How the Ball Balls Dropped: You Give me Strength so I Stand Tall

 

Derrick Rose's highly excited face. Not to be confused with Derrick Rose's slightly-giddy face.

 Also, pardon the boyband song reference. 

Pistons (82), Bulls (95)

Well, to start things up, Ben Wallace ended his night on the jump ball. The frickin.jump.ball. On the first ever play (it's not even a play!) of the game. The Pistons weren't affected much though as they owned the first half. They sure wish the game ended at halftime. It was all Bulls ball the rest of the way spearheaded by the 3 D's, Derrick Rose, Deng Luol and Duke standout Carlos Boozer. (what?) The Bulls were Heat-lite today, with the said trio scoring all but 28pts of the team. And D-Rose is officially Mini-Blake Griffin.

Rockets (108), Celtics (102)

I've said it before, (if you've read my past few recaps, you know what I'm talking about). Celts are holdin' out. Two former Kings, Kevin Martin and Brad Miller were both out for Houston. Fortunately though, Aaron  Brooks is back after missing three games from aggravating the ankle injury that kept him sidelined for 20 games at the start of the season. He went straight to the starting line-up and gave the Rockets the timely runners, threes, and basically everything that thwarted any Boston attempt of a rally. With this Celtics loss, Miami now holds the best record in the East. (again I'm sorry. I'm a Heat fan. What can I do?)

Grizzlies (82), Bobcats (96)

Due to the snowstorm, only about a thousand fans made it to the stadium. (Had the snowstorm not hit, there could have been a thousand and one) Zach Randolph almost had a double-double in the first quarter, but just managed to get 15pts through the rest of the contest. When you allow Matt Carroll to get 12pts against you, you just know things aren't going well for your team.