• Portland Trail Blazers 105, Miami Heat 96

Dwyane Wade (38 points on 21 shots) and LeBron James (31 points on 20 shots) were nearly every bit as superb as they are humanly capable of being, but beating teams that force them into high degree of difficulty ISOs, limit second chance opportunities and not be completely overmatched by their superior athleticism means they need at least a little supplemental help to win ballgames.

Mario Chalmers contributed with a solid offensive game, but Chris Bosh was a complete no-show (-0.4 FIC40) and this meant that the Larger-2 had nearly 72% of the team's points.

Bosh was completely dominated by LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 26 points compared to Bosh’s incredibly inefficient seven. Gerald Wallace was an unadulterated two-way monster, scoring 22 while also collecting nine boards, two steals, a block and made life as difficult for LeBron as he possibly could on a night in which No. 6 was all the way there mentally. Brandon Roy’s 3-for-3 from three was also a pivotal aspect of how Portland controlled things offensively.

• Los Angeles Lakers 101, Atlanta Hawks 87

The Lakers were +24 on points in the paint, which is the simplest formula available to them on how to become truly great and have an excellent chance at completing their threepeat.

There is no doubt the Lakers will continue to prop up Andrew Bynum as a defensive force because he seems to be 100% convinced that his streak is not an aberration and there is no reason to believe otherwise if he remains healthy and committed to his effort on that side of the floor. Bynum had 16 points, 16 boards, three blocks and is generally commanding so much more influence on the game.

The Lakers are scary good right now and if the Heat snap their streak on them in that highly anticipated rematch on Thursday, they will be earning it against the best the NBA has to offer right now.

• Philadelphia 76ers 110, Indiana Pacers 100

Speaking of the best right now, the 76ers are continuing to make their case on why they are the team nobody wants in the first round.

Games like this one demonstrate the athleticism gap that both of these teams have on most nights. The Pacers play high possession basketball and that is a dangerous proposition against a team that features the speed and athleticism of Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holiday and Thaddeus Young.

Philadelphia was +10 on fastbreak points and +20 on points in the paint.

Iguodala continued his remarkable defensive season by holding Danny Granger to just 11 shot attempts. Tyler Hansbrough’s 26 points on 14 shots off the bench was one of Indiana’s only lone bright spots.

• Milwaukee Bucks 95, Washington Wizards 76

The Bucks successfully dirtied up the game the way they do and held Washington to just 82.3 points per 100 possessions.

Milwaukee was +9 on turnover differential, forcing five apiece for John Wall, Nick Young and Jordan Crawford.

Offensively, Brandon Jennings, John Salmons and Andrew Bogut had solid outings. Good to see Bogut back on the floor for the first time since the Chicago loss, while also having one of his best offensive games of the season (14 points on 13 shots with seven assists).

• Phoenix Suns 113, Houston Rockets 110

The Suns and Rockets were trade partners at the deadline, but Aaron Brooks and Goran Dragic were non-factors and the game was all about Hakim Warrick scoring 32 on 19 shots while replacing Channing Frye and a big second half for Vince Carter. The Suns assisted on 28 of their 44 field goals.

Kyle Lowry continues his explosion, scoring 32 points on 18 shots. If he doesn’t have Western Conference Player of the Week wrapped up already, I’m not entirely sure what to say.

Houston was without Luis Scola, but Patrick Patterson had another very productive game with 18 points, five boards and three steals.

• Golden State Warriors 95, Cleveland Cavaliers 85

While Gerald Wallace was all over the place in a Blazers’ uniform in a battle of playoff teams, the Warriors secured win No. 3 to cap a seven-game road trip.

The first quarter was awful from Golden State’s perspective (30-18 deficit), but they ended the game allowing just 93.7 points per 100 possessions. The Cavaliers had an eFG% of 38.8% and you need to dig to the Bruins off the bench (Baron Davis and Ryan Hollins) to locate anything resembling efficient scoring