscience, that he exercises an uncommon discipline and has still been one of the best players of his time.

Arenas' response?

And that's why he doesn't get the ball in the fourth quarter. That's why they give it to Paul Pierce, because he has no conscience. LeBron has a conscience. He cares what you think about him. But Kevin Durant doesn't have a conscience. D-Wade doesn't have a conscience. But Bosh has a conscience.

You're born with it or you're not. Some people are what I call "killers." Some people have the killer mentality and that's who you want with the ball at the end of the game. You want them taking that shot because they don't care about failing -- even if it's a bad shot.

It's hard to let Arenas off the hook on this point. Does he deny there are bad shots that cost you basketball games?

That's the game of basketball. You can't go around and play like we did yesterday -- like college basketball when you're up 20 with a few minutes left and you're stalling and you do the four corners, and before you know it, you stop being aggressive.

So the Grizzlies developed a conscience at the wrong time in Game 1?

"Yes," Arenas says.

Arenas' theory that conscience is a congenital trait is interesting. In his worldview, a player can't develop -- or rather shed -- his conscience. He's either hard-wired to kill, like Nick Young or, on a larger scale, Kobe Bryant. Or he's not.

Arenas might be half-right, half-wrong:

A lack of conscience might be a necessary ingredient for Arenas' "killers," but those moral vacuums aren't created equally.

On Sunday, we saw the best of Young's nihilism. Without it, the Grizzlies are up 1-0 in this series. But down the road, it's possible a lack of conscience might shoot the Clippers out of a game.

Such is the fickle nature of the code.

Dr. Oliver Eslinger, head mens' basketball coach at Caltech, has a thing for point guards. So he paid a visit to Staples Center this week to see Steve Nash ply his trade against the Clippers.


It’s March 28 and I’m sitting next to Suns assistant Bill Cartwright on an otherwise empty Phoenix bench as fans fill Staples Center for a Suns-Clippers showdown.

We’re watching Steve Nash’s regular shooting warm-up: Elbow jumpers, 3-pointers from the corners and midrange shots from the top of the key. He rehearses a few hesitations and floaters, then ends with free throws. He’s focused, settling into his form, priming. Enjoying it.

Just two weeks ago, I watched him go through the same routine. Alongside broadcaster Mike Smith, I asked: To you, what makes Nash so great? “Just look at him,” Smith said. “Look at what he’s doing,” referring to his form and work ethic.

Tonight, I pose the same question to Cartwright.

“I can’t tell you that,” he replies.

I furrow a brow and Cartwright senses my bewilderment.

“No, I actually can’t tell you,” Cartwright continues, “That’s what makes him so special.”

Could it be that easy of an out? It’s not even worth exploring because Nash is such an anomaly that no matter what coaches teach or how hard players work, his greatness is inexplicable, impossible to replicate?

Seeking more details, I prod Cartwright. He pauses, then says: “Nobody else can do what he does.”

I’m talking a to a man who won three championships with Michael Jordan, but he insists nobody else can do what Nash does.

---

Nash very much defines and defies what basketball is about: Balance and imbalance. The former suggests his versatility as an athlete and his ability to mesh creativity with structure.

The latter -- imbalance -- leads to his instincts, playmaking and sometimes traditionally improper techniques.

If a kid were to attend basketball camp and learn the game’s fundamentals, much of Nash’s repertoire would be omitted: Wraparound passes? Behind the back feeds in traffic? Contested off-balance runners? Sitting on the dribble?

Fellow Canadian Doug Eberhardt has followed Nash’s development for decades. In 1991, Eberhardt's brother Paul coached Nash on the British Columbia Under 17s, a traveling squad the equivalent of an elite AAU team. Eberhardt, who studied the game with Mike D’Antoni and spends time as an analyst and high school coach, says Nash’s physical skills are immediately apparent, but it’s his court vision and attitude that distinguish his game.

“The way he can use space, and more importantly, imagine space, is what makes him such an amazing player,” Eberhardt said via e-mail. “He makes passes no one else would attempt … Combine that with his constant positivity, affection for his teammates and love of the ‘process,’ to me that is what sets him apart.”

Nash makes his teammates cut and catch up to his action. He controls everything, like a quarterback who knows exactly which receivers are going to be open and when. Yet under duress, he has the skills to create a spontaneous response, reverting to his balancing act.

38-years young, Nash is a 2-time league MVP and one of only two players to enter the 50-40-90 club twice (FGs-3s-FTs). He is on pace to be the only one in history to earn a career 50-40-90, a record that will solidify him as the best shooter in hoops lore.

It’s his passion to play, however, that is at the heart of it all. Whereas most players stroll out to the court for pre-game shooting, I witness Nash run.

---

On this night, he and his Suns are in need of a win against the Clippers. As always, Nash is at the forefront of the Suns venture. He didn’t play in the last meeting against L.A., a game in which Phoenix dismantled the Clips and disheartened Clipper Nation, but tonight he’ll be doing his thing, albeit not as eye-popping as it has been in the past. He has tightness in his back, an annoyance he felt the night before in San Antonio and it’s a nuisance. The few shot attempts he hoists during the game are short and flat. There are no patented runners or fade away attempts to be had. But he knows his team needs him as it makes a final push for a playoff berth.

As the game opens, Nash’s presence is powerful even in the absence of an individual scoring spree. He is picking apart the Clippers defense. They can’t prevent his passes or stop Nash's beneficiaries from scoring. He has nine assists in the first half alone, six of those coming in the first seven minutes of the game. He may as well be toying on the playground with a bunch of raw high school players. He tallies four more in the third quarter and finishes with 15, one of the highest assist totals in history without a made field goal.

Great players believe they can be effective even when not playing at full strength, and though the night didn’t end the way Nash envisioned, his essence is encapsulated in a single moment. It’s subtle, perhaps unnoticeable to the average fan, but something so revealing, so vital, and so invigorating about who Nash is as a player and teammate.

With 5:04 remaining in the the third quarter, the score knotted at 58-58, he misses an open 3-pointer. A foul called on the rebound forces a stoppage in play. Many players, at a pivotal point in an important contest such as this, put their head down, slap their hands in frustration, and exhibit negative body language.

Nash does no such thing. Instead, he points to the teammate who kicked out the feed.

"Hey, nice pass," Nash says.

Nash high-fives him on his approach, then turns his head to another teammate and restates: Nice pass. He high-fives another teammate. In a matter of seconds, all four on the floor are fused around Nash, as if he is holding handfuls of food for starving felines. Nash’s teammates are chowing on his optimism.

The next possession, the Suns are back on the defensive end. A deflection forces another break in play and, in the few seconds the players have to rest, Nash goes to work. His head never goes down. He analyzes data on the scoreboard, surveys locations of teammates, and motions for a huddle. Feeding time continues.

In this instance, Nash bestows upon his teammates something he has been doing for decades: embracing the moment, enhancing unity, and preparing for the next play. Having done this for so long, he may not even realize the impact it has. It’s now the norm, just as his shooting routine.

“I just try to lead by example,” he said after the game. “Hopefully [younger guys] see my work habits … that I enjoy to play and want to be a good teammate … and they’ll find something worth emulating.”

He finished the game with one point, the singlet coming on a technical free throw.

“I only got a few shots up tonight,” Nash said. “And thankfully, because [they weren’t] going in.

There lies balance in his post-game remarks, signifying awareness and humility.

“I just tried to do whatever I could to help the team,” Nash said. “Maybe I should have let someone else play but I still thought I could contribute.”

---

There is a purity to Nash's vibe; it’s self-motivating and contagious. Nash's mystique permeates because he is small for NBA standards, doesn’t jump out of the gym, wasn’t offered dozens of college scholarships and grew up where basketball wasn’t the first choice sport.

Perhaps the most profound aspect of Nash’s NBA evolution is its progressive nature. Eberhardt reminds us that the Nash many idolize today didn’t take full form until D’Antoni took over in Phoenix, when Nash was already 30. With the keys to D'Antoni's system, Nash was able to enhance his game beyond anyone's expectations.

The system plays an important role; it provides a platform to perform.

“He couldn’t do this just anywhere,” Cartwright reiterated. “He needs the ball in his hands … He shoots a lot of shots.”

And he makes a lot of those shots.

A detailed analysis demonstrates Nash's greatness; he has figured out how to maximize his strengths and collaborate with others in unprecedented ways.

And there's also this:

"I still love to play."

Follow Oliver Eslinger on Twitter: @docsheadgames

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant and guard Russell Westbrook have set a new standard of dynamic-duo performance in the NBA.

In an epic double-overtime matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, the two each surpassed the 40-point mark.

This was the second time this season that both scored at least 40 points in the same NBA game. The Elias Sports Bureau noted that no pair of teammates had done that previously in NBA history.

Timberwolves forward Kevin Love and guard J.J. Barea formed their own statistically special tandem. Love broke Kevin Garnett’s single-game record for points in a game with 51 and Barea recorded his first career triple-double, the NBA’s first by a player born in Latin America.

Only one other time in NBA history has a team had one player score 50 points and another record a triple-double in a losing effort. Elias uncovered that Wilt Chamberlain supplied the scoring and Guy Rodgers had the triple-double for the 1962-63 Warriors.

The Thunder have now won 11 straight games against the Timberwolves.

Heat turn it up on defense
The Miami Heat allowed a season-low 73 points against the Pistons. They held Detroit to only 52 points in half court, 29 fewer than in their previous meeting on Jan. 25.

The Heat had some early offensive success inside. Miami scored 34 points in the paint in the first half, matching its most in a first half for the season.

Dwyane Wade finished with a game-high 24 points and was 7-for-10 from inside 10 feet for the game.

Honorable Mention: Feats of the Night
Steve Nash had his 10th game this season with at least 15 assists for the Phoenix Suns on Friday. Rajon Rondo had his fourth such game. Nash and Rondo rank 1-2 in the NBA in 15-assist games in 2011-12.

Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith (30 points, 12 rebounds) joined Love, Durant and LeBron James as the only players in the NBA this season with consecutive games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds.

Plus/Minus Note of the Night
Phoenix Suns center Channing Frye was a plus-15 in a 113-111 win over the Indiana Pacers. No one else on the Suns was better than a plus-5.

Frye was 5-for-7 from the field in the win. He was 5-for-17 and a minus-15 in his two games prior to this one.

Mike D'Antoni resigned as coach of the New York Knicks on Wednesday. His agent Warren LeGarie says the parting was "a mutual decision" because D'Antoni and the team have "conflicting views of the Knicks' future."

What’s certain is that the recent past hasn’t been pretty for all parties involved.

After starting last season 28-26, the acquisition of Carmelo Anthony raised expectations in the Big Apple as the Knicks were supposed to join the Eastern Conference elite. Instead, New York went the opposite direction losing 38 of 70 games since. The Knicks scoring has gone down by almost six points per game since that fateful trade.

‘MELO DRAMA
The major crisis that ended the coach’s tenure is not a secret. New York has just been better with its superstar on the bench, especially this season with new point guard Jeremy Lin on the floor.

Since his return from injury 10 games ago, the Knicks are scoring 12 more points per 100 possessions and allowing 12 fewer points with Anthony on the bench.

But Lin or no Lin, Anthony simply wasn’t thriving in Mike D'Antoni's system.

Anthony is in the midst of one of his worst offensive seasons of his nine-year career. He’s shooting a career-worst 40 percent from the field. His 21.3 scoring average is his lowest since his sophomore season with the Nuggets.

Over the last 10 games, no two-man combo for the Knicks has put up a worse plus/minus rating than their two stars: Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. Anthony has put up a minus rating with every Knick he's played with over that time.

The best combo for the Knicks over last 10 games? Jared Jeffries and Steve Novak (+28).

The best combo for the Knicks this season? Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak (+122).

New interim head coach Mike Woodson will now have to figure that riddle out.

MISSING NASH
The entire drama in New York highlights a stark comparison for D'Antoni’s career. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, D'Antoni’s career win percentage is .733 in games he's coached when Steve Nash played for him. In games without him, he’s recorded just a .385 win percentage.

THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE
The Knicks, who won seven straight games in February, have now dropped six in a row entering tonight's contest with Portland. With a defeat tonight, they would become the first NBA team since 2004 to have both a winning streak and a losing streak of at least seven games within a 20-game span (fact courtesy of Elias).

Most hard-core travelers I know have at least one personal ritual they abide by, no matter where they are in the world. I like to be on the street between 8 and 9 in the morning because the best way to experience the kinetic energy of a place is to soak up the morning rush.

This morning, Kottke pointed readers to a smart list of travel tips from a blog called My Little Nomads. I liked this one:

Buy your own fruit. It sounds simple. It is simple. Just do it. You’ll love it. And I don’t mean, if there happens to be a fruit stand outside your hotel door you should buy some, because you need to have 9 servings a day. What I mean is, find fruit and buy it. Make it a daily task that you’re going to track down a fruit stand, a farmers’ market (they’re not just in San Francisco) and get some good fresh fruit. The entire process will expose you to elements of daily life you would have otherwise ignored. Trust me: You’ll have memories from your trips to buy fresh fruit.

When I was a kid, I liked to watch the middle of the second quarter of every Hawks game I attended from the very top row of the Omni. When Dominique Wilkins took a seat, I'd dash upstairs. When you're 11 years old, vertigo from the top of a 16,000-seat arena is intoxicating -- the place looks like an ant farm from above -- but looking back, the memories I have of getting up there are far more vivid.

Roaming an NBA arena unsupervised spoke to every sense. The Omni smelt like pizza and burned popcorn. The ushers wore bright red sateen jackets, some of them even smoked and most of them knew my face. The structure was made of weathering steel, so the acoustics were trippy -- a tinny refraction of horns, music and basketball. The final ascent the top row meant a trek over a steep swath of orange, gold and purple vinyl seats.

Last night, a friend asked me what I was looking forward to most now that the NBA was returning and, for some reason, I immediately plucked this from my catalog of memories. The Omni was demolished years ago and I don't spend much time buzzing around the upper concourses of arenas, but the live experience of going to an NBA game is the thing I enjoy most.

The league is back, and if you live in an NBA city, you'll have 33 chances to attend a live game. In most places, it's still an event -- the buzz outside the gate, the pageantry, the way the colors pop on the court.

Here are some tips for enhancing your game-night experience:

Get to the game early
If your schedule allows for some flexibility, plan on arriving 90 minutes before tip-off because there are few things more glorious than watching an arena come to life. It's like your own, personal time lapse video as the lower bowl fills up little by little. You'll get a glimpse of how a game production unfolds and, most of all, you can witness pregame rituals. Watch the biomechanical miracle of a 7-foot center being stretched out by a professional trainer. See shooters like Ray Allen or Steve Novak drain 19 consecutive 3-pointers -- and figure out how they do it. Beckley Mason of HoopSpeak likes to watch Steve Nash's pregame routine -- a barrage of elbow jumpers in quick succession. Get a glimpse of which guys yuk it up with opponents at center court and which guys look like they're about to mobilize for a major ground offensive.

Sit in a seat other than your own for 10 minutes
NBA arenas have gotten fussy about your moving around, but if you can finagle it, find a different vantage point from your assigned seat. If you're down low, head upstairs and study the choreography of the NBA from above. If your seat is out of earshot from the court, try to sneak your way to closer proximity and listen to the sound of the game -- the directives from the sidelines, trash-talk, the lobbying of officials. If you're at a Wizards game, just listen to Sam Cassell.

Take people who took you when you were a kid
This suggestion comes from my friend, Jeff, a Portland native and Trail Blazers fan. Invite your dad, mom or grandfather -- whoever used to haul you to a game. Maybe it was your father's friend when your parents worked late, or maybe it was your uncle who'd lecture you on the way home from the game about the virtues of three-to-make-two or the evil genius of Red Auerbach. Whoever it is, buying a ticket to a game for another person without the expectation of repayment is one of the cooler rites of passage as a grown-up.

Smuggle in healthy food
I've never met anyone over the age of 15 who has ever been satisfied with a meal purchased at the concession stands of an NBA arena. Even the stuff that's tasty requires a second mortgage and an angioplasty. Security at the gate has gotten stiff over the past decade, but a crafty smuggler can find enough room in the pocket of a winter coat for a couple of tangerines. If you're really creative, you can press your luck. Between 2001 and 2005, an estimated 150 onigiri rice balls from a local Japanese market were smuggled into NBA arenas -- all of them by a single individual in Los Angeles.

Take rail or a bus
Sports is still a communal civic outing in many cities, but in a lot of places it's becoming less so. Hopping the subway in New York, BART in the bay, the T in Boston or light rail in Salt Lake will remind you that cities and the commonalities of the people who live in them matter. In an era when modern convenience has provided us with a lot more solitude, it's fun to reacquaint yourself with that idea, even if it adds a few minutes to your trip.

Parlor games
Before you leave the house, declare it -- best throwback jersey in the crowd, least tolerable song most likely to be played during a timeout, over-unders on number of blocked shots by players under 6-foot-5 and player on the floor most likely to win a gauntlet match. These diversions come in particularly handy if you're staring at a 24-point game midway through the third quarter.

Leave your phone behind
This isn't always a practical option, but if there's nothing in your life that's calling out for immediate attention, we dare you to attend a game phone-free. You won't have easy access to stats and you won't be able to confirm who got dealt for Joe Smith, but attending a game without the constant itch to check your inboxes is a liberating, unfiltered experience. It will bring you back to a time when going to an NBA game was an activity that completely captivated you -- almost like travel.

If you're not contending, then you're rebuilding.

Many front office execs in sports accept this maxim as an article of faith. Once the championship window closes for a team, the theory goes, it's best to blow things up, particularly in basketball, where a salary cap generally prevents a team from adding high-dollar talent to bolster an imperfect roster. Whereas the Yankees and Red Sox can erase personnel mistakes by signing a couple of All-Stars, NBA organizations don't have that kind of flexibility -- not in the last collective bargaining agreement and certainly not in the next one.

But rebuilding is painful, and like many painful exercises, it's prone to procrastination. We tend to put off breakups, hernia surgeries, spring cleanings and bankruptcies. Denial isn't always the factor that fuels this holding pattern. We consciously know these chores need to be tackled, however unpleasant they might be, and rebuilding is no different.

The Phoenix Suns are facing this dilemma right now. They've historically been one of the league's most competitive teams season in and season out. Every fall, fans in Maricopa County know that if they plop down the cash for season tickets, they're almost guaranteed to see more wins than losses, an exciting brand of basketball and a decent chance the Suns will play games well into May.

These are vital ingredients to the Suns brand, and just a few reasons why Phoenix remains one of the few three-sport cities in North America where the NBA is king. Even as the Suns have shipped off draft picks like Rajon Rondo and Luol Deng, they've maintained their standing as a franchise many fans in rival cities would gladly trade for their own. Fourteen months ago, they played a spirited Western Conference finals series against the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.

So when you talk about rebuilding in Phoenix, it's a very serious matter, even though the Suns' 40-42 record last season suggests that their demise is inevitable. The primary reason why that conversation is so grave is the presence of 37-year-old point guard Steve Nash.

Provided we have a 2011-12 NBA season, Nash will enter the final season of his contract with the Suns. Once Nash is off the books next summer, Phoenix will have only $28.26 million in salaries committed heading into the 2012-13. The recipient of those guaranteed contracts are Marcin Gortat, Josh Childress, Channing Frye, Jared Dudley and Hakim Warrick. Dudley is the youngest of the five -- none of whom qualify as foundational players on a contender -- and he'll be 27 years old on opening night 2012.

Yet, the Suns will have flexibility -- but only if they say goodbye to Nash next summer. The two-time MVP has been the most important face of the 43-year-old franchise and that farewell won't be easy and isn't necessarily inevitable.

Michael Schwartz of Valley of the Suns takes a hard look at the implications of both parting with Nash and extending him a new contract. He sees three possible scenarios:

1. Trade Nash immediately after the lockout or at the trade deadline.
2. Sign Nash to a two-year extension.
3. Let Nash walk at the end of the 2011-12 season.

Each of these possibilities is fraught with peril. Re-sign a player who will be 40 years old at the end of the contract and there's a likelihood you won't see a good return on your investment and just delaying that needed surgery.

But if the Suns let Nash walk, there's no guarantee that cap space will translate into an impact signing -- and now you're forced to fill out a roster with marginal players. We often forget that future success isn't a foregone conclusion when a team moves forward with a teardown. Sometimes that lot sits barren for years. Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose don't always land on the doorstep.

Two more seasons of Nash might stall the rebuilding process, but it probably means the Suns remain watchable and they'll also be treated to the warm fuzzies a franchise enjoys when it sends off a legend with a farewell tour. In addition, Nash appears to have some game left in the tank. His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) was fifth-best among point guards and he elevates the offensive performance of his teammates.

Nash's presence would be very nice salve to a 37-45 season -- though mediocrity for Phoenix has its drawbacks. A win total in that neighborhood means the Suns will likely be drafting somewhere in the 10-15 range, limiting their chances of landing a future All-Star.

For the Suns and their fans, this is a tortuous thought process with few attractive options. And that's why our closets and garages fill up with old stuff even though we know damn well it's time to purge.

Editor's note: Updated late Friday to reflect David Stern's choice of Kevin Love as Yao Ming's injury replacement.

The 2010-11 West All-Stars

Starters
Kevin Durant
Carmelo Anthony
Kobe Bryant
Chris Paul
Yao Ming* (injured)

Reserves
Tim Duncan
Pau Gasol
Manu Ginobili
Blake Griffin
Kevin Love*
Dirk Nowitzki
Russell Westbrook
Deron Williams

(* Love replaces injured Yao)

So, who is missing from that list? Let's look at some of the players who will be most chapped to learn they won't be headed to Los Angeles to strut their stuff on Presidents Day weekend.

Kevin Martin
If Yao Ming were healthy and productive, there's a chance the Chinese audience would have voted this guy a starter like it did in the past for Tracy McGrady. To say he scores efficiently is a vast understatement. He shoots 3s as well as any heavy-volume shooter and leads the league in free throws made. And while he has the reputation of a standstill shooter, his game winner last night -- an athletic and-1 over Al Jefferson -- is an integral part of his game, too. Were he more selfish, his scoring totals would make him an obvious pick, but he wouldn't be as helpful to his team.

LaMarcus Aldridge
How amazing is ex-Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard? The team's two best players go down, and a third emerges as a double-double monster and leader of a playoff-caliber team. On sheer production, Aldridge is on the bubble, especially when you factor in how he started the season (and, for that matter, his career). And it sure doesn't help that his team is middling and plays games that start incredibly late for a lot of voters. However, here's what you're missing: All-Star games are about stellar plays, a good hunk of which are lobs. Not sure anybody finishes more lobs than this long, fast leaper. It would have been pretty.

Monta Ellis
Turn off your inner critic for a moment. Speak not of efficiency, nor wins and losses. Take a deep breath. Go to your happy place. Listen to the airy music. And just watch what this guy does: He takes big piles of nothing and turns them into and-1s. He takes your lazy passes and makes them steals and dunks. He takes double-teams and splits them. He takes your slow defender and makes him fall over. He takes your outstretched arms, and, little though he is, shoots over them and hits every time. At least, that's how it goes in the highlight reel. He'd be fun to watch in Los Angeles. (And Commissioner Stern, think how much cheaper the travel would be, sending a guy who lives a tad farther up the coast.)

Steve Nash
The two-time MVP is doing just about everything as well as he ever did. Now the supporting cast and the W-L record are far less impressive. Should that matter? Yes, of course, in some ways. The challenge to every NBA player is to win. On the other hand, if not an All-Star berth, what way is there to honor the otherworldly play of an aging hero doomed by his owner's questionable leadership? Hollinger: "What we're basically saying is that Nash was responsible for having Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion on his team, and now it's his fault that they're gone."

David West
In addition to being the featured big man in Chris Paul's multifaceted attack, West is now the starting forward for a title-quality defense. If the Hornets could upgrade their wing players, Paul, West and Okafor would be a force in the West, and West would be an All-Star.

Zach Randolph
Has anyone noticed that Memphis has been turning it on lately? The Grizzlies have long been a popular pick to be terrible, but ever since getting Randolph, he has been putting up huge numbers and they have been better than expected. At the moment, the Grizzlies have a winning record and are on track to make the playoffs. Surely somebody deserves recognition for exceeding expectations like that. You could do worse than to pick the guy averaging a cool 20 points and 13 rebounds per game.

The 2010-11 East All-Stars

Starters
LeBron James
Amare Stoudemire
Dwyane Wade
Derrick Rose
Dwight Howard

Reserves
Ray Allen
Chris Bosh
Kevin Garnett
Al Horford
Joe Johnson
Paul Pierce
Rajon Rondo

Andrew Bogut
One of Andrew Bogut's problems is that he's in the Eastern Conference with Dwight Howard, who is unlikely to ever miss this game, and, now, Al Horford, who is proving to be quite the stud. As an extra annoyance, players like Joakim Noah (whose Bulls are 14 games ahead of the Bucks in the standings) and Brook Lopez also vie for the title of conference's third-best center. Last year when Bogut was on the All-Star bubble, he offered to switch positions. He can play center, but he swears he can also bring the ball up and zing behind-the-back passes. So, maybe that's something to consider next time.

Carlos Boozer
It was 2004 -- a half-century ago in dog years -- that Carlos Boozer offended the NBA by taking the biggest contract he could get. Sometimes it feels like he gets punished anew for that every year. He's a 20 and 10 guy (and the highest-paid player) on a 34-14 Bulls team that is shattering the assumption that the Celtics, Magic and Heat are the East's three candidates to make the Finals.

Joakim Noah
Charles Barkley's favorite NBA player is beautiful to watch, even if you're not captivated by the flowing curls. He has infinite love -- for the game, for winning, for his teammates, for hustle, for the big moments. It's no coincidence he was part of special teams in college and again in the pros. The man plays his heart out, and any league would be wise to reward that. Meanwhile, his team has been as exciting as any in the league this season. The only real drawback to his candidacy: Thanks to injury, he has played just 24 games, and a lot of Chicago's best ball has come with Noah in funky street clothes.

While Kevin Love was posting his third 30-point, 20-rebound game of the season, Kevin Durant was putting up some career numbers himself.

Durant matched his career high with 47 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds in Oklahoma City's 118-117 overtime win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. How difficult is it to record a 40-point, 15-rebound game? Durant now has two such games, and that's currently tied for second among active players. Only Shaquille O'Neal has more (19). Durant's 47 points tie Blake Griffin for most in a single game this season.

Love finished with 31 points, 21 rebounds and made all three of his three-pointers. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last player to make at least three three-pointers in a 30-point, 20-rebound game was Kevin Garnett, who did it for the Timberwolves against the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 5, 2003. Garnett had 33 points, 25 rebounds and, like Love, was three-for-three from behind the arc.

IN OTHER NBA ACTION:
• The New Jersey Nets had three players score at least 14 points off the bench in their 93-88 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Anthony Morrow had 19 points, and Kris Humphries and Sasha Vujacic both added 14.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was the first time since March 5, 1984 against the Utah Jazz, that the Nets had three non-starters score at least 14 points in a game they won by five points or fewer. (In that 120-116 win over the Jazz, the three players who scored at least 14 off the bench for the Nets were: Otis Birdsong (18), Darwin Cook (17) and Albert King (16).

• In the Phoenix Suns' 114-107 home loss to the Charlotte Bobcats, Steve Nash had a game-high 27 points and 15 assists, the first player this season with a 25-point, 15-assist game.

• The New Orleans Hornets shot 62.2 percent from the field in a win at the Golden State Warriors. That is the fourth-highest percentage they have shot in a game in their franchise's history. The highest came in a 39-point blowout of the Indiana Pacers in 1994 when they shot 64.6 percent.

Entering Wednesday, the Miami Heat boasted a 12-0 record when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined to score at least 71 percent of the team’s points. Against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Big Three combined for 84 of the team’s 105 points (80 percent), but it was not enough as the Heat fell and snapped their 13-game road win streak (tied for fourth-longest in NBA history).

Although the Big Three contributed 80 percent of the offense (their highest percentage in a loss), it was the Heat’s team defense that let them down. The Clippers scored 44 points in the first quarter, which is the most against the Heat in any quarter this season. Miami's 18-point deficit after one quarter (44-26) was the highest of the season. It was also just the fourth time this season that the Heat allowed an opponent to shoot at least 50 percent from the field. Oh and the 111 points allowed were the fourth-most in a single game by Miami this season.

The Clippers, on the other hand, have now won eight of the last 10 against the Heat at home. Blake Griffin extended his double-double streak to 24 consecutive games, one behind Kevin Love for longest this season. Griffin also notched his league-high 23rd game of 20 points and 10 rebounds. It was his 13th-straight 20-10 game and since the 1996-97 season, only Shaquille O'Neal has a longer streak (18).

Speaking of streaks, there were a few that were extended and a few more that ended Wednesday:

• Amar'e Stoudemire scored 22 points and extended his streak of games with at least 20 points to 23 straight (fifth longest streak in New York Knicks history).

• The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors and have won 12 straight meetings. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Lakers-Warriors rivalry dates back to 1948 when the teams were located in Minneapolis and Philadelphia, respectively. The Lakers' 12-game win streak matches the longest win streak for either team in the rivalry's history. The Minneapolis Lakers defeated the Philadelphia Warriors 12 straight times from 1952 to 1954.

• The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Houston Rockets to snap an 11-game road losing streak and got its first win in Houston since February 2005, when the team was still based in Seattle.

• And finally, the Orlando Magic lost to the New Orleans Hornets and snapped its nine-game win streak (tied for the longest in team history).

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.

In 2004 and 2005, as my Timberwolves were just beginning their long, painful shame spiral, the Phoenix Suns gave me a reason to keep on loving the NBA. There were many good reasons for this: their defiance of orthodox positionality; their feverish pace of play and relentless scoring; the palpable joy they brought to the game.

But the biggest reason the Suns enchanted me was the on-court relationship between Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire. To the casual observer, the two seem as ill-matched as a some oddball pair in a buddy comedy, and just as racially typecast. The savvy, selfless, veteran (white) tactician meets the brash, unschooled but athletically magnificent rim-crushing (black) manchild. Hilarious misunderstandings ensue.

But the reality was that Nash and Stoudemire were meant for each other; their skills intertwined in radical and breathtaking ways. And so it was incredibly sad for me when the Suns allowed the final remnants of their juggernaut to dissolve by pushing Amar’e out the door.

Even sadder was the discourse that built up around Stoudemire’s free agent signing with the Knicks. The question that posed itself was: which one of these players was more important to the other? Some folks believed that Nash would suddenly cease to be an offensive miracle worker without his finisher. But many more wondered whether Amar’e would still be Amar’e without the point guard that made him who he is. That so many of us called the Knicks’ signing of Amar’e the worst move of the summer revealed that we had bought into this way of thinking: Nash was the cerebral genius, Amar’e the muscle.

But it hasn’t really turned out that way. Amar’e’s PER of 23.1 is his best in three years. He is the league’s second-leading scorer. He is leading a Knick resurgence that is captivating the league. Subtler differences make his accomplishments even more amazing. Raymond Felton, Stoudemire’s new running mate, may be a skilled and conscientious playmaker but, like just about everybody, he lacks Nash’s miraculous gifts of vision and passing. He and Stoudemire have yet to develop a pick-and-roll rapport that even approaches the fluency of vintage Nash-Amar’e.

So this season, Stoudemire has had to bear a much greater burden of creating his own scoring opportunities, finding many of his looks from faceups and isolations (last year, 61.2% of his baskets were assisted; this year, it’s 49.2%). Even so, he’s posting a true shooting percentage of almost 58.9%, down just 1 ½ points from last season. And when he does find himself in a pick-and-roll situation, he’s actually more efficient than he was last year. He is, in other words, a really tough cover.

Stoudemire’s departure has also had some significant effects on the Suns. Unsurprisingly, Phoenix has lacked interior scoring this year. Nash has had to generate scoring opportunities by probing the perimeter and by relying even more heavily on his astonishing ability to create (and see) passing lanes with his exploratory wanderings through the lane. That both his assist rate and scoring (in volume and in efficiency) are up this season speak to just how shockingly good the guy is.

Nevertheless, Sebastian Pruiti (with help from the Heat and their throttling D) showed us just how much easier defending Suns has become, despite Nash’s magic. Without Stoudemire, the Suns have scored three points fewer per 100 possessions. They play at a slower pace—probably because they are able to generate fewer easy points off of pick-and-rolls early in the shot clock—and get fewer shots at the rim.

More surprisingly, considering Amar’e’s well-earned reputation as a mediocre defender and rebounder (mediocre, that is, given his deluxe physical gifts), Phoenix’s defense is also nearly four points worse per 100 possessions and they grab 3% fewer rebounds; what’s more, New York’s D is 3.5 points better per 100. It seems that Stoudemire was important to the Suns in more ways than we ever understood.

As time has gone on, we’ve begun to see how these two have spilled over the boundaries of those preconceived roles. Nash has always been more physically gifted than he’s been given credit for, his performance as much a product of elite athleticism—balance, strength, dexterity, hand-eye coordination— than of anything as abstractly cognitive as “basketball IQ.”

And—especially as he’s grown as a player—Stoudemire has brought uncommon craft to the task of scoring. His ability to move in open space off the ball and to subtly maneuver his huge body around the basket is as stunning as his more gaudy above-the-rim performances.

Nash’s visionary floor game and Amar’e’s boundless skill and athleticism made the pick-and-roll, one of the most basic elements of basketball grammar, endlessly creative and endlessly productive: a thing of rare beauty. But although these two players helped create one another, they don't depend on each other to be fully formed, fully expressive players. We didn’t lose either one of them when they parted ways. What we lost was the marvelous thing they made together.

• Evidently the Kings have found themselves at the point of threatening No. 5 overall draft pick DeMarcus Cousins with a demotion to the D-League to get him to act right ... since kicking him out of practice, fining him and pulling him from the starting lineup doesn't seem to work. One can only shake their head and wonder what the next step in disciplinary progression is for a player that some advanced stat heads claimed should have been the 2010 first overall pick.
• Gilbert Arenas tried to tow the company line this season in Washington, to be the good guy who aimed to avoid conflict (for the most part). Now he's trying to do the same in Orlando by attempting to nip controversy in the bud before it happens, quite a diversion from Gilbertology of the past. "I don't want to start, this team is too talented," he says. Too bad, when you make $18 million and are playing better than the incumbent for a single game, the media is going to rush to find an issue regardless.
• Wizards owner Ted Leonsis often likes to think about the "coulda been" wins when pumping positivity on his blog, Ted's Take, recently writing, "It is a shame. There have been six other games this season that were winnable for [the Wizards] and we came up short." But those close games follow a two-way street, and Tim Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell likes to travel the other way, pointing out that the San Antonio Spurs might not be as good as their league-best record reflects.
• John Wall rides a tiny bike while handing out presents to underserved families in the D.C. area ... Nick Young with a tiny bike while doing the same thing ... Ernie Grunfeld sports a puffy adidas coat.
• Without Amare Stoudemire around to dive into the paint after setting a screen for Steve Nash, it's less of a gamble to hard double the two-time MVP off P&R action -- so that's exactly what the Miami Heat effectively did last night. Sebastian Pruiti of NBA Playbook explains.
• The Atlanta Hawks are in a tough position. They aren't good enough to compete for a championship, and they don't have the financial means to add key pieces to their core. Oh, and even though they have the fourth best record in the East, their average attendance ranks 25th in the League. What should they do? The Atlanta-Journal-Constitution's Michael Cunningham says just about all they can do is hope things come together under first-year coach Larry Drew.
• Nick Young is finally breaking out with consistent effort, this being his fourth NBA season. Young is starting now with the departure of Arenas from Washington, but came into his own earlier this season when he started being more comfortable with a role off the bench. Now in his third NBA season, should OJ Mayo be doing the same thing in Memphis? Perhaps Mayo should follow a mold set by Jason Terry, says Beckley Mason of HoopSpeak.
• At Truth About It.net, we talk to the Wizards about the best and worst holiday presents that they've ever received.
• Evidently Stephen Jackson and new coach Paul Silas can call each other "Cuz."
• Orlando's new dynamic formula involves putting diverse offense players on the floor together and running at every opportunity.
• Arenas was never able to complete some folks in D.C.
• A sheriff in Polk County Florida has decided that prisoners in his jail don't deserve to play basketball, so he made the inmates dig up the goals and then donated them to a local church. Talk about cruel and unusual.

The roughly 20-year hiatus of the Boston Celtics-New York Knicks rivalry was well worth the wait on Wednesday, as the Celtics hung on for a thrilling 118-116 win at Madison Square Garden. The game was full of superlative performances on both team and individual levels.

First and foremost, the Celtics extended their win streak to 11 games. While winning streaks of this nature have become almost commonplace for these Celtics, it remains impressive nonetheless. The Celtics have five 10-game win streaks since the 2007-08 season, which is two more than the next-closest team. Boston had a remarkable night shooting from all points on the floor -- the Celtics became the first team to shoot 100 percent from the free throw line, 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range since ... the Knicks. The Knicks did it more than two years ago, in November of 2008. And, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, since the 3-point line was introduced (1979-80), no team had ever done that against the Knicks.

The Celtics’ stars stepped up in the spotlight. In addition to hitting the game-winning shot with 0.4 seconds remaining, Paul Pierce (32 points, 10 rebounds) scored 30 or more for the first time since Jan. 29 of last season and posted his second double-double of the season, while Rajon Rondo (10 points, 14 assists) now has double-digit assists in 17 of 20 games this season.

The most impressive story, however, could be from the losing team. While the Knicks saw their eight-game win streak snapped, the team’s two offseason imports -- Amar'e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton -- continued their remarkable run of production. Stoudemire contributed 39 points and 10 rebounds while Felton chipped in 26 points and 14 assists.

Felton has recorded a double-double in seven of his last nine games and is averaging 20.3 PPG and 11.0 APG over that stretch. Stoudemire has nine consecutive games of 30-plus points and his 39 points marked the third-highest total against the Celtics since the 2007-08 season.

While the return of the rivalry is certainly one takeaway from this contest, Stoudemire’s remarkable turnaround from a slow start this season arguably stands above all. Stoudemire’s shooting was off to start the year and since the moment he’s taken off, the Knicks have, too. Stoudemire’s increase in efficiency -- note the increase from 44.8 percent shooting to 57.9 -- has put to rest the concerns that his offensive game had been detrimentally impacted by no longer playing with Steve Nash.

So while Wednesday might have ended the Knicks’ win streak, that doesn’t mean it should end the enthusiasm over the team’s start and the play of the team’s superstar.

The Dallas Mavericks snapped the Utah Jazz’s 7-game win streak making it the third time this season they’ve snapped streaks of seven or more games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the first time in franchise history that they’ve snapped three streaks of seven or more games in a single season. The last teams to do so were the Hawks, Pistons and Lakers, all during the 2008-09 season.

• At 11-9 the New York Knicks record is over .500 after 20 games for the first time since the 2001-02 season. Amare Stoudemire led the way with 34 points, his third straight 30-point game, which is the fifth time in his career he's strung together streaks of at least three straight 30-point performances.

More from Elias: Stoudemire has 491 points and 174 rebounds in 20 games for the Knicks. He's the first player in Knicks history to score that many points and haul in that many rebounds in his first 20 career games with the team. Honorable mention goes to Bob McAdoo, who had 483 points and 244 rebounds in his first 20 games with the Knicks.

• The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday despite making 12 LESS field goals. One major reason is because they went to the free throw line 59 times. The last team to take that many free throw attempts in a game was the 2006-07 Knicks, who went to the line 63 times against the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 27, 2006.

• Kevin Garnett had 17 rebounds, all on the defensive end of the floor, in the Boston Celtics' win over the Chicago Bulls. He's the first Celtic to have that many rebounds and no offensive rebounds in a game since Larry Bird on Feb. 25, 1990 against the Nuggets. It was also the second time in KG's career that he's had 17 defensive rebounds and no offensive boards in a game.

• Rajon Rondo had 19 assists, five shy of his career high that he set back on Oct. 29. In the last three seasons, the only other players who have had multiple games with at least 19 assists in the same season are Steve Nash and Baron Davis.

The last player with three games with at least 19 assists in the same season: Deron Williams and Chris Paul during the 2007-08 season.