He followed that up with a game-high 25 points against Portland. Morrow sank three straight free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory over the Trail Blazers.

He made a combined 23 of 32 shots (71.8%) in those games, including eight of 10 from three-point range and is now the toast of the Bay area.

"He's the real deal," said coach Don Nelson. "And we haven't even learned how to play with him yet."

Said Golden State's Stephen Jackson, "Morrow is a flat-out scorer."

So who is Anthony Morrow?

The 6-foot-5, 23-year-old rookie was not drafted last June after playing four seasons at Georgia Tech where he set a school career record for free-throw percentage (86.7%). He was signed by Golden State as a free agent last July after he had given some thought to playing in the Ukraine. Last summer, he played for the Warriors in the Las Vegas summer league and in the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City, averaging a combined 18.1 points and shooting 73.9% from three-point range. He was named the most valuable player of the Rocky Mountain Revue.

Morrow doesn't own a car yet - although he has his eye on a pretty cool Dodge Challenger - and rides the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) or scrounges rides from his teammates. He doesn't have an apartment and is living in a downtown Oakland hotel.

Since he signed a two-year, only partially guaranteed contract for the league minimum, he's waiting for his finances to stabilize a bit before making too many investments.

Nelson likes Morrow's ability to provide some instant offense, to grab a rebound or two and the strides he's taken since training camp.

Nelson put Morrow in the starting lineup because he has decided to play small ball, with the 6-6 Corey Maggette shifting over to power forward.

"When the better teams start coming in or we go there, we'll see how it all works," said Nelson. "But I think that this is the way that we're going to have to play to max out what we have."

It all adds up to only one thing where Morrow is concerned.

"I just wake up every day like, 'I'm in the NBA,' " he said.

Perkins acting badly

Celtics center Kendrick Perkins isn't bothered by the fact that he's accumulated a league-high seven technical fouls in the first 13 games. He says he loves the intensity with which the Celtics are playing and has no plans to tone down his act. Coach Doc Rivers takes a slightly different view of the situation.

"He's the one guy I think emotionally when he starts getting involved with other guys and getting techs, it affects his game," said Rivers. "He has to be better at that. He still doesn't understand that just because a guy is trash-talking to you, not responding is a sure strength more than responding. What do you need to respond for? Just play?"

Andrea's new position

Toronto coach Sam Mitchell has been experimenting with using the 7-foot Andrea Bargnani at small forward alongside 6-10 Chris Bosh and 6-11 Jermaine O'Neal, and it's worked pretty well so far. In the first three games with that combination, Bargnani averaged 14.3 points and 3.7 rebounds while the three together averaged 56.0 points and 30.7 rebounds. Asked why he went with Bargnani over Jamario Moon at small forward, Mitchell said, "We have to start getting some production out of that spot." But can Bargnani guard small forwards? "It wasn't like we were going a great job anyway," said Mitchell.

Oh, Danny

Indiana coach Jim O'Brien has lightened the defensive load on forward Danny Granger, and it's worked wonders for Granger on the offensive end. In past seasons, Granger has been matched up against the other team's best perimeter player but now Marquis Daniels has been given that duty, at least at the beginning of games. Granger has responded with three games of at least 30 points and is averaging a career-high 24.3 points.

"I don't want to have Danny get totally worn out playing guys like that," said O'Brien. "Danny is responsible for a lot of our scoring. I don't want to take his legs out of it."

Byron stays upbeat

The New Orleans Hornets have been losing more than they had anticipated which has led to frustration, scuffles among players in practice and players ducking out after practice without talking with reporters. Coach Byron Scott, who has joked that he's had to act as a security guard at practice to keep players from going after each other, looks at the bright side.

"Our guys are not real happy with how we've played," said Scott. "Just like I told them, we have to keep fighting. The one thing that I am proud of is that our defense has been much better. It's just a matter of time before the offense clicks."

Coming up short

Rookie Michael Beasley will continue to ride the bench at the end of the games because of his defensive shortcomings. Coach Erik Spoelstra thinks his best defensive lineup includes Udonis Haslem at center and Shawn Marion at power forward. "We're going to have to see it," said Spoelstra, referring to some defense from Beasley. "I'm not going to back off at all on the accountability and expectations."

Not a passing grade

Last week's loss to the Lakers was disappointing to the Suns for several reasons. Phoenix coach Terry Porter wanted to use the game as an indicator to see where the Suns stood, and they didn't measure up to the Lakers even with Kobe Bryant having a mediocre night. Also, it followed losses to Houston and Utah - two of the other top teams in the west - and it came on national television which prompted Porter to recall how many TNT games he was involved in as coach of the Bucks. "We had the same number as a dead man . . . zero," said Porter.

Home, sweet home

The Mavericks are thinking it's time to get things turned around. They followed up a five-game losing streak with a three-game road winning streak and will play nine of 11 at home. That includes a seven-game home stand to start December. The only problem is that they have struggled at home, where they lost their first four games.

"Those five losses in a row really seemed like a month," said forward Dirk Nowitzki. "The atmosphere is not the same. Nothing beats winning. If you lose all the time, it's not fun being around a losing program."

Fast breaks

While admitting that there are some interesting possibilities out there, Heat president Pat Riley plans to wait 20 or 30 games before making any personnel moves. . . . The league plans to move its pre-draft camp from Orlando back to Chicago next summer. . . . Bosh has six career 40-point games with three of them coming against Orlando. . . . Pacers guard Jamaal Tinsley continues to stay away from the team while it tries to trade him.

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