Detroit 93, LA Lakers 106: Kobe had 40, and these two were his sickest of the night. He still leads the league in scoring, and you wonder if Ron Artest’s yapping has infected Kobe. First came the “I eat first” comment; now, he’s boasting about beating Pau Gasol 1-on-1. Seems strange. Andrew Bynum had his sixth straight double-double (17 points, 12 boards), and he’s got eight in nine games this year. Will Bynum scored 24 off the bench for Detroit.

Golden State 108, Cleveland 114: The Cavs peeled off fifth their win a row on the strength of 31 points and 12 assists from LeBron and 58 percent shooting from the field. Due to the trade and Don Nelson’s expanding doghouse, the Warriors only used seven players; all of them scored in double figures (including Stephen Curry, who had 14). It’s getting increasingly worse for Golden State – Monta Ellis looks like he’s the next one to get booted from Don Nelson’s sinking ship.

Indiana 91, New Jersey 83: The walking-wounded Nets remain the only winless team in the league at 0-11. The Pacers have won five in a row, and are unbeaten (4-0) when Tyler Hansbrough plays. Weird stat: Roy Hibbert (19-12) has four double-doubles in eight games. (Everyone’s favorite center, Greg Oden, only has two in 12 games.) The Nets, had two young kids who played well: CDR (27-12) and Brook Lopez (26-16).

Oklahoma City 100, Miami 87: The Thunder are road warriors now? That’s three in a row on the road for the – gasp! – 6-5 Kevin Durants. Last year, OKC started 6-32. KD scored 32 and Westbrook added 24 in a surprisingly easy victory. The Heat are 7-3.

Phoenix 111, Houston 105: We’re beginning to reach the point where we stop being stunned by the Suns. Phoenix is a staggering 10-2 and continue to just outscore everyone. Amare had 23 and J Rich scored 20. One reason why we haven’t conceded that we were wrong about the Suns – they were smoked by the Magic and Lakers, and other than an impressive wins in Boston and Miami, the early schedule has been favorable. Hell, they could win the next four this month! The first test: 2nd week of December – at Lakers, at Mavs, vs. Magic, at Denver. They go 2-2 in that stretch and we’ll be sold.