Cleveland Cavaliers-Beat the Bad Teams

When you’re 27-8, it’s pretty hard to punch holes in your resume.  The Cavaliers have beat the Lakers, Magic, and Dallas but have suffered defeats at the hands of the Wizards, Bobcats, and Grizzlies.  Consistency down the stretch will breed success come playoff time. 

Boston Celtics: Drink from the fountain of youth

At 24-8, there is not too much the Celtics need to resolve themselves to change.  Maintaining success has to be the name to their game.  Paul Pierce must return from injury and the quartet of himself, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rasheed Wallace need to stay “Forever Young”.

There were only three games to begin 2010 on Friday, and boy what a start to this new decade it was. The evening began with the New York Knicks knocking off the Atlanta Hawks in OT 112-108. Nate Robinson came off Mike D'Antoni's bench for the first time in one month (14 games). He made 18 of 24 shots and finished with 41 points and 8 assists in 38 minutes of action, including eleven of the Knicks' thirteen overtime points. Keep in mind Atlanta was up 80-67 going into the 4th period before NYC made its charge in front of a stunned Phillips Arena crowd.

In regulation, Atlanta was up 95-91 with 2:27 left as Nate would put up the Knicks' final 8 points, including a lay-up that tied the contest at 99 points a piece with 11.3 seconds remaining. The rest was all Robinson who was greeted after the game by former Hawk Dikembe Mutombo as Mike D'Antoni now has Robinson back in his rotation. "We were kind of like 'Everybody get out of his way'", said D'Antoni whose team is now 14-20. Wilson Chandler grabbed a career-best 17 rebounds and tallied 24 solid points in the winning effort. Atlanta fell to 21-11 despite twenty-point plus games from Joe Johnson (28), Josh Smith (24), and Al Horford (22).

2009 is over as The National Basketball Association dished out 28 fines to coaches, players, and owners this year valued at $690,000. Here's a look at some of more important ones as far as uniqueness and dollar amount goes.