As it turns out, Nate Robinson's shot at the wrong basket during Saturday's Knicks/Nets game at the Izod Center wouldn't have counted even if it had gone off before the first-quarter buzzer sounded. Howard Beck of the New York Times explains:

It's spelled out in Rule 5, Section 1e: "It is a violation for a player to attempt a field goal at an opponent's basket. The opposing team will be awarded the ball at the free-throw line extended."

Translating from rule-book-speak -- if you accidentally tip the ball into the opponent's basket, that counts. Intentionally shooting at the wrong basket simply results in a turnover.

Of course, that rule is sufficiently obscure that neither Mike D'Antoni nor any of the reporters covering the game (including, by his own admission, Howard Beck) were aware of it.

I don't know why people think Ron Artest is strange. It's not like he made an appearance on a network late-night show wearing nothing but his boxers.

Oh. Wait.

Watching the average NBA game, I'll regularly find myself wondering, "How did he get so open?"

If you've ever found yourself asking that same question, you simply must read this breakdown of the Knicks' third-quarter run against the vaunted Boston Celtics defense, courtesy of CelticsHub. Blogger Zach Lowe does an outstanding job of showing -- and explaining -- how the slightest hesitation or incorrect decision on defense can leave a shooter with an open look.

Gilbert Arenas won as many fans with his online presence as his on-court performance. Long before Stephon Marbury was eating vaseline on UStream and Kevin Love was telling the world -- via his Twitter account -- that Kevin McHale wouldn't be back as coach of the T-Wolves and Charlie Villanueva was tweeting from the locker room at halftime, Arenas' blog on NBA.com was a must-read.

Unfortunately for the sports blogosphere, Arenas launched his most recent comeback this season by letting his play on the court do the talking. In mid-October, he even drew a fine for not speaking to reporters.

But Arenas' need for self-expression can't be constrained like that. He's finally joined Twitter.

Arenas and Twitter is the most-anticipated marriage since Jim and Pam. (Or Lamar and Khloe.) But there's a catch. You can follow @gilbertarenas, but he's vowed not to start tweeting until he reaches the 1,000,000 follower mark. He's got a ways to go... as I post, he's just north of 5,000.

Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Blog has details on Arenas' quest -- and a recap of Agent Zero's weird and wonderful history on the Web.

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