The Basketball Diaries

Houston Rockets 83 Atlanta Hawks 75

The Rockets have now won 20 in a row, and are now only the 3rd team in NBA history to do so. The 70-71 Bucks did it, and the 71-72 Lakers won 31 in a row before losing. To give you an idea about how impressive a 20 game win streak is, the Knicks, Heat, Sonics, Grizzlies, and Timberwolves don't have 20 wins this season. The Rockets got off to a sluggish start on Wednesday night, but Tracy McGrady scored 21 of his 28 points in the 2nd half to help Houston shake off the pesky Hawks. "It may be the ugliest thing we've done, but it might have been the best one," Houston coach Rick Adelman said, "the way we fought through it."

New Orleans Hornets 100 San Antonio Spurs 75

I know that with the strong competition in the West, the Spurs are going to lose every once in a while, but it's the very rare occasion when they get blown out like they did on Wednesday. The Hornets held the Spurs to eight points in the 4th quarter. Eight. David West returned to the Hornets lineup for the first time in three games, and he scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Chris Paul did what Chris Paul does, and scored 26 points and handed out 17 assists. If only he played in a market other than New Orleans so he could be truly appreciated for how good he is.

Philadelphia 76ers 83 Detroit Pistons 82

The way things are set up in the East right now, this is likely going to be a 1st round matchup in the playoffs. Something tells me the results will be different once playoff time comes around. Detroit came out sluggish, fell behind by double-digits early, and couldn't fight their way out of it. Even though the Sixers didn't score a point in the final 2:27 of the game. Chauncey Billups shot as time expired clanged off the rim and the Sixers escaped with a victory. "I tried to rock and get [Rodney Carney] off-balance, but they came at me with the double-team," Billups said. "I didn't think there was enough time to get the ball to anyone else, so I had to shoot it. I got a pretty good look, but that's not the shot I want to take in that situation."

Elsewhere...

• Magic 110 Clippers 88
• Celtics 111 Sonics 82
• Knicks 91 Heat 88
• Nets 104 Cavs 99
• Jazz 114 Bucks 110
• Mavs 118 Bobcats 93
• Nuggets 108 Grizzlies 86
• Warriors 117 Raptors 106