It's a TNT Thursday, and I'm little underwhelmed.

Honestly, even with all Portland's injuries, because of all of Golden State's injuries, the Warriors just aren't in Portland's league. I'm mainly picking this game not because it will have any postseason significance, but because it will likely be the most entertaining back and forth of the evening.

Oh, Atlanta and Washington might be fun, and probably competitive, but I can't pick a League Pass game on a night designed for the casual fan. Come on. And Chicago/Orlando will be a blowout. If it isn't, then this will mean Orlando will have done something terribly, terribly wrong.

So have fun with the Blazers and the Warriors, two disparate teams in terms of running sensibilities (Portland uses the fewest amount of possessions per game, Golden State the most, by far), but a good watch nevertheless. And if that doesn't suit your fancy, you can always flip over to the Olympics.

(You say what now?)

Comment away.

Portland Trail Blazers: 38-28, 87.8 possessions per game (30th), 110.3 points scored pre 100 possessions (seventh), 107.1 points allowed per 100 possessions (17th).

Golden State Warriors: 17-46, 100.1 possessions per game (first), 106.7 points scored per 100 possessions (14th), 110.7 points allowed per 100 possessions (28th).

All statistics courtesy basketball-reference.com.

J.R. Smith(notes) has been in the dunk contest twice. Somehow, he's never made it out of the first round. He beat Chris Andersen once, but that's not saying much. Apparently, he's been doing the wrong dunks.

Or maybe he's just not comfortable with the structured, archaic format of the contest, and he'd rather do his amazing dunks during a game. The dunk contest is just too easy and he needs to up the difficulty.

That must be it, because a dunk like this gets you some hardware and a chance to sit on the hoop.

A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: Videogum. This is going to be amazing. So much material to mine for jokes.
PF: SLAM. The definitive analysis of the Knicks' season.
SF: Twitvid. Melas gracefully provides us with Emeka Okafor's(notes) two air-balled free throws.
SG: The Root. Before the NBA was desegregated, there were the Black Fives. Read this.
PG: Silver Screen and Roll. Is Derek Fisher(notes) worse on offense or defense?
6th: A Stern Warning. Chris Bosh(notes) reviews mobile phones.
7th: SB Nation. Would you rather have a rich owner or great player? Jerry Krause loves this post.
8th: Hardwood Paroxysm. A new way of looking at assists.
9th: The No-Look Pass. Ersan Ilyasova(notes) is in commercials now.
10th: Red's Army. The Celtics' defensive problems start with Rajon Rondo(notes).

Got a link or tip for Ball Don't Lie? Holler at me at trey.kerby (at) yahoo.com, or follow me on Twitter.

The Bulls are in trouble.

I understand this season wasn't supposed to matter. I was out in front, making the clarion call, letting everyone know Chicago was mainly looking forward to the summer of 2010 to take that next step, and that the team would be well pleased with sneaking into the lower end of the Eastern playoff bracket this year, possibly taking in an extra few bullet points to provide to any potential free-agent signings, along with that always desirable playoff revenue.

And here we are, in the second week of March, watching the Bulls try to sneak into the lower rung of the playoff bracket, full of expiring contracts, looking forward to next summer. So what's the difference? Why the worry?

Because that shot at the playoffs? That, "at-least-they'll-be-first-round-fodder" ideal that made all this salary clearing and forward thinking palatable to their fans? It's sliding away.

The Bulls are 31-32 with a game in Orlando Thursday night, already a full game out of the East's top eight. They've lost five straight, Joakim Noah(notes) is still weeks away from returning from a bout of plantar fasciitis (and history tells us he won't be right until the offseason, anyway, with that malady), Luol Deng(notes) is out and suffering through right calf and left knee issues, and the schedule is about to get nasty.

Real nasty. Counting Thursday's loss to game with Orlando, 14 of the Bulls' final 19 games are against teams .500 or better. And it's not as if Chicago has its way with the mediocre ones. Teams like Memphis, Houston and Miami still give Chicago fits, and they'll more than have their way with the Bulls if Noah is gimpy (that's an absolute certainty), and Luol Deng is trying to muddle through yet another injury-plagued year.

All the signs for a flameout are there. Vinny Del Negro is hardly the coach you want navigating a team through times of Strum und Drang, and Chicago's lone strength (it's ability to contest shots and play sound defense) is falling apart with Noah's injury and the (pound-wise, penny-foolish) trade that sent Tyrus Thomas(notes) to the Charlotte Bobcats.

Chicago has gone from sixth in defensive efficiency to 11th over the course of this five-game swoon. The team, as currently presented, is a miserable defensive outfit with some of the worst individual defenders at their respective positions (Derrick Rose(notes), Brad Miller(notes), Hakim Warrick(notes)) having to take on extra duty and play roles that they're just not suited for. With Thomas gone and Noah and Deng out, Chicago just doesn't have the length to contest nor the foot speed to stay with opponents, and the results have been pretty terrible over the last two weeks.

Worse, though Chicago has seen the light offensively at times over the last few games, this is still a terrible offensive team that doesn't get to the line, can't shoot straight from long range and has a miserable time getting easy interior looks.

Even after a hot March, the Bulls are 27th in offensive efficiency this season, about where they've been all year. With Deng and his 18 points per game having to take a seat in favor of undistinguished rookie James Johnson(notes), this only figures to get worse.

It's not pretty, and while the focus for the last two years has been to clear cap space and build around some combination of Derrick Rose, Deng and Noah starting this summer, it still burns a bit to see the final playoff spot fall just short of Chicago's grasp. And though the Bulls will have a game in Charlotte on the last night of the regular season to try and make things right, if the team is two games out of the playoff bracket by then, what will it matter?

We need a patient tone, I understand, because 2009-10 isn't supposed to count. But I don't think even the most dour of the ardent Bulls followers, to say nothing of the team's front office, expected this team to fall short of the top eight in the miserable East.

But with 14 of the next 19 games coming against teams with winning records, last year's starting frontcourt gone to either North Carolina or the sidelines, and a coach that really hasn't proven much of anything in his 144 games at the helm, this is a reality that Bulls fans will likely have to warm to.

Marrying Khloe Kardashian has been good for Lamar Odom(notes). Outside of the eating chocolate in bed part, everything has been coming up Lamar. The Taco Bell commercial, the Power Bar commercial, even his crazy clothing line has been picked up by retailers since he got married.

But it's not all chocolate and championship rings. Lately, Lamar's had to defend his relationship, and that doesn't make Lamar smile even though almost everything makes Lamar smile. He told Janice Carr of the Orange County Register what he thinks about people being in his business, his biz-nass.

"It's funny (but) not in a good way," said Odom. "Yeah, (it's annoying) kind of the whole thing. People, especially in that world, they will say what they want. I don't pay too much attention to it, either does she.

Matter of fact, we were together yesterday, hanging out. Slept in the same bed."

Haters gonna hate, Lamar. But that's why I always say you shouldn't marry reality television stars. You're just asking to end up on the cover of OK Magazine.

However, there has been one added benefit that Lamar wasn't expecting. He illuminated his favorite part of his Hollywood marriage to ESPN's Arash Markazi.

"When I married Khloe I turned into a Laker beau, which I've never been called before," Odom said. "Now, I'm a beau. ... I didn't marry her to sell T-shirts but I'd probably marry her to be called a beau. That's the one thing I do want out of the relationship, to be called a beau."

Lamar Beau-dom? Works for me.