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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin Keeps Struggling, James Harden Still Shining
On some nights, you think that the Jeremy Lin – James Harden backcourt duo is the best in the NBA. In other games, like the most recent win for the Houston Rockets, you clearly see the difference between an OK, sometimes outstanding point guard who still has plenty of improvements to make, and someone who is already a full fledged NBA superstar.
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Chicago Bulls – Don’t Need Derrick Rose & Joakim Noah
Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau keeps telling his players that regardless of who’s playing – Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose, or Nate Robinson, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Jimmy Butler, they have what it takes to win every night, against anyone. Most of the time, they seem to actually believe his preaching
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Miami Heat – LeBron James So Good It’s Almost Boring
The Miami Heat were playing without Dwyane Wade. So what? LeBron James just takes his game up a notch, almost gets his fifth triple double of the season while leading his team to a 26th consecutive win, while everything looks too easy for him and his teammates, simply enjoying the magical ride they seem to be on.
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Los Angeles Clippers – Chris Paul Fourth Quarter Heroics Won’t be Enough Later on
Despite all of their improvements and all of their depth, the Los Angeles Clippers remain a team that is almost completely reliant on Chris Paul to come up with the scoring in the final minutes while everyone else simply takes a step backs and hopes everything turns out well. In the regular season it’s mostly been working fine for them, but come the playoffs, it won’t be enough to get the Clippers further than ever before.
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Denver Nuggets – George Karl Doesn’t Want Things to Slow Down
With a winning streak that’s at 15 now, you’d expect George Karl to take it a little bit easier going into the final stretch of the season; cut his players some slack. But that’s not how you keep a young team without a clear superstar to fall back on when things don’t go great on its edge, hopefully lasting the last few weeks of the season in the same place they are now in the Western Conference.
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Chicago Bulls – Luol Deng Finally Remembers to Play Well
After losing three consecutive times to the Indiana Pacers in rough, physical games, the Chicago Bulls, despite not playing with Joakim Noah, arguably their best player this season, found a way to beat a team that’s very similar to them, only better in almost every aspect. How? Luol Deng actually showed up offensively, as the idea of playing without a point guard has to be crossing the mind of Tom Thibodeau.
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Boston Celtics – Things are Falling Apart (Again)
Suffering a fourth consecutive loss, making a short three-game road trip as a complete failure, any thoughts of the Boston Celtics being a team capable of making any sort of splash in the postseason after certain promising stretches in the previous month seem to going out the window, regardless of the excuses Doc Rivers makes up for his untalented team
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Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe Bryant & Pau Gasol Don’t Make a Difference
If anyone thought that Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol coming back to give the Los Angeles Lakers their “dream team” look once again, joining Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Metta World Peace, think again. The road to the playoffs which seemed to be suddenly turning right for them took another bad turn with a surprising home loss no one accounted for, making things for the big finish a lot more complicated
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Portland Trail Blazers – Damian Lillard Not Letting Playoffs Dream Die
Quite a rarity to see someone other than Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge lead the Portland Trail Blazers in scoring, but desperate time call for desperate measures, and Wesley Matthews filled the points void left by the hobbled Nicolas Batum, leading the team to another road win as their chances of somehow making the NBA playoffs remain intact, aided by some other results around the league.
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Houston Rockets – James Harden Doesn’t Need Help From Jeremy Lin
After praising Jeremy Lin for his excellent form in the last three games, came a dud of performance from him, although it didn’t really stop the Houston Rockets from picking up a very comfortable home win, led by James Harden (who else), also enjoying the fact that two of their rivals in the NBA playoff race lost on the same night.