Five-Star Review: Hawks win 18th in a row, Warriors drop second straight

Atlanta will never lose a basketball game again, it's official.

By James Herbert

Jan 30, 2015 at 10:54 pm ET • 5 min read

Clap for the Hawks, who have won 18 straight. (USATSI)

GAME OF THE NIGHT - HAWKS 105, BLAZERS 99: Feels like Atlanta's just never going to lose. On a night where LaMarcus Aldridge put up 37 points and 11 rebounds, and the Hawks trailed after three quarters, the streak could've ended. But nope. Nopenopenope. They're too good.

Atlanta went crazy in the final frame, scoring 35 points on 15-for-21 shooting. Yeah, that's 71.4 percent. That's a lot of percent. I'd say the way the Hawks got their 18th win in a row was unreal, unbelievable, etc., but it wasn't. We've seen this team do this sort of thing before.

Early in the fourth, Al Horford started a fast break with a block, then Kent Bazemore and Mike Scott finished it:

Then should-be-All-Star Kyle Korver did his thing:

Later, Jeff Teague pulled a Rondo:

And finally, Teague showed off his nasty handles to create room for his floater:

All hail the HaWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWks.

SPINSAP: Paul Millsap does awesome things off the dribble all the time, and this spin-and-finish over Aldridge was particularly impressive:

STEVE NASHBLAKE: Honestly didn't know Steve Blake had this in his bag of tricks, wow:

OKAY, SURE, BLAKE: I don't even have anything to say about this end-of-quarter shot.

(via SB Nation)

KENT ERAZEMORE: It has to feel good to block a shot straight into somebody's face. It can't feel good to be Wesley Matthews in this situation.

IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL FIVE STARS: The NBA had its phantom camera at Philips Arena, which is a wonderful thing.

EVERYBODY PANIC : The Warriors have tied their longest losing streak of the season. They've lost two in a row. The sky is falling.

OK, really, losing 110-100 to the Jazz isn't great, but it shouldn't cause too much concern. Golden State's defense just wasn't there in the first half, and Utah got a great performance out of Gordon Hayward (26 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, three steals).

Stephen Curry had a 32-7-6 night, but for understandable reasons didn't look too happy at the end:

Awww poor Warriors pic.twitter.com/plQsmKtURG
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) January 31, 2015

The Warriors play the Suns on Saturday.

LINE OF THE NIGHT -- JARRETT JACK/BROOK LOPEZ: Jack played 52 (!) minutes in the Nets' 127-122 overtime loss to the Raptors, and he made the most of them. He shot 13-for-30, and had 35 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds, one steal and only two turnovers. His teammate, Brook Lopez, equaled his 35 points and added 12 rebounds, three blocks, three steals and just one turnover in 41 minutes. He also shot a bit better: 15-for-28.

DeMWHAAAA?: DeMar DeRozan has the ability to make all sorts of shots that should be impossible, and he had a particularly crazy one late in overtime:

He had 26 points, nine assists and four rebounds in the win, which really shouldn't have been that difficult -- Toronto scored the first 12 points in the game and led by as many as 17 -- but is Toronto's fifth straight.

THE CAVS ARE HALF AS GOOD AS THE HAWKS: Well, their winning streak is, anyway. After beating the Kings 101-90, Cleveland has won nine games in a row. Kevin Love, who is not an All-Star this season, had 23 points and 10 boards. It was his first 20-point game since the last time the Cavs played Sacramento, which was an embarrassing 103-84 loss on Jan. 11 when LeBron James was injured. A lot has changed since then for the Cleveland.

DeMarcus Cousins, who is an All-Star, had 21 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, five steals and one block. But that's normal, as is the team's result. The Kings shot 35.7 percent from the floor. Here's what Cousins thought:

Cousins said the Kings need to redefine roles: "I think a lot of guys are lost out there right now."
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) January 31, 2015

Added Cousins: "(Kings are) getting caught up in this whole pace thing and it's making guys wacko when it comes to offense."
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) January 31, 2015

LEBRON IS HAVING FUN AGAIN: Things just look too easy for LeBron James, which feels right. Here is he making Ramon Sessions look silly:

BAD TIME TO BE A BULL: A day after losing to the Lakers, amid speculation about their head coach's long-term future with the franchise, the Bulls fell 99-93 in Phoenix. They fell down big in the first half, came back in the third, then couldn't get stops when they needed to in the fourth. Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic combined for 44 points for the Suns, with the former providing the dagger:

ALLEY-OOP OF THE NIGHT: Derrick Rose to Jimmy Butler off a jump ball: very, very nice.

Love Butler slapping the glass with both hands.

ROSE REVERSE LAYUPS ARE THE BEST REVERSE LAYUPS: The Bulls have real problems right now, but it's always fun to see Rose's fancy finishes.

(via @gifdsports)

WHOA, NOAH: More from Chicago's fun department: Joakim Noah dunking all over Miles Plumlee:

(via @cjzero)

MCTRIPDUB: Michael Carter-Williams had his third triple-double of the season, dropping 17, 10 and 10 against the Timberwolves. Nerlens Noel might have had the cooler line, though: 14 points, six boards, three assists, six blocks, four steals, 7-for-8 FG. And he pretended to be a point guard:

The Sixers won 103-94, by the way, sweeping the season series against Minnesota. Oof, Minnesota.

BIG DADDY CANADA : Anthony Bennett played seven minutes and attempted one shot against Philadelphia, which doesn't sound great. But that one shot was cool:

LET'S CHECK IN ON EVAN TURNER: Yikes.

(via SB Nation)

BUT DID THE CELTICS DO WAY BETTER THAN THEY SHOULD'VE?: Funny you should ask. Yes, Boston fell behind by 19, but Brad Stevens' team did what it pretty much always does, fighting back to make it close down the stretch.

The Celtics held James Harden to 14 points on 4-for-21 shooting and won the third quarter 22-9, but still lost 93-87 in the end.

ERIC GORDON REVENGE GAME: Gordon dropped 28 points and seven assists against the Clippers in a 108-103 Pelicans win. Anthony Davis didn't play, so yeah, pretty horrible loss for Los Angeles. You could write a depressing little e-book entitled "Pretty horrible Clippers losses" already this season.

PHOTO OF THE NIGHT -- PIERRE WAS HAPPY: Like, really happy.

HASSANITY UPDATE: Hassan Whiteside broke another Heat franchise record in the first quarter against Dallas, pulling down 14 rebounds. That number was more than the Mavericks' point total at that point -- Miami won the quarter 15-13. Ugly stuff.

Whiteside finished with 16 points and 24 rebounds and shot 7-for-11 from the field. Only one block this time.