Kobe Bryant, Chris Duhon (left): Getting through a four-game losing streak requires a lot of patience and maybe even a little meditation. (David Richard/USA TODAY Sports)

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The Lakers were 3-5 without Pau Gasol in the lineup. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)

By Ben Golliver

Lakers forward Pau Gasol will return to the starting lineup Tuesday night against the Bobcats at the Staples Center after missing the last eight games with tendinitis in his knees. Coach Mike D’Antoni informed reporters of Gasol’s return on Tuesday morning and Gasol said he will play with “no restrictions” on his minutes, ESPNLA.com reports.

Gasol, 32,  has found himself scrutinized and back in the middle of trade rumors after a slow start to the season. The Spanish big man is averaging a career-low 12.6 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting a career-low 42 percent from the field. A significantly larger percentage of his shots are coming from the perimeter this season and he’s yet to find the chemistry with new center Dwight Howard.

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant suggested earlier this month that it was time for Gasol to find his “big boy pants,” and many observers see Gasol’s struggles as a key factor in the Lakers’ 11-14 start. It was clear that his knees were bothersome, as he struggled to get lift on his shots around the basket and he tended to labor even more than usual getting up and down the court. Given D’Antoni’s preference for an up-tempo style, the Lakers have a lot riding on Gasol being fully healthy, fit and active.

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Steve Nash may return Saturday after missing 23 games with a fractured fibula. (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

By Rob Mahoney

If all goes according to plan, the Lakers’ season begins anew on Saturday. According to an initial report from Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Steve Nash  – who is due for a series of workouts throughout the week with L.A. having an unusually light game schedule — intends to suit up for the Lakers’ Saturday game against the Warriors. That report was later confirmed by Sam Amick of USA Today, who also noted that Pau Gasol is likely to play in Tuesday’s game against the Bobcats provided that all goes well at shootaround. That would give Los Angeles its full starting lineup for the first time since Oct. 31st — a time when the very idea of a coaching change was woefully premature, the Princeton offense itself was under fire and Jodie Meeks was half-buried on the Lakers’ bench.

Having a full cast of star players won’t fix L.A.’s defensive shortcomings overnight, but it would undoubtedly go a long way in terms of getting a fraying team back on the same page. Nash won’t have the dominant voice in the Lakers’ locker room so long as Kobe Bryant is around, yet his influence both on and off the court is a calming one, particularly when paired with the principles that form the basis of Mike D’Antoni’s offensive systems. He’ll help this team in ways we can’t necessarily predict, as the precise benefits of his game tend to come in the subtlest ways. Nash will still be on the mend and the Lakers will still be a sub-.500 team, but better health should give L.A. a chance to make up for its early woes and the built-in limitations of a shallow roster.

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By Rob Mahoney

Although the Thunder do a good job of swinging the ball to Kendrick Perkins when he’s in a position to score (arguably too good a job, given his offensive limitations), the forces at work in the basketball universe don’t often place Perkins 17 feet away from the rim with no defender in sight and delusions of shooting grandeur bopping about his brain. Yet that very thing happened in Monday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, and Perk not only converted his attempt thanks to a kind roll off the front rim, but milked his follow-through for all it was worth.

Better yet: this was the second such shot Perkins converted for the evening, good for just his 10th and 11th mid-range makes this season. Live it up, Perk — your rickety catapult set shot won’t soon inspire fear in the hearts of opposing defenders, but it’s good for a bucket once a week or so and clearly worth a YouTube clip every now and again.

H/T: Zach Harper.

Serge Ibaka was too much for the Spurs to handle on Monday night. (Layne Murdoch/Getty Images)

By Ben Golliver

The Thunder defeated the Spurs 107-93 at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Monday night, winning their 11th consecutive game and improving to a league-best 20-4.

• For an endlessly entertaining, explosive and exciting team, the Thunder sure have an uncanny ability to turn a big showdown into a bit of a snoozer. They did it 10 days ago when the Lakers came to Oklahoma City and got thumped and they did it again on Monday, dispatching the Spurs with a third-quarter burst that was so convincing, Gregg Popovich opted to rest his stars down the stretch in preparation for the second night of a back-to-back against the Nuggets in Denver on Tuesday.

The lasting thought from this one was that Stephen Jackon’s choice of Twitter targets couldn’t have been worse. Last week, Jackson threatened Serge Ibaka, opining that the Thunder forward “aint bout dis life” and promising that he would be “goin in his mouth” the next time the two had a confrontation. Jackson deleted the tweets, apologized and was fined by the NBA. The real punishment was dispensed here, though, as Ibaka finished with game highs of 25 points and 17 rebounds to go with three blocks while shooting 10-for-16 in 39 minutes. He was also a plus-24.

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*****

It’s no easy task finding a new dunk archetype to add to Clippers forward Blake Griffin’s deep catalogue, but a Monday game against the Pistons just might have produced a worthy candidate.

This alley-oop’s individual elements aren’t necessarily unique but their combination in rapid succession makes this worth a few viewings. Leading 84-76 over the Pistons in the final minute of regulation, the Clippers found themselves on a three-on-zero fast break with no one in pursuit. Forward Matt Barnes collected the ball in the paint and lofted it up against the glass for a trailing Griffin, who was began preparations for punishing the rim well outside the three-point line.  Griffin leaped off both feet, catching the off-the-glass alley-oop with one hand and getting his head at rim level before going into a little Air Jordan spread eagle as he completed a monster one-hand dunk.

The dunk actually prompted the road crowd at the Palace of Auburn Hills to stand and applaud. You don’t see that every day.

The Clippers went on to win 88-76 to improve to 18-6 on the season. Griffin finished with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block while shooting six-for-11 in 28 minutes. Brandon Knight led the Pistons with 16 points, five assists and five rebounds.

Video via YouTube user Clipper Nation | Hat tip: @maxamillion711

*****

By Ben Golliver

Rockets guard Jeremy Lin, asked about his first return trip to New York’s Madison Square Garden on Monday night, said this week that he was “definitely ready to get it over with” and that he was eager for “closure.”

That was kind of a depressing take from the obscure guard turned global icon, but it was understandable given the Knicks’ strong start without him and his own uneven play.

The Madison Square Garden crowd took the high road during player introductions on Monday night, remaining silent through as the Rockets were introduced but then breaking into meaningful cheers for Lin, who emerged as a fan favorite last year. Video of MSG’s reaction is above via the NBA on Telly.com.

Knicks center Tyson Chandler, however, wasn’t quite as hospitable in welcoming Lin back to the Big Apple.

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Amar’e Stoudemire has been cleared to return to practice. (Richard Wolowicz/NBAE via Getty Images)

By Ben Golliver

Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire, sidelined since late-October after undergoing a procedure on his surgically repaired left knee, has been cleared to return to practice.

CBSSports.com reported that Knicks coach Mike Woodson told reporters prior to a Monday night game against the Rockets that Stoudemire officially took that step in his recovery process, and that the forward would join the Erie BayHawks, the Knicks’ D-League affiliate, to get in his practice repetitions.

The Associated Press reports that Woodson wasn’t ready to specify a timeline for Stoudemire’s return to the court, saying only that he “wouldn’t rush” things.

Without Stoudemire, the Knicks are off to an 18-5 start, shifting Carmelo Anthony to the power forward position and surrounding him with shooter-heavy small ball lineups. As a result, New York ranks No. 2 in the league in offensive efficiency.

There has been some consternation that Stoudemire will disrupt the Knicks’ offensive attack once he’s inserted back into the lineup. He got out in front of that talk in late-November, when it was reported that he would be open to a bench role once he returns. Read More…

Jerry Stackhouse, now 38 years old, has had a long and winding career. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

By Rob Mahoney

• Zac Crain delves into Jerry Stackhouse — the man, the idea, and the name — as a part of The Classical’s ongoing ‘Why We Watch’ series:

When Jerry Stackhouse leaves the game — finally, someday — he won’t leave behind all that much. He was never given that option, not that he cared or even really noticed. His legacy probably amounts to that strange scoring title — Allen Iverson scored more points per game in ’00-01, although Stackhouse scored the most points — and the time he changed into sweats after playing the Jazz so he could smack Kirk Snyder. Stackhouse will pop up in some arena a decade from now, singing the national anthem, and you’ll remember him, but only vaguely. There’s no signature game or play.

You’ll have forgotten him. But then, you did that a long time ago. Stackhouse will remember, though. He’ll remember every slight and every bucket, little things that only he ever knew in the first place. He’ll be damn sure he could still play 20 minutes if you needed him. He’ll tell you he was open on the last play. He might even be right.

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“I’m definitely ready to get it over with,” Jeremy Lin said of his return to New York. (Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)

By Ben Golliver

The Jeremy Lin free agency saga that played out during Summer League seems like it happens years ago and on another planet, considering the twists and turns of both the Knicks and Rockets over the last five months.

Who could forget Knicks fans launching a last-minute petition in an attempt to convince the Knicks to match the Rockets’ three-year offer sheet? How great was it that Knicks GM Glen Grunwald was hiding out in his hotel, refusing to formally accept the offer sheet from a courier because he was upset that the terms changed? How strange was it that the entire Knicks’ organization was essentially under a gag order as the clock ticked down on the matching deadline? How surreal was it that Knicks executives and Rockets executives were sitting in the same gym, across the court from each other, when the deadline finally passed, making Lin officially a member of the Rockets? How perfect was it when Raymond Felton, recently traded from the Blazers, showed up courtside vowing to have a bounceback season and fully accepting the pressure of replacing Lin?

GALLERY: Rare Photos of Jeremy Lin | The Jeremy Lin Fan Club

That was an unforgettable week and, at the time, it was unfathomable. The Knicks had reportedly decided to match any offer to Lin up to $1 billion, and then they passed on $25.1 million over three years, opting to ride three veterans: Felton, Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni. There were so many questions and so much rage. Why not just pay him? Why let him walk for nothing? Couldn’t they sign him now and trade him later? Of all the Knicks stars in recent years, why was the biggest fan favorite seemingly the only one not cashing in? Most importantly, what exactly were the Knicks thinking and why weren’t they making their thought process clear in some manner?

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