Kevin Durant, aka Captain Quickdraw.

Durant is a clutch player. I hope he has picked up some post moves over the break.

I couldn't tell from last night's game that he's improved in that area. But he's definitely a top 5 outside shooter.
Over the years, Kobe's been called the best closer in the game. I don't know, I've watched him more than any other, and it seems he misses about as many as he makes - when he's not turning the ball over. Where Kobe has it over other shooters is he's good at making shots when he's well defended, and sometimes it looks like he's putting himself in situations to make the degree of difficulty harder than necessary. But until league rules make it so a panel of judges can add points on the scoreboard for that, it doesn't amount to much beyond a cool highlight.
As for who I'd want to make a game-tying or winning shot in the closing seconds, my short list is Durant, Dirk, Wade and maybe Carmello.

Ugh. Good job by Portland last night against the Lakers.
However, this post is a mini rant about what I had to suffer through before watching that game.
The early game, Miami vs. Atlanta, should have been over - won by Atlanta - in regulation. Hawks couldn't communicate on defense. Some will say it was a good game because it went into triple overtime, but I say it was a lousy game. Miami didn't have Wade or Lebron, and Atlanta failed to take advantage. The Hawks didn't even score in the third overtime.
It was horrible. Horford sums it up at the top of this rundown:
Hawks didn't want to win
A half in the NBA is 24 game minutes. Three overtimes is 15 minutes. By the time the Heat finally put the bungling Hawks away, it was halftime of the L.A.-Portland game.

Well it would seem that the Pacers are actually going to be a team to noticed. A work in progress to be sure, but off to a 9-3 start with back to back over Atlanta and Boston, this team almost helps to forget the woes of the Colts. A team with no real superstars, but lots of depth and youth. It's too bad that the rise of the team is over shadowed by all the prep for the upcoming Super Bowl. Then there is the fact that up here in the northern part of the state there is no radio or TV coverage (still Bulls country here), so I don't get much chance to follow them. Maybe the winning ways will result in more TV time.

Good luck with that, Dave.
Celtics look awful. I'm sure they'll get better, but you gotta wonder - in less than a year, they've surrendered Perkins and Davis, an enforcer and a big-time player off the bench.

The Celtics are also missing Jeff Green due to his heart problem. The Celtics will need to bring in more youth and talent to maintain past performances. When Dwight Howard joins the line up, they will be back.

Yep the Celtics are struggling, age starting to catch up with them, but it is still nice to beat them twice in row. Then there was that win over the Lakers over the weekend! At 11-4 that ties them with the second best record in the east. Still need to put together more wins against playoff type teams to get the league to take them seriously, but watch them guys, this team not going away.

Well, it was a long time coming. After seeing the starts of last week's games against the Heat and Magic, this Lakers team is in trouble. I was optimistic that they'd be in the thick of things after some early wins. Blake was shooting better. McRoberts played a vital role. Murphy contributed. But Blake has been out with injury. Kobe is carrying too much of the offensive load.
And even though they've thrown out the triangle, they're still not feeding Bynum like they should. If they can't get hold of a good point guard, I don't see them getting far into the playoffs.
You know it's gonna be a long year when Kobe defends LeBron and wins the battle, only to have LeBron find Chalmers in the corner, without a gold uniform within 15 feet.

Well I said the Pacers would need some quality wins to prove they are for real. Week stared rough, getting the butts kicked by Orlando, but the bouncing right back the next night and beating the Bulls on their court. Think these guys are starting to believe they can beat anybody. Now for a third straight over the Celtics on Friday would be great!