KORVER'S REVENGE : Once upon a time (OK, July 16, 2012), the Chicago Bulls traded Kyle Korver to the Atlanta Hawks for nothing. Since then, Korver's evolved from one of the best shooters in the world to one of the deadliest weapons in basketball, and this year he is putting together perhaps the most impressive shooting display we've ever seen. It's crazy that he could be a first-time All-Star in his 12th season, but what's crazier is the fact that he's shooting 51.5 percent from the field, 53.6 percent from the 3-point line and 92 percent from the free throw line.
Against the Bulls, who have to wish they could take that trade back, Korver shot 7-for-9 from behind the 3-point line for a game-high 24 points in the Hawks' 107-99 win. He had six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal, too, in 37 minutes of constant movement. When you watch Atlanta, it's tempting to wonder how in the world he keeps getting open. It's pretty simple: he runs off a million screens, he's an expert in reading defenses and the Hawks force the opposition to make impossible choices.
Chicago actually had a chance to win this game, which was somewhat surprising given the level at which Atlanta has been playing and how sluggish the Bulls' offense looked early on. Derrick Rose had a 23-10-8 night, and Pau Gasol went for 22 and 15. That would be enough most nights. Not against the Hawks.
STATS (PLURAL) OF THE NIGHT : Sticking with Korver here:
HOT HORF: Al Horford has 44 points on 19-for-22 shooting in the last 27 hours. Al Horford is good.
STEPHEN CURRY WILL HAUNT THE ROCKETS IN THEIR SLEEP: The Rockets hung in there for a while. They'd lost their first two meetings with the Warriors, but at the end of the first half they were only down by five. They weren't shutting Golden State down, but their frontcourt of Donatas Motiejunas and Dwight Howard had 26 points.
Then the Splash Brothers went off.
The Warriors won the third quarter 38-21, with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combining for 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting. Curry barely even played in the fourth quarter and finished with 27 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds, three steals and a block. Thompson matched his point total.
The final score was 131-106; Golden State shot 55 percent from the field. This was against the second-best defensive team in the league. Wow.
CURRY DOES EVERYTHING: Who else makes this happen? Just ridiculous.
HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE STEPH CURRY OPEN:
HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE JOSH SMITH OPEN :
WHO KICKS A SHOE, HONESTLY?: Andre Iguodala.
THE GRIZZLIES HOLD ON : Memphis, even without Mike Conley, built what looked like an insurmountable lead early in the game, and it would need that cushion later. Portland couldn't hit a jumper in the first half, but LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews all caught fire after that. Clutch shotmaking by Beno Udrih -- Beno Udrih! -- sealed it for the Grizz.
Considering the Blazers were on a SEGABABA, it's pretty impressive that they even managed to fight back. Big win for Memphis, as Portland only has a half-game lead now for the second seed in the West.
DEEEE-TROIT BASKETBALL: Pistons continue to look like a legitimately good group of basketball-playing humans, earning an 18-point win. They'd get more than three stars if the win was over a team that was not the Philadelphia 76ers.
Anyway: Detroit got off to a scorching start, making seven 3s in the game's first 10 minutes. The Pistons' leading scorers? Why, Kyle Singler (20 points), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (17 points) and Anthony Tolliver (16 points), of course. What do you think of the way Stan Van Gundy's team spreads the floor, Mr. Tolliver?
WORST. OVERTIME GAME. EVER: The Pacers and Hornets (without Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson) played a game that went to overtime and had a final score of 80-71. The teams shot a combined 61-for-185 from the field and 4-for-36 from the 3-point line. The Hornets won, by the way, so here's a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist highlight:
THE NETS ARE NOT VERY GOOD : Brooklyn's offense died in the second half against the Wizards, which is a common occurrence, and the Nets have now lost eight of nine. Bring on the inevitable Brook Lopez trade.
JACKHAMMER: Jarrett Jack had to play 41 minutes and wound up with 22 points and eight assists. Here is the prettiest of those assists:
APROPOS OF NOTHING:
LINE OF THE NIGHT -- ANDREW WIGGINS IS AWESOME: The No. 1 pick had perhaps his most impressive performance of the season against the Nuggets, scoring a career-high 31 points and adding nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks and one steal. He shot 11-for-17 from the field, 4-for-5 from the 3-point line and had two turnovers in 40 (!) minutes.
I would like to direct your attention to how he glides through the air:
ZACH LAVINE IS ALSO CAPABLE OF FLIGHT: LaVine is capable of more creative stuff than this, but it's always fun to see him jump.
Note: The Wolves won this game 113-105, and the Nuggets announcers called it the team's worst loss of the season. Minnesota has seven wins on the year. That's two more than the Knicks and one fewer than the Sixers.
JUST TO KEEP YOU ON YOUR TOES : Matt Barnes (!) had 26 points and 10 boards, shooting 10-for-15 from the field in the Clippers' 117-108 win over the Kings. Not to be outdone, Jason Thompson -- still not traded yet! -- had 23 points and 22 rebounds for Sacramento. Shrug.
REGGIE RUBIO?: What happens when Reggie Evans runs the break? Children in Sacramento cry, that's what.