Court Awareness: Matt Barnes, Rafer Alston and the Rest of Wednesday Night

Entering Wednesday night’s schedule, there were only two unbeaten teams left in the NBA. 

Nobody was surprised about one of the two, considering they were last season’s Western Conference champions. The other team, however, has been a pleasant surprise, considering they squeaked into the playoffs last season, despite their 37-45 record.

But let's start with the rough stuff.

And In This Corner…

The Rockets and Suns met in Phoenix on Wednesday night, and things got a little testy late in the third quarter.

With Houston comfortably ahead 74-55, Suns forward Matt Barnes delivered a hard elbow into the chest of Rafer Alston on a pick. Alston reacted by getting in Barnes’ face. Steve Nash ran to Barnes’ defense and Tracy McGrady threw Nash to the ground. Coaches from both teams then ran onto the court to intervene as tensions were escalating. Shaq then shoved McGrady and Yao to the ground.

While Nash was on the floor Alston broke free from the grasp of his teammates who were trying to restrain him and punched Nash in the face. Shaq then shoved Alston.

If you’re scoring at home, that’s three Shaq shoves in a little under five seconds.

Barnes and Alston were ejected. Shaq, Nash, and McGrady were all assessed technical fouls and the game resumed. Alston will most likely get suspended for at least one game.

The Rockets won the game, 94-82. McGrady managed to bounce back from two horrible performances over the weekend to score 27 points.

Another bright spot for the Rockets has been the emergence of point guard Aaron Brooks. The sophomore from the University of Oregon has scored 39 points in his last two games, and has scored in double figures in all but two games this year. After the disappointment of the two Lukes, Fred Jones and Terrell Brandon, the Ducks might finally have an NBA player who lives up to the hype.

Lost in the madness was the historical significance of the night. Shaquille O’Neal scored 18 points to move past John Havlicek into tenth all-time in scoring. Next on the list is Dominique Wilkins, 266 points ahead of the Big Diesel.

And Then There Was One

The Hawks went into TD Banknorth Garden last night with revenge on their minds. This was the first meeting between the Hawks and Celtics since their dramatic seven-game series in the first round of last season’s playoffs.

The Hawks jumped out to a 16-point lead with seven minutes left in the first half, but by halftime the game was all tied up at 51-51.

The Celtics led by two with seven seconds left in the game when Marvin Williams buried a three-pointer from the baseline to give the Hawks their first lead in over nine minutes.

That’s when Paul Pierce took over.

With only a half-second left in the game, Pierce knocked down a 20-footer over the outstretched arms of Al Horford to give the Celtics the lead and the victory. Pierce finished the game with 34 points and six rebounds to lead the Celtics.

The Hawks were looking for their first 7-0 start since 1997-98, when the likes of Mookie Blaylock, Eldridge Recasner and Dikembe Mutombo called the Omni home.

Williams has now made eight out of eleven three-pointers this season, after making only one out of ten in 80 games last season. Williams is one of two players picked in the top six of the 2005 Draft who didn’t receive a contract extension in the offseason (fellow Tar Heel Raymond Felton is the other). No one should be surprised that Williams is on a mission to prove his worth.

Last season, the Celtics dominated their opponents in the third quarter. This season, it’s the second quarter where the Celtics are finding ways to put their stamp on games. In nine games this season, the Celtics have outscored their opponents in the second quarter 226-175.

Offense Sells Tickets. Defense Wins Championships.

The Lakers remained unbeaten on the season after their 93-86 victory against the Hornets in New Orleans. They’ve yet to surrender one hundred points in any of their first seven games.

The Lakers led 51-30 at halftime, but the Hornets managed to make the game close. The score was 83-80 with 1:08 left when Kobe Bryant hit a backbreaking three-pointer to ice the game.

Bryant and Derek Fisher tied for the team lead with 20 points each. Bryant moved to within three points of Larry Bird on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Chris Paul continued his record-setting pace with his seventh consecutive 20-point, 10-assist game to start the season. Paul scored 30 points, handed out 13 assists, and pulled down seven boards.

The Lakers' record with Pau Gasol in their lineup now stands at 31-4, a winning percentage of .886.

They Call Me Superman

Dwight Howard had the first triple-double of his career in the Magic’s 109-92 victory over Oklahoma City. Howard scored 30 points, grabbed 19 rebounds, and swatted 10 shots against the hapless Thunder.

Kevin Durant sat out with a sore left ankle. His fellow sophomore, Jeff Green, led the team in scoring and rebounding with 25 and 10, respectively.

The win was the Magic’s first road victory of the season. The Magic’s record improves to 5-3. The Thunder, now 1-7, are still searching for their first 100-point game of the season.

Positively Fifth Street

Last season the Knicks didn’t earn their fifth victory until the final day of November. After Wednesday night’s 132-103 win over the Grizzlies, the Knicks managed to reach that total eighteen days earlier this time around.

Wilson Chandler and Nate Robinson combined to score 48 points on 19 out of 20 shots, including nine for nine from long distance.

The announced attendance at the FedEx Forum was 10,129. Unfortunately, the building’s capacity is 18,165. Somewhere in Vancouver, the original fans of the Grizzlies are laughing—all nine of them.

The Knicks brass will be holding their collective breaths tomorrow as they await the results of an MRI exam on the back of rookie Danilo Gallinari. One local report says that Gallinari will be meeting with back specialists in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles next week to determine whether or not he can avoid season-ending surgery.

Elsewhere…

• The Wizards avoided the first 0-6 start in franchise history with a 95-87 win over the Jazz. Caron Butler led the Wizards with 20 points and seven rebounds.
• Elton Brand scored a season-high 25 points to lead the Sixers past the Raptors, 106-96 in Toronto. Jose Calderon left the game at the end of the first quarter to treat a tight right hamstring. He returned to play in the second and third quarter before retiring again to the locker room with about five minutes left in the third. He didn’t return.
• The Pacers improved their record to 4-3 with a 98-87 win in New Jersey against the Nets. T.J. Ford recorded a near-triple double with 18 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists.
• Greg Oden returned to the Blazers' lineup for the first time since injuring his foot on opening night. Oden came off the bench and scored three points, including two on an emphatic dunk. He also grabbed two rebounds and blocked two shots in 16 minutes. The Blazers beat the Heat in Miami, 104-96.
• The Spurs dropped to 2-5 after losing to the Bucks in Milwaukee, 82-78. Andrew Bogut had 17 rebounds and was one of five Bucks to score in double figures. The Spurs received a glimmer of hope when reports began circulating that Manu Ginobili could return to the court a little earlier than expected. Gregg Popovich declined to address it when asked to respond to the reports.
• Beno Udrih scored a career-high 30 points, in leading the Kings over the Clippers in Los Angeles, 103-98. The Clippers trailed 81-69 after three quarters, but could only trim seven points off their deficit before the final buzzer. Mike Dunleavy denied a report in one of the New York newspapers claiming that the Clippers and Bobcats were discussing a trade involving Chris Kaman.

One Last Thing

This season is a new rookie year of sorts for former NBA point guard Haywoode Workman. He becomes the third former player to join the ranks of NBA referees. Workman played for the Hawks, Bullets, Pacers, Bucks and Raptors over eight seasons from 1989-2000. Bernie Fryer and Leon Wood were the first two. Fryer played two seasons in the seventies and Wood played for six different teams between 1984 and 1991.

This article also appears on FoxSports.com.