NBA risers and fallers: Lakers rule at home but face tough road stretch

We kick off each week in the NBA by letting you know what’s been going well around the NBA—and what’s been falling apart:

RISING
1. The Staples Lakers. With Sunday’s thrilling 97-94 win over the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers managed their ninth straight home win, a run that began after a two-point loss to the Indiana Pacers on January 22. The Lakers are now 18-2 at home, tied for the best home record in the league with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat.

The problem, of course, is that the Lakers can’t seem to hold onto a lead on the road, where they are 7-14. They managed to sweat out a three-point win in Minnesota on Friday, but earlier in the week, they lost back-to-back games against two of the worst teams in the league—Detroit and Washington—after blowing leads of 12 and 21 points, respectively. They allowed the Pistons to shoot 56 percent from the field in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, and were victimized by a season-high 14 points (including three fourth-quarter 3-pointers) from Washington’s Roger Mason in the loss to the Wizards.

The Lakers play four of their next six games on the road.

2. The No. 2 pick in the 2010 draft. The top two picks from the 2010 draft could provide an interesting study in player development. The Washington Wizards have started No. 1 pick John Wall from the very start of his career, and after a solid rookie season, he has not made a significant jump this year. Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins, meanwhile, resisted the calls to start the No. 2 pick, Evan Turner, until he showed he was ready.

Turner must be showing Collins something lately, because Turner was bumped into the starting five last Monday, playing some point guard alongside Jrue Holiday and joining small forward Andre Iguodala on the wings. His first outing in the lineup was not pretty (he shot 1-for-12 from the field), but in his last three, he has rewarded Collins’ faith—Turner has averaged 22.0 points and 12.0 rebounds, shooting 60.0 percent from the field.

“To me, unless somebody gets injured, Jrue and Evan and Dre are going to be out there to start games,” Collins told reporters. “I’ve got to be able to see how those guys can play over an extended period of time together because that's so much of our future and where we’re headed.”

3. The No. 6 pick in the 2010 draft. Ekpe Udoh has started only six games (including the last five) for the Golden State Warriors, but things have gone well in those starts—he averages 12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in his starts, and the Warriors have gone 4-2. Also, Golden State has allowed 95.0 points per game with Udoh as a starter, and 100.4 points when he does not start.

Very quietly, the Warriors have moved into the group of 13 teams chasing playoff bids in the West.

FALLING
1. The Timberwolves’ playoff hopes. Heading into Friday night’s game against the Lakers, things were looking pretty good for Minnesota’s chances to get into the Western Conference playoffs. The Timberwolves were 8-3 in their previous 11 games, were getting MVP-type play from power forward Kevin Love and were looking to bolster the roster this week, with the expected return of J.J. Barea and possibly by dealing point guard Luke Ridnour for scoring help off the bench (Jamal Crawford, for example).

But then Ricky Rubio tore his ACL. Rubio had been struggling since the All-Star break with 25.9 percent shooting, and in theory, the Wolves should be able to make up for his absence with Ridnour and Barea. But Saturday’s home loss to New Orleans seemed to indicate that losing Rubio is as much a psychological blow to Minnesota as it is a personnel blow.

“That’s the worst part about it,” coach Rick Adelman said. “I’m disappointed for him. We’re going to miss him. He really sets the tone for the way we play.”

It’s particularly bad timing—Minnesota embarks on a seven-game road trip starting Monday night in Phoenix.

2. The Mavericks’ repeat hopes. After getting a pretty good idea of why the Lakers were willing to deal an out-of-shape and uninterested Lamar Odom (35.6 percent shooting is 11.0 percent below his career average) for nothing but a trade exception this offseason, the Mavericks finally buried the hatchet with Odom and got him on the floor. It hasn’t made much of a difference. Since beating the Celtics at home on February 20, the Mavericks have gone just 2-8.

Even during their struggles this year, Dallas players have held that, once they get to the playoffs, they can pick up their intensity and get rolling again. “We’re just not playing well enough to win games,” Odom said. “The chemistry is not there right now. We’ll pick it up, this is a veteran team. Sometimes you have to take your lumps. We can bounce back.”

Maybe so, but as of now, they find themselves in danger of slipping out of the West playoff picture altogether.


3. The Pacers’ second-round hopes. Starting one week ago, the Pacers began a stretch in which they could prove their mettle against some upper-level teams. They started with Chicago, followed by Atlanta, Miami and Orlando, four of the top teams in the East. The result? Yikes. The Pacers lost all four, though they did take Miami to overtime on the road.

This week features more potential playoff teams, though not quite the caliber they faced last week—Portland, Philadelphia, and a home-and-home against the struggling Knicks.

RANK ‘EM – NBA POWER RANKINGS
(midseason rankings in parentheses)

1. Chicago Bulls (1).

2. Miami Heat (3).

3. Oklahoma City Thunder (2).

4. L.A. Lakers (6).

5. San Antonio Spurs (4).

6. L.A. Clippers (5).

7. Orlando Magic (9).

8. Memphis Grizzles (8).

9. Philadelphia 76ers (13).

10. Denver Nuggets (11).

11. Atlanta Hawks (10).

12. Indiana Pacers (7).

13. Houston Rockets (14).

14. Boston Celtics (15).

15. Dallas Mavericks (12).

16. Phoenix Suns (18).

17. Portland Trail Blazers (19).