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The Joe Johnson with which we’re most familiar starred in the Atlanta Hawks win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.

Johnson earned the spotlight in our nightly statistical recap, scoring 30 points on 13-for-18 shooting, the second time in three games that he’s hit that points mark.
Johnson excelled in isolation. Though he entered shooting 39 percent from the field in isolation plays, Johnson made all four of his shots when he was in such a situation against Toronto, netting nine points and committing just one turnover.

Remember the start of the season when Johnson wasn’t playing up to his usual level?

He’s now scored at least 24 points in seven of his last 10 games, after not doing so in his first dozen games this season. The Hawks are 11-1 this season when Johnson scores 20 or more points.

Kobe watch
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant looked like he was on his way to one of those magical kind of games, after scoring 18 points in the first quarter of an easy win over the Charlotte Bobcats. But Bryant wound up with just 24 points, resting for much of the latter part of the Lakers blowout.
The Lakers did clear 100 points for the second straight game, the first time this season they’ve been able to do that.

Bryant's 18 first-quarter total was his most in any quarter this season and the second-most by a player this season in a single quarter (LeBron James had 22 points in the 1st quarter at the Nets on January 7).

Knicks finally exceed their norms
The New York Knicks entered Tuesday’s game with the Detroit Pistons shooting just 41.4 percent from the field this season, seconnd-worst in the NBA.

But New York turned things around in its rout, posting season highs in points in the paint (52, 16 more than their season average), field goal percentage (60 percent), and 3-point field goal percentage (50 percent, after averaging 31 percent through 20 games).

The Pistons lost their 16th game in January, the most they've had in any month since March, 1980.

Varejao’s career night
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost a tough one to the Boston Celtics, but Anderson Varaejo finished with his first career 20-point, 20-rebound game.
Varejao is only the fifth Cavalier in the last 20 seasons to have a 20-20 game, along with Brad Daugherty (1993), Michael Cage (1996), Shawn Kemp (1998), and Carlos Boozer (2004). Note that LeBron James did not have one in his Cavaliers career.

Varejao is the fifth player with a 20-20 game this season, joining Dwight Howard (who has five), LaMarcus Aldridge, Andrew Bynum, and Kevin Love.

Plus-Minus Note of the Night
Golden State Warriors reserve Brandon Rush had a season-high 20 points and was a plus-8 in a win over the Sacramento Kings.
Rush, who has finished minus-200 or worse in each of the past two seasons, is plus-17 through 19 games this season.

In his last eight games, Rush is a plus-37.

• J.A. Adande and Sam Smith offer two evocative impressions on Scottie Pippen, who will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday.
• Albert Lyu of Think Blue Crew has put together a series of compelling work on the blocked shot. Today he unveils part three, which examines which types of shots are most and least commonly blocked. Here's an interesting finding: "19.73% of all generic layups were blocked in 2007-2010."
• Neil Paine of Basketball Reference's blog looks at how teams with unusually high turnover in personnel traditionally fare the next season. The post offers further evidence that watching the 1978-79 San Diego Clippers would've been a joyous ride.
• A fine, fine blog post from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Michael Cunningham after observing Larry Drew's assistant coach clinic. Not only did Cunningham get to watch Tyrone Hill play the role of Al Horford, but he witnessed a more fluid game plan than the one that the one Hawks fans were accustomed to: "For weeks L.D. has said his system would 'force the ball to move' and I get that now. Things happen so fast there’s not much opportunity for holding the ball. The screens and cuts happen quickly and if the first option is not there then the ball quickly swings the other way, leading to move movement. Not much possession time is spent on the one- or even two-man game. Each guy gets a chance to touch the ball at different spots on the floor. Decisions must be made quickly for things to flow correctly."
• Trey Kerby of Ball Don't Lie visits with Kevin Durant. The interview gets off to a fun start: " Trey Kerby: I know you're going to deny it, but ... Kevin Durant: Then why are you going to ask? Why you have to ask me this, Trey? (laughing)."
• The average ticket price for the Heat's home opener in Miami against Orlando? That will be $806 please. (Hat Tip: Magic Basketball) For the Bobcats home opener in Charlotte against Indiana on the same night, you can get into the lower corners for $51 per ticket.
• There's little discernible excitement for Derrick Favors outside of New Jersey and specific precincts in Atlanta, but I'm not sure why. As Devin Kharpertian demonstrates through video, Favors is an explosive force with a soft touch around the rim. 20 percent of Favors' field goals at Georgia Tech came on dunks which, when you consider the Jackets' guard play, is worth noting.
• Unlike Favors, Al Harrington is a known quantity, but his versatility still warrants examination. Fortunately, Jeremy Wagner has opened up the Roundball Mining Company Film Room for regular showings of Harrington's irregular game.
• Rahat Huq of Red94, Ryan Schwan of Hornets247, Jared Wade of 8 points, 9 seconds and Sebastian Pruiti of Nets Are Scorching gather around the virtual roundtable and discuss Wednesday's four-team trade. Huq has some interesting misgivings about Ariza's defense: "The issue of Ariza’s defense is a contentious one. His reputation precedes him, but his is a reckless, instinctual approach, garnering him gaudy steals totals but often leaving his teammates scrambling to rotate after blown coverage. Still, this manner can be conducive to forcing tempo if that’s your cup of tea."
• The Hornets have long needed some help on the wings. Here's a stat pack from Hornets247 on how Ariza and Marco Belinelli can help.
• Indy Cornrows breaks down Darren Collison's stellar rookie campaign.
• Jeff Skibiski of Forum Blue & Gold on Shannon Brown: "Shannon’s insatiable appetite for scintillating dunks and seemingly endless energy has been one of the most exciting facets of the Lakers’ past two title teams. In many ways, I think this is what ultimately hurt Shannon more than anything in his disappointing dunk contest appearance. Like Kobe, Brown is more a jaw-dropping in-game dunker, which in my opinion, is a much more valuable skill set to have than the creative costume faire we’ve see at the past few All-Star Weekends. After the viral 'Let Shannon Dunk' campaign, his lackluster performance in the dunk contest was definitely a lowlight of last season, but I don’t think it’s indicative of much of anything as far as his play with the Lakers is concerned."
• Roland Lazenby joins the Los Angeles Times' Lakers Roundtable to discuss Jerry West and the 1960 U.S. Olympic Team under coach Pete Newell.
• Zarar Siddiqi of Raptors Republic: "[I]t’s easier to be a defensive specialist than it is an offensive weapon, the latter requires a degree of tangible skill like shooting, dribbling, creativity and finishing whereas playing defense is more about effort. I’m not suggesting that playing defense doesn’t require skill, but it’s a skill that is born of effort (which Doc Rivers swears is a skill). Got that?"
• Nate Robinson's home court in Seattle.
• Brandon Rush and DeMar DeRozan: Two native Angelenos with two different ideas of go-to joints. Advantage Rush, not only for restaurant choice but his willingness to order breakfast food in the middle of the day.