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ORLANDO -- If the state of Texas is planning on any commercials during NBA games over the next week, officials might want to hold off. Cleveland's Daniel Gibson will be a walking advertisement.

Just in time for Wednesday's big nationally televised game at Orlando, the guard has shaved onto the left side of his head a big map of Texas with a star on it. While it is the Lone Star State, Gibson, who is from Houston and a big baseball fan, calls it an "Astros star.''

"I'm the first one,'' Gibson claimed about being the initial NBA player with a state shaved onto his head for a game.

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

If I told you one player in the Mavericks-Spurs match-up would take 32 FGAs, some 21 more than any teammate, how far down on said list would Tony Parker be? ... Yeah, not very far. But still -- 32 FGAs for Parker!

T.P. turned those (plus eight free throws) into 37 points, which he paired with 12 assists. Spurs win by 17. Jason Kidd is not the defender he used to be. (Actually, he's not even the offensive player he used to be. Two points and four assists in 35 minutes.)

For the second time this weekend, the Raptors made a furious comeback to just watch a key victory slip away. On Friday, Toronto trailed Indiana by 24 points entering the fourth but pulled within one with a minute left before the Pacers sealed off the Raptors.

Sunday in Toronto, the Suns never really got out to a lead that seemed insurmountable but did hold a steady multiple-possession advantage throughout. But in the fourth, the Raps again tightened it up and pulled even halfway through the quarter. It stayed within five points the rest of the way, but Phoenix rode Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash to the finish line and came away with the 111-104 victory.

Toronto seems so close to fixing its season, but just can't find the right footing.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Nathan Jawai of the Raptors is the first indigenous Australian player in the NBA. His story is unique, having grown up playing rugby, not basketball, he is very quick on his feet for a big man. In this video he talks to us about dangerous encounters he experienced in the Australian Outback, including swimming nose-to-nose with a crocodile, one of nature's most vicious killers. We also hear from Anthony Parker, Nathan's teammate.

Check out the video after the jump.

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Raptors-Magic game tonight.

1. Sultan Of Swat: Dwight Howard had 8 blocks last game. That's today's "Matt repeats himself so you can let that sink in" phrase of the day. Dwight Howard had 8 freaking blocks in a playoff game in Toronto on Saturday. Chris Bosh can get all the mid range J's and weakside layups he wants. It's been clear from the start of this series that Howard owns the paint in this series. If the Raptors are going to pull out the semi-miracle and pull this thing back to Canada kicking and screaming, they're going to have to attack the basket and get some fouls on Howard. Because letting him sit back there, legal or not, is only going to result in more jumpers, which you can't rely on in a game like this.

2. Dónde Está Jose?: You remember Jose Calderon, right? The guy all the Raptors fans wanted to start after Game 2, before TJ Ford scored 21 points to help the Raps take Game 3? The guy who in that same game had a dou-ble-dou-ble? Yeah, well, if you see him, holler at your boy, okay? Because Calderon vanished in Game 4. 2 points, 5 assists, 1 for 7 shooting in 21 minutes. I kept searching a box score for something tangible I could attribute the Game 4 Magic win to, beyond my own observations watching the game which were a. Dwight Howard is not of this world and b. Rashard Lewis can pop off when he wants to. The only answer I can come up with Calderon. He's got to step up and be the man tonight along with Ford if the Raptors want to win. Well, that and ...

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for today in Raptors vs. Magic, game 1.

1. Guard FAIL: There's FAIL. There's Epic FAIL, and then there's the Raptors' perimeter defense. Here, take a gander at opponents' three point field goal percentage. What's the worst playoff team on that list? If you guessed the ones named after a Michael Crichton film, you are correct, sir! I keep trying to watch the Raptors game because I genuinely like their roster. But then there will be a sequence that usually involves two, possibly three perimeter defenders that are not only out of position, but are utterly and completely lost in terms of what they should do defensively.

2. The Most Subtle Dinosaur You'll Meet: Chris Bosh is usually a great player. Against the Magic this season? He's a beast. 33 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3 assists. The lack of a true power forward causes problems for the Magic with Bosh's versatility and athleticism. And Bosh also gets a genuine kick out of facing the kid that's taken the title of "premier young big guy" from him. It'll be interesting to see what SVG cooks up against Bosh, whether they immediately bring the double or try and muscle him with Dwight Howard.

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

I became a Raptors fan last season. They went about re-building their roster the right way, bringing on a brilliant GM and letting him orchestrate a rather unique plan that basically consisted of flooding the roster with as many foreign guys as possible.

There was more to it than that, of course; Bryan Colangelo also had the balls and foresight to trade Charlie Villanueva for T.J. Ford, which not only defied conventional "never trade big for small" wisdom but also seemed like a huge risk given Ford's injury history. Plus, he found diamonds in the rough in Anthony Parker and Jorge Garbajosa, undervalued veterans who were playing in Europe that every other team in the NBA had a chance to sign but didn't.

So what happened? The team quit being "Chris Bosh and some other guys" and actually became a team. Ford had a breakout year, the Euros (Garbajosa, Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon) all found a productive niche and Parker started every game he played. The team survived a mini-scare when Bosh missed time with a knee injury and managed to win without him, which was just unheard of in the past. By the end of the year, they had claimed their first division title with a convincing 47-35 record. But if things were so peachy, why am I down on them this year?

The Raptors were ushered out of the first-round of the playoffs on Friday -- at the hands of their nemesis Vince Carter, no less -- but the team has to feel good about their season. Considered a sleeper just to make the playoffs entering the year, the Raps exceeded everyone's expectations by winning their division and securing home court advantage.

What was even more impressive was how they won this year: no longer solely dependent on Chris Bosh, they held their own early in the year when he went down with injury. For basketball purists, the team was literally a joy to watch: the offense flowed with constant ball movement, with players embracing their roles. Guys like Jose Calderon, Morris Peterson and first-overall pick Andrea Bargnani could have justifiably griped about not starting but instead quietly helped fortify one of the strongest benches in the league.

GM Bryan Colangelo deserves a lot of credit, as well, for having the foresight to see that guys like Anthony Parker and Jorge Garbajosa, who were established stars overseas and freely available to any team in the NBA, could make the transition and emerge into legitimate NBA starters. Colangelo also deserves a huge pat on the back for the Charlie Villanueva for T.J. Ford swap last offseason, a move that initially left many scratching their head but eventually looked like a stroke of brilliance when Ford put up career numbers (14 points, 7.9 assists) in just under 30 minutes a game.