Denver 105, Houston 95: The Rockets have lost eight of nine, and Jeremy Lin’s still a work in progress (3-of-7 in 24 ineffective minutes). This is one of those “not as close as the final score indicates” results. Lawson scored 21, Chandler added 20, and JaVale McGee had 14 points in 15 minutes. JaVale McGee also threw a pass to himself for the dunk, and then his eyes opened wide and he applied a fingerstache. Right now, JaVale McGee is among my 10 most favorite people in sports. Yes, this should be a post at some point.

Golden State 104, Oklahoma City 99: The Warriors won the 4th, Russell Westbrook only shot 3-of-16, and the Warriors improved to 26-15. Stephen Curry only shot 11-of-27, but did have the game-winning steal.

Atlanta 104, Charlotte 92: Josh Smith scored 30 points, collected 13 rebounds, and dished out eight assists in a terrific performance against … his future team? The Bobcats don’t have a player to build around, and Smith seems like an ideal fit. What if Charlotte offered a bad contract (Ty Thomas) and a good young player (MKG)? The trade works, and if Atlanta doesn’t move Smith before the deadline, they risk losing him in the offseason for nothing.

Miami 123, Toronto 116, OT: A spirited effort from the Raptors, who got 52 points from their bench … but it’s just too bad the Wade/LeBron/Allen combo was too much in overtime. Oh, and LeBron had another ho-hum triple-double (the 34th of his career): 31 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, and just one foul in 44 minutes. Fun fact: LeBron has picked up more than three fouls just once this season. He’s averaging 38 minutes a night.

San Antonio 106, New Orleans 102: If you were bored last night and felt like taking the Hornets +9 because Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard were sitting out … congrats. Pretty impressive of the Hornets to keep it close despite 53 percent shooting from the Spurs, and 29 assists vs. only eight turnovers.

Why didn’t we slam the Lakers? Well, you missed this post last night after the loss.