Antawn Jamison, Wizards
87-85 loss at Nets
24 pts, 8-14 FG, 2-4 3-pt FG

Tyrus Thomas, Bulls
97-93 win vs. Pistons
19 pts, 8-12 FG, 3-5 FT

Baron Davis, Warriors
120-115 loss vs. Mavs
37 pts, 14-26 FG, 3-6 3-pt FG

The Wizards' Caron Butler did all that he could on both ends of the floor to try to give Washington its first win of the season. Unfortunately, Butler's 21 points, seven rebounds and seven steals were not enough to overcome the Nets in New Jersey. Though his team is now 0-4, Butler has been producing night in and night out, averaging 20.3 points, 8.8 boards and 2.5 steals through the first four games.

Jason Kidd, Nets
87-86 win vs. Wizards
2-9 FG, 1-6 3-pt FG, 6 pts

Kirk Hinrich, Bulls
97-93 win vs. Pistons
3-11 FG, 0-2 3-pt FG, 8 pts

Monta Ellis, Warriors
120-115 loss vs. Mavs
4-15 FG, 4-8 FT, 12 pts

Just last season, the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons met up in the Second Round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. It was expected that their paths would approach a similar venue this season, but they could not have had more different starts to the '07-08 campaign. The Pistons came into the meeting winning their first three games of the season, while the Bulls have not been able to put it together and have stumbled to an 0-4 start. The saying is that history repeats itself, but the Bulls are hoping to make some history of their own by becoming just the third team in league history to start a season 0-4 and make it to the NBA Finals. The others were the '51 Knicks and the '78 Sonics. They took the first step in that direction on Thursday with a hard-fought 97-93 win. Tyrus Thomas led the way with 19 points and 14 boards. The Pistons will have to put their first loss out of their minds quickly as they head home to face the Clippers (4-0) on Friday.

It's a widely-known fact that the Golden State Warriors have had the Dallas Mavericks' number for quite a while now. After last season's historic 8-over-1 First-Round playoff win for the Warriors, they had won 9-of-11 against the Mavs. So it seemed like a visit from Dallas was just the medicine to cure Golden State's 0-4 start to the season. For a good portion of the night, it seemed that the trend would continue. However, the Mavs were the ones showing the confidence down the stretch as they notched a 120-115 road win. Jason Terry came off the bench to score 24. Dirk Nowitzki went for 22 and 11, including eight points in the final period. Baron Davis scored 37 and Kelenna Azubuike impressed with 27 points and 11 rebounds. The Mavs may be able to put that 9-of-11 stretch behind them now and focus on the only record that matters: their 4-1 start to the season.

As mentioned in the last ATA, the Sixth Man of the Night could just as easily be called the Manu Ginobili of the Night award. Why don't we just combine the two and make it the Sixth Manu of the Night? Hopefully that doesn't confuse soccer fans. Whatever you choose to call it, the most impactful bench player on Thursday was certainly Joe Smith. The no. 1 overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft is in his first year with the Bulls and was the team's most consistent scorer in the fourth quarter of the Bulls' tight win. Smith finished with 13 points - seven coming in the fourth quarter - to go along with four rebounds and three steals. He took and made key jumpers down the stretch when the Bulls' offense was searching for someone to step up.

The knock on Joakim Noah has been that he doesn't possess the skills to be an impact player in the NBA. Well he might not put up eye-popping numbers, but he certainly has an impact when he steps on the floor. Besides just pumping up the home crowd with his hustle and effort, Noah made the most of his 12 minutes of action on Thursday night against the Pistons. He only scored two points, but he grabbed five rebounds -- all offensive -- and handed out four assists. To put it in perspective, the rough and rugged Detroit Pistons only pulled down seven offensive rebounds as a team all night. The Bulls outscored the Pistons by six points while Noah was on the floor. He may not impact your fantasy team all that much, but is he an impact player? Absolutely.

Luol Deng has become a hot commodity for the Bulls, always the feature player in any trade speculation. It has been his offensive improvement that has gained most of the attention, but it was his defense on Thursday night that may have propelled the Bulls to their first victory of the season. In Chicago's 97-93 win over Detroit, Deng held Tayshaun Prince to just five points on 1-of-3 shooting. Prince got off to a great start with a 34-point, 12-rebound performance on opening night in Miami, but the Windy City was not quite as kind as South Beach. While the Bulls gave up 68 points to Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups, Deng would not allow Prince to give his team the extra ammunition they needed to come away with the win.