Chris Paul for MVP

On Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Hornets 101-95. Pau Gasol went Black Swan all over David West and Kobe Bryant looked good enough that I'll express my disapproval with his upcoming filmmercial "The Black Mamba" at another time. Even with those superstar efforts, the Lakers could not put away a Hornets team missing two of its' four best players (Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor). How did New Orleans stay competitive with Aaron Gray and D.J. Mbenga manning (and I use that term loosely) the center position? In my opinion, that answer is threefold. First of all, Chris Paul scored 21 points on only 11 field goal attempts. Meanwhile, CP3 ran the pick-and-roll flawlessly and recorded 15 assists. Finally, 'Paul, Chris' played a season-high 44 minutes and masterfully orchestrated the Hornets offense throughout the game. As has been the case all year, Paul dragged a supporting cast of mostly mediocre NBA players to an excellent result. Tonight's effort alone should earn him some sort of award.

Wait...what? There is an award for this kind of performance? That's crazy! What's it called???

 Derrick Rose is figuratively bowling over MVP voters. Maybe Chris Paul is just too literal.

The Nightman Cometh

I like dunks. You should, too. Dunks involve cool things like jumping really high and cupcakes. Blake Griffin has yet to incorporate any baked goods into his around-the-rim repertoire but he already has 90 dunks in his first 39 games. It would have been an upset for anyone to dislodge Dwight Howard from the top spot of the dunk leaderboard but it's shocking that the new leader looks like the marginally cooler stepbrother of Brian Scalabrine. Griffin's very un-Scalabrinesque play has been the driving force behind the Clippers 10-4 record over their last 14 games. He extended his streak of consecutive double-doubles to 26 games last night in a victory over the (two-time defending champion) Lakers. However, the Clippers victory was more about a massive outside shooting advantage than a standout performance from Griffin and, indeed, his string of 20 point-10 rebound games was snapped at 14. Despite poor games from each player, the matchup between Griffin and Pau Gasol was the most interesting subplot to a surprisingly dull game. They are the two best non-German power forwards in the Western Conference but produce in very different ways. In an increasingly homogeneous NBA world, this matchup presented a contrast of styles rarely seen among elite players.

Welcome Back Kotter

Happy Martin Luther King Day! Let's fake gamble! That's what I call an intro!

Dallas Mavericks (-5) OVER DETROIT PISTONS (-110)
Dirk is back. Tyson Chandler is back. I am not impressed with Detroit's wins over Toronto and Sacramento. Dallas has been excellent on the road this season (with Dirk). Those are all logical arguments. But mostly this pick makes a Pistons game watchable for more than the possibility that Tayshaun Prince will punch John Kuester in the face.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (-7) OVER New Jersey Nets (-110)
The Nets are struggling. It's possible that Brook Lopez infected the team with his leftover mono but it appears to be more of a case of Sasha Vujacicitis. Nasty stuff, that. Golden State has been playing well at home and has sweet jerseys. That's good enough for me.

Oklahoma City Thunder (+4.5) OVER LOS ANGELES LAKERS (-110)
Am I making like Harry Potter here and getting my anti-jinx on? Potentially. But the Lakers have struggled matching up with athletic teams this year and the Thunder are all about the running and the jumping and the dunking. While the Lakers have 30 wins this season, the best of these was a solid home victory over the Knicks. Not exactly worldbeaters, here.

"And I was born a ramlin' gamblin' man" Bob Seger in Ramblin' Gamblin' Man

Season Locks: 8-5-1

Sitting On The Lock Of The Bay

Miami Heat (-12.5) OVER WASHINGTON WIZARDS (-110)
And then there was one. Seriously. I'm pretty sure that's how many players the Wizards will be dressing tonight. No John Wall or Yi. Gilbert Arenas was traded for Rashard Lewis, who won't be ready to suit up, yet. Andray Blatche and Josh Howard are questionable and will be limited, at best. But even if all these guys were healthy, the Heat should still win this game by 20. They have won their last eleven games and ten of those victories were by double-figures. Ten of those victories also came against teams better than the Wizards. Those seem like pretty good odds to me. So good, that in an alternate universe that may or may not be exactly like this universe, I may have put real money on this game and ensured a dramatic Wizards victory (okay...cover). Party hard, D.C!

Previous Locks (12/6): 1-1-1
Season Locks: 8-4-1 (up $36.50)

"And I was born a ramlin' gamblin' man" Bob Seger in Ramblin' Gamblin' Man

Chock Full of Lock

One place, three picks, no mention of the Lakers (after this). Surely this must mean three locks.

ORLANDO MAGIC (-6.5) over Atlanta Hawks (-110)
Orlando is (much) better. They are playing at home. Their loss of Jameer Nelson is not as important as Joe Johnson's injury for the Hawks. Dwight Howard is going to do silly things while disregarding Isaac Newton and his ridiculous law of gravitation. It's Magic, you know.

Miami Heat (-5.5) over MILWAUKEE BUCKS (-110)
The Bucks have Andrew Bogut back and Brandon Jennings should run through the Heat's defense like it's a field of dandelions. AccuScore thinks this game is a toss-up. It's not going to be close. The Legion rolls over mediocre teams. And Milwaukee is decidedly mediocre.

Miami Heat/Milwaukee Bucks OVER 15 points being the largest lead of the game (-115)
See above. 

Previous Locks (11/30): 2-1
Season Locks: 7-3 (up $37.50)

"And I was born a ramlin' gamblin' man" Bob Seger in Ramblin' Gamblin' Man