1. Love This Game: How West Puts On Show
LOS ANGELES -- The smile on Kevin Love's face as his potential game-tying putback fell off the lip of the rim at the buzzer said it all: His Minnesota Timberwolves' 109-107 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers was disappointing, but man, was it a blast.
The Staples Center floor Monday night was stacked with really fun players -- guys like Love, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Ricky Rubio, Jamal Crawford, even othersized big man Nikola Pekovic. The landscape of the Western Conference this season looks much the same way.
Let's start with Minnesota. Despite dropping the second game of their Staples Center back-to-back, the Timberwolves can't be too dispirited about their 48-hour visit to Los Angeles after thrashing the Lakers on Sunday, then roaring back from a double-digit deficit against the Clippers one night later. Minnesota is a prime candidate to be this season's Golden State Warriors, a curiosity in November that grows into the team nobody wants to face in April.
"They're a team to be reckoned with," Crawford said. "They're playing loose. They're playing free. I think coach [Rick] Adelman does a really good job of putting those guys in position."
In his third season at the helm in Minneapolis, Adelman finally has the pieces for his read-and-react offense. The Timberwolves feature two skilled big men who know how to move the ball, a whirling dervish of a point guard, a personal Adelman favorite in Kevin Martin whose game is perfectly tailored to Adelman's schemes, and a lightning-quick wing in Corey Brewer who can catch outlet passes like a sticky-handed wideout.
There was mutual praise after the game. Love and Rubio enumerated the case for the Clippers.
"Blake [Griffin] is a very good player," Love said. "DeAndre [Jordan] is a very good player. They have good bigs and they fight hard. They're very athletic, rebound the ball and, you know, the high-wire act."
Meanwhile, the normally reserved Rubio effusively praised the conductor of that, you know, high-wire act, Paul.
"He's great," Rubio said. "He's at the top, the best player right now out of all the point guards in the league."
The defense still needs work in Los Angeles, but the starters are holding their own. The Clippers and Timberwolves might be able to run roughshod in the East, where only three teams are playing better than .500 ball. But the West is merciless and the conference is as intriguing as it has been in years. Every team carries its own brand of charisma, and each has its vulnerabilities.
Nobody knows what to make of the Houston Rockets, the team with the most elastic expectations. The Rockets are the only team in the league apart from the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder to sport a top-10 offense and top-10 defense. The Dwight Howard-Omer Asik pairing continues to be awkward, but when Houston stretches the floor, they've been lethal.
The Warriors are no longer a novelty act, not with the league's No. 2 defense. A team that a few weeks ago was regarded as the "bottom of the top" in the West looks like a potential contender. They're deep, comparatively healthy, feature the best wing-big defensive combo in the West and the best shooter on the planet. Imagine the possibilities when they learn how to protect the basketball.
Remember the Thunder? The team that flaunted one of the best point differentials in decades heading into the playoffs last April? They haven't looked all that good, but still sit at 5-1, banking wins while figuring out what they have around their core. Russell Westbrook is still finding his footing after returning from knee surgery, while Kevin Durant's long-range accuracy has dipped, even as he still averages more than 30 points per game.
Who are we missing? Ah, yes. San Antonio, which has been toiling in obscurity. The Spurs perform nightly surgery, finding shots in the half court wherever they want them and further schooling their young wings in the science of team defense. All the while, they've racked up a 7-1 record out of the gate with the best point differential in the West. Dominance with a whisper.
The Memphis Grizzlies might have a say before it's all over, and a mystery guest such as Portland, Dallas or New Orleans (OK, Phoenix, you too) could crash the party. And come April, a missed putback at the buzzer will elicit a scowl instead of a smile. Until then, enjoy the jockeying in the West and, you know, the frenzy that comes with the race.
Dimes past: October 29 | 30 | 31 | November 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 10
Kevin Arnovitz
ESPN Staff Writer- NBA writer for ESPN.com since 2008
- Former contributor and editor at NPR
2. Around The Association
 | 104 | 110 |  |
MVP: Jeremy Lin scored 31 points on a night when half the Rockets were either sick or banged up. Lin's jump shot has never looked better, but his fearlessness in the paint was what put Houston up for good late in the second overtime.
LVP: Desperation 3-pointer to force a second overtime aside, Rudy Gay took 37 shots and made 11 of them.
Defining moment: With the game tied and 34 seconds remaining in regulation, Raptors coach Dwane Casey put the ball in Gay's hands. Those hands then dribbled 22 seconds off the shot clock before bricking a 22-foot jumper. Ugly stuff.
 | 100 | 81 |  |
MVP: Ty Lawson, despite shooting under 50 percent, ends up winning this for the Nuggets. Besides leading Denver in scoring with 17, Lawson finished with 10 assists and shredded Utah's slow, old PGs all night.
Defining moment: J.J. Hickson's dunk in the second quarter is the sort of moment that will appear on end-of-season highlight reels and still amaze. Hickson received a pocket pass, and absolutely hammered over a bravely contesting Marvin Williams.
LVP: Utah's supporting cast remains terrible. Besides Utah's big three (Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, and Enes Kanter), Utah finished 9-34 overall. How many NBA-caliber players do the Jazz have on this winless roster?
 | 103 | 109 |  |
MVP: Damian Lillard. Lillard got off to a hot start and never looked back, finishing with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists on 7-of-16 shooting. Great bounce-back game after an abysmal 1-for-15 night in Sacramento.
X factor: Joel Freeland and Mo Williams. Freeland came in off the bench with terrific energy, snatching up timely boards left and right. Williams began the game 7-for-7 from the field, helping Portland take the lead early on.
That was ... entertaining: Two relatively under-discussed young teams battling it out in a game that was a blowout for maybe a couple of minutes. Plus watching Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond play is rarely unpleasant.
 | 107 | 109 |  |
MVP: It might not have felt like it, but Blake Griffin (25 points, five assists) quietly matched Kevin Love's offensive output (23 points, seven assists) tit for tat. Griffin was aggressive from the onset and used the threat of his much-improved jumper to open up drives to the rim.
X factor: Defense. Neither team played much of it, but the Clippers held the Wolves to just 41.7 percent shooting, while the Wolves allowed the Clippers to shoot a scorching 55 percent. That disparity made up for the Wolves' edge in 3-pointers and offensive rebounds.
That was ... exhilarating: Both times the Clippers pulled away, the Wolves answered with either a 9-2 or 10-1 run. In the end, though, the Wolves' comeback (and Love's last-second tip-in) came up an inch short.
 | 105 | 120 |  |
MVP: Once the poster child for inefficiency, Jordan Crawford embraced his new role as facilitator and finished the game with 16 points (7-for-12 shooting), 10 rebounds, five assists and -- count 'em -- zero turnovers.
X factor: The Celtics had 50 points in the painted area to the Magic's 38, all while Kelly Olynyk and Vitor Faverani were stretching the floor. The combination of pushing and sharing the ball contributed greatly to this efficiency.
That was ... not the Magic's best effort. The Magic entered the game as the fourth-best team in terms of defensive efficiency. Giving up 120 points to the Celtics is not going to help that ranking stay there.
 | 81 | 96 |  |
MVP: Derrick Rose still doesn't look right on the offensive end, but he stayed in front of Kyrie Irving all night, holding the young star to 5-for-18 shooting. He also chipped in with 16 points and seven assists, but left the game late with an apparent injury.
X factor: Mike Dunleavy had some game-sealing 3-pointers down the stretch, finishing with 15 points. He also held his own on the defensive end, despite sometimes being matched up against quicker Cavaliers guards.
LVP: The Cavs depend on Jarrett Jack to provide an offensive boost off the bench, but he was inadequate in that respect. He scored two points on 0-for-6 shooting and managed a long assist -- far from good enough.
 | 109 | 85 |  |
MVP: After an icy start to the season, Danny Green is hot right now. He had 18 points on 5-for-7 shooting from behind the arc and seven rebounds against the 76ers, after scoring 24 points Sunday versus the Knicks.
X factor: The Spurs would've won this game regardless, but Patty Mills' energy off the bench shook up the 76ers. Ten points and four steals for Mills as San Antonio jumped out to a big first-half lead.
That was ... a reality check for Philly: The 76ers were off to a surprisingly competitive start to the season, but Philadelphia came crashing down against the Spurs. San Antonio put on a clinic in every phase of the game.
 | 79 | 95 |  |
MVP: It could be no one other than Lance Stephenson, who notched his first career triple-double (13 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists). His 11 rebounds and 12 assists were both career highs.
Defining moment: The Pacers' starting five entered the game with a plus-29 in 27 third-quarter minutes. By the time Orlando Johnson checked in to break up the unit at the 4:32 mark, they had pushed a seven-point halftime lead to 15.
X factor: Indiana entered the game allowing the lowest field goal percentage in the restricted area, at 47.3 percent. By the time the Pacers had forged an 80-55 fourth-quarter lead, they had held Memphis to 8-for-19 down low, or 42.1 percent. Impossible for the Griz to get any offense with that.
 | 103 | 94 |  |
MVP: Al Horford finished the night with 24 points, five rebounds and four assists. It was his 13 points in the third quarter that helped the Hawks separate themselves from the Bobcats.
X factor: Hawks training camp pickup Cartier Martin, who scored 16 points off of the Atlanta bench, was 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
Defining moment: The Bobcats had Hawks point guards (Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder) both with two fouls only three minutes into the game. However, Charlotte wasn't able to capitalize, and held only a three-point lead after the first quarter.
3. Monday's Best
Lance Stephenson, Pacers:
Stephenson's first career triple-double helped the Pacers earn a franchise-best start at 8-0. He had 13 points, 11 rebounds, a career-high 12 assists and only one turnover in a 95-79 win over the Grizzlies.
4. Monday's Worst
The Utah Jazz: Winless under the Wasatch Range is no way to start a season. The Jazz lost to the Nuggets 100-81 on Monday, leaving them at 0-8 on the season. Utah's next five include two games apiece against the Hornets and Warriors, along with one game against the Spurs. This team could very well be headed to 0-13.
8. Passing The Logo
9. Stat Check
Paul George is the third player in NBA history to score at least 20 points in each of his team's first eight games while winning all the games. The others are Wilt Chamberlain in 1960 for the Philadelphia Warriors (first nine) and Dave Bing in 1970 for the Pistons (first eight).
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