Deron Williams was having the better statistical night. He had more points, a couple more assists and made more shots with less attempts. But none of that mattered in the final minute. CP3 took the basketball game right from D-Will’s hands, literally, when Williams tried to force a pass to Carlos Boozer on a fast break that Paul intercepted. CP3 then held the ball until there were just 28 seconds left, blew by Williams and Paul Millsap and put in a lay-up that iced the game.
Paul finished with 12 points on an uncharacteristic five-of-15 shooting night, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals. Williams countered that with 17 points and 11 assists.
And as usual with this head-t0-head match-up, neither guy was the story. Paul’s final minute was clutch but the lead the Hornets had was courtesy of the game of Devin Brown’s career. With James Posey starting over him, Brown came off the bench and dropped 30 points, including five triples. David West added 20 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. 
Russell Westbrook lead the Thunder with 29 points and he did it with several aggressive drives to the basket. With Derrick Rose checking him, Westbrook was able to get to the rim and finish. He’s starting to emerge along with his teammate Kevin Durant, who had 25 points, ending his seven game streak with 30+ points. Westbrook also had seven rebounds and six dishes.
Derrick Rose is scoring a lot more of late. He had 19 tonight but was invisible during the middle parts of the game, taking the Bulls out of it.
Even though Dwyane Wade lead the Heat in scoring with 28 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a block, Michael Beasley was the story. B-Easy had 20 first half points and at one point had just as many field goals himself as the Hawks did as a team. His offensive game is at a point to where he is unguardable for other power forwards in the league and small forwards are going to have to start checking him even though he is playing at the four. Beasley finished with 22 points and eight boards.
Joe Johnson was the only Hawks starter to score in double digits with 11. Jamal Crawford had 23 points off the bench. 
The Blazers got 22 points and 16 assists from free agent acquisition Andre Miller, but that wasn’t enough to cover for Brandon Roy’s poor performance (six points on 12 shots).
Chris Kaman continued his all-star play with 20 points and eight boards.
