Coming off the bench for the Rockets was center David Andersen, the Hawks' 2002 second-round draft pick whom the team traded in July to Houston for cash and a future second-round draft pick. Andersen, from Australia, had been playing in Europe. The Hawks had considered signing Andersen this past summer until they re-signed big man Zaza Pachulia.

Andersen entered the game averaging 5.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

"Houston's been great to me so far," Andersen said. "Coming here [to Atlanta] is a bit strange. I had hoped to be playing here back a few years ago, but how things turned out is how they turned out."

Horford guest spot

Center Al Horford had a guest spot Thursday night on TNT's NBA studio show with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. Horford was a telecommunications major at Florida.

"I've been interested in production, just being behind the scenes," Horford said. "But people keep telling me I have a chance to be on camera and do some stuff like that."

Staying grounded

While his team went into Friday night leading the Eastern Conference with the best record in the NBA, coach Mike Woodson said he wasn't worried about his players getting big heads.

"Yeah, the team is starting to get exposure, but you expect that when you're at the top of your division and you’ve got the best record in the East," he said. "The bottom line is we're taking it one game at a time, because if you're not, you can be beat."

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