Around the NBA 4.0

[Tupik]

That was an insane game by Durant. He just couldn't miss at all at the end of the game, unreal!

[HornetJail]

Rondo ain't sh*t no more. If I was Boston I would be trying to trade him to Sacramento for Isaiah Thomas and fillers. I know he's just returning from injury but I think he's about to get exposed not playing next to 3 future HOFers.

I think you've got to give him the season to get his knee right. It takes almost two years to get an ACL back to normal- I definitely didn't expect to see him dominate this season.

You are, however, on the right track as far as the passing to KG and Pierce thing goes. I think he was glorified playing alongside them, but with decent teammates, Rondo will still be pretty good.

[karkinos]

And they're only 3 1/2 games behind Westbrook-less OKC, 4 games behind Portland, who are now showing signs of being mortal.

Thank you for backing me up on that notion. The Thunder are about to lose 4 out of their next 5 games against HOU, GSW, SAC, POR, & SAS. The best OKC might do out of that stretch of games is 2-3. The Warriors now have a golden opportunity to be a top-3 seed in the Western Conference as I predicted

4-0
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[Diop]

Brooklyn have definitely improved with their smaller lineup.

Can't see them winning much, but at least they will make the playoffs now. (Barring injury)

[LamarMatic7]

So this is the Clippers bench front-court replacement after the BJ Mullens thing didn't work out.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwGiJDCd8oU[/youtube]

[Snidely FC]

^^^"Standing around licking his fingers." Nice!

On a completely different note
CHI traded weak Marquis Teague to BKN for Tornike Shengelia, who I have a sneaking suspicion is going to look really good in the CHI system. Underrated trade.

Standing 6-9, with long arms and a very well developed frame, Shengelia stands out immediately from a physical standpoint. He's a very good athlete for a European prospect, running the floor fluidly and being capable of playing above the rim. Shengelia's best attribute is clearly his motor, as he's an extremely tough and aggressive player who plays the game with great energy. He crashes the glass extremely well for his size, Shengelia should be able to carve out a niche for himself in the NBA in the Andres Nocioni mold.

[LamarMatic7]

It's definitely one of the best places to be traded to for Tornike. He's been relegated to bench warmer duty so far in his NBA career and that might as well mean an early return to Europe. But now he's got at least 4 months of playing for Thibs. The things he might learn about playing NBA defense are invaluable and if he picks any of it up it can give him staying power in the league.

[HornetJail]

Sooooo....... the east is starting to not completely suck. The 4th- 6th seeds are now at .500 and seeds 7-9 (Brooklyn, us, and Detroit) are all within 3.5 games. The top two teams are all but set in stone, but there's little chance that an uber-crappy 33-win team makes the playoffs after all. The East is weak at the top, as the 3rd seeded Hawks would still miss the playoffs by a couple games out west.

[JDR720]

This guys career might be over soon....http://sports.yahoo.com/news/danilo-gal ... 59531.html

[thruthefire]

Augustin has saved the Bulls.

[Eoghan]

The Pistons are about to lose to the Bucks. How is Cheeks not fired yet?

[MasterIchiro]

That Pistons pick is money. 9 would be great.

[HornetJail]

That Pistons pick is money. 9 would be great.

I'm truly nervous we won't see that pick this year and it will shoot up like crazy next year, just like Portland's has done this year.

[Marvel]

Another hand injury.

[Liver_Pooty]

I've been watching the Pistons of late, and Drummond isn't the defender everyone thinks he is.. He is a good defender, no doubt, but before this season everyone, especially Piston fans thought he would be a DPOY candidate. He isn't even close.

[MasterIchiro]

That Pistons pick is money. 9 would be great.

I'm truly nervous we won't see that pick this year and it will shoot up like crazy next year, just like Portland's has done this year.

The teams below them are so bad. The Knicks are a mess. The Cavs are a total mystery. I think the Pelicans can pass the Pistons and make it pick 10. No other team is a legitimate threat. It's amazing how the Knicks just keep losing - 5 straight now. The Cavs can't win with Deng. It's unbelievable.

[Diop]

if Lamar was a Knicks fan he could do the funniest mix up of fails this season.


Once again not really bargnanis fault, but it still looks funny

[mrknowitall215]

Kawhi Leonard suffered the same hand fracture that MKG did over a month ago last night

[tweet]https://twitter.com/basketballtalk/status/426189082864005120[/tweet]

[mrknowitall215]

Keanu (Honolulu)

Hey Amin, will DJ Augustin keep playing stellar or is this just a hot streak?

Amin Elhassan (3:00 PM)

We've seen in the past multiple scoring guards play very well in Chicago (Nate Robinson, John Lucas, CJ Watson to name a few). Augustin might have found the same sweet spot

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/49887

[JDR720]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/426506801903714304[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/426509048658145280[/tweet]