Hakim Warrick, Grizzlies
120-106 loss vs Nuggets
29 pts, 10-13 FG, 7-8 FT

Kevin Durant, Sonics
94-87 win vs Blazers
23 pts, 9-13 FG

Chris Quinn, Heat
78-73 win vs Bucks
24 pts, 8-13 FG, 3-5 3-pt FG

It is March, and there is Madness. Back in 1999, playing for the University of Rhode Island, Lamar Odom hit a memorable game-winning three in the A-10 Tournament (click on the video to watch). On Monday night, his game-winning layin with nine seconds left against Golden State was far less memorable, and from a lot closer in, but decisive nonetheless. He also finished with 23 points, 21 rebounds, five blocks and five assists.

Charlie Villanueva, Bucks
78-73 loss at Heat
5 pts, 2-11 FG

Malik Rose, Knicks
106-91 loss vs Nets
5 pts, 2-10 FG

Tracy McGrady, Rockets
108-100 win vs Kings
17 pts, 5-16 FG, 0-4 3-pt FG

Only two teams are 8-2 over their last 10 games. You might guess that the Hornets are one of them, but you would probably need a second, third or 15th guess to correctly identify the Sixers as the other. Coming in to Monday night, Philadelphia had won 17 of its last 22 games. The stretch included wins over the Suns, Spurs, Pistons, Mavericks and Magic. (They also beat the Heat and the Clippers a couple times, but the point of this paragraph is that they've actually surprised some people.)

Monday night, the Sixers added the Celtics to that list, extending their this-many-out-of-this-many number to 18 out of their last 23. They did it in dramatic fashion, too. Trailing 80-69 with eight minutes left to play in the fourth quarter, in Boston no less, the Sixers went on a 19-0 run to grab a lead they would never relinquish. Andre Iguodala led all scorers (and non-scorers) with 28 points on 10-of-17 from the floor, while the other Andre (Miller) scored 20, and added six assists and six rebounds. Thaddeus Young chipped in with 16 and nine.

It certainly seemed at first, when Shaq came to town, that Phoenix's decision to ditch their identity as the Fun 'n' Gun Suns would turn out to be nothing more than a desperate — and even worse, self-defeating — stab at sublimation. Everyone — even recent history — says that any non-Jordan-led team needs a dominant post presence to win a championship. So the Suns got Shaq.

They caved to peer pressure, sure, but people always forget the upside: once you give in to it, at least you finally belong. Not a great lesson outside of basketball, but, like it or not, perhaps a valuable one in this case. Monday night, the Suns lost to the Pistons, and yet the game showed just how far they've come. (The Suns had also won seven straight coming in). A month ago, they lost to Detroit by 30. At home. Shaq didn't fit, and they looked nothing like the contender they aspired to be. On Monday night, though, the Pistons needed OT — and nine of Chauncey's 32 in the period — to beat them. Even scarier for the league, the Suns displayed Spurs-like style-versatility, ably executing in the half-court set.

Rodney Stuckey is the kind of player that, for the rest of his career, could be making headlines. Granted, his last name alone is perfect for making headlines, in the event that he and the Pistons ever get lucky, or look plucky, or, who knows, play really yucky. But on Monday night, rhyme or not, he'll get his name in the paper. He scored 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting in the Pistons' win over the Suns. And most important: He was left on the floor down the stretch, meaning coach Flip sees late-game potential in his Chauncey Billups clone.

On any other night, you would see J.R. Smith up above, in the Shooting Studs square, pictured and implicitly praised with the display of his flattering offensive statistics. But up above, there's no room to elaborate. And his 27 points, on 7-of-12 from three on Monday, would look like pedestrian excellence. In this case, though, there's something you should know: 25 of his 27 came in the fourth quarter ... and so did all seven 3s! The NBA record for made 3-pointers in a quarter is eight. So, just shy, but at least his Nuggets won.

The best way to describe Kris Collins this season would be to say that he's on and off. But when he's on ... boy, does he go off. Monday night, he scored a career-high 31 in his Vipers' 109-94 win over the 66ers. And here are his scoring totals this month, in chronological order: 29, 8, 14, 30, 13, 5, 31. So, feast or famine, as they say. The average swing in points from game to game over that stretch (15.67) is actually greater than his overall scoring average (12.4). Which cannot be common. But, in any event, the Vipers surely enjoyed the feast.