A unique kind of Love Dallas coach Rick Carlisle called Kevin Love's extensive double-double streak "an unbelievable accomplishment" after seeing it up close last week. "He reminds me a little of Dennis Rodman, a little of Charles Oakley, a little of [Wes] Unseld," Carlisle said. "He's unique. You don't see a lot of guys who pour out that kind of energy on every possession. It takes a different kind of dude to do that."

Turnabout Indiana's lifeless loss at Target Center Wednesday night left them 3-9 in their last 12 games after they started 7-1 under new coach Frank Vogel, who replaced fired Jim O'Brien. Pacers boss Larry Bird says the players need to look at themselves and not the coach.

"The last 10-12 games, the guys haven't reacted the way you do as professionals," Bird said.

Meeting the Prez President Obama greeted members of the Celtics privately while he was in Boston last week. Celtics coach Doc Rivers didn't pick up a phone call from Obama after the team reached the NBA Finals last June.

"He brought that up," Rivers said. "I've learned that if it's the 202 area code you should probably answer it. No caller ID. He thanked us for Thibs. He talked a lot about the Bulls, I will say that."

The Bulls hired Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau last summer to be their head coach.

By the numbers Dallas is 20-3 since Jan. 22, but all three losses have been by one point. They played nine games in that stretch that were decided by four points or fewer and were 1-3 in one-point games and 5-0 in the others.