Two things stood out to me above anything else from last night's game. One, Joe Johnson appeared to kick into a gear I'm not sure I've seen this year, repeatedly charging into the lane for important baskets. It's not like Joe always settles for jumpers, it just seemed like he had a determination last night that he was going to attack and wouldn't let anything get in his way. I asked him about it after practice today, and he talked about how important it was for the team to win not only last night, but in the next few games before they go on the road. It was really a great game for JJ last night, one that if it were on national TV I'd say would go a long way towards putting him in the All-Star game.

The other thing that stood out, and I imagine anyone else who was at Philips last night would agree to this, was Anthony Johnson's thunderous dunk in the third quarter at the end of the Hawks big run. To say that I was surprised to see AJ throw it down so ferociously is a bit of an understatement. We talked about it today, and he laughed about that aspect of it. He said he never wants to be the player on the team with the fewest amount of dunks (watch out T-Lue), so every now and then he has to go up and get it. Dunk of the year so far for my money.

We'll have more tomorrow as the Hawks prepare for a big divisional game against Washington on Friday night.

Onto the links: