Every morning, we will give you five things from the night before in the NBA to start your day.
1: Soaring low in Atlanta
Doc Rivers has been notably down on his team as they have gone through this losing skid and the team has had to question its status as legitimate contenders. Everyone seems to think Boston just needs the fire lit under it to regain the championship form and get back into the game.
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo all have that killer instinct. You would think.
Those threats of major change to the roster might need to be renewed after Friday's latest disappointment.
Boston looked ready to regain their form, troucning the Hawks for the better part of two quarters. Then the age began to show and things went south in a completely unexpected way.
A 27-point lead went up in smoke behind Kyle Korver's incredibly hot shooting and Boston's inability to adjust or score down the stretch proved to be the end for the Celtics. If Boston's 26-point second-half comeback in Orlando spelled Orlando's end, this frustrating collapse may be the end for Boston.
The Celtics lost in double overtime 123-111, giving up 10 unanswered points in the second overtime and seeing Paul Pierce have his shot blocked on the potential game-winner in overtime.
You have to give Atlanta credit for making the comeback and sticking to the team's gameplan. It is easy to hang your head when you are down 27 and let the loss just come. But with each Korver 3-pointer, the Hawks believed more. And even when the Celtics rebounded to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, the Hawks continued to fight back.
They got their reward for doing so.
2: Speights, Ellington living it up
Wayne Ellington and Marreese Speights were fresh off the airplane from Memphis in playing their first game for Cleveland. They played with a renewed energy like they had something to prove too. And the crowd was feeding them all the energy they needed.
Milwaukee raced out to a lead early in this one and led by double digits for most of the first half. Then freshly minted All Star Kyrie Irving took over in the third quarter for yet another 30-point effort.
But the story turned out to be what the bench players did in the fourth quarter to complete the turnaround and absolutely stop the Bucks. Milwaukee's offense looked completely out of sync as the team fell to Cleveland 113-108. The Bucks scored only 18 points in the final quarter.
Who led that charge?
It was Ellington, Speights and Shaun Livingston doing a lot of the dirty work in the fourth quarter. Milwaukee could not respond to their energy and found itself overwhelmed in the end. It was great to see Livingston dominate again after all he has been through.
3: HIGHLIGHTS!!!
Don't snub Marc Gasol
LeBron tackles fan in celebration
Russell Westbrook shows off the handles
4: Line of the Night: Kobe Bryant — 14 points, 14 assists, 9 rebounds, 7/10 FGs
Kobe Bryant was in full point guard mode for the Lakers win over the Jazz on Friday as the Lakers finally looked like a team. at least for one night. Bryant did not score much, but he was getting into the lane and creating for others like Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace. It was a complete game for the Lakers and Bryant.
5: You can quote me on that
We don't worry about that. Past is the past. We're not going to change that. We learned a lot of things in the past and now we've got to think about the present and future. Still a lot of games and we need wins. Play together, know each other more and create more chemistry. That's what we need to do.
–Wizards forward Nene after Washington defeated Minnesota
I'm trying to think, as a coach and as a player, this is probably one of the most amazing comebacks I've been associated with.
