Orlando’s win last night in Atlanta was something of a statement game. The Magic were coming off a tough last-second loss at home the night before and the winner of this game would sit atop the Southeast Division. The Magic are playing without Jameer Nelson, so they need either Jason Williams or Anthony Johnson to step it up on a nightly basis, and last night it was the 35-year-old Johnson. He posted 17 points, three assists and two rebounds in just 21 minutes.

Dwight Howard had 22 points and 17 rebounds, while Vince Carter chipped in with 21 points and nine boards.

Michael Beasley had 15 points and 12 rebounds in Miami’s 99-98 win over the Magic last night. But his most important bucket came on the final play of the game, when Beasley slammed home a Dwyane Wade’s attempted game-winner, which fell short of the rim. Here’s a look:

With the win, Miami is 9-5, while the Magic fall to 11-4.

The Thunder beat the Jazz last night in Utah, 104-94, behind Kevin Durant’s 28 points, eight assists, five rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot. Oklahoma City is improved, but this is a game that the Jazz *should* win. They have two All-Star caliber players in Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, along with a slew of good role players. The Thunder should not be beating the Jazz on their home court.

But they did. Durant’s line was very nice, especially the eight assists. He’s not a great playmaker, but he’s getting better. Jeff Green added 19 points, six rebounds and five assists, and is turning into a very nice complementary player for KD.

Looking at him, Matt Bonner might be the most unimpressive player in the NBA, but the guy can shoot, as evidenced by his 6 of 8 performance from 3PT range in the Spurs’ 112-98 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. On the season, Bonner has hit 26-55 (47%) from deep and will make teams pay if they double off of him.

With the win, the Spurs are now 6-6 after struggling with some injuries early in the season. Newcomer Richard Jefferson is playing pretty well (15.0 ppg, 47% shooting), but it’s going to take some time for the team to work out the kinks.

You read that right: Peja Stojakovic. The Hornets are trying to stay competitive without Chris Paul, and Peja’s 25-point, 13-rebound effort led New Orleans to a 110-103 win over the Pacific Division-leading Phoenix Suns. He was 7-11 from 3PT range on the night.

The win is especially impressive given David West’s off night (6p, 4r, 2-11 shooting), but the Hornets had a balanced attack with four other players in double figures.

In his first game back from injury, Jamison posted 31 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and a steal in the Wizards’ 108-91 drubbing of the Cleveland Cavaliers last night. The line and the win are already impressive, but for Jamison to play this well in his first game back makes it doubly so. It’s tough for a player to return from injury and play at a high level since his conditioning and timing usually aren’t there, but Jamison didn’t have a problem last night.

With the win, the (finally) healthy Wizards advance to 3-7 while the Cavs drop to 8-4. Cleveland was without Shaquille O’Neal and Anderson Varejao due to injury.

At some point, I’ll stop writing these “Oklahoma City is surprising” posts, but I have to say that I was surprised when I saw that the Thunder upset the Heat in Miami. A big reason for the win was Kevin Durant, who posted 32 points, nine rebounds, five assists, one steal and one blocked shot. He hit 11-23 shots, including 1-2 from downtown. He made all nine of his free throws.

With the win, the young Thunder are 6-5 and are currently in the 7th spot in the playoffs in the West, although we obviously have a long way to go. It would be fun to see Oklahoma fighting for a playoff spot at the end of the season.

Back in 1998, the Milwaukee Bucks drafted a skinny 20 year-old kid out of Germany named Dirk Nowitzki and immediately traded him to the Dallas Mavericks for Robert “Tractor” Traylor and Pat Garrity. The Bucks never had any intention of keeping Nowitzki; at that point, the Mavs were on the forefront of foreign scouting and were the only ones that were willing to draft him that early. Still, for obvious reasons, Bucks fans cringe whenever they hear Dirk’s name.

Last night, Nowitzki led the Mavs to a 115-113 overtime win over the suddenly hot Bucks in Milwaukee. Dirk had 32 points (on 12-25 shooting), 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. He also hit the game-winning buzzer-beater in overtime. Here’s a look:

Easily the most surprising score from yesterday’s action is the Rockets’ 101-91 win over the Lakers in Los Angeles. Brooks scored a career-high 33 points (including five three-pointers), while also grabbing six rebounds and dropping four dimes. He said that he was inspired by seeing an NBA championship ring for the first time. (Trevor Ariza received his ring before the game.)

Speaking of Ariza, he posted nine points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals, two blocked shots and six turnovers. He was statistically outplayed by Ron Artest (22 points, six rebounds, three steals), but his team got the win.

The Rockets advance to 6-4, while the defending champs drop to 7-3 with their second straight loss. The Lakers need Pau Gasol back in a big way.

Are you kidding me? The current frontrunner for the ROY dropped 55 points on the Warriors in a 129-125 win at the Bradley Center. He hit 21-34 from the floor and 7-8 from long range, while also posting five rebounds and five assists on the night. The amazing thing is that he only had 10 points in the first half. He scored 29 in the third quarter, and 16 in the fourth.

He’s really been able to flourish with Michael Redd sidelined. He reminds me of a left-handed Allen Iverson. In fact, he’s one of five rookies to average 20+ points and 5+ assists per game. The other four? Iverson, LeBron, MJ and Oscar Robinson. That’s impressive company (if he can keep it up).

The surprising Bucks are 5-2 on the season, thanks to the rookie and some solid play from Andrew Bogut.