Damian Lillard did his thing Tuesday. (Getty)
Damian Lillard did his thing Tuesday. (Getty)

BASKETBALL IN THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23RD : Tonight was nuts. Crazy. It was that weekend in Vegas where you kept hitting and your friend hooked up with that person that's in Cirque and you got comp'd that awesome room and the In-And-Out was so awesome at 4AM and never made you sick. Wait, that never happened because that's not how real life is. But that's a lot like what Tuesday felt like. Comebacks, crazy highlights, awesome basketball. The NBA season is here. I'm going to try and cover as much of it as I can, but it was insane. For starters, we have three games of the night. 

GAME OF THE NIGHT TRAIL BLAZERS 115 THUNDER 111 (OT) : This one was all over the place. No Kevin Durant (ankle) for the Thunder, LaMarcus Aldridge played but was limited for the Blazers, and no Nic Batum or Robin Lopez. But Portland just kept plugging away, plugging away, and their ability to get hot from outside can save them in games where they get outpaced defensively. 

And so, down 10 with 1:32, the Blazers still had a shot. But it was going to take a massive collapse by OKC. 

CUE IT UP, GAMETRACKER: 

Russell Westbrook lost his mind, repeatedly, down the stretch, and with three seconds to go, how exactly did the Blazers get this thing to overtime? 

You may think this seems a little familiar. You'd be correct:

Lillard time. Lillard tallied 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting, two rebounds, and four assists in the 4th quarter and overtime, the Blazers ran away with the extra period, and get a huge win shorthanded going into the holiday break. A tough loss for OKC, who still finds itself trailing for the 8th seed in the West.

GAME OF THE NIGHT VOL.2, ELECTRIC BUGALOO -- 76ERS 91 HEAT 87, NO FOR REAL : The Philadelphia 76ers, one of the worst teams in the history of modern sport as constructed, were down 23 points. They climbed all the way back, holding the Heat to 23 points in the second half, including nine in the fourth, and managed to get their fourth win of the season. 

Brett Brown has done a masterful job in building a sound, fundamental defense, and that's put them in a position to be way more competitive than people think they are. 

K.J. McDaniels is legit. 

Or, to put it another way: 

GAME OF THE NIGHT VOL.3 -- HAWKS 107 CLIPPERS 104 : This was a heavyweight fight, and the actual best basketball of the whole evening.

Here's a cliche for you: It was a game of runs. The Hawks would go on a flurry of offensive possessions, getting to the rim with Jeff Teague, hammering the Clippers' wings with Paul Millsap, and slicing and dicing with Al Horford. Then the Clippers would come right back with Chris Paul finding shooters and lobs, Jamal Crawford working the defense, and Blake Griffin getting it going. 

It was a fantastic back and forth affair. The Clippers used an inside-out attack, with Blake Griffin having more assists (11) than Paul (7). But there was always a gap, even when the Clippers went on a 17-0 run to take the lead, in execution. That's really the difference. The Clippers are a more talented 1-10 team, but their roster weaknesses (hey, Matt Barnes, 1-of-7 from the field) are more pronounced and Atlanta's execution is so much greater. DeMarre Carroll stepped up big time, but we've reached the point where his performance out-shining Barnes' isn't surprising. 

And the Hawks' ball movement and consistency in attacking means so much. In games like this, it comes down to individual moments, and the Clippers made a few too many mistakes. Still, they had a chance to tie on the final possession, but Blake Griffin had the inbounds passed deflected on his catch, and then had to hoist up a fadeaway three. Off front iron, Hawks win, five in a row. This was a great one. 

HERE'S AN IDEA, DON'T LEAVE ARGUABLY THE BEST SHOOTER IN THE LEAGUE OPEN : I get what J.J. Redick was trying to do here, I really do. He's digging down to help out. But you cannot leave Kyle Korver. I mean, you cannot leave Kyle Korver. 

If you do: 

DUNK OF THE NIGHT -- ANDREW WIGGINS OVER ALL OF THE CAVS :  The Cavaliers won handily, because the Wolves are barely old enough to vote. But man, Andrew Wiggins did let the Cavs know that while they may win a title with Kevin Love, he's a pretty great player, too. 

SHAZAM.

BONUS: Andrew Wiggins' 27 points were nice, but also watch this block on Tristan Thompson, recovering all the way from the corner. Crazy athleticism. 

MORE LIKE WEANSTOWN : This is the Celtics' first-half shot chart. I am not kidding. They had 10 field goals. 

MORE LIKE THE TRAGIC KINGDOM : Aaaand this is the Magic's fourth-quarter shot chart. They let the Celtics cut a 27-point lead to single digits. They held on to win, though.

INDOMINA-BULL :  Chicago got another big win Tuesday, this time over the Wizards, on a back to back, in DC. Derrick Rose did his thing again, and when John Wall mounted a comeback, Rose responded with the push-floater of his, the mid-range J, the wrap-around layup. That's back to back games Rose has looked like himself. This is a really, really good thing for Chicago. 

Pau Gasol gives them easy points, Jimmy Butler gives them all kinds of points, and the defense is rounding into shape. The Bulls are coming. 

They face the Lakers on Thursday. Speaking of...

NARRATIVE OF THE NIGHT -- THE LAKERS ARE BETTER WITHOUT KOBE : The Lakers had more assists at half than they average on a nightly basis. The previous evidence had already suggested, based on on/off numbers, that the Lakers were better without Kobe. And now they beat the best team in the league, the Warriors, without the Black Mamba? Frightening stuff. 

This is going to be fun.