Everything was going to plan through the third quarter as the Dallas Mavericks’ lead ballooned to as much as 18 points, but no lead ever seems to be safe in this classic rivalry as long as one team leaves the other enough time. Of all things, it was the San Antonio Spurs’ unheralded bench featuring Danny Green, James Anderson, and Gary Neal’s hot shooting that kept the Spurs in the game and even got them ahead by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter. Then the fun started.

Lamar Odom may have been in a difficult place physically and mentally, but his current team needed him to snap out of it quickly with the Utah Jazz in town and the injury bug beginning to find its way in the Maverick locker room. With Dirk Nowitzki already out, Delonte West was a late scratch with a bothersome hamstring. To make matters even worse at the point guard position, Jason Kidd checked out of the game with a strained calf at the 9:47 mark of the first quarter and didn’t return.

Here’s a sneak peak at the Top 30 players who may be available in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Lester Hudson, a late second round pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, who was a bit part player for three teams in two seasons and left the NBA without anyone really noticing, is averaging an impressive 33.3 points per game in the Chinese Basketball Association.

It was the unsung heros that pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to snap their four-game losing skid to the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder survived a turnover-plagued game with a 101-91 victory against the New Orleans Hornets Wednesday night in the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

For most of the last decade, Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks match-ups have been virtually meaningless. For two different reasons, that wasn’t the case tonight in Dallas.

Dwight Howard became Orlando’s all-time leading scorer Tuesday night as the Magic picked up a convincing 102-83 win in Indianapolis against the Indiana Pacers.

Here in the Middle Kingdom, the CBA is on hold due to the Chinese New Year. Yet come Sunday, the league enters its critical phase and with the interest generated by the likes of JR Smith, Wilson Chandler and Stephon Marbury, the final few regular season games are going to attract a huge amount of attention.

The first game sans-Nowitzki was an 83-81 win despite the Hornets having a chance to tie the game on the last possession with a Jarret Jack shot in the lane that fell short. Considering the Mavericks went 2-7 over a nine game stretch without Nowitzki last year, Dallas will take any win they can get without him in any way possible.