NBA Links: Eastern Conference talk; Detroit better be ready for a hot Miami team; a frustration poll

Trust The Process: I Talked Myself Into The Philadelphia 76ers And Tanking -- Hardwood Paroxysm

What is your take on the 76ers situation... or, the process? Will they win 10 games? First victory could come against the Lakers on December 1. Note: Pistons play at Philadelphia on December 11.

Two years from now, I don't think we'll be worrying about Philadelphia's losing culture. We'll be worried about how, in two MORE years, our favorite teams will be able to stop a Dunn-Brown-Noel-Okafor juggernaut. Good luck with that.

What's Going on in Charlotte? -- Nylon Calculus

The Hornets got a heckuva game from Kemba Walker in a big comeback win over the Kings Monday night, moving their record to 8-6.

If you look at the Hornets roster, there's depth for days. There's a lot of second, third and fourth player-off-the-bench caliber depth on their squad, something of which Detroit has very little right now. Sure, not having Meeks and Jennings squashes most of the depth they would have had, but I don't think anyone would have predicted the Reggie Bullock and Anthony Tolliver incompetence. Steve Blake and Spencer Dinwiddie, too, have been way less than stellar, especially the former.

Rebounding

The loss of Kidd-Gilchrist and the reliance on more stretch 4s would suggest that defensive rebounding would suffer. However, the Hornets still have a DReb% of 80.6%, behind only Detroit at 80.8%.

Conclusion:

13 (now 14) games is quite a small sample size, so whatever conclusion presented here should be taken with a grain of salt for the time being. That said, the Hornet's emphasized three point shooting this off season, and with it came much better ball movement.

The additions have not only performed well themselves, but have had a positive effect on the likes of Kemba Walker, Al Jefferson, and Marvin Williams. Much like the Boston Celtics, the Hornets now have a deep roster of capable players, so the offense is not reliant on a starting 5 to carry the load offensively. Whether this will hold will depend on regression of their three point shooting, particularly for Williams and Walker, and the continued performance of Lamb and Lin. Until then, enjoy the offensive show in Charlotte.

'Big brother' already talking NBA titles with Porzingis -- New York Post

I can see the Knicks grabbing the 8th seed this year only if a bunch of slightly more talented teams somehow fall flat on their faces -- Detroit, Charlotte and Boston being the ones in mind.  Anyway, it's going to take a lot of re-tooling in New York to get that Title in the next four/five years.

In the wake of another masterpiece by Porzingis on Saturday in Houston that included an otherworldly fourth quarter, the prospect of Anthony and the 7-foot-3 Latvian becoming a long-term star tandem is happening sooner rather than later.

Anthony, who has four years left on his contract, recently told confidants about Porzingis: "He's gonna lead this organization long after I'm retired. Hopefully we can hoist one or two [championship trophies] before that happens.''

Miami Heat concludes homestand 6-1 after win against Knicks -- Miami Herald

Miami has a solid eight/nine man rotation and are playing strong going into Wednesday's tilt in Detroit. They don't scare me (or the league probably), yet there are no gaping holes on that team. Defensively they are one of the best in the entire league (they are second in the league in defensive efficiency, and are third in points allowed). If the Pistons don't mind their P's and Q's, Miami will grind out a rather easy win.

When the NBA released its regular season schedule in August, the first thing Chris Bosh noticed was how he and his Heat teammates were going to be on the road for 14 games during a 16-game stretch starting the second week of January.

Then he saw Miami's seven-game home stretch in November and knew it was an opportunity that couldn't be wasted.

"You don't want to look back, fighting for a playoff spot and you're a half game out, like, ‘Ahhh. What about that game against such and such? We were up, had a chance to win and we lost it,' " Bosh said Monday at the team's shootaround.

Piston vs. Bucks: Lack of effort in blowout loss leaves SVG worried -- DBB

The coach has called them out, and with three more games this holiday week, there's no better time for the Pistons to respond.

Responding with three victories would send a message. Though, knowing this team a bit so far, they will go out and beat Miami and Oklahoma City but then get trounced by Brooklyn, thus causing SVG to insert himself into the point guard rotation, somehow. Stan probably still has his handles.

Anyway: