Boston 118, New York 116: This is one of those rare times where we’re thrilled ESPN hyped the shit out of this game. The Garden rocked, the game lived up to expectations, and even in defeat, it’s pretty clear Amare and the Knicks are a solid team in the East. All Amare does is top 30 – he scored 39 and collected 10 rebounds, but it should have been 42, because maybe the Knicks should have had :00.6 on the clock after Pierce’s jumper. (Or :00.8) The Knicks host the Heat Friday, but after four starters played 42+ minutes, will they have enough in the tank? New York must find some answers off the bench or this team will tank in the 2nd half.

San Antonio 92, Milwaukee 90: How is this travel not called? Horrible no-call.

Philadelphia 105, LA Clippers 91: Because you care about Blake Griffin – 20 points, 18 rebounds in 39 minutes. Interesting parallel – Evan Turner was booted from the starting lineup, and the 76ers have won five of seven. Obviously strength of schedule should be taken into account, but …

Chicago 110, Toronto 93: So maybe we won’t get to see much of the Bulls at full strength? Joakim Noah will be out 8-10 weeks following surgery today on his thumb. He’s expected to be out for at least the next 30 games. Conservatively, we’ll project a March 15th return. The good news is that the door is ajar for the Knicks to possibly sneak into that 4th playoff spot (we’ve got Boston, Miami and Orlando in the top three spots) and get homecourt advantage in the first round.

LA Lakers 109, Indiana 94: Roy Hibbert’s having another terrific season with the Pacers (14 points, 8 rebounds per game), putting to rest all those doubts about his ability coming out of Georgetown. But here’s Pau Gasol going to work on him. Still kicking myself for taking Indy +5. I should have paid closer attention to this tweet from Matt Barnes.

Dallas 103, Portland 98: Blow up the Frail Blazers? That’s what John Canzano says. Perhaps they can retain Patty Mills, who throws a nice lob pass.