Camby will sign a 3-year, $13.2 million deal. The Rockets will receive Toney Douglas, Josh Harrelson and Jerome Jordan along with second round picks in 2014 and 2015.

Camby was deciding between a few teams including the Miami Heat but would have had to take much less money to go play in South Beach.

The Knicks have also come to terms with their two shooters from last season, Steve Novak and J.R. Smith.

Novak has agreed to a 4-year, $15 million deal with New York and Smith a 2-year, $2.8 million deal.

New York is putting together what feels like a better roster than last season’s. Not getting Steve Nash was devastating but they are still making progress.

Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert is a restricted free agent this summer and agreed to a 4-year, $58 million offer sheet with Portland. Indiana expectedly plans to match that offer.

Free agents cannot officially sign until July 11 and at that point, teams will have three days to match any offer sheets that are signed.

The Orlando Magic are still working on getting a deal done to trade Dwight Howard. Yesterday, a third team (the Cleveland Cavaliers) was brought into the mix with Orlando and Brooklyn. Now the Nets are looking to involve the Los Angeles Clippers as well.

Brooklyn wants to trade MarShon Brooks to the Clippers for another first rounder to use in the package they will send Orlando in exchange for Howard.

The deal still looks like highway robbery for the Nets and it is unclear if the deal is really close enough for the Magic to say yes.

The Clippers would make out great if they can swap a first round pick for Brooks who had a very nice rookie campaign.

LeBron James commented today on the Pacers’ attempt to play physical with the Heat and get in their faces.

“Whatever he’s trying, it is not working,” LeBron said of Danny Granger. “He’s said he’s not scared of LeBron, I want to let (James) know. I guess he’s doing it for his own psyche. It’s stupid.”

Granger has picked up technical fouls in each of the last three games and gotten into LeBron’s face as well.

In Game 4, the strategy by the Pacers to do this did not seem to work as it seemed to awaken Dwyane Wade and LeBron who went off in the second half as the Heat came back to beat the Pacers in Indiana and tie the series.

“I think there is a line and I’m tip-toeing it,” Granger said. “That’s a product of the chip on my shoulder and we have on our shoulder as a team of not being respected. That goes not just for this series, but all year. We had the fourth or fifth best record in the NBA and I think we only had one televised game. Three or four teams that didn’t make the playoffs had more televised games than us. It was just a matter of being disrespected nationally.”

Granger can feel this way and that’s ok but it might not be the greatest idea to get LeBron and Wade riled up.

Despite losing Game 4, the Pacers are still confident they can win this series and they should be. They beat the Heat in Game 2 in Miami and both of their wins have come when All-Star center Roy Hibbert has had big games.

In Game 4, Hibbert and David West were in foul trouble and it helped allow LeBron and Wade to get going and attack the paint which they did very efficiently.

Hibbert and West will have to play big for Indiana to have a chance as Chris Bosh is still out with his injury and inside is where the Pacers have their biggest advantage.

Granger too will need to step up as he hasn’t played very well at all this series while he’s mostly been matched up with LeBron.

The Heat shot terribly from three in the first two games at home and that was a big reason why Indiana kept those games close and won one of them. The role players for Miami picked up their shooting somewhat in Game 4 and one would expect them to be better for Game 5.

Bosh was going to need to step up against the Pacers after playing below his averages in Round 1 against the Knicks. The Pacers’ greatest strength against the Heat is a size advantage down low and Bosh was going to be matched up with Pacer’s All-Star center Roy Hibbert.

Bosh was doing his job in Game 1 taking Hibbert away from the paint and then driving on him when he would get the ball.

Without Bosh in the second half, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had to step up their games and they did just that. LeBron scored 32 points and Wade scored 29 as both players logged over 40 minutes.

The Heat team we saw in the second half is now the one we will likely see for the rest of the series. Miami is still favored to win the series but it just got a lot tougher.

We can now expect huge numbers from LeBron and Wade and they should continue to be efficient in doing so as Indiana’s wings really match up poorly with them.

The biggest concern for Miami will be Bosh’s health moving forward past this series. They are going to need him to contribute to win a championship this season and if he’s not the same when he comes back the Heat might end up having to wait another year for that first title.

Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

For the first time this season the Oklahoma City Thunder have lost three straight games. The Indiana Pacers beat the Thunder 103-98 Friday night as the Thunder now are only a half game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the Western Conference.

The Thunder didn’t really have it tonight and fell behind early. They didn’t give up though because they never do.

Kevin Durant scored 44 points on 15-of-24 shooting and was the lone bright spot for Oklahoma City. Russell Westbrook had 21 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists but was 7-for-23 from the field.

The first half killed the Thunder tonight. They trailed by 15 at halftime and allowed 54 percent shooting from Indiana.

The energy wasn’t there as the game had the feel of a letdown game after the Miami one a few nights ago. Durant and Westbrook still each played 40-plus minutes as the two played the entire second half.

James Harden was quiet again with 10 points and four assists and just one field goal in the game.

Indiana is a solid team and played that way tonight giving the Thunder a defensive effort they aren’t always used to but should have been after their last two losses.

Roy Hibbert and Danny Granger led the way for the Pacers. Hibbert had a big first half and finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. Granger carried the offensive load in the last two quarters and led the team with 26 points.

Paul George may have had the biggest impact for the Pacers despite scoring only eight points he also added a career high 16 rebounds and held Durant to just 44.

The Thunder proved again tonight why they are the most entertaining team in the NBA this season. This was a game where they should have lost by 20. It was decided in the first half. They never gave up and fought for the entire second half even though the destined winner was Indiana.

Oklahoma City is now 40-15 on the year and will play Toronto (20-35) for their next game Sunday night.

Kevin Durant has scored 16 points in the first half against the Indiana Pacers but he hasn’t gotten much help and the Thunder find themselves trailing 56-41 after two quarters.

Russell Westbrook has only three points and is 1-of-8 from the field but also has six assists and five rebounds.

Serge Ibaka has been solid for the Thunder with six points and four blocks already.

The Pacers have brought an all-around team effort to the floor tonight shooting 54.3 percent from the floor in the first half with Roy Hibbert leading the way with 16 points, five rebounds and four blocks.

Oklahoma City will have to get their act together early in the third quarter to avoid their third-straight loss tonight.

Michael Hickey-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (2-game losing streak)
107.4 Offensive Efficiency (1st)
99.9 Defensive Efficiency (9th)
95.6 Pace (6th)
57.1 True Shooting % (1st)
51.5 Rebound Rate (4th)

Pacers (3-game winning streak)
103.0 Offensive Efficiency (9th)
100.2 Defensive Efficiency (11th)
93.3 Pace (19th)
52.7 True Shooting % (14th)
50.7 Rebound Rate (9th)

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers meet tonight for the first and only time this season.

The Thunder are currently going through a tough little stretch in which they’ve lost their last two games. The Pacers have been one of the most improved teams this season, currently the three-seed in the East and riding a three-game winning streak into tonight’s game.

The Thunder and Pacers play two different brands of ball. Oklahoma City likes to get up and down and beat you one-on-one. It’s a collective effort from the Pacers that usually does the trick and they play tough defense and do well on the boards.

Oklahoma City has been susceptible in defeat to giving up a lot of second-chance opportunities. With All-Star center Roy Hibbert and super-energy guy Tyler Hansbrough off the bench the Pacers can definitely hurt you in that way.

The Thunder are coming off two games in which they faced very tough defense so they should be in gear for that tonight. The talent factor is largely in the Thunder’s favor tonight.

Kevin Durant should have a much easier time getting looks tonight than he did the past two games against Memphis and Miami. Although Paul George is turning into a very good perimeter defender and has the length to contend with Durant’s. It will be an interesting matchup tonight to see if Durant is slowed down by the two-year man.

Another interesting matchup will be the former UCLA teammates, Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison. They played together in college and made it to the Final Four with Collison running point then and Westbrook as the combo two. Expect Westbrook to be motivated to challenge his former teammate and possibly try for a big scoring night.

The bench is an area where the Pacers are solid and the Thunder shouldn’t expect their usual advantage when the starters come out. It will be up to James Harden so get production from the second unit on the road where they often aren’t up to par.

With three weeks left in the season this is the third straight game for the Thunder against one of the better opponents in the NBA, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They dropped their first two tests and have only done that twice all season. A third consecutive loss is unlikely so expect a Thunder victory tonight.