I know everyone loves the quality of the games on Thursdays on TNT, but God, the late games are murder.

Lion Face: Kirk Hinrich and Derrick Rose combo, AKA Tango and Cash

You see, because Rose is flash, style, brilliance, Tango. And Hinrich is stubbly, defensive, and workman. Cash. And because I love that movie. Anyway, they were +3 tonight on the floor together, thanks mostly to a late Spurs run when the result was already decided. Rose creates so much, and the ability to put Hinrich on the best perimeter threat while still using Rose on offense is invaluable. Meanwhile, Hinrich is a fantastic perimeter passer, something easily forgotten until you watch him consistently hitting one-touch, no-look passes to open teammates who inevitably brick open threes. Hinrich gives them a veteran who can break the press, Rose gives them a player who can go ISO and get buckets. Tango and Cash may end up leading the league in player pair adjusted plus/minus this season.

Lemon Face: Spurs conditioning.

I touched on this over at FanHouse, but I don’t give a damn if it is the second game of the season. That’s a reason they should be in better shape. The Spurs have championship aspirations. That means they don’t get to just say “Oh, well, it was a back to back.” You get beat by the Kings on a back-to-back at the end of a road trip? Okay, that’s just an anomaly. But they were flat out outworked tonight in Chicago against a playoff team. They looked slow, confused, and frustrated. They can give this one up. But the Spurs cannot afford to start this as a pattern. The seed does matter. The Spurs need to face Utah or Phoenix in round one, not Portland or Denver. They need to give themselves the best opportunity they can to beat LA, and that means setting up as easy a playoff run as possible. What’s more, they’ve got to prove themselves dominant. This game was fine and understandable for last year’s Spurs. No biggie. But the stakes have been raised.

Lion Face: Taj Gibson

I liked this kid in preseason, I liked him in this game. 6 points, 6 boards in 15 minutes, 3 offensive boards. He’s got great energy, the ability to finish if he can settle, and great length. Taj Mahal is going to end up being a great compliment for the Bulls this season, and I don’t care if he is 24. Like this kid all the way through.

Lemon Face: Spurs’ Frontcourt Additions

Here’s the combined Richard Jefferson-Antonio McDyess powerhouse tonight. 3-10, 10 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 5 fouls. Even ROY candidate DeJuan Blair came back to earth, and looked miserable on defense. The Bulls frontcourt which has been synonymous with consinstent was consistently better than them at every turn tonight. Faster, more athletic, more aware, better. Just a terrible night.

Lion Face: Carmelo Anthony

NOVA. The man was just unstoppable. Carmelo takes the pull-up jumper from something you pray opponents take to something you dread when you see him go for it. It’s insane. He’s simply been dominant the first two games. He fought for hard ones, and abused whoever was defending him. The Blazers really could have used Batum tonight, as lost as he is, he can defend heads up better. The Blazers were late to bring doubles and Melo made them pay at every turn. Kenny Smith talked about Melo for MVP and right now, I can’t argue with the idea’s legitimacy. He’s been simply brilliant.

Lemon Face: Nene

Just a weak ass game in all for Nene tonight. Got murdered on the offensive glass by Oden, who’s becoming a terrific defensive and offensive rebounding player, but still. 7 points on 2-7 shooting, 11 boards, but he was consistently slaughtered in the first half. He also fouled out when the team needed him most. Of course…

Lion Face: Nene’s hook

Just a beastly shot by Nene after Oden rejected him. Having veteran guys like Nene who can consistently come out and attack and know how and when to attack and when to bounce it back is so huge. A fantastic hook shot over Oden.

Lemon Face: Greg Oden

Oden was largely invisible offensively, and he missed the clutch free throws. Yes, several players had a chance at free throws, and yes, Roy probably should have just gone with the pull-up instead of reconsidering, but Oden was still given the chance to win the game at home with a helpful referee crew, and he blew it, and then re-blew it on the free throws. Oden has been so lost in his decision making, you have to wonder if it’s going to improve. The free throws were just shocking, but I’m sure it’s a learning experience and he took responsibility after the game. And he was responsible.

Lion Face: Greg Oden

That said, I’m sold on this guy defensively. He’s a top 10 guy right now, just based on size and ability. He’s learned to cut off the baseline which he struggled with last year, and he’s not going for the weakside highligh blocks as much. He played Nene as well as he could on the hook shot, and his timing is just impeccable. I also think Oden could very well end up winning the offensive rebounding title. I’m liking his defensive game more and more each game, just as I like his offensive game less and less.

Lemon Face: Officials

Dude, whatever happened to “Thank God, the officials are back!” Terrible calls all over the floor tonight, too many, breaking up the flow of the game, too many foul shots, just a poor job overall. Inconsistency and perplexing whistles. Seriously. I’m not sold that we’re in that much better of shape than we were with the replacements.