Toronto Raptors 120, Atlanta Hawks 127: The Hawks have won five straight games, and are now four games ahead of the Indiana Pacers and New Jersey Nets for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference. With eight games left, and considering the teams trying to catch them, this one may be locked up. That said, this is the Hawks, who aren’t very good, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Indiana Pacers 77, Boston Celtics 92: Boston got its 60th win and tied the best ever turnaround in consecutive seasons in NBA history. Paul Pierce and 13 points, Kevin Garnett 20, and Ray Allen chipped in with 15 for the Celtics, who are just waiting to tear my hometown Hawks apart in the first round of the playoffs. There’s that part of me that wants to say, “Hey, we’ve got a chance.” But then there’s that other part of me, the logical, gambling part, that says ride the Celtics through.

New Orleans Hornets 106, Miami Heat 77: When the Heat traded for Shaq, they made a statement that they were going to win then, and then only. They’ve traded him away, lost D-Wade for the season, and here’s the result: A 13 win team that looks helpless from every angle you can look at. Chris Quinn led all scorers for the Heat again, dropping 18 points, but the rest of the team. . . well, not so great. When Chris Quinn has 18, and the rest of your team has 69 points combined, there’s a problem. David West and Tyson Chandler combined for 42 points for the Hornets.

Golden State Warriors 86, Dallas Mavericks 111: Return of Dirk! Return of Dirk! The MVP was back and, to be frank, was still a little pissed at last season’s first round collapse. Everyone’s favorite German had 18 points, and Jason Terry (31) and Josh Howard (28) helped the Mavs to victory. With the win, Dallas is seventh in the West, and has a two game lead over Golden State, who is one game back of Denver (who holds the eight spot — that was a lot of explanation).