RISING
1. That other West team. An 11-game winning streak by the Spurs helped propel San Antonio ahead of the Thunder last week for the first time this season, ending what once seemed to be an inexorable march to the
top seed in the conference for Oklahoma City. The Spurs’ streak was built on remarkable offensive efficiency, with the Spurs hitting 100-plus points in eight of the wins. They were also balanced,
featuring five or more players scoring in double digits nine times during the streak. The late additions of Patty Mills, Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw give coach Gregg Popovich enviable depth down the
stretch, and he has used that depth to provide spot days off—even during the winning streak—for Tim Duncan, Stephen Jackson, DeJuan Blair, Tony Parker and Tiago Splitter. Parker said there’s no surprise
that Popovich continues to rest players even as the race in the West has become deadlocked. “He is doing his thing, he is always going to manage everybody, manage everybody’s minutes. … He’s telling us before
every game who’s not going to play so we all have to be ready.”
2. Rajon Rondo. Celtics coach Doc Rivers usually categorizes the play of his All-Star point guard in two simple ways: good Rondo and bad Rondo. Bad Rondo is obvious—he is passive, he makes too many silly,
behind-the-back bounce passes, he turns the ball over. Good Rondo attacks the basket, is not afraid to shoot midrange jumpers, fights for rebounds and, of course, racks up big assist numbers. While the Celtics still get a little too much behind-the-back stuff, it has been mostly good Rondo lately. Capped by Sunday’s 15-assist effort against the Sixers, Rondo has logged 17 straight games with double-digit assist numbers and is averaging 13.2 assists over that span. That moves him to a virtual tie with Phoenix point guard Steve Nash for the league’s assist title, which would be Rondo’s first.
3. Vinny Del Negro. There is a sense that Del Negro could be gone after this season in Los Angeles, but sources have made it clear that the Clippers never had an intention to fire him this year, even when the team dropped three straight in a back-to-back-to-back stretch—there would not have been enough time to find a new coach and change the system. The Clippers probably won’t re-up with Del Negro when his contract is up after this year, but he is at least making it a difficult decision, as his team won eight of nine games to keep pace with the Lakers in the Pacific Division. Should the Clippers win the division, get a favorable first-round playoff matchup and advance to the conference semfinals for just the second time in the team’s Southern California history, it will be tough to justify letting Del Negro walk.
FALLING
1. Chicago dominance. Seems like so long ago, but actually, the start of Tom Thibodeau’s head-coaching career was shaky. The Bulls were 9-8 early last year, and that included a stretch in which they went 3-5. After that, they lost back-to-back games only twice last season and, this year, they hadn't lost two straight all season—until the last two weeks, in which Chicago has lost four of seven, including dropping a back-to-back to the Thunder and Rockets last week. At long last, it seems, the injuries to the Bulls’ expected starting backcourt of Richard Hamilton and Derrick Rose have caught up to Thibodeau’s team. Rose has missed 22 games this year with a variety of injuries (toe, back, groin), while Hamilton has missed 38 games. Hamilton has played the last three times out, but he has been ineffective, scoring 22 total points on 34.6 percent shooting. Rose returned to action on Sunday against the Knicks, and though he had 29 points, he was clearly out of synch, shooting 8-for-26 from the field with eight turnovers. There is no doubting the Bulls’ talent level and depth, but they won’t have a shot to win the East without getting some chemistry going between Rose and Hamilton. They have been in the starting five together just 14 times this year.
2. The defending champs. The reason that the Mavericks continually gave chances to forward Lamar Odom this year was simple—they knew that if there was any real shot at defending their championship this
spring, they’d need Odom to bounce back to the 15-point, 10-rebound guy he has always been. By parting ways with Odom, the Mavericks have acknowledged that he simply isn’t going to return to form, and in
doing so, they’re implicitly acknowledging that there’s no real chance to make a surprise playoff push back to the Finals. It’ll probably be a messy month or so in Dallas, but because the roster is stacked with free agents, they will emerge with a pretty good chance to rebuild into a contender quickly.
3. Andrew Bynum. This year has had all the markings of a true breakout season for Bynum, who has mostly stayed healthy, earned an All-Star spot for the first time and posted averages of 18.4 points and 11.9
rebounds. This is the kind of production the Lakers have been eagerly awaiting from Bynum, the reason they have been willing to roll the dice on him as the lynchpin of the franchise’s future. So why does Bynum, who will be 25 this year and is in his seventh NBA season, keep acting so bafflingly immature? Last week, the Lakers even fined their star center for what ESPNLosAngeles.com termed, “numerous infractions,” including blowing off a meeting with general manager Mitch Kupchak. “It was an internal matter, and it was handled internally,” coach Mike Brown told reporters. “We have dealt with it internally, and we’ll move on.”
RANK ‘EM
1. San Antonio.
2. Oklahoma City.
3. Miami.
4. Chicago.
5. L.A. Clippers.
6. L.A. Lakers.
7. Atlanta.
8. Indiana.
9. Memphis.
10. Boston.
11. Orlando.
12. Houston.
13. Dallas.
14. New York.
15. Philadelphia.
16. Milwaukee.
17. Denver.
18. Phoenix.
19. Utah.
20. Portland.
21. New Jersey.
22. Golden State.
23. Toronto.
24. Minnesota.
25. Detroit.
26. Sacramento.
27. New Orleans.
28. Cleveland.
29. Washington.
30. Charlotte.
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