I can't really remember one that felt this good since Martin's buzzer-beater against San Antonio in the playoffs in 2006. This one pretty much had it all. What an exhilarating (and frustrating) last couple of minutes.

Couple of points, then I'll get out of here;

1. This team is finally exciting to watch again. And we really aren't doing it with any stars (except for Martin, who had a fantastic game tonight...while he's one dimensional, I wouldn't trade him for any young SG in the game), just a really solid team effort. They forced a lot of turnovers tonight and they were fantastic at running the fast break after getting a steal. And it looks like we might finally be getting a new Bench Mob. Assuming that Artest and Bibby start when they get back, we have Udrih, Garcia, Salmons (who should probably be starting at SF with Ron at PF to be honest, he's earned it), Hawes, Jones coming off the bench. All of those guys can play and they all bring another dimension to the game that we don't get from our starters. And that's what made our original Bench Mob so appealing in the first place. Maxwell was the instant offense that J-Will never was. Barry and Peja could shoot the three better than Abdul-Wahad and Corliss could. Even Pollard was the banger to compliment Vlade's finesse. And I see that here for the most part in our bench (well, Hawes is Miller Lite. Heh. but other than that.)
2. I've been a really big Artest supporter ever since he came here. I've never wanted to trade him, even when we were struggling earlier this year or even when he got in trouble for his domestic dispute last March. But let's just say that I'm entertaining the possibility right now. It'd be nice to have five swingmen that can all contribute, but that's really not feasible. Artest will probably take a lot of minutes away from Moore, which is fine with me. But I'm not sure he'll spend a whole lot of time at the 4, which means that Salmons and Garcia (both of whom have played excellently lately) are both going to be getting under 25 minutes a game.

Again - having too much talent is not a bad thing. It sure as hell wasn't the problem that we faced at the start of the season when we had no point guard or inside force. And we should probably let the team gel for a month and see if we can get back in the playoff race (which is definitely possible - we're talented enough to be there), but if things don't work out, and we have Salmons on for another three years for cheap, and Garcia will likewise be pretty cheap to bring back, maybe we look at moving Artest. Although I'd prefer that we move him to the four spot.

Thoughts? I was just really excited after this one, I had to post something.