Kobe Bryant's Record Night

Kobe Bryant had plenty of motivation for his record-setting performance at Madison Square Garden.

With a postgame work date planned with Knicks fan Spike Lee, who was sitting in the front row, Bryant put on a show the filmmaker couldn’t criticize, setting a current arena record with 61 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 126-117 victory over New York on Monday night.

“I’m going to review this documentary I’m doing with Spike Lee tonight after the game and I didn’t feel like sitting next to him and hearing him talking trash about the Knicks, so that was added incentive as well,” Bryant said. “Seriously. He’s going to get an earful tonight.”

Bryant entertained a sold-out crowd that took turns booing him and saluting him with “MVP!” chants during an electrifying performance. - Yahoo!

Kobe > LeBron

Iverson Traded To Pistons

The Denver Nuggets have agreed to a deal that would send Allen Iverson to the Pistons in exchange for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb, the two teams announced Monday.

"We are pleased to welcome Allen Iverson to the Pistons organization," said Joe Dumars, Pistons President of Basketball Operations. "Allen has proven he is one of the elite players in the league and we like what he adds to our roster at the guard position. We appreciate everything that Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb brought to the organization during their time here in Detroit and we certainly wish them all the best." - NBA.com

This is certainly something you'd expect in February, not November.

Nowitzi Slacking This Season

Dirk Nowitski, one of the NBA's best scorers of the this decade, has been slacking of late. He is only averaging 21.9 points per game, down from last year's 24.6 and and 2005's 26.6. His three point percentage is only 32% down significantly from last year's 42%.