The ending of the Atlanta Hawks-Los Angeles Clippers games was one of the more intense games of the season for both clubs.
↵Atlanta trailed by one with 3.3 seconds remaining when Joe Johnson found Al Horford with the inbound pass. Horford faked the pass back to Johnson and drove down the lane, where he met Clippers rookie sensation Blake Griffin. Griffin put a smacking on Horford that was as hard as anything you'd ever see in the NBA.
↵The rookie from Oklahoma was whistled for a flagrant-1, while Horford writhed on the Philips Arena court in obvious pain. After spending some time with Atlanta's trainer, the gutty Horford shook off the pain, headed to the line and nailed a pair of free throws with 0.6 seconds left to seal a thrilling 101-100 Atlanta win.
↵Big Al loves to watch the fights and used the film of the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" clash between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman to motivate his team in the playoffs against the Boston Celtics a few years ago. On Friday night, Horford showed that he too has the heart of a champion.
↵