2nd Day of the Week...

...And the second to last day of this AS, fantasy shortened week. There were only 6 games on tonight as teams are readying themselves for a break during the festivities this weekend in New Orleans. Tomorrow's a big day though, as there are 14 games and 28 out of the 30 teams in action.

- Tonight the action started in Indiana where the League-leading Celtics went in for a visit, winning 104-97 to put their record at 40-9. The Celtics played great D and got by without KG once again, this time with Paul Pierce leading the way with his 28pts and 12rebs. Leon Powe is a guy that needs to be watched now as he had 16pts and 9rebs in this contest. He's starting at center with the absence of Kendrick Perkins and playing well. If the Wolves ever feel they want to play small ball, he's shown that he can be their man, doing many of the little things to help the team win. Rajon Rondo had another solid night, scoring 12pts, grabbing 7rebs and dishing out 7assts. The Pacers had a balanced attack with 6 players 10+pts, but shot only 42.5% as a team and turned the ball over 16 times. Danny Granger led the way with 18pts and 10rebs.

- Atlanta held a lead over Detroit at home for a good portion of tonight, but in the final frame the Pistons took control to eventually win 94-90. Led by Rasheed Wallace (21pts, 5stls), the Pistons took the game from a surprising Hawks team at this point in the season. The Hawks, at 21-27, are the 7th seed in the East, which is more than they've been able to say in a while. Josh Smith almost got them the win with his 30pts and Al Horford chipped in 12pts and 16rebs, but Joe Johnson, their captain, didn't have it tonight (as has been the story many nights shooting only 40% this season) only going for 11pts on 3-13 shooting.

- In Jersey, the Nets continued their half-hearted push for a playoff spot against Minnesota. They won 92-88, but neither team looked too impressive. The Nets won behind Vince Carter's 17pts and 10assts, but shot only 42% from the field as a team. Nenad Krstic seems to be getting back healthy though. In only 15mins tonight, he shot 5-9 for 10pts and 8rebs. He's a decent option if he keeps this up, starts and stays healthy. Minnesota had a lone bright spot tonight in Sebastian Telfair (24pts, 7assts) in the ugly loss.

- Denver went into South Beach tonight and got a tough OT win against Miami in a great finish. Mark Blount (18pts, 13rebs in total) hit a game-tying jumper in regulation to send it into OT, but the better team, Denver, eventually pulled it out, 114-113. The Nuggets got huge games out of a couple of role players tonight while AI and Melo were both cold (14-43 combined). Kenyon Martin went 12-16 from the field for 24pts and 6 boards, while J.R. Smith had 28pts tonight with 8 threes off the bench. For the Heat, Marion and Wade were "who we thought they were" having spectacular nights. Marion had 23pts, 18rebs on 11-26 shooting, while Wade was identical from the field for his 29pts and 10assts. Dorell Wright is also shows flashes as the other forward in the Heat starting lineup (19pts, 8rebs in this one).

- In Memphis, the hometown Grizz pulled out a hot 2nd half to beat the Kings. Hakim Warrick was the story in this one starting tonight and going for 24pts, 13rebs. Needless to say, a huge game, while J.C. Navarro was solid himself as the 6th man off the bench with 19pts himself. For the Kings, Kevin Martin took 23 shots to get his 31pts and no one else shot much better. The team shot 37% as a whole while losing 94-107.

- The last game of the night surprisingly took place in the Midwest, where the Hornets visited the Bulls. The Hornets went back to playing their game and won this one easily down the stretch, 100-86. New Orleans was led by Chris Paul and David West as usual (25pts, 4rebs, 14assts and 27pts, 7rebs, 2blks, respectively), while Peja put in 6treys himself to score 27pts. The Bulls got Kirk Hinrich back from injury, but Chris Duhon remained in the starting lineup. Duhon played 30mins, while Hinrich played 25. I don't think this will be a competition, just a case of Hinrich just returning from an injury and perhaps was not 100%. One thing the Bulls can hope for is health after the AS Break. Currently sitting in the 11th spot in the East at 20-31 and only 2 games out of the 8th seed, a healthy Bulls team could easily make a playoff push.