As we head into the 4th quarter of the NBA season, the Chicago Bulls are the first and only team to have clinched a playoff spot so far, which wouldn’t seem like much of an accomplishment, except that Derrick Rose has missed 17 games this season. Meanwhile, the Miami Heat have entered that “we know we can kill anyone but we’re saving it for the playoffs” phase of their season, which doesn’t mean much, because they’ll still finish in the No. 2 spot – if they don’t gain ground and upend the Bulls, that is – because the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers most likely aren’t going to catch them.

In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder showed they’re ready to start the playoffs now, with a 103-87 thrashing of the Heat on Sunday. San Antonio, though, has flown under the radar while becoming the second best team in the conference, and those cranky, grizzled veterans are probably the biggest threat to the Thunder’s Finals run. Well, except maybe the Lakers or the Mavericks. Or anyone.

This season has been strange.

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I was hoping that by this point in the week I’d have some fun little anecdotes to share about how Orlando is shaping up for All-Star Weekend, but short of about 60 more homeless people than usual and some banners, I haven’t noticed much yet. In fact, I’m mega bummed, you guys. My buddy got me on the guest list for Diddy’s All-Star party this weekend and I was super pumped to go and take really awkward pictures next to all of the celebrities in attendance (“Hey is that Joey Fatone with Skeet Ulrich???”) but word on Church Street is that the party was cancelled thanks to some screw up by a promoter. Bummers, y’all.

But I’m still gonna do my best to put together a fun recap for next Monday, because I’m perpetually bound to run into ridiculous stuff on a weekend like this. I may still attend the Rising Stars Challenge and Dunk Contest, but the real fun is going to be at the bars, so I will stick to what I do best. My prediction? I end up bare-knuckle boxing Aaron Carter behind a Steak-N-Shake dumpster. Fingers crossed!

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It feels like the U.S. Open has turned into the NBA Playoffs, what with rain causing the tennis tournament to last the better part of a month, but we’ve definitely seen our fair shares of excitement. For instance, did you catch that semifinals match between Roger Federer (3) and Novak Djokovic (1) on Saturday? Hoo boy, that was some tennis excitement. Djokovic’s come-from-behind win in the 5th set was far and away the highlight of this year’s Open, but today’s Finals matchup between Djokovic and Rafael Nadal (2), who defeated Andy Murray with much less excitement in the semifinals, will probably be the stuff of legends as well.

On the women’s side, 9th-ranked Samantha Stosur defeated Serena Williams 6-2 and 6-3 to win the Women’s Championship, and of course Williams blamed it on the officiating. Williams yelled, “Come on” during a rally and umpire Eva Asderaki docked her a point for a code violation. That’s when Williams became a little miffed.

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When the New York Knicks traded for Carmelo Anthony prior to last week’s NBA trade deadline, many fans said that it signaled the return of the classic 1990s rivalry between the Knicks and the Miami Heat. And as I’ve been more than happy to point out, in the two-plus decades since the Heat joined the league. both teams have combined for one NBA title (Miami in 2006) and that came well after the peak of the “rivalry” years. But last night gave us the first taste of the new installment of Knicks-Heat hatred, and La La Anthony’s husband’s new team came away with the 91-86 victory.

The Knicks trailed by as much as 15 in the first half, but they won by doing something that many people have said they won’t be able to do very well – playing defense. Holding the Heat to only 35 points in the second half, Carmelo (29 points) and fellow Denver Nuggets castoff Chauncey Billups (16 points) led the Knicks to a hell of a statement win. But the keys to the Knicks’ victory were provided by the self-anointed King, LeBron James, as he had a layup blocked by Amar’e Stoudamire in the closing seconds of the game, and then he missed the game-tying three. I heard he also kicked a puppy. What a jerk.

After the jump, I’ve got most of the game’s highlights, with the exception of LeBron’s missed shot, of which I assume he had all footage destroyed.

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