Heading into Jeremy Lin's return to the Big Apple on Monday, the Houston Rockets lost to the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors over the weekend. On Friday, Houston lost 101-89 to the Celtics before falling 103-96 on Sunday to the Raptors.

Across the NBA landscape, Saturday included a matchup of Eastern and Western Conference surprises. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Atlanta Hawks, 115-93, in Atlanta on Saturday.

The Chicago Bulls pulled out a gutsy 83-82 win at home against the Brooklyn Nets, and the New York Knicks also survived a close game on Saturday, winning 103-102 to stave off Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving's career-high 41 points.

On Sunday, the Rockets gave up a triple-double to Toronto point guard Jose Calderon in the defeat. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers won their second game in a row in Philadelphia with a 111-98 score, and rookie guard Damian Lillard hit a game-winning three-pointer for the Portland Trail Blazers, who beat the New Orleans Hornets, 95-94.