The Cavaliers have been patient with Delonte West. Every decision regarding their talented but troubled guard is made with caution because, although they dealt with West last year, the situation is an unfinished puzzle of doctors, coaches, front-office execs and counselors. There is no rulebook for how to proceed, and greater sensitivity is needed with a player who is sick and not simply acting out, sitting out or misbehaving for contractual or professional reasons.

The organization and the league aren’t the only ones in uncharted waters. The media that regularly cover the team are in a similar position. How do you couch analysis or report information when the affliction is mental, not physical? The brain, not a knee? With little to report other than West’s whereabouts and official status with the team, reporters are left with judgment calls that journalism school didn’t cover.

Take an incident that happened October 6, before the Cavs squared off against the Bobcats in a preseason matchup.

Reporters were in the locker room waiting to talk to LeBron. According to multiple sources who were in the room, a reporter said hello to West, and West responded angrily with expletives. West had dressed for the game and warmed up with teammates earlier in the day, but after the outburst, he did not join the Cavs on the floor for the game and shortly thereafter took an excused absence from the team.

After the outburst, the 10 or so reporters present discussed what had occurred and agreed not to write about it, and to date nothing has been reported by local dailies or TV or radio stations.

It was a strange day all around for the Bulls, from the sudden flu that benched Tyrus Thomas to their stunningly bad start in the game with the Milwaukee Bucks to the remarkable finish that staved off an embarrassing loss.

In the end, the Bulls managed an 83-81 comeback victory Tuesday night at the United Center led by one player (Luol Deng) who shifted over to Thomas' position during the rally and another (Jannero Pargo) who wasn't supposed to play because of a back injury.

It was curious when Tayshaun Prince was a late scratch Tuesday due to what the team reported as a lower back strain, and Jason Maxiell didn't play against Orlando.

Was there a trade in the works? Were they considering packaging Prince and Maxiell for another expiring contract that could help them next summer in the free-agent shopping market?

Joe Dumars shot down the suspicions, insisting there are no deals looming.

He figures that the Pistons already have enough new faces.

But Dumars also must understand that one of the consequences of transition is the perception of a revolving door in the Pistons' locker room. He truly has a team now that requires a program to identify the names.

They beat the defending Eastern Conference champions Tuesday with not one contribution from any of the three remaining players from the team that lost to Cleveland in the 2007 conference finals -- Rip Hamilton, Prince and Maxiell. They threw at the Magic a rookie forward from Sweden and a diminutive point guard -- Will Bynum -- who took a shot just over the left eye before administering the fatal shot to Orlando in the fourth quarter.

Robert Swift spent countless hours honing his skills on the basketball courts of Bakersfield. A two-time Californian All-Area Player of the Year at Garces and Bakersfield high schools, Swift was one of the few phenoms to make the leap from preps to the NBA.

Now, the 7-foot center will return to his hometown for a chance at redemption, and possibly a return to the NBA.

Swift joins guard/forward Justin Hawkins as one of two players allocated to the Jam by the D-League on Tuesday.

As soon as I heard that Bakersfield had a team, I was hoping I could play for them," said Swift, who is healthy again and thrilled to be returning home. "I'm excited to just be able to play, and not worry about getting injured again or all the little things. Being back home and in a more stable and secure situation, I think it's gonna be a great year."

Jam head coach Will Voigt shares Swift's excitement: "I am thrilled to have a player of Robert's magnitude on our team, but I'm even more excited about the impact that he will have on the Bakersfield community. To have a local star return home to play is about as good as it gets."

The Jam will add more talent to the roster during the D-League Draft, which will air on NBA TV on Thursday. The remainder of the invitees to training camp, which begins on Nov. 12, will be chosen from participants in last month's open tryouts.

The Spurs' two victories this season, both blowouts, ended with a scene sure to warm Gregg Popovich's heart: Tim Duncan, already sweat-free and already decked in his warm-ups, leaning back in his chair long since done for the night.

“Whenever there's a game when you're getting your fanny kicked, or you're kicking someone else's fanny, you can rest some players in the fourth quarter,” Popovich said. “That's usually a good thing.”

When it comes to the 33-year-old Duncan, whose knees betrayed him down the stretch last season, any rest is a good one.

For the bulk of his Hall of Fame career, how Duncan has gone is often how the Spurs have gone. Three games into the new season, the All-Star power forward is still the best barometer of the Spurs' success.

“You always want to be on the floor — that's just a player being a player,” Duncan said. “But in the long run, it's going to be great to have these minutes low in the first half of the season. Hopefully, that pays dividends at the end of the season.”

With a deeper team this season, and the possibility of more blowouts, the Spurs hope to keep Duncan fresher for the more rugged portions of the schedule, such as the upcoming back-to-back at Utah and Portland that begins Thursday.

Any dip in Duncan's overall numbers will be a small price to pay.

You know the NBA season is starting to careen out of control when a team wonders how it can get by without Yi Jianlian. But the winless Nets were hit by yet another thunderbolt Tuesday when an MRI revealed a grade 1 sprain in the right knee of their starting power forward, which significantly shortens an already weak power rotation. The team is not discussing any timetable for the third-year player, but a typical recovery period for such an injury is two to four weeks, and it has been known to last as long as six. “It’s a shame; if you look at it, he had a good start to the season, he was aggressive and assertive in the first few games,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said Tuesday night. “You feel bad for him, and hopefully from a mental standpoint, he understands the preparation that’s required to come back.”

Doc Rivers would like to see the best-ever Celtics defense.

"We're not going around talking about it," he said. "I [reference] the '85 Bears, since I'm from Chicago. You hear that name, what do you think? You say 'the '85 Bears,' most people say the greatest defense, one of the best ever.

"That's a good goal for us, because if you can achieve that, all the other stuff happens for you." *

For more Sixers coverage, read the

On a night when the Thunder couldn’t get started, it also couldn’t finish.

Through all the struggles, the Thunder nearly rolled over the reigning world champions Tuesday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers jumped out early and hung on late, posting a 101-98 victory in overtime before a sellout crowd of 18,203 inside the Ford Center.

Afterward, as you might expect, the Thunder locker room was a morgue. Players who spoke gave short answers.

The Thunder’s frustrated young guns no doubt were struggling to accept what had just transpired.

The Lakers led 9-0 before the home crowd could finally sit down after the Thunder scored its first points of the game. The champs led by 13 on three occasions. They made eight of their first nine shots while the Thunder missed seven of their nine.

"They had me worried there for a second,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks, who paused and added, "actually throughout the game.”

The difference in the end on Tuesday, Brooks said the Lakers "turned up the heat” defensively. They showed what made them the champs.

Brooks pointed out how people don’t appreciate the overwhelming physicality of the Lakers, and he’s right. Heck, just look at them.

As impressive as the Lakers look on TV, they’re far more imposing in person.

Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince missed last night's game against the Orlando Magic with a back injury, ending his consecutive-games streak at 496. His streak was second among active players, trailing Portland's Andre Miller (535 entering last night).

Steve Nash scored 25 of his 30 points in the second half, added eight assists and the visiting Suns used a dominant fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat, 104-96, in a matchup of NBA unbeatens last night.

"We've been working on it a little bit, but we haven't really used it much or had much success," Nash said of the zone, which Phoenix displayed in the second half for the first time this season. "I was just glad, more than surprised. It really came up well for us tonight."

Sure did: Miami shot 35 percent in the second half, 23 percent in the fourth quarter. Phoenix missed fewer shots (15) in the entire second half than the Heat did (18) in the final 11 1/2 minutes.

Amare Stoudemire finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix, which overcame its largest deficit of the season. Jason Richardson scored 10 of his 14 points in the final period for the Suns, who are 4-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

Miami got 23 points from Dwyane Wade and 18 from Quentin Richardson. The Heat (3-1) was bidding for its first 4-0 start in 5 years.

"The zone changed our rhythm," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We didn't have a lot of answers for that."

He (Deron WIlliams) was here Tuesday night, scoring a team-high 22 points in the Jazz's loss to the Dallas Mavericks, and he'll be back for another regular-season game Jan. 9.

But point guard Deron Williams really would love to be in the Dallas area Feb. 14, when the NBA holds its 2010 All-Star Game at the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in nearby Arlington.

"It would mean a lot," said Williams, who feels he belonged in the 2008 All-Star Game at New Orleans.

"You know, I wish I would have had one by now," added Williams, who was Texas-raised and played high school ball locally at The Colony.

"But it would be special to have the first one in Dallas. Hopefully, all my family can come see me play."

Williams, however, has a habit of getting snubbed and overlooked.

(Charles Oakley) on Vince Carter's early success in Toronto:

"It was all Butch. Butch got in his ear and told him, `Do you know what you have with you? You've got some guys who care for you and are going to look out for you.' Me, Antonio (Davis), Kevin (Willis), we said, `Hey, Vince, we got your back.' Vince would have never excelled the way he did if it wasn't for Butch and some of the guys on the team, because we kept pushing him. We said, `You're better ... shoot as much as you want. We rebound. We set the picks. We keep guys off of you. They hit you, we're gonna hit one of them. It's like baseball. That was my attitude – if you're my teammate, you've got nothing to worry about."

Before the first question was launched Chris Bosh's way following practice at the Air Canada Centre yesterday, the Raptors' all-star forward noticed the sun had peeked through the windows located on two sides of the practice facility.

The big forward was trying to keep things upbeat.

However, it didn't take long for the media to add a little grey to the surroundings.

Bosh was asked if tonight's game at home against the Detroit Pistons was crucial, given the fact that, afterward, they play seven of the next eight games on the road, all against Western Conference teams.

A loss against Detroit tonight would put Toronto at 1-3 heading into the tough road swing.

Bosh, who, individually, has started off this season in impressive style, claimed not to be aware of the extended trip on the horizon. But, yes, he admitted, a win against the Pistons tonight would be a good thing considering.

"You take it for what it is," said Bosh, of the club's tough early schedule. "But the trip will be a chance for our team to come together a little a bit."

Pau Gasol's hamstring now stretches all the way to Spain . . . sort of.

The Lakers sent the information from Gasol's latest medical test to his personal physician and also his parents, who are in the medical field in Spain. (His mother is a doctor and his father is a hospital administrator.)

The Lakers declined to reveal the results of the MRI exam, citing the need for confirmation from Gasol's chosen recipients, but his strained right hamstring doesn't appear to be bad enough to keep him out much longer.

He went through a "pretty good workout" after the team's Tuesday afternoon shoot-around, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

Gasol will not play tonight against Houston, his fifth consecutive game on the sidelines, but what about Friday against Memphis, his old team?

"We'll see," Jackson said. "We hope he can get a practice in this week."

The NBA office has not made a determination regarding an inquiry into a conflict between New Orleans guard Chris Paul and the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo Sunday night.

A double technical foul was assessed to Paul and Rondo after they tangled in the second quarter of the Celtics’ 97-87 win over the Hornets. After the game, Paul and Rondo argued near the Celtics bench and were separated by team security.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers and Rondo said the league has not contacted them.

“I have no comment on it, really,’’ Rondo said after last night’s 105-74 win over Philadelphia. “They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do.’’

Said Rivers, “I don’t expect anything to come of it.’’

Suns guard Leandro Barbosa probably could drive past anyone with a hand tied behind his back.

But Barbosa's sore right wrist took hits in the previous two games, prompting him to sit out Tuesday night's game against the Heat.

"I definitely want to play and be there for my teammates, but I want to be able to do something," said Barbosa, who did not shoot a jumper in Sunday's game. "I don't think I can play with one hand."

Barbosa tried passing and catching Tuesday morning, and it "shocked" his hand. His shots were short, and he said he barely could open his hand. His status will be re-evaluated for tonight's game at Orlando.

Barbosa sprained the wrist in early September during the FIBA Americas Championship. Barbosa, who had an MRI exam, has a small cyst in his wrist. He was told the cyst is too small to remove surgically.

"I (Kevin Martin) told Omri (Monday) night that we had to win that game, and I don't think I've ever said that before," said Martin, third in the league in scoring at 31.0 points per game. "I said, 'There's no ifs, ands or buts (about it) – we had to win that game."

And many more.

"This year, I'm just a much more driven player because of what we went through last year," Martin continued. "It's just a different mentality. That's what happens when you go through a year like you did last year. Seventeen wins.

"I've always been driven, but it's going to be a Kevin that's aggressive from the start just to set a tone. … This year, it's just about being driven and not settling for anything."

Wins – and what it takes to get them – will dictate all of it. His offense and his defense. His choice to speak up or stay quiet. And, of course, how he is perceived.

While Martin is known as an efficient and creative scorer, he is a high scorer on a lowly team. It's a distinction that rarely comes with acclaim.

"Making an All-Star Game is not going to validate my career," he said. "I get more from getting respect for how I go out there and play, to have the organization be proud of me as a player. … I'm just worrying about wins and losses, and all that will take care of itself. I want respect from my teammates and the organization."

Martin has been earning even more respect from his teammates with his early dedication to defense.

The Dallas Mavericks’ offense barely had a pulse for most of three quarters. Then Dirk Nowitzki decided to take control.

Nowitzki scored a club-record 29 of his 40 points during a frantic fourth-quarter comeback and the Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 96-85 on Tuesday night.

Nowitzki broke the franchise record of 24 points in any quarter set by Mark Aguirre against Denver on March 24, 1984.

“It was an ugly game,” Nowitzki said. “We couldn’t get anything going for three quarters. We were slow. We were looking for a spark offensively and I was able to do that tonight.”