Every morning, we will give you five things from the night before in the NBA to start your day.
1: Late flight
The Atlanta Hawks were thought to be pretty close to trading Josh Smith to their opponent on Saturday night.
The team's recent run of Playoff appearances had appeared to run its course. A deal could not be struck and so both the Hawks and Bucks went their merry ways, thinking only about what if rather than what was.
What was Saturday night was J.J. Redick's debut in a Milwaukee jersey ruined by Al Horford and the Hawks.
Horford hit a hook shot with 5.9 seconds left to give Atlanta a 103-102 victory at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Saturday. A big road win for the Hawks in keeping pace in the middle of the East and setting the Bucks back in their goal to maintain the eighth spot and possibly climb the standings as Redick hoped he could help the team to do.
Horford scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The Man of the Week, so to speak, Josh Smith, had 15 points and 13 rebounds as Atlanta pounded Milwaukee inside to keep pace in this one at the end.
The Bucks actually outrebounded the Hawks 58-41 including a 17-10 edge on the offensive glass. Larry Sanders had 19 rebounds on his own. But he could not defend the Hawks down the stretch. And Milwaukee, still piecing together that guard roation after the trade, took the defeat.
2: Streaking Wizards
Teams cannot overlook the Washington Wizards anymore.
John Wall might not be hitting jumpers at the rate he will need to if he is to take the next step in his career, but his team is now finally looking like a dangerous team. A team that could have made the Playoffs with a healthy roster from the very beginning.
There was Bradley Beal scoring 21 points. There was Emeka Okafor with 17 points and 11 rebounds. And, of course, John Wall with 12 points and 11 assists. And even Trevor Ariza with 18 points.
This is what Washington envisioned when the team put these players together this offseason. Certainly the Wizards envisioned competing for the Playoffs and toppling Playoff teams like the Rockets, as they did 105-103 on Saturday at Verizon Center.
Washington is not a push over anymore. The team has won six of the past eight games now. The team is at full health now. Although perhaps the team started too late.
The Rockets continue their up and down season in the meantime. James Harden had 27 points and Chandler Parsons had 24 points. But Houston continues to struggle getting stops in key situations. They can score with the best of them, but the Rockets will not go very far without any stops.
3: HIGHLIGHTS!!!
Faried on the run
DeQuan Jones flies
Wade 16,000 strong
4: Line of the Night: Dwyane Wade — 33 points, 14/18 FGs
Hey, it is not LeBron James this time. Dwyane Wade scored his 16,000th point in Miami's 114-90 win over Philadelphia. Wade had a scoring outburst that has been rare this season with James on the roster. James did still record a triple double. However, Wade's best scoring game in about a month. You cannot forget Wade is still on the team.
5: You can quote me on that
No one feels good about the game the other night, but we did bounce back tonight. We had some fight, we had some passion, we had some enthusiasm, we had some fire under our belt to play well.
It doesn't mean you're always going to win, but it gives yourself a chance.
–Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro
I just think he's understanding the rhythm of the game. And he's becoming more assertive in more plays. He's got a confidence in his jumper that he didn't have earlier in the season. And if he every got a fair whistle, he'd probably score a lot more points. I just think Ty sometimes is so strong and so quick, he gets knocked but not knocked off balance. But a foul is a foul.
