Best In the West

San Antonio might not have the best record in the Western Conference, but last night the defending champions reminded everyone why they're still the best. The Spurs took down the Hornets in a battle for Southwest Division supremacy behind another brilliant performance from Manu Ginobli. The Argentine continued his hot play with 30 points and a career-high 12 assists while Tim Duncan backed him up with a line of 25/11/6. Chris Paul tried to take the game into his own hands but he hit just one of his six three point attempts and notched only four assists. In other news, the Hornets still have a really crappy bench. The Spurs recorded a 98-89 victory.

• Utah's pretty good as well. The Jazz relied on a balanced offensive attack and timely defense to hold off Atlanta. Josh Smith and his Hawks put up a solid fight, but in the end we saw an excellent home team (14 straight wins) dispatch of a woeful road team (7-20 on the year). The Jazz had seven players score in double figures including Carlos Boozer with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Smith put up 30 and 12, but it was Kyle Korver's free throws in the waning seconds put the game away. Utah won it 100-94.

• He can't feel his face. DeShawn Stevenson hit 4-7 from deep and all four of his fellow Wizards starters scored in double figures. Gerald Wallace sat this one out for the Bobcats because he got KTFO a couple of nights ago by Mikki Moore's sharp elbow. Washington picked up a much needed 110-95 win over Charlotte.