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Chicago Bulls – Jimmy Butler Everyone Has Been Waiting For
This is supposed to be the year Jimmy Butler makes the step from role player to borderline star for the Chicago Bulls. It hasn’t been working out that great so far, mostly because of injuries, but his performance in the road win over the Memphis Grizzlies suggests there’s still hope he’ll turn things around.
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Miami Heat – LeBron James Gives Himself a Happy Birthday
There was nothing to expect but a big game from LeBron James as he returned to the lineup for the Miami Heat, on his 29th birthday nonetheless. It wasn’t one for the ages, but good enough to cover for another Dwyane Wade injury and lead the NBA champions to a 97-94 win over the Denver Nuggets.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin & James Harden Were Running on Empty
Unlike other losses this season, the 117-86 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder wan’t about James Harden hogging the ball, Jeremy Lin not being involved enough or the Houston Rockets being an awful defensive team and often not a smart one on offense, courtesy of their quite conservative head coach, Kevin McHale. Well, maybe it does have something to do with defense, but more than anything it comes down to one thing: Fatigue.
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Los Angeles Lakers – More Losing Leads to Pointing Fingers
The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be the only ones who didn’t receive the memo earlier this season about how they’re supposed to be bad. With a five game losing streak threatening to become something of the norm this season, the popular opinion right now among players, Mike D’Antoni and the front office is to blame Pau Gasol for not trying hard enough.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant Quite Happy With His Sidekicks
Life without Russell Westbrook should have been a lot more difficult, but the Oklahoma City Thunder seem to be doing just fine, thanks to Kevin Durant simply taking his game to another level while Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb are developing even more quickly than expected.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin & James Harden Finish What Dwight Howard Started
For quite some time, it seemed like the big man duel between Dwight Howard and Anthony Davis was going to decide the outcome of the game between the Houston Rockets and the New Orleans Pelicans. However, Jeremy Lin seemed to be saving his best for the fourth quarter, and with quite a lot of help from James Harden pulled their team away for the victory.
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Mavericks vs Bulls – Back to Square One
While the Dallas Mavericks continue to do as expected – beat the team they should, lose against those better than them, this season is quite the rollercoaster for the Chicago Bulls, being unable to generate a decent winning streak without getting blown out unexpectedly just when they things are going in the right direction.
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Miami Heat – Chris Bosh Reminds Everyone He is a Superstar
It takes a LeBron James injury to remind everyone of how good the Miami Heat actually are. Not just Chris Bosh putting on a show and possibly his best game since joining the team which includes hitting a game winning 3-pointer, but also winning on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers, one of the best teams in the NBA until now.
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Golden State Warriors – Stephen Curry Does More Than Just Shoot
Most of the praise Stephen Curry gets usually has to do with his shooting and his place in history among three point shooters. It’s less common to see him get the headlines thanks to his all-around play. However, there’s a lot more to him than just shooting from long range, pulling off a triple-double performance that included a career high in rebounds and assists as the Golden State Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns 115-86.
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Heat vs Kings – LeBron James on his own Isn’t Enough
The method of giving every aging key player some rest from time to time except for LeBron James has been working fine so far, but the recent loss to the Sacramento Kings didn’t just end a six-game winning streak for the Miami Heat – it also left them with their best player slightly injured, obviously causing a great deal of concern.