A couple Hawks – Al Horford (26 points and 15 rebounds) and Jeff Teague (27 points and 11 rebounds) – played well as Atlanta jockeys for playoff positioning with the Bucks, but we’re less concerned with the bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture than a vintage performance by an all-time great, helping a teammate and a historic streak.
Third Star: Tim Duncan (25 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks)
Duncan hadn’t posted the above numbers since winning his last NBA Finals MVP in 2005, but he’s now done it twice this season. It’s easy to understand how Duncan was one of the game’s best big men at age 28, but how is he still doing it at age 36? He is a marvel.
Second star: Brook Lopez (38 points on 22 shots, 11 rebounds)
Lopez came up big, shooting 11-of-13 in the restricted area, and helped someone who went home. In Deron Williams’ return to his hometown of Dallas, Lopez complemented Williams’ 31-point output by scoring on five of Williams’ six assists.
First star: LeBron James (25 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks)
LeBron had 19 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks – numbers only he, Josh Smith, Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant have posted in a single game this season – in the second half alone against his hometown Cavaliers. And the Heat, who trailed by 21 at halftime, need that big half from James to extend their win streak to 24 games.
Thanks to Heat’s run, a team 11.5 games up for the No. 1 seed cares about playing a team 12.5 games back from the No. 8 seed, and that means LeBron is locked in. That’s a win for anyone who enjoys watching great basketball.