Portland 106, Memphis 105 - Break out the bubbly, the Blazers won on the road! Travis Outlaw (love this guy) hit a runner at the buzzer as Portland won for the first time in 10 road games this year. Outlaw, an aggressive, lithe scoring machine, finished with 21, his fourth double-digit scoring performance in five games. Rudy Gay and Mike Miller each had 30 for the Grizzlies, who will eventually learn to start rookie Juan Carlos Navarro at point guard (16 points).

Orlando 123, Golden State 117, OT - No words: Dwight Howard 18 points, 23 rebounds, seven blocks (and one terrible tech near the end of regulation). The Magic are 16-4.

Atlanta 88, Philadelphia 79 - You’d think that after the 76ers finished last year with a flourish, they’d at least be in the playoff hunt. Nope. They’re 5-12 and are one of the worst shooting three-point shooting teams in the League. We blame it on a bad draft. Another ho-hum 12-13 from Florida rookie Al Horford as Atlanta improved to 7-9.

Dallas 103, Chicago 98 - Deng was 3-for-13, Big Ben was 2-for-10, Gordon was 4-for-16 and Hinrich was 5-for-16. If not for 30 from Nocioni (15 on free throws), this one’s not even close. We actually thought Chicago could cover as three-point dogs. How wrong we were to think a team that’s 4-11 could hang with the Mavericks. It was only close at the very end, but the Mavs led throughout. Josh Howard had 27 and Dirk 25

Miami 101, Utah 110 - Game effort by the Heat, who got 26 points and 10 assists from D Wade but lost for the second night in a row to fall to 4-13. Utah’s double-double boys came through once again: Deron Williams (24 points, 15 assists) and Carlos Boozer (24 points, 15 rebounds).