Putting Your Heart Into NBA All-Star Practice

Sunday smorgasbord: Because of Valentine’s Day commitments (and there are those who believe folks who celebrate the occasion should be committed), your humble correspondent did not view much of the NBA’s all-star weekend Saturday. Well, other than part of the Eastern Conference’s practice. Which is about as unromantic as it gets — even for those out there whose love actually might be the NBA.

Video of bikiniteamtv.com’s Billie Jo Powers below to warm up your Sunday. Or any day.

* Speaking of the Eastern Conference’s practice (which could have been used as some sort of a sleep-inducing product), Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls participated. Yes, he sat out the team’s Thursday night game because of a sore shoulder. To the uneducated viewer (hey, that would be yours truly), Butler did not look like he was fully recovered in anticipation of Sunday’s contest. Then again, if he does play (which seems likely as today’s posting is being crafted ever so elegantly typed, he probably could play left-handed on offense because of the defense (or lack thereof) he is likely to encounter in limited playing time.

* Speaking of all-star weekend, Bulls rookie Nikola Mirotic had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting (including 4-of-6 three-pointers Friday for the victorious World team in the Rising Stars Challenge. Granted that the game did not feature the kind of offense or defense (or lack thereof) that the Bulls generally employ, but it did showcase some of Mirotic’s talents, which figure to be featured more prominently in seasons to come. Possibly even in the Bulls’ postseason to come this year.

* Speaking of seasons to come, commissioner Adam Silver said the league may start them earlier or end later. “One of the things we’re hoping to address, even for next season, is to come as close as possible as we can to eliminating the four games out of five nights,” he told media at all-star festivities. “It’s a math formula at the end of the day in terms of the number of days we play, but we think we can make a dramatic reduction there.” One would think spreading out games during the course of the season wouldn’t be all that complicated — especially considering the players, teams and league would benefit from players who are less fatigued and less susceptible of injury.

* Wondering whether there’s anything in the NBA rule book about calling a technical foul for playing too much defense in the all-star game. OK, for playing any defense in the contest. Guessing if there were, the refs still wouldn’t whistle anyone for it.

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