By John Hollinger SAN ANTONIO—Sometimes one can’t appreciate a player with subtle skills until circumstances push him to the forefront. The recent play of the Denver Nuggets provides a good example. With league-leading scorer Carmelo Anthony sidelined by an ankle injury, one would think the Nuggets would struggle mightily

By John Hollinger ATLANTA – As far as hits go, this one was a big miss.

If you make smart estimates of Kobe Bryant’s upcoming years, he’ll obliterate Magic Johnson in the Laker record book . Lots of people have addressed yesterday’s bullet about LeBron James being called for fouls at half the rate of an average NBA player. One strong theory is that he plays a brand of defense that protects him, as best explained by John Krolik

APThe Dallas Mavericks rolled to the biggest win in franchise history, ignoring the absence of two starters to crush the New York Knicks 128-78 on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images This season Allen Iverson has been both cut by the Grizzlies and voted an All-Star starter

By Marc Stein The NBA’s trade deadline is four Thursdays from today. In other words: One month away. And that calls for a few dribbles of trade chatter from various executives, coaches, scouts and league insiders as the trade buzzer draws closer: The Nets’ willingness to move point guard Devin Harris has been a popular topic since our own Chad Ford included Harris – even with visions of Harris’ 2008-09 breakout season still so fresh – on ESPN.com’s list of 25 prime trade candidates before the league’s Feb.

Not sure you can defend the inbounds play that produced Jamal Crawford’s cold-blooded game-winner from 28 feet any better than Phoenix did.

Now that the basketball season is fully in motion, we can take a look at what’s going on so that you can get your NBA tickets . You shouldn’t miss your favorite team playing down the stretch. Of course, the Cleveland Cavaliers are dominating everyone this year.

By Marc Stein On top of all the questions about Blake Griffin’s future that will be raised by Wednesday’s announcement that last June’s No. 1 overall pick must undergo season-ending knee surgery, there is another Griffin-related matter confronting the Clippers as the Feb.

The Dallas Mavericks are unsure if Josh Howard or Tim Thomas will play vs. the L.A.