John Wall (photo. Rob Hammer)

John Wall missed four shots and poured in 29, with nine dimes. Nick Young missed five shots, hit seven threes and dropped 35. And Jordan Crawford missed seven shots and had 21 points, and the Wizards pulled off another shocker, 124-109 in Portland despite 33 (and a nasty dunk) from Nicolas Batum … Losing three of four games had Nate McMillan yelling at his team in a closed-door practice on Monday but that could pale to what the Blazers could lose now. All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge sprained his ankle in the first quarter. Reports said X-rays were negative, but the big Texan has been the team’s only rudder this year and the Blazers have still struggled. If the injury is anything more than a couple games, Portland’s front line is now Kurt Thomas, Marcus Camby and Craig Smith. Gulp … The Kings battled. More specifically, Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and Marcus Thornton battled. And yet, Chicago still pulled out a crazy 121-115 win behind Luol Deng (23 points, 11 assists) and Joakim Noah (22 points, 11 rebounds) … Let’s take a moment to reflect on Cousins (28 points, 17 rebounds). He was acting a fool earlier this season, but lately, kid has been Jermaine Dupri-ing. He had nine and eight after the first 12 minutes, including one play where he raced down an air ball and muscled up a shot and tip-in amongst three Bulls. Then a few minutes later, he hit a runner off the glass… plus one … Taj Gibson had an angry third quarter dunk, and it prompted Stacey King to yell “DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO POST VIDEOS TO FACEBOOK?” from the commercial … Best moment of the entire night: During a break, a random guy proposed at midcourt, but said he didn’t have the ring. Then out of nowhere, Benny the Bull came flying down out of the rafters with it. It was like something straight outta Semi-Pro … And Arron Afflalo continued his resurgence with 20 points in Denver’s easy 109-92 win over the Suns. Steve Nash and Grant Hill sat it out to rest up, but we couldn’t blame them if they pulled the old intramural trick: sit out and then sneak your way onto another team. Even 20 points from a rejuvenated Michael Redd couldn’t halt the bleeding … And how was your Valentine’s Day? The Wizards had some interesting stories. Trevor Booker told a tale of how he once was away for the holiday and taped his gift to an alarm, set it for midnight and then put it under his girl’s bed. He was feeling himself over that one. Then, there was this from Jordan Crawford: “I’m the wrong person to talk to about Valentine’s Day. I usually get rid of my shorties around now.” … We’re out like A.I.’s bank account.

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