FanHouse Rockets

There weren't too many fireworks between Ron Artest and his former teammates during the Lakers' overtime victory in Houston on Wednesday, other than a double technical called on him and Trevor Ariza in the first quarter.

But judging by what Artest had to say afterwards, there certainly could have been.

Artest claimed that the Rockets were being extra-physical with him in hopes of getting him ejected. And after taking a shot from Ariza early, Artest admitted that thoughts of getting violent out there definitely crossed his mind.

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.

The last time we got together, three different players scored 40 points or more on the same night. Well, maybe it's not as rare of an occurrence as we thought, since we were just a single point away from it happening again on Wednesday.

Chris Paul missed by one with 39, but Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade each delivered, with 41 and 40 respectively.

There are 10 games on the schedule this evening, but perhaps none holds more intrigue than Ron Artest making his return to Houston, to face the Rockets as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

But Artest isn't the only one with something to prove, as L.A. will be seeing Trevor Ariza for the first time since his agent played hardball with L.A.'s ownership group over the summer.

It's a little early to tell which team has come out ahead in this virtual trade, but looking at tonight's matchup, the Rockets would appear to be the ones with the advantage.

For the Houston Rockets, the word rocketship took on a whole new meaning on Wednesday.

Thanks (or no thanks) to a broken cable that has closed the Bay Bridge, the Rockets were faced with two choices to get from their hotel in San Francisco to Oracle Arena in Oakland to play the Warriors.

They could either take a different bridge, which would have made it a three-hour bus ride or, they could go by ferry.

Knowing that most NBA players like to arrive on the second (i.e. last) of two buses that take teams to games, guess what mode of transport they chose?

Home sweet home. Well, for one night anyway. In front of a 42-inch big screen on opening night in the NBA. Let's go ahead and try to read too much into it ...

• You can't tell me the Cleveland Cavaliers aren't going to come knocking for Stephen Jackson at some point. Looks like LeBron James is going to need some more help.

Hard as this is to say, it doesn't seem like Shaquille O'Neal can even be your No. 2 option. Apparently, the Cavs are reluctant to give up Zydrunas Ilgauskas for Jackson because Cleveland doesn't want to get smaller.

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Luis Scola is a 29-year-old power forward. He has long(er) hair, and is not built like a racehorse. He doesn't jump out of the gym, his tangibles aren't off the charts, his wingspan isn't epic, and he's not a franchise player. But man, the guy can play ball.

Since Scola came into the league two seasons ago, he's quietly been a foundation of the Rockets' success. A rare miscalculation by the San Antonio Spurs, who drafted him in 2002 when he was only 22 but traded him to the Rockets, Scola has become just the kind of player you expect to find in San Antonio. Hardworking, efficient, dedicated and professional. Scola manages to play with fire and intensity, without ever losing his cool.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

There is a scene in Major League where the manager relates how ownership essentially has stacked everything she can against the team. They have no hope, because no matter what happens, they'll only be released as soon as it's convenient in pursuit of moving the team. Essentially, there is no reason for hope, no reason for effort, no reason for showing up to play. Tom Berenger's character looks up and says, " Well, I guess there's only one thing left to do ... win the whole (expletive) thing."

And that's pretty much where the Rockets are this season, barring the psychopathic sexbomb owner, threat of relocation, and the fact that they play a much more strenuous sport.

Had it happened in this era, somebody would have been watching multiple games on television monitors. The game would have been stopped and the ball shipped to the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

But that was hardly the case on Oct. 12, 1979. Early in the first quarter of a game against Houston at the Boston Garden in the regular-season opener, Celtics guard Chris Ford drilled a straightaway three-pointer.

Later that month, Ford heard from a Celtics public relations official.

"More than a week after the game, I discovered that I had hit the first three (in NBA history),'' Ford recalled. "I guess it took them that long to line up all the plays of all the games (that night). I was definitely surprised when I heard that.''

Just as Ron Bloomberg of the New York Yankees had done six years earlier by becoming baseball's first designated hitter, Ford turned into the answer to a trivia question. It was 30 years ago Monday he became the first NBA player to drill a three-pointer.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Thursday, there are 26 days remaining.

They remain the most sickening few seconds in NBA history.

The thud of the roundhouse punch that blindsided and almost killed Rudy Tomjanovich, the thump of his head hitting the floor, and the deafening silence of the crowd while he lay unconscious in a pool of blood, still remain one of the NBA's darkest moments.

Although on-court fighting was relatively common back then, Kermit Washington, who threw the punch, missed 26 games as part of his suspension in 1977. At the time, it was the longest suspension ever leveled against an NBA player.