• Los Angeles Clippers 92, Charlotte Bobcats 87

The Clippers don’t win road games, but when you go 4-for-4 on winning quarters, good things happen even in games you win by only five.

Charlotte shot better from the field and the rest of the metrics were about even, except for the Clippers’ ability to get to the line and actually convert for a chance. Blake Griffin went 7-for-8 from the line, which gives his fairly routine 17 and 15 a little more maturity.

• Portland Trailblazers 89, Orlando Magic 85

The only way Orlando would beat Portland with Dwight Howard serving his one-game suspension was to hit from the perimeter and they shot a much-needed 50% from three. But while the cat's away.. so of course the Blazers controlled the paint with a +14 differential on points in the paint.

LaMarcus Aldridge had his first strong offensive game since his outstanding February, though I think we're beginning to see the impact of Gerald Wallace on his overall production. The Blazers are just beginning to figure out the kind of impact Wallace can have on this team and he is a game or two away from busting out completely.

The potential silver lining for the Magic if Howard is forced to serve another suspension along the way, we will get a better opportunity to see his true MVP value.

• New York Knicks 131, Utah Jazz 109

It doesn’t get much more efficient than a combined 65 points on 31 shots for the Big-Two. Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire each had a FIC40 over 40, as did Toney Douglas who had 20 points on nine shots. New York scored nearly 135 points per 100 possessions and this game was over from the word 'go' (or ’40 points in first quarter’).

Al Jefferson had a tidy 36 points on 26 shots, but inefficiency inflicted everyone else on Utah this side of Derrick Favors (16 and eight in 25 minutes in his Tri-State return).

• Chicago Bulls 85, New Orleans Hornets 77

You follow the NBA closely, so you know the Hornets have been very mediocre this season offensively and rank 22nd in points per 100 possessions, right behind the Clippers and ahead of the Wolves.

Going to Chicago without Chris Paul on the floor at the end of a road trip, while playing a Chicago team on the second of a back-to-back after their win of the season and you knew a low-scoring affair was imminent. The Hornets scored just 91.5 points per 100 possessions and Chicago’s less than stellar 40.7 eFG% wasn’t much better, but enough better.

• Memphis Grizzlies 107, Oklahoma City 101

This is another promising barometer win for the Grizzlies against a legitimate playoff team. Tony Allen had a strong two-way game, scoring 20 points on 12 shots and pitched in with Shane Battier against Kevin Durant.

Scoring came easy and often in the paint for both squads, with Memphis posting 68 compared to Oklahoma City’s 46, resulting in 119 points per 100 possessions for the former and 117 for the latter.

The Grizzlies frequently win close games because of second chance points out of their incredible offensive rebound rate and they were +8 (20-12).

• Dallas Mavericks 108, Minnesota Timberwolves 105

The Wolves had another third quarter lead, but the veteran depth of the Mavericks allowed them to go on a 24-7 run to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points on 12 shots (going a perfect 10-for-10 at the line) and was aided by Brian Cardinal’s 4-for-8 from distance and his multiple indispensable defensive plays. Surprisingly, Cardinal had a dead even plus/minus.

• Houston Rockets 123, Sacramento Kings 101

Sacramento scored 58 in the first half, 43 in the second half, so take a guess at which half DeMarcus Cousins scored all 20 of his points.

The Rockets scored 26 fastbreak points compared to just 10 for the Kings, thanks to the continued excellent play from Kyle Lowry. He nearly had a triple-double with 19 points, eight assists and seven boards (on just two turnovers).

Lowry has been absolutely killing it during the first four months of March, with a FIC40 of 25.0.