[Izulde]

Once again, no trades. The new restrictions put in place by the latest CBA have really hampered player movement in the early season.

Embarrassing. The Clippers play us on the back end of their doubleheader and they rout us 105-84. Not even going to talk about it.

We snap back a couple nights later with a 118-109 victory over the Rockets. Steve Nash doubles for 25 points and 11 assists, Amare Stoudamire scores 25, Paul Pierce scores 21, and Greg Monroe gets what I believe is his first pro career double-double, with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Antoine Wright, of all people, scores 14 off the bench.

25 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists from Amare Stoudamire propel us to a 111-104 win over the Spurs on the back end. Steve Nash also scores 25, making it two straight games they've both scored 25 points. Two straight nights, no less. Steve Blake leads the reserves with 10 points.

I'm thrilled beyond compare when we sting the Hornets 121-105. [b[Paul Pierce[/b] torches New Orleans for 31 points, Greg Monroe gets 10 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks, Steve Nash 11 points and 15 assists. The real reason we won, though, was Steve Blake and Antoine Wright going off for 16 and 15 respective points in second unit duty.

A shocking 130-90 rout of the Bulls in Chicago the next night is huge for playoff seeding purposes. Paul Pierce leads us with 27 points, Amare Stoudamire bangs in 17 points and 22 rebounds, and Steve Nash gets 13 points and 14 assists. Ben Wallace rose up to remind us of why we originally considered him the key to our bench, producing 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. Antoine Wright continues his torrid form with 11 points. He's fast earning his way to another contract from us next year.

Our Big Three help us narrowly avoid the upset from the Heat, our 112-110 victory the result of Steve Nash (28 points), Paul Pierce (26 points), and Amare Stoudamire (24 points).

Atlanta does pull off the upset, beating us 102-94. Amare Stoudamire's 22 points and 11 rebounds were nice, but the only highlight I think is worth mentioning.

A few days off recharges our batteries and that rest is the key in a thrilling 143-135 OT win over the West-leading Denver Nuggets. Steve Nash is amazing with 26 points and 18 assists, Greg Monroe toughens out a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double, and Ben Wallace and Antoine Wright serve as the cavalry with 16 and 11 respective bench points. But the real hero? The one who shocked the hell out of me and everyone? [b]Chris Duhon - coming out of nowhere to score a career high 39 points[. More impressively, he held C.J. Miles, his opposite, to an 0 for 7 night/b]. But wait, there's more! We won despite Carmelo Anthony dropping 56 points on us.

I'm not surprised to see us lose 118-112 to San Antonio a couple nights after that emotional victory. Steve Nash's 22 points and 10 assists and Ben Wallace and Antoine Wright with 12 and 10 bench points each, the latter also matched by Von Wafer, couldn't overcome a horrible night from our two big men.

Amare Stoudamire snaps out of his slump for 27 points and 11 rebounds and Steve Nash dishes 16 points and 11 assists to lead us to a gritty 102-93 win in Philly the night after. Ben Wallace hauled in 10 rebounds off the bench.

A newspaper reporter calls me that night to talk about Chris Duhon's 39 point game. I talk about what an incredible performance that was. Unfortunately, the next day, Chris is all talking smack about how wonderful he is. I hope it's just him having fun, because if he keeps it up, I think Amare will stuff him in a trash can.

113-107 revenge of the Rockets. 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks Amare Stoudamire gets. Greg Monroe settles for 15 and 11. Steve Nash tries with 24 points and 11 assists and Antoine Wright scores 11 bench points, but we did a bad job of defending the 3 point shot.

It's after that loss that it dawns on me that Josh Howard became healthy about a week ago. He hasn't complained about his lack of playing time, at least. I talk to Del Harris about the situation and he says that while Josh is a better defender and has a better +/-, Antoine is a much more accurate shooter and not bad on D in his own right.

But there's room for both of them on the court and it allows us to shift Von Wafer to the inactive list.

Paul Pierce scores 25 and takes home Player of the Game in a 105-75 rout of the 76ers. Amare Stoudemire contributes 19 points and 11 rebounds, Steve Nash 12 points and 16 assists, and Ben Wallace matches those 12 points off the bench.

Then, of course, we play like crap in a 99-82 loss to the Grizzlies. Whatever.

Last game of the month, a 92-81 loss to the Hornets. Two straight games we've shot under 40%. That just won't cut it.

The good news is, at 26-18, we're in second place in the Atlantic, tied with the Orlando Magic for the #3 spot in the East. We're 7.5 games behind the Nets, so not much chance of catching the D-Wade/LeBron duo.

Want to know how insane the West is? They have four teams with 70% or better winning percentage. The teams are: the Lakers (73.9%), the Mavericks (73.3%), the Nuggets (73.3%) and the Hornets (70.2%).

I'll also note that we finally have everyone eligible to be traded. At last. It's been far too long since I could make moves.