Making Chow Fun

Now that the Rockets season is through, Jeremy Lin tweeted that he'd send a pair of his sneakers to the first follower to correctly guess which restaurant he was heading to in his hometown, to which teammate Chandler Parsons - perhaps looking to stir-fry up trouble - replied, "Panda Express."* Rather than (egg) roll his eyes, Lin teasingly called Parsons "Donald Sterling." Come on, Chandler, Lin makes millions now - he can afford P.F. Chang's.

No longer a Golden opportunity: We don't know if they put a hand down, but the Golden State Warriors are a man down. Specifically, their coach, Mark Jackson, who was fired Tuesday. Despite leading the club to back-to-back playoff berths, he won't be back. Remember when Jackson told fans not to attend his team's games (and unless you suffer from short-term memory loss you should because it was last week)? Now he's free to follow his own advice. Mama, there goes that man...to the unemployment line.

Hop to it, coach: We've heard of a sore loser, but never a soar winner. Washington coach Randy Wittman, 54, pledged to his players that if they prevailed in their first round series, he would attempt a dunk. Wittman, who stands 6'6", hasn't fulfilled his promise yet and players are jumping all over him for not jumping. Wittman gave them his word, so he's bound to do it.

Clearing the Air Jordan: A new biography of Michael Jordan discloses his dislike of white people as a youngster and recalls an incident where a classmate called him a racial slur and he responded by tossing a soft drink at her (he was suspended from school because they had a Coke Zero-tolerance policy). Jordan eventually learned it wasn't healthy to keep his hatred bottled up.

*guess who's not coming to dinner

Iggy Pop

Andre Iguodala scored a game-high 25 points, adding 12 rebounds and 7 assists in a do-it-all display. He and the Nuggets starters, who all reached double-digits, showed their "Lust for Life," as Denver sustained the series with a win. After the game, Warriors coach Mark Jackson popped off about Stephen Curry getting popped: "They tried to send hit men after Steph." Nonsense. The only Assassin's Creed the Nuggets swear by is the video game. There's nary a ruffian on Denver's roster; the Nuggets are good fellows, not Goodfellas.

Jackson accused Denver of "some dirty plays," yet it was Golden State who was whistled for two flagrant fouls, while none were called on the Nuggets, who committed just two more personal fouls than the Warriors. The coach can comfortably blame the Nuggets for hurting the Warriors locker room, but not their players. After his team lost three straight to form a three-games-to-one hole metaphorically, Sunday a frustrated Kenneth Faried created a hole physically. If Denver climbs out of it, a wall won't be the only thing the Nuggets end up booting.

Basketball (on the) 101

Caution: objects in mirror are closer than they appear. Except if you're the Lakers and that object is the playoffs. On Monday, the Warriors mostly cruised in a win over the Lakers - they were ahead by 25 in the third quarter - but Dwight Howard believes David Lee was cruising for a bruising. Howard was struck by a Lee elbow in the second quarter and although his lip required three stitches, it didn't halt Howard from running his mouth during the game - he received a technical on the play - or after. "I will remember that shot. I will take care of it later," Howard vowed. Pump the brakes, Tony Stewart, this isn't NASCAR, even thought this year's Lakers are the most overrated and undeserving of attention entity in sports outside of Danica Patrick.

Howard declined to take the high road and so did Golden State coach Mark Jackson. "We are the better basketball team. They are in the rear-view and I have not checked it and I will not," Jackson asserted. We know exactly what Jackson's driving at (or should we say away from?). The Lakers, only one game in front of the Jazz for the final place in the playoffs, need to find another gear and fast.