Kevin Durant stood in the Oklahoma City Thunder's locker room buttoning up a blue-knit sweater atop his beige corduroy pants. Two spots over, Russell Westbrook sat in a chair with his shirt off and ice under his left leg, poking fun at Durant's outfit. Then both took turns teasing teammate James Harden for his sparkling, spiked black shoes.

Rudy Fernandez provided both the spark and the cushion for the Denver Nuggets on Friday night. Fernandez scored a season-high 23 points in his return from a sore right Achilles as the Nuggets routed the short-handed Toronto Raptors 96-81 for their sixth straight win. He also served as a barrier between Nuggets forward Al Harrington and Raptors swingman Linas Kleiza in their short skirmish in the...

The New York Knicks, they were all about the 3's. The Miami Heat, they welcomed back No. 3. Advantage, Heat. LeBron James scored 31 points, Dwyane Wade -- he of that No. 3 jersey -- scored 28 in his return from a sprained right ankle, and the Heat topped the 3-point-obsessed Knicks 99-89 on Friday night.

Dwight Howard sat calmly in his locker and spoke softly, but with cutting tone as he ripped into his team for what he saw as a lack of effort. "I look at guys and they don't look like they want to play," Howard said following Orlando's surprisingly lopsided 93-67 loss to a New Orleans Hornets team that came into Friday night's meeting on a nine-game skid.

With three starters out, the Dallas Mavericks were searching for offense from other sources. Reserve guard Roddy Beaubois and slumping Lamar Odom delivered. Beaubois had a season-high 22 points and Odom added 19 points, his most since joining the Mavericks at the start of the season, to lead Dallas to a 116-101 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

Paul Pierce played more than 44 minutes in Orlando on Thursday night, then boarded a plane with his Celtics teammates and arrived in Boston after 3 a.m. Friday. If he was tired, he didn't show it. One night after helping Boston erase a 27-point deficit and beat the Magic, Pierce scored 17 of his 28 points in the third quarter as the Celtics pulled away from the Indiana Pacers to win 94-87.

Derrick Rose got motivated, got aggressive, and got the Chicago Bulls another win over the Milwaukee Bucks before a big road trip. Rose scored a season-high 34 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 107-100 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night. "I thought he was very aggressive and that set the tone for us," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

It was a tense tied game late in the fourth quarter, one these nervous fans were used to seeing their Minnesota Timberwolves let slip away. Ricky Rubio then splashed a 20-foot jumper through the net for a lead, and the rookie point guard raised his arms, urging them out of their seats and trying to reassure them that times are changing around here.