John Wall (photo. Rob Hammer)

The best team in the NBA against the worst. Blowout right? But Washington grew tired of getting jumped and walking around embarrassed the rest of the day. So they put together by far their best performance of the season in their surprising 105-102 win over the Thunder. On a night where Andray Blatche got booed in the pre-game introductions, and then booed again just three minutes in when he started his lackadaisical routine by shooting air balls, eventually everything turned to gold because John Wall took over in the fourth quarter. This was sort of a homecoming for Kevin Durant (33 points), and you could tell he was pressing. The first four times he touched it, it went up, and then in the fourth – even before he missed a three at the buzzer that would’ve tied it – he was out of control at times. Wall (25 points, seven rebounds, eight assists) was hitting nearly every free throw, and making plays on offense, but it was the two charges he took on Durant that were really impressive. After the second one with under 40 seconds left, we’ve never seen him so hyped … Russell Westbrook probably wishes he could play against his whipping boy more often. While the second-year point was putting D.C. on his back, Westbrook was busy going off for 36 points and seven dimes. In two games against Wall last season, Russ had 53 points and 25 dishes … At the end of the first, Nazr Mohammed got confused with the game clock and the shot clock and airballed a midcourt shot with five seconds left instead of starting a two-on-one fastbreak. As our friend Ben Golliver from Blazer’s Edge pointed out, this was one of those instances straight out of 2K where you get a rebound, try to directionally pass, and instead watch as you’re putting up an 80-foot shot … According to Darnell Mayberry, Jeff Green showed up in the locker room after the game, and everyone on OKC clearly misses him … Jason Terry (who LOVED talking to us over the summer about hitting clutch shots) and Chauncey Billups (21 points, eight rebounds) traded potentially game-winning triples in the closing seconds of the Clippers’ 91-89 win over the defending champs, with the wing jumper from Mr. Big Shot coming with only one second left, enough to do Dallas in … Hubie Brown on Reggie Evans: “He’s one of these studs who can stay in the league forever because he rebounds, he plays defense and he’s a tough hombre” … Shannon Brown‘s H-O-R-S-E shot – a three in the final minute that bounced from the rim to the top of the backboard and then back through again – was the dagger in Phoenix’s three-point win over the Knicks, but Steve Nash was the story. He might already be the most popular player in New York, and he doesn’t even play there. The crowd had him juiced early, doing everything they could to suck up to him, and Nash was looking refreshed in scoring 16 in the first half before finishing with 26 points and 11 assists … The Spurs are thanking Tony Parker for their first road win. He dropped 16 (25 total, nine assists) after the end of the third quarter, and San Antonio beat the Magic in overtime 85-83. These aren’t your older bro’s Spurs; They blew three consecutive possessions in the final minute of regulation (something that used to never happen), and only survived after J.J. Redick‘s OT triple was ruled too late … Tim Duncan (17 points, 10 rebounds) was using every “old man at the Y” trick in the book against Dwight Howard (24 points, 25 rebounds). Howard was visibly frustrated, and was complaining to the refs that Duncan was shoving his knee up Howard’s ass the whole game … Sean Elliott actually questioned Howard’s defensive ability on air, saying he’s good on the weakside but that he’s yet to see him matchup and shut someone down. Umm… considering no one ever even tests him, and how the Magic are routinely near the top in team defense, we think he’s just fine in every way defensively. There’s a reason he’s won the Defensive Player of the Year three consecutive seasons … Keep reading to hear about how Andre Miller surprised Philly …