A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: Denver Post. Benjamin Hochman talks with coach George Karl about how his go-go Denver Nuggets — who play at the league's second-fastest pace, in keeping with the coach's long-held philosophy — are fueled not necessarily by his speedy point guard or sprinting wings, but rather by "the most committed big guys I've ever had to run the court."
PF: The Brooklyn Game. With his post-All-Star production down a bit — fewer points in more minutes per game on a lower field-goal percentage, fewer free-throw attempts and declining rebounding numbers — John Hood asks: Should the Brooklyn Nets be worried about Brook Lopez?
SF: Brew Hoop. Over the past three games, Brandon Jennings has become — gasp! — a pass-first point guard and assist machine! How the hell did that happen? Dan Sinclair breaks down the Milwaukee Bucks triggerman's "deluge of dimes."
SG: Bright Side of the Sun. Dave King snarls and sneers through this fun reminder that, while .500's great and all, the Los Angeles Lakers' resume isn't really all that much better than the Phoenix Suns'.
PG: Grantland. Rembert Browne on yesterday's 10-man leader interviewing Jimmy Kimmel's latest guest on a surreal, can't-believe-this-actually-happened talk show.
6th: The Dream Shake. Abel Prado makes what I can only imagine was a very difficult decision to lay bare his own issues in discussing Royce White, with whom Prado spoke as White continues to work with the Houston Rockets' D-League affiliate; I'm not sure we learn much more about White from this than we already knew, but it's an engaging read and a pretty brave piece of writing.
7th: The Painted Area. Mark Haubner puts this season's top teams through Kevin Pelton's "Effective Age" metric to see how young or old, relatively speaking, the NBA title contenders are. For some reason, the relative age of the Miami Heat surprised me; I guess I forget how long LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have been playing.
8th: The Associated Press. While we weren't looking, but Charlotte Bobcats rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's eyesore jumper has actually started to fall more regularly, which is a pretty huge development for the 19-year-old swingman, toiling (and we mean toiling) in relative obscurity for the league's worst team.
9th: Hardwood Paroxysm. Jared Dubin previews Friday night's matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, a pairing that has resulted in some seriously explosive offense twice in recent memory, and figures to be super fun once again.
10th: Eye on Basketball. After the Denver Nuggets' big 107-92 home win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night, Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson told Matt Moore that he views himself as "a second-half kind of player," both in games when the contest's in the balance and on the season, when the playoff push comes around.
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