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Amid the blitz of three-pointers and the blur of James Harden’s dribble-drives, it can be easy to forget the Houston Rockets tout the best all-around center in the NBA.

Dwight Howard has no problem reminding you of that fact.

The perennial All-Star notched 23 points (on 9-of-13 from the field) and 13 rebounds in Houston’s 115-79 blowout win over the reeling Miami Heat on Saturday—this just 24 hours and change after the Rockets’ most lopsided loss of the season (111-83), courtesy of Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans.

After attempting just eight shots Friday night, Howard feasted on the undersized Miami front line, uncorking a bevy of effective post moves serving as the incendiary inside to Harden’s perimeter exploits.

Harden, who registered another 28 points in what’s been one of the league’s foremost MVP bids, remains Houston’s unquestioned cornerstone.

But it’s through Howard—at 29 years old, still the NBA’s premier paint protector—that the Rockets will ride their championship ambitions furthest.

Indeed, as the recent signing of five-tool wild card Josh Smith all but proved, writes CBS Sports’ Matt Moore, Houston is going all-in on its current core:

They wanted him to take over as starting power forward, and Smith gets to join his old high school friend Dwight Howard. It's a potentially devastating combination of veteran athletes, and offers what could be one of the best rebounding combinations in the league. The Rockets got the third 'star' (and like it or not, horrific shot chart or not, Smith is considered a'"star' in NBA circles) they've been after since they signed Dwight Howard. They're building consistent, sustainable success built around star power, with stability in their front office, coaching, and roster. That's what GM Daryl Morey has been after for years, and now he's landed what he's been after.

The J-Smoove experiment has, predictably, been a bit of a mixed bag. Still, if the Rockets can count as ironclad the kind of consistency Smith showed Saturday night (12 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench), the case for Houston as a legit title contender is sure to grow stronger.

While the Rockets’ 20th-ranked offense has been something of a disappointment, their defense—second only to the Golden State Warriors'—already looks postseason-ready.

Not surprisingly, Howard was and very much remains the key to this equation.

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Per NBA.com (media stats require subscription), Howard is tops on the Rockets (minimum of 150 minutes) with a sterling 93.6 defensive rating, along with a team-high net rating of 10.3.

Small sample size aside, Smith’s numbers are virtually identical, with the athletic lefty having logged a defensive rating of 94 and a net rating of 9.5.

Everyone knows the Howard-Smith pairing has the potential to be an elite defensive duo. Should Smith give the Rockets anything resembling consistency on offense, however, these longtime friends could be celebrating much more than the occasional highlight-reel dunk:

Still, there remains for Houston a bit of give and take. The loss of Chandler Parsons, while a long-term money saver, has unquestionably impacted the offense. Heroic though Harden has been, there will come a time—an entire playoff series, perhaps—when head coach Kevin McHale may need to seek instant offense somewhere else.

As he’s proved in fits and starts ever since teaming with Harden ahead of the 2013-14 season, Howard can be that much-needed second option for the Rockets.

Now it’s up to McHale—and Harden himself, perhaps—to not only recognize that fact, but to embrace it.

Saturday Takeaways

Spurs East Rolls On



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Making comparisons between the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks has become something of a tired trope. We get it: The Hawks play beautiful, fundamentally sound basketball. And they’re being rewarded for it, to the tune of nine wins over their last 10 games and a uber-rare first-place spot atop the Eastern Conference.

But while the Spurs continue to lament the loss of All-World point guard Tony Parker, Jeff Teague—Atlanta’s hyper-steady water bug point guard—continues to prove why he best fits the bill as the league’s closest Parker analog.

Teague was sensational once again Saturday night, finishing with 22 points and six assists in Atlanta’s 115-107 win over the Portland Trail Blazers—the latest in a series of signature wins for the upstart Hawks.

It marked the fourth straight game Teague has logged 20 points or more, further emboldening what’s become a pretty compelling All-Star case:

The win marks the Hawks’ fourth straight. More importantly, it extended Atlanta’s lead in the East—the first time since 1997 it’s held this position this late in the season—to a full game over the Toronto Raptors.

St. Patty’s Day

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If it weren’t for players like Patty Mills, the 2013-14 Spurs wouldn’t have so much as sniffed the championship banner, let alone run roughshod over the Miami Heat to win it.

In just his fourth game back since returning from a shoulder injury, Mills finally found his groove, putting up 15 points in 15 minutes to help lift the Spurs to a momentum-fueling 101-92 win over the road-weary Washington Wizards.

As he demonstrated so often during last year’s title run, Mills’ performance was less about the contributions themselves than it was their impeccable, momentum-shifting timing:

The Spurs have a ways to go to climb back permanently into the Western Conference’s upper fold. But as Mills’ breakout performance proved, slowly but surely is a mantra these Spurs have long since mastered.

Kemb-ack

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Kemba Walker has finally figured out his New Year’s resolution: Play the Orlando Magic as often as possible.

One week after netting a career-high 42 points (albeit in a 102-94 loss), the Charlotte Hornets’ point guard put up a mini encore of sorts Saturday night, tallying 30 on 10-of-21 shooting (including 4-of-8 from distance) in leading the Hornets to a much-needed 98-90 road win over their divisional foes.

Walker’s splendid performances bookend a pair of comparably woeful losses (to the Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers) in which the fourth-year guard tallied a combined 22 points on 8-of-27 shooting.

More importantly, the win puts the Hornets—one of this year’s most disappointing teams—within a measly 3.5 games of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

Which is a little like being fourth in line for that terrible spinning teacup amusement-park ride that makes you throw up every time you're on it. But hey, a ride’s a ride, right?

Will the Real Memphis Grizzlies Please Step Up?

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A month ago, we were talking about the Memphis Grizzlies as legitimate championship contenders—a certifiable hardwood juggernaut that had finally added some semblance of offensive consistency to an already-stellar D.

Then they dropped two straight. True to resilient form, Memphis rattled off six straight wins…before losing four in a row. But then the Grizzlies got back on track, winning three in a—come on! Really?

The good news: Memphis has the New York Knicks up next. Even if the team parties in Manhattan until literally five minutes before tipoff, it’s a guaranteed win for the Grizzlies. Guar-an-tee-d.

Let the Grit & Grind roller coaster continue.

Rudy No-Bert (I Will Indeed Let Myself Out)

Let’s not fool ourselves: There are billions of things we’d rather be doing than watching a January showdown between the shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves (which, I mean, even the normal-handed version is pretty bad) and the Utah Jazz.

Like, say, eating a pile of drill bits that’s been sitting in a fire, or removing your own teeth with a spoon.

For this game to make the roundups, then, requires an act of near-super human ability. A feat so breathtaking in its athletic…

Shabazz Muhammad, you fool!

In Shabazz’s defense, he probably was all like, “This guy’s from France, where they give you free health care and houses and pets and stuff. Surely he will allow me to have this one spectacular—oh, drats.”

All stats courtesy of NBA.com and current as of January 3 (prior to Saturday's games), unless otherwise noted.