Cavaliers 95, Hawks 84

In the first game of a home-and-home series, the Cavaliers showed their dominance by beating the Hawks at the Phillips Arena. It was a tight game with the Hawks down one at the start of the final quarter. The Cavs held the Hawks to a meager 10 points in the fourth to pull away and earn the hard fought victory. LeBron James struggled from the field going 6-20, but found other ways to help his team out. He finished with 14 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals. Mo Williams and Delonte West led the Cavs with 20 points and 17 points respectively. Delonte West also went up on Josh Smith and dunked on him on a fast break which had the Cavalier bench going wild.

Jamal Crawford continued to provide a spark of the Hawks bench by scoring 26 points (4-5 from 3 points range). The play of the game came in the 4th quarter when Maurice Evans tried to do a reverse dunk and it was blocked by Jamario Moon. The Hawks then went on to miss their first ten shots in the fourth quarter, helping the Cavs pull away.

Thunder 110, Wizards 98

Kevin Durant followed his 40 point performance against the Nets with another beauty helping the Thunder beat the Wizards 110 to 98.  Durant finished with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists. Durant scored his 35 points on 12-19 shooting – he is doing it all right now. Durant is shooting well from the outside, but more importantly he is attacking the basket. With his size and length, if he continues to take the ball hard to the whole he will be very tough to stop. Russell Westbrook struggled from the floor but still finished three rebounds shy from a triple-double. Westbrook finished the game with 11 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds. This win provided the Thunder with their first 4-game winning streak since 2006.

Antwan Jamison and Gilbert Arenas did what they could to keep the Wizards in the game. Jamison finished with 28 points and Arenas had 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Knicks 104, Pistons 87

The Knicks held their opponent to under 100 points for the eleventh time this season.  They are now 7-4 in games in which they do so.  David Lee continued his streak of monster games by scoring 30 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out 5 assists.  Wilson Chandler also put in a big game scoring 25 points and 9 rebounds.  Danilo Gallinari scored 16 points going 4-9 from three-point range.

The Pistons continued to struggle falling nine games under .500 for the first time since the 2000-2001 season.  Tayshaun Prince is working his way back but struggled scoring two points in 25 minutes.  Gordon scored 17 points off the bench but it was not enough for the Pistons to stay in this game.

-JB