Leandro Barbosa, Suns
118-104 win vs Bobcats
30 pts, 11-17 FG, 5-9 3-pt FG

Dwight Howard, Magic
107-98 loss vs Mavs
28 pts, 11-16 FG

Chris Bosh, Raptors
114-82 win at Heat
24 pts, 8-11 FG, 8-9 FT

It was just days ago that the All-Star reserves were chosen, and, as it turned out, Hedo Turkoglu was not one of them. Turkoglu has been excellent this season, so some considered that a snub. Monday night, he recorded his first career triple-double – 13 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds – which, honestly, just makes him look defiant. You are not an All-Star, Hedo! Now quit continuing to play like one!

Jamal Crawford, Knicks
103-94 loss vs Clippers
18 pts, 7-21 FG, 2-9 3-pt FG

Al Horford, Hawks
96-91 win vs Sixers
6 pts, 3-11 FG, 0-1 3-pt FG

Steve Nash, Suns
118-104 win vs Bobcats
8 pts, 3-10 FG

Question No. 1: A team from Utah plays a team from New Orleans. One of those teams is named the "Jazz". Which one is it? If you guessed N.O. the answer is N-O. Sorry. Utah. But if I didn't have the answers right in front of me, I totally would have guessed that too.

Question No. 2: Forget the No. 1 stunner. Deron Williams' team plays Chris Paul's. They're the 2005 Draft's version of LeBron and Carmelo – constantly compared to one another because they were in the same draft class, play the same position, got a ton of hype, etc. But CP3's been pulling away from Williams. Mo Brooks even took on digital piles of "Stop hating on Kobe, hater!!" hate mail just so he could be real with you and let you know that Paul has been the MVP of the league to this point. Nevertheless, the two meet on Monday night and Williams scores 29 points on 11-of-13 shooting and the Jazz win. Meanwhile, two Hornets guards see clock: Chris Paul and Jannero Pargo. One of them scores 24 points and the other scores six. Which one scores six? If you guessed Paul, not because Jannero Pargo scoring 24 makes a whole lot of sense, but because you have a gift for pattern recognition and can't fathom this sort of setup for an expected outcome ... well, congratulations.

Also of note: Utah is finally over the retirement of their beloved sharp-shooter, Jazzy Jeff Hornacek. They set a team record for 3-pointers on Monday. 14-of-22.

As tends to happen, the best game of the night turned out to be the best game of the night. That is to say, coming in, the most intriguing Monday matchup looked like Nuggets at Blazers, and, sure enough, they delivered an overtime thriller. One that even ended thrillingly. Overtime games are generally labeled "thrillers" simply by virtue of having reached overtime, but this one also ended in a game-winner. So, you know, most people don't mean it when they say it, but this one truly was. (The Mavericks and Magic had the best combined record, for the record, of any two opponents on Monday, but the game itself was...so-so. Hey, if the game to watch was always the one between the two best records, we'd be expected to care every time the Celtics played someone above .500.)

With his Nuggets trailing 99-97, Allen Iverson hit a deep three to change the score to 100-99 with 39.4 seconds remaining in regulation. While that is not a very clutch amount of time remaining, it gets better, so be patient. Travis Outlaw was put on the free-throw line for two shots with 2.9 seconds left and his Blazers still trailing 100-99. He missed the first. Eek! But he made the second. Tied at 100. Iverson then missed a prayerish heave at the buzzer and overtime was required. We can only assume Iverson felt really bad about that, because with the score once again tied, this time 103-103, he hit a 14-foot fadeaway from straight away with 0.9 seconds left in OT to give the Nuggets a 105-103 win.

Tracy McGrady – who sure doesn't look Scottish – hit two jumpers in the final 70 seconds to seal the 92-86 win for his Rockets over the Timberwolves in the Twin Cities. More cool than clutch, this particular performance, McGrady hit the second of his important shots with 30 seconds left – a figuratively back-breaking 3-pointer to give Houston a 90-86 lead that obviously it would not relinquish. He finished with 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Oh, and, somewhat quietly, the Rockets are now 8-1 since he's been back.

With a name like his, it was written in the stars that Jamario Moon would shine. Not on Monday, really – he had just six points and a team-high nine rebounds as the Raptors turned down the Heat, 114-82 – but no other rookies did much to warrant a mention in this here Rookie Watch. So I might as well plug the 2008 Sprite Slam Dunk, in which he will compete.

And Jamario could have himself a theme song, as long as we pretend that Andre 3000 said "high, jumped the Moon."

As hard to guard, apparently, as his name is to pronounce, Mickael Gelabale scored a league-high 24 points as his Idaho Stampede beat the Anaheim Arsenal, 93-87, on Monday night. Gelabale shot a superb 10-of-12 from the floor and was joined by five other teammates in double figures. Mouhamed Sene was one of them, scoring 10, and collecting a league-high 14 rebounds. (By "league high", in both cases, I really mean "game high" because there was only one D-League game Monday, but, admit it: "league" sounds cooler.)