For Mike Dunleavy, there have been several flash points over the past couple of months when he thought it might be time to hang it up: A 124-93 loss to Phoenix on Christmas Day on national television when his team essentially quit on him in the second half.

On the radio yesterday, Jazz broadcaster David Locke asked me to tell him which eight teams would make the playoffs in the West, and in what order.

There have been so many strains and stresses in the lives of Celtics’ fans lately. Everything from Paul Pierce’s foot to the whole darned team has seemed broken.

Not sure what it means exactly (a Celtic mistake, or a Laker one, or not worth worrying about) but for all but a few seconds of the Lakers’ final play, Pau Gasol was unguarded.

By John Hollinger ATLANTA – As far as hits go, this one was a big miss. Prior to Friday’s Hawks-Celtics game, Boston center Kendrick Perkins said his team “put a hit out” on Hawks guard Jamal Crawford, who had burned the Celtics for 18, 18, and 17 points off the bench in winning the teams’ first three meetings.

Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images Close your eyes. I took four pages of notes during last night’s Celtics loss to the Magic. Mostly it’s really boring stuff.

If you make smart estimates of Kobe Bryant’s upcoming years, he’ll obliterate Magic Johnson in the Laker record book .

Celtics forward Glen Davis is looking to erase his troubled past this season and hopes to start by first dropping his nickname.

The Spurs have been opting for a lot of small-ball lineups this season, to mixed results. Timothy Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell is “surprised to see that small ball treats San Antonio well, and more often than people want to admit,” but also wonders whether the decision to put four perimeter players on the floor doesn’t compromise the Spurs defensively: “It’s hard to funnel the guards into shot-blockers when they’re sitting on the bench…” The people have spoken on LeBron-Kobe . Kevin Durant describes Derrick Rose’s dunk in Phoenix last night as “NBA live 2004-ish.” Kevin Garnett returned to the floor for Boston last night.

The Spurs have been opting for a lot of small-ball lineups this season, to mixed results.