- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel examines whether the Heat could be in danger of burning out its veterans. Players such as Kyle Lowry, P.J. Tucker and Dewayne Dedmon have been tasked with carrying bigger workloads in the absences of Jimmy Butler (tailbone), Bam Adebayo (thumb) and others.
- Nets head coach Steve Nash believes the Eastern Conference is as deep as it’s ever been, Peter Botte of the New York Post writes. In addition to Brooklyn, the East has the defending-champion Bucks, wildcard Heat and several other teams that could compete for a championship. “The simple answer is it’s about as strong as the East has been for a long time,” Nash said after his team lost to the Bulls on Saturday. “There aren’t any ‘gimmes,’ so to speak. The West is terrific and has some great teams at the top, but the East is deep. Every night, it seems like a battle. I think it’s good for the balance of the league and for this kind of depth and parity. It feels like since the ’90s, we haven’t seen that, but it’s been exciting to see such a competitive Eastern Conference so far.”