For a six-game night, there are some nice matchups. The Nets are visiting the Magic, which means the New York metro area media will be zoning up Dwight Howard. There should be a relay race in Portland, where the Blazers entertain the Nuggets. And on TNT, the Mavericks try to figure out their myriad issues as they travel to take on the Thunder, where Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are bickering.
But the best game is the back end of TNT’s doubleheader, with the New York Knicks visiting the Los Angeles Lakers in a battle of heavily scrutinized squads.
The Knicks are banged up, losing rookie Iman Shumpert and defender Jared Jeffries in their Christmas win over Boston. Mike Bibby debuted Wednesday night but had no impact in a 92-78 loss at Golden State in which Mike D’Antoni’s innovative offensive schemes somehow made the Warriors look good on defense.
After losing their first two games, the Lakers averted a full-blown panic by routing Utah on Tuesday. But the gloom and doom certainly will resurface if they are unable to build on that and fall to 1-3.
The Lakers remain without center Andrew Bynum, who is serving the last game of his four-game 
suspension. That will allow the Knicks to shadow Pau Gasol with Tyson Chandler while Amar’e Stoudemire draws Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy.
However, LA has Metta World Peace to sic on Carmelo Anthony, while New York has no one to shadow Kobe Bryant. (Forget Landry Fields. He just picked up his third foul.)
The loser will be under .500, testing the patience of its fan base and becoming a daily discussion topic for kneejerk pundits everywhere.
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