Doing Lines: Kobe Beats Unholy Duo

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Kobe Bryant reads the New York Times Magazine, and dangit! Shane Battier ... why do you have to diss Kobe in public? Michael Lewis' February love letter to Daryl Morey and Battier talked about how the Rockets make KB inefficient. With Ron Artest also on board, things look bleak for the Laker superhero ... right?

KB scored 37 points on 14-of-23 shooting (.609 FG%) in Houston last night. Lakers win. Whoops! Maybe such stories are best reserved for the offseason, when Kobe can get distracted by shiny things (like gold medals).

A Different Path: Dwyane Wade had another big night, without the theatrics of that Bulls dance. This time? He just beat the champions. Wade yoked up 32 points, seven assists, four steals and just one turnover in Miami's victory over the dilapidated Celtics.

Same Song, Second Verse: Leon Powe started for the injured Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis. Leon Powe had 23/13. Leon Powe gets buckets.

Boomerang Effect: The Monday win over the Lakers (in concert with the injury to Rudy Fernandez) took Portland's spirit higher than it's been all year. The Blazers' stay up there didn't last long. Dallas waltzed into PDX and shook the Blazers for a four-point victory. Your heroes would be Dirk Nowitzki (29/10) and Jason Kidd (10 assists, 10 rebounds). Dallas actually had a better offensive rebounding night than Portland did, which says more about Portland's defensive rebounding than anything.

Throwback: Antonio McDyess had 21 points and 22 rebounds. Antonio. McDyess. What a beast.