"L.D. slept on it and came to the same conclusion as he did after he game: Sitting his best all-around best player for the final 21:50 of the first half in attempt to avoid foul trouble was the right move.

Asked today after practice if he had any second thoughts on the decision, Drew provided a similar explanation as last night:

"When he picked up the early two fouls it put it us in a bit of a bind. You don't anticipate your starters picking up two early fouls like that. When he went to the bench, had we hit a bad stretch at the start of the second quarter to the middle of the second quarter, I would have put him back in. We actually had a really good stretch in the middle of second quarter. With three minutes left we hit a bump in the road and I didn't want to jeopardize him picking up his third when we were going good."

By the middle of the second quarter, Atlanta's 32-22 lead was down to 34-33 because Marvin, Jamal, Hinrich and Joe all missed jumpers; Hinrich lost the ball on a careless turnover; and Dwight went to work against Powell and then Armstrong."