PLAY OF THE DAY

SHOOTING STUDS

Gilbert Arenas, Wizards
110-95 win vs. Spurs
43 pts, 15-20 FG,
4-8 3-pt FG

Alonzo Mourning, Heat
108-99 win vs. Bobcats
16 pts, 6-7 FG

Chris Paul, Hornets
109-103 loss vs. Mavericks
26 pts, 10-14 FG, 4-5 FT

SHOOTING DUDS

Tim Duncan, Spurs
110-95 loss vs. Wizards
3-18 FG, 11 pts

Zaza Pachulia, Hawks
85-84 loss vs. Grizzlies
2-11 FG, 10 pts

Jason Richardson, Warriors
101-86 loss vs. Suns
5-19 FG, 11 pts

STAT SHEET STUFFERS

Jermaine O'Neal did it all for the Pacers in Saturday's 103-102 loss to the Bucks. He finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots.

RICK KAMLA'S FANTASY TAKE

Utah center Mehmet Okur has already been a pleasant surprise this season, but he took it to another level on Saturday and can be expected to deliver big numbers if Andrei Kirilenko is sidelined for a long period of time. He set a career high with 33 points and also pulled down 17 rebounds to go with four assists.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

The Bucks have come from behind in all four of their victories, but Saturday night's 103-102 win over Indiana was the most impressive of all their comebacks. Milwaukee trailed by 14 points with 3:39 remaining and was down by four with 10 ticks left on the clock, but used heroics from Michael Redd and Maurice Williams to pull out the victory. Redd scored 13 of his 28 in the fourth quarter and Williams buried the buzzer-beater from 25 feet out after racing up the floor.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT

"The guy who gave us a chance to win was Shane Battier. He's like the Ozzie Smith of basketball. He made big bucket after big bucket."
- Memphis coach Mike Fratello, on the play of Battier in Saturday's win over Atlanta.

STORYLINES OF THE NIGHT

1. T-Mac is Back
The Rockets went 0-3 with Tracy McGrady sidelined due to back spasms, but he shook off the rust and came to the rescue in Saturday's 99-91 win at New Jersey. McGrady, originally expected to be out three weeks, started cold by hitting 1-of-9 shots in the opening half but heated up when it mattered most. He scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and connected on 4-of-5 of his 3-point attempts.

2. Kirilenko Hurting
The Jazz struggled mightily when Andrei Kirilenko was sidelined with an assortment of injuries last year, so their fans have to be hoping he will not be out long after leaving Saturday's 103-98 loss to Chicago with a sprained right ankle. An All-Star in 2004, who missed 41 games last season with knee and wrist injuries, the forward came into Saturday averaging over 13 points and eight rebounds a game. Kirilenko will return to Salt Lake City for further evaluation.

3. Wonderful Wizards
Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards weren't supposed to get off to a start like this after losing Larry Hughes, Kwame Brown and several other key contributors from last season's playoff roster. But after Saturday's 110-95 win over the defending champions Spurs, Washington is off to its first 5-1 start since the 1989-90 season. A night after blowing out the Sonics by 41 points, the Wizards held Tim Duncan in check and Arenas exploded for an NBA season-high 43 points.

ROOKIE WATCH

Hornets' guard Chris Paul turned in the best performance in an impressive night for this year's rookie class. The fourth overall pick in this year's draft out of Wake Forest, Paul scored a career-high 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor in Saturday's 109-103 loss to the Mavericks and also dished out five assists.

COOL/CLUTCH PERFORMANCE

Pau Gasol finished with 20 points, but his most important ones came with just 0.2 seconds remaining on a tip-in that gave the Grizzlies an 85-84 win at Atlanta. He scored six of his 20 in the final period and pulled down nine rebounds.