GAME OF THE NIGHT -- LAKERS 114, HAWKS 109: The Lakers played their best, most complete game on Tuesday, out-hustling, out-shooting, and out-executing a Hawks team that usually does two of those things well. The Hawks were able to mount comebacks consistently, because the Lakers' roster is awful, but LA had two things they haven't had for a while on Tuesday: Nick Young, AKA Swaggy P and Kobe Bryant not feeling like death warmed over due to sickness. 

The Lakers found a balance Tuesday that's been missing. They would go to Bryant or Young in isolation spots, and then counter with effective pick and roll work with Jeremy Lin or hustle plays by Jordan Hill and Ed Davis. They found gaps in the defense, and then when the Hawks recovered on those, LA countered with sustainable, measured isolation plays. There was no chucking, there was patience, and just enough defense to keep the Hawks at bay. 

Atlanta shouldn't feel good about the loss; they lost to the Lakers for crying out loud. But they did so with Kyle Korver shooting just 2-of-6, and Mike Scott inexplicably chucking (3-of-11 in just over 15 minutes; calm down, dude). Their bigger problem was their defense. With Al Horford, Paul Millsap, and Pero Antic, they should not have gotten beat on the boards, and though Paul Millsap scored 29, Carlos Boozer had 20. 

Great win for LA, and one to savor. Could Swaggy P be the stir for the Lakers' drink? 

#TEAGUEPASSALERT -- THIS POINT GUARD HAS FLIGHT CAPABILITY : The Hawks' very nearly pulled off the comeback, after Jeff Teague ripped right through the defense and landed this incredible tomahawk that's an early candidate for dunk of the year. 

VINO MAMBA AND OTHER NICKNAMES : Kobe had a lot of the old moves going. His patented right-baseline-fadeaway wouldn't fall (the elevation really isn't the same as it used to be). But the turnaround fadeaway isn't about elevation. It's about muscle memory. 

TWEET OF THE NIGHT : 

BEWARE THE TRILLSAP : Paul Millsap was a man's man on Tuesday, and Carlos Boozer, though he scored 20, was helpless against him. Seriously. Watch this. 

RANDOM AND ARBITRARY STAT LEVEL ACHIEVED : Kobe passed the 32,000 points threshold on Tuesday. What does that mean? I have no idea, but it's like those X-Box achievements you get that you don't understand why they're distracting you when you're surrounded by enemies. 

RETURN OF THE SWAG : In truth, Nick Young was very measured Tuesday, finding catch-and-shoot opportunities, playing smart basketball (?!) and shooting efficiently (?!?!). And as far as that isolation work they used that worked? Stuff like this, this is pure Swaggy P, the good parts. 

I WAS PREPARED TO LEAD WITH THIS GIF IF THE LAKERS HAD FOUND A WAY TO LOSE : I am going to keep this handy for the rest of the year, though. 

CAN'T SPELL 'ALMOST' WITHOUT 'NY KNICKS'; OK YOU CAN BUT YOU SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO : So I was watching the end of Hawks-Lakers, and before I flipped over from Bucks-Knicks, the Knicks were up by one. See, I'll show you. Now look at the gametracker afterwards: 

Yeah, 36-19 in the 2nd. So I was a little surprised to fip back in the 3rd quarter and find that New York had soiled themselves. 

But the Knicks' comeback was just as impressive as their implosion. They played with frenetic energy, attacked and got to the rim, played with fire, found open guys, and generally went balistic for about ten minutes. But the hole was too deep. 

What's weird is that this team really should los to Milwaukee. Milwaukee's better, which says something good about the Bucks and something bad about the Knicks at the same time. But the Bucks are just so long. They also can't score and dropped 117 on New York. So, you know, Knicks gonna Knick. 

KNUX UP FOR BUX VOLUME 6 : Milwaukee's pretty good. One thing in particular I noticed was that their curl sets are really clean and efficient. They get quality shooters in rhythm from the elbows and usually do it while they're feigning a mid-post entry past so the defense is asleep. They got quality looks on that all night. And they're getting contributions from just darn near everyone. 

Seven players in double figures for Milwaukee, and Ersan Ilyasova, whose been legally dead for two months, explodes with 20 points. Being able to get quality contributions from so many players makes a huge difference. And their ability to stay calm and execute late thanks to Jerryd Bayless' consistency is huge. 

Milwaukee's 6-5, who'd a thunk it. 

PURE 90'S : This Iman Shumpert dunk belongs in a 1990's highlight video tape. They used to sell videos of dunks and different highlights, and with the fade, and the reverse motion, this is pure 90's. It just needs some bad pop rock like the Spin Doctors and it would be set. 

RIDDLE ME THIS : How do you stop a high pick and roll set with Anthony Davis rolling down the same side as Ryan Anderson, forcing his man to help down? You can try and contain Davis with the defending big, but that's asking for the lob. You can play back to contain but you're giving a good shooter in Jrue Holiday the pull-up jumper. You can bring the strong-side help but that's an easy pass for a three. 

So you bring down the help from Anderson and try to recover. But...

And Anderson gets an open three. 

Again:

Flash down to help and Anderson gets open. It's tough, and a huge reason why the Pelicans beat the Kings on the road on a back to back. 

THIS SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING MAY HAVE GONE WRONG : And sometimes, it's not a complicated schematic breakdown. Sometimes, you just let the best player under 25 on the planet get behind you. 

SLOW DOWN, THROW DOWN : Anthony Davis can make some pretty crazy blocks, but to keep him out of foul trouble, the Pelicans were forced to guard him with Ryan Anderson for a stretch in the second half. Cousins got his in, but on this play, Anderson played incredible post defense, which gave Davis the time to help over and swat the big man's attempt. 

LET THEM FIGHT : Not going to lie to you. Pelicans-Kings was pretty much the basketball game version of my spirit animal. Fast, young, athletic players with a lot of skill still finding themselves. And of course, DeMarcus Cousins vs. Anhony Davis. It was pretty awesome.