Little Help For Chris Paul

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.

Chris Paul had a magnificent performance in a huge game for New Orleans, some 42 points on 25 shots, with nine rebounds and seven assists. David West played well, with 20 points and 14 rebounds. The rest of the Hornets? Err ...

The rest of the New Orleans roster did little but allow the Mavericks to score at will. Josh Howard burst for 25 points, Jason Terry had 18 off the bench and Dirk Nowitzki racked up 25 of his own. Jason Kidd struggled shooting opposite Paul (0-6, three points) but offered 15 assists.

Parker Redux: The most interesting angle from which to watch San Antonio's season from here comes down to Tony Parker. With Manu Ginobili out and Tim Duncan obviously ailing, Parker's the last gasp of legit, regular offense. That worked Friday against Utah. Parker exploded for 31 points and seven assists. S.A. wins, and keeps even with Portland for first-round home court.

Watumbo: Yao Ming sat Friday's game in Oakland, and Dikembe Mutombo filled in valiantly. From seldom-used to starter overnight, the old giant dominated the paint against the Warriors, registering 10 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks. Luis Scola also had a mammoth game, with 28/10.

MVWhat? The people on my T.V. are insisting Kobe Bryant is in some race with LeBron James for the MVP. Um, what? The argument that Kobe is better in the clutch has been disputed, LeBron registers more assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, points, a higher shooting efficiency ... all this despite Cleveland's snail pace style. So it's defense, right? Kobe is a lockdown defender. Tell it to Brandon Roy who shredded Kobe for 24 points and eight assists. Blazers win, and the Lakers don't want to go to Portland in the postseason.