- Hawks 83, Bulls 80 - Well, that was a weird game... I missed this one live, so I had the pleasure of seeing the DVR version... aka I got to break this one down very closely... Al Horford led the way for Atlanta with 31 and 16, keying the comeback from 17 down at the half including a huge dunk with about 30 seconds to go to take the Hawks first lead of the night... he honestly dismantled the Bulls frontcourt in this one... Noah had no answer, and there was a rare "dominant" streak that usually isn't there from Al... In addition, watching the perimeter defense for the Hawks on this night, you would have never known they were wearing Atlanta jerseys... Kirk Hinrich shot just 1-5 in 31 minutes, but was key in holding Derrick Rose to 5 of 21 shooting... No, I'm not crazy enough to think that Hinrich actually "stopped" Rose just because he had a bad shooting night... but the path of resistance at the point of attack was certainly more formidable than it has been in recent years... if we can only get Larry Drew to not play Josh Powell more than Jeff Teague... anyway... very nice win, and encouraging signs...
- Okay... I'm a little worried about Chris Paul... the best PG alive (and one of my favorite players) hasn't been himself lately... he went 2-7 for just 4 points last night, and while he had 10 assists, his +/- was -19, and Toney Douglas went off on him for NY... Here are Paul's shooting numbers since February 9th... 4/15, 4/11, 3/10, 4/12, 2/6, 8/17, 6/13, 2/12, 3/10, 2/7.... Not a single +50% day... hard to do when you're shooting 48+% coming into that stretch... and the assist numbers are down around 8 (from 10) as well... Nothing to term this a "panic" situation... but it's worth noting at this point...
- Around the Association... The Spurs have 50 wins... in early March... George Hill led the way with 22, 5, and 5 for SA in a road win at Cleveland... impressive stuff from San Antonio this year... Kevin Love has the streak at 48... 20 points, 20 rebounds... ho-hum in their 116-105 win in Detroit... but it's worth noting that Anthony Randolph threw up a 19/10 in just 25 minutes... Kevin Durant had 21 for OKC in their 113-89 drubbing of Indiana, but he left the game with a sprained ankle... just in time for their once-a-year visit to Atlanta on Friday... Umm... are the Nuggets good?... 120-80 was their blowout score over hapless Charlotte last night... they shot 61% from the floor, outrebounded the Bobcats 49-28, and had 10 guys score 6+ points (7 in double figures)... I really like them now from a "I like most of these guys" standpoint but there are still questions about actual viability... and welcome back, Eric Gordon... the Clips stud guard returned with 24 in a home win over Houston, snapping the Rockets 5-game win streak 106-103...
- And while we're here... another buy-out guy signs... Corey Brewer is reportedly headed to Dallas on a multi-year deal... that's a coup for them, and I still can't figure out how NY couldn't find minutes for him... probably because he's a defense-first guy and D'Antoni has no interest on that end...
Elsewhere...
- BYU got run out of their own building last night... 82-64 loss to New Mexico State, and the first game without Davies wasn't exactly successful... Jimmer finished with 33 points, but was 1-9 from 3 and just 10-26 overall from the field... he was clearly forcing things, and while that's defensible, they won't be winning anything if it continues.... bye-bye #1 seed...
- Harrison Barnes arrives?... The highly-touted/anointed UNC freshman hit a game-winning triple last night to upend Florida State at the gun... he's come on in recent weeks, and is creeping back into discussions at the top end of the draft... I really like the kid's game if he's more assertive...
- Elsewhere in college hoops... Kansas and Duke held serve... both with double-digit home wins against pretty good conference foes in Texas A&M and Clemson... nothing to see here... West Virginia beats up on struggling UConn in Morgantown... Kemba Walker was just 8-23 and 11th-year senior (lol) Joe Mazzulla led the way with 18 for WV... and Maryland took one on the chin in Miami last night... not exactly helping their tourney case at 7-8 in the ACC now...
- AJ Hawk cut by Green Bay... but now he's re-signing?... The talented LB was scheduled to make nearly $11 million in 2011, and was released, but reports have him signing a long-term deal with GB possibly by the deadline today...
What to watch for...
- Magic @ Heat - 8:00 TNT - Definitely tonight's headliner... Dwight is quietly making an MVP case recently, and this is a spot where he can probably dominate...
- Nuggets @ Jazz - 10:30 TNT - The two spurned teams taking on each other... Denver has played better since the deadline deals, but they are coming off a back-to-back here...
- #10 Wisconsin @ Indiana - 9:00 ESPN - Wisky is a different team on the road, and Indiana could bite them... but I doubt it...
- UCLA @ Washington - 9:00 ESPN2 - some rare Pac-10 love for the worldwide leader... 2 of the top 3 teams in the league (along with Zona), and Washington actually really needs this one...
Until later...
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