Kris Joseph, it turns out, was all the Springfield Armor needed to get their act together. Four games after Milton Lee traded his lone All-Star, James Mays, to Maine for the ex-Celtic, Springfield is 4-0.They beat the Bakersfield Jam, 98-89, in Springfield.

The 6'7" Joseph had his worst game thus far in an Armor uniform, scoring 16 points, eight under his average, but again, he opened things up for the Armor bigs ... and his point guard, Justin Johnson, who filled in for an injured Ben Uzoh. Johnson, out of tiny Concordia-Irvine, finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Willie Reed had another big game with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Since Joseph joined the Armor, he's averaged 20 and nine. More stunning is this statistic: In the second halves of the last two games, Reed has scored 36 points on 15-of-16 shooting.

"Our bench is playing well, our starters are playing well and we're really making strides right now," Armor coach Bob MacKinnon said.

For the Jam, Damion James finished with 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting. and seven rebounds. Stephen Dennis, who played for the Nets in summer league and was cut in training camp, had 15 points and nine assists for Bakersfield.

• Springfield Armor hold off first-place Bakersfield for fourth straight win - Jeff Thomas - Springfield Republican
• Game Report: Jam at Armor - D-League