The Fast Break: On Jason Kidd's spill heard 'round the world

It hasn't been often, if ever, we've been able to call something coach Jason Kidd has done 'brilliant' this season, but I have to hand it to him, his drink spilling maneuver last night was as crafty a non-basketball play as you'll ever see a coach draw up.

To set the stage, the Nets were down two, without a timeout and with the Lakers at the free throw line for one more attempt. By imploring Tyshawn Taylor to make contact with him and his drank - "hit me" - Kidd's 'accidental' spillage caused a brief cleanup delay that allowed one of his assistant coaches to draw up a quick play (you didn't think Kidd would draw it up himself, did you?) for the Nets to use on their last possession.

It didn't work from the standpoint of icing Jodie Meeks' second free throw or by the Nets actually tying the game and avoiding a 4-11 start to the season, and Kevin Garnett setting a screen to free up a Paul Pierce three in transition isn't exactly an elaborate play to draw up anyway, but you can't deny the fact Kidd's trickery worked on the most basic level of what he intended to happen, and that's getting his team an extra 'timeout' if you will.

Sure, it may have been foolish for Kidd to actually ask Taylor to bump him in an era where cameras can and will pick up anything and everything (Kudos to Mike Fratello for knowing exactly what a fellow coach was up to, by the way), but Kidd didn't exactly sound bothered by the fact everyone was onto him after the game, and trying to initiate the contact without Taylor avoiding him would have been a tougher job for Kidd had he not gotten Tyshawn involved.

Everyone knows Kidd hasn't done a good job so far in Brooklyn, and maybe he'll be fined for his Wednesday night antics or spur some sort of rule change when it comes to coaches drinking out of uncapped cups on the sidelines, but I salute him for some quick thinking and getting creative in a feeble attempt to keep his team alive.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, people. And staring at a 4-11 start to the season with a banged up team that has ''championship or bust' expectations, things are about as desperate as they can get in November.

One final note on the matter - check out Lawrence Frank's reaction in the background to his protege's shenanigans. To me it says, "I know what he just did, and I can't believe it"...

About last night...

Magic 105, 76ers 94 - Philly's loss was part of a typical night in the Atlantic Division.

Pacers 99, Bobcats 74 - Indiana now sits alone atop the overall standings at 14-1 and are outscoring opponents by an average of 10.9 points.

Grizzlies 100, Celtics 93 - Jared Sullinger had 23 points and 12 rebounds in defeat.

Heat 95, Cavaliers 84 - There was a "Bring Back LeBron" rally in Cleveland last night, as I'm sure King James is just loving what he's seen for the Cavs so far....no?

Bulls 99, Pistons 79 - Chicago snaps a four-game losing streak and gets its first win post-Rose news.

Lakers 99, Nets 94 - If you're going to blame the Nets' poor start on injuries, then pleased be advised that the beat up, mostly no name Lakers are 8-8 despite a very tough early schedule.

Rockets 113, Hawks 84 - Atlanta's embarrassing 29-point loss to the Harden-less Rockets means the Eastern Conference now has just two winning teams through the first month of the season.

Wizards 100, Bucks 92 - The Wizards make it three straight wins, while the Bucks make it 10 straight losses as they close in on Utah for the worst record in the league.

Nuggets 117, Timberwolves 110 - Speaking of streaks, the Nuggets have now won four in a row and eight of their last 11 since starting the season 0-3.

Thunder 94, Spurs 88 - Serge Ibaka (17 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks) and Reggie Jackson (23 points) helped Kevin Durant (24 points, 13 rebounds) cover up Russell Westbrook's 2-of-16 shooting night, as OKC handed San Antonio its first loss in 12 games.

Mavericks 103, Warriors 99 - Golden State has lost four of five ahead of a Friday night matchup in Oklahoma City, in a Western Conference where a bad week or two can really set you back.

Suns 120, Trail Blazers 106 - How about these supposed to be tanking, Suns? While the Sixers, Celtics and Magic have all morphed into the tankers they were meant to be following decent starts, Phoenix is now 8-7 after ending Portland's 11-game winning streak.

Clippers 93, Knicks 80 - Carmelo Anthony and Andrea Bargnani combined for 47 points and 19 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to stop the bleeding as New York has now lost seven straight. For the Clips, Chris Paul left the game with a hamstring strain, though the team says he could have returned if they needed him to.

Line of the night: LeBron James - 28 Pts (9/19 FG, 1/3 3PT, 9/11 FT), 8 Reb, 8 Ast, 3 Stl, 1 TO in 37 mins.

Play of the night:

Bonus highlight:

On tap tonight: A whole lot of nothing, since the NBA made the wise decision not to schedule games on American Thanksgiving, which would have had to compete with all day NFL football.

Knicks have closed door meeting: If you count the players only meeting that took place earlier this month, the Knicks are now up to two closed door post-game meetings before the season's quarter point. Good thing James Dolan is 'patient.'

Frustrated T-Wolves: With the Timberwolves falling to 8-8 after their third straight loss and sixth loss in nine games, notoriously poor defender Kevin Love was pretty blunt in his assessment - "We need to play f-ing defense." For the record, Minnesota actually boasts the seventh-best defense right now by allowing just 99.8 points per 100 possessions, but they're playing at the second-fastest pace in the league, which will usually make your D look worse than it really is.

Waiters happy in Cleveland? With trade rumors around him and the Cavs swirling, Dion Waiters says he's happy where he is. Shooting just under 40 percent while taking more than 12 shots per game and coming off of the bench for a dysfunctional 4-11 team...who wouldn't be happy?

I leave you on a lighthearted note on this Thanksgiving Thursday, as what I didn't tell you in my opening spiel is that a couple of Lakers actually infiltrated Brooklyn's makeshift timeout post-spillage: