I've said in the past that the enigmatic Nelson is a key to this team's larger success. Van Gundy has him scoring more (16.8) and apparently finally finding a way to fit in to make the team better, while allowing him to put points on the board himself.

Andrew Bynum hasn't been playing as well lately (-1 in the plus/minus while he was in the game) and Jordan Farmer will have surgery, keeping him out for up to eight weeks.

Get used to hearing this: Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo led the Memphis scoring with 23 and 22 points respectively, while Hakeem Warrick keeps producing off the bench with 14 points last night.

The trade of draft choice Kevin Love to Minnesota for O.J. Mayo looks like a good one right now.

San Antonio 101, Sacramento 85

If you thought the talent on the floor was unequal, then it made sense that Gregg Popovich took the night off from coaching (almost). Greg called few timeouts, and let his team call plays and defenses in the huddle against rookie Kings coach Calvin Natt.

Tony Parker overcame five first-quarter turnovers to lead the Spurs with 18 points. John Salmons proves that timing is everything as he is averaging 19 points and producing on a consistent basis, as he has done a few times before when Ron Artest was out and even before that, with Philadelphia when he was given the chance when Igoudala was out.

But that is unlike Kings point guard Beno Udrih, who was playing against his old team, the Spurs. After a solid season with the Kings last year and getting his first big contract, Udrih has been a major disappointment this season. His play and stats are down and he turns the ball over way too much for someone of his talent level.

Sac studs are young big men Steve Hawes and Jason Thompson, as they try to trade veteran Brad Miller to make more playing time for them both.

The Spurs have the league's fourth-best defense (points allowed), but are still getting things together with the recent return of Manu Ginobili. Their roster never looks good enough to me, but Popovich is a master of developing role players to make his system work, and should be counted on to get better as the season progresses. Matt Bonner is now patrolling the middle and hitting three point bombs. Go figure.

Denver 97, Portland 89

In a battle of two likely playoff teams, the Nuggets prevailed, even with team leader Carmelo Anthony out with injury, and ended a three-game losing streak. Chauncey Billups and Nene led the Nuggets with 19 each, while Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge took game honors with 20 points.

Brandon Roy finished with just eight points, one game after scoring 52. He was in foul trouble for most of the night and played just 24 minutes.

Denver out rebounded Portland by 43-32 and Chris Andersen went block crazy with six in just 21 minutes.

Denver's early season commitment to defense has already faded.

Greg Oden fouled out with 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Joel Pryzbilla might become part of the nation's lexicon as he continues his Pryzbillian shooting percentage at 78 percent with 2-for-3 from the field, and from Pryzbillian range (one foot or less from the hoop), while contributing 8 rebounds in 21 minutes. He probably won't qualify with enough attempts but he is on his way to shattering the NBA field goal percentage record.

Toronto 97, Clippers 75

With Los Angeles centers Marcus Camby (personal reasons) and Chris Kaman out, and Zach Randolph leaving with injury early in the fourth quarter, the Raptors' Chris Bosh took advantage by scoring 18 of his 31 points in the fourth.

Jermaine O'Neal added 23 points and 9 rebounds, in another worthless game that is indicative of what is happening this year. So many teams are already out of the playoff race, it is ridiculous.

Toronto has a fighting chance talent-wise to recover and make the playoffs, but it's rumored that Bryan Colangelo is panicking and would be ready to give up on the O'Neal experiment, which isn't working so far, if he could find a taker for O'Neal's $23 million contract -- not likely.

The Clippers, when healthy, have good talent as well with Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, and Zach Randolph. It's just an odd mix and Davis and Mike Dunleavy don't see eye-to-eye, though things are supposed to be better lately.

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