Good morning. The Lakers own the East. ~ NEWS SPORT

That and more in Monday's NBA newsletter.

Good morning. Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. Let's basketball.

END CONFERENCES PART 2: Since our last newsletter, I've pubbed my plan to end conferences and balance the NBA schedule. There's a map, there's a prescription and there are lots of comments. Enjoy.

KG HAS GONE FULL BATSH-T: Yes, that is photographic evidence of Kevin Garnett trying to bite Joakim Noah's hand. To be fair, Joakim's hands do look delicious. KG followed up with a killer quote, of course.

HE'S BAAACK: Russell Westbrook came back Friday. Like he reeeeally came back.

LAKERS! They beat the Raptors in overtime at home to go 3-0 against the East, and in the process won the rights to Ambassador Drake, apparently. Drake hung out with the Lakers on the bench at the end of the game. He's a Raptors employee. He went Raptors to the Lakers real quick.

ASTERISK: The Lakers beat the Raptors without DeMar DeRozan, who is out a month or so. How will Toronto fare without him?

SUNDAY SCORES: Check out what happened on Sunday, including a surprising loss for the Suns.

CHRIS PAUL IS GREAT: What a lovely thing CP3 did for a superfan who lost his mother.

NO LOVE FOR THE NUGGETS: Among St. Louis's many problems right now, the police are beefing with the Rams. Denver PD wanted to show off its tight relationships ... but it forgot to mention that the cops of the Mile High City love the Nuggets. OOPS. Now we have beef. (We don't have beef.)

WELL! Kyrie Irving with a full-court, jump-pass assist. More please.

COLD: Carmelo Anthony got a technical for having the temerity to not enjoy a whistle being blown in his ear.

HOW TO END TANKING: Ken Berger notes that the NBA does actually have the power to punish the Sixers for being an intentional embarrassment.

WELL, IT IS SUNDAY: Joey Crawford is dancing again.

DERRICK ROSE WILL RUIN US ALL: Ricky O'Donnell with a smart, sad meditation on what it means to watch your team depend on Derrick Rose right now.

GIANNIS! There is some debate as to whether this is a legal play, but holy crap who cares the Greek Freak is Eurostepping from the three-point line! Plus: a good look at what Giannis is bringing to the Bucks beyond the highlights.

LIKE IT NEEDS TO BE SAID: Don't follow Nick Young's dating advice.

DARN GOOD QUESTION: Why are the Hornets so awful?

Happy Monday. See you next time.

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