Fear the Links: NBA stars are having a harder time drawing fouls

Happy Wednesday, everyone. Here are today’s links.

ICYMI from Fear the Sword: Fear the Sword’s latest collaboration with BreakingT, Derrick Rose is out against the Rockets due to an ankle injury, J.R. Smith says the Cavs still need to work on defensive communication, a freelance Q&A with David Griffin, how defense fueled a big Cavs play against the Bucks

At ESPN, Kevin Pelton gets into why, and how, Russell Westbrook and other NBA stars are having a harder time drawing fouls this season. As he writes, it’s been hurt the Thunder in close games this season.

At The Athletic, Eric Koreen writes about how Kyle Lowry needs to find his place in the Raptors’ offense.

At VICE Sports, Michael Pina writes about how Dwight Howard is quietly dominating again with the Hornets. One caveat: He also played this well at the beginning of last year with the Hawks.

Lastly, this segment from ‘The Jump’ on LeBron James and Michael Jordan is worth a few minutes of your time.