Tag: Dallas Mavericks

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Dallas Mavericks

Dirk is the regular season MVP; key words "regular season"



An MVP has never felt so sad.

According to reports, Dirk Nowitzki will be named the NBA’s MVP sometime next week and despite his team going down in flames to the Warriors in the first round it was the right choice. After all, this is the regular season MVP, isn’t it?

Sure, Nowitzki choked like no MVP should ever gag in a must win Game 6 against eighth seeded Golden State by producing just eight points on 2-of-13 shooting, but that’s the postseason. And there is already an award designated for the best player in the playoffs, it’s called the Finals MVP. During the 82 games leading up to Dallas’ monumental collapse, Nowitzki was undoubtedly the top dog in the league. He averaged 24.6 points, 8.9 boards and 3.4 assists to go along with shooting percentages that were out of this world (FG-50%, 3FG-42%, FT-90%). And he did all this while leading his team to a league best 67-15 record.

Plenty of people out there will argue that Steve Nash should be considered for the award now that the Mavericks have been sent packing but it would be nothing less than a farce for Nash to get his third consecutive trophy based on Dallas’ loss. Anyways, Nash isn’t even the best player on his own team and the guy already has more MVPs (2) than some of the greatest players to ever step on the hardwood (Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, John Stockton and Patrick Ewing to name a few), which is a shame in itself.

But Nash isn’t to blame for his achievements, the media is. The voters almost always give this award to the best player on the best team that year, which is why we knew long ago that Kobe Bryant wouldn’t even sniff the MVP. This year, however, the formula happened to be correct with Nowitzki. There’s no real argument that he wasn’t the regular season MVP, but that’s not going to make the press conference any less awkward for Dirk, and the MVP isn’t going to clear his name as a postseason gag artist.

I understand the business by now. If you play well and you win, you’re the greatest,” said Nowitzki. “And if you lose, you’re the worst player in the league.

And now Nowitzki can join Moses Malone and Wes Unseld as the “worst players” to ever win the MVP and get bumped in the first round, but, hey, he can take comfort in the fact that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the award in 1976 and didn’t even make the playoffs. But at least none of those guys were humiliated at the hands a team that hadn’t made the playoffs for 13 years!

From being up 2-0 in the Finals, only to get swept in the next four; to having the best record in the league; to becoming the victims of the biggest upset in postseason history; to winning the MVP. Dirk Nowitzki is now the official poster boy of the term “bittersweet.”

Links:

[SlamOnline.com]: Dirk Nowitzki’s the MVP and You’re Not.
[ABC12.com]: Mavs’ Nowitzki will be named NBA MVP next week

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NBA General

Around the Rim: The great postseason series just keep coming


1. Late night fun in Utah
Well, the excitement has worn off and the Golden State Warriors are now in an unfamiliar position in the postseason; they are losing. Utah got huge nights from almost all of their starters as they squeaked out a late victory in Salt Lake City, 116-111. But the Warriors had a pretty good game from their starting five as well; in fact, four of the five scored at least 20 points in the loss. That’s the first time that has happened in a non-overtime playoff game since the Pacers fell to Celtics, 124-121, back in 1991. Oddly enough, the last time it happened prior to that was in the same series when the Boston lost to Indiana despite four guys racking up 20 or more.

2. Will the real Chicago Bulls please stand up?

It was another game and another spanking on Monday when Detroit handled their business against Chicago with virtually no interruption from the Bulls by beating them, 108-87. The Bulls which looked so ferocious in the first round against Miami are now resorting back to their old baby Bulls tactics of simply running and hiding when the bigger kids come on the court. But what do you expect when their coach is coming out to the public and saying that his team has no chance against the veteran Piston squad. Looks like the ol’ Don Nelson reverse psychology backfired on Scott Skiles.

3. Tweakin’ time
So, what happens when you are the best team in the league with the league’s best player and you immediately get humiliated out of the playoffs? Well, you get desperate and that might be exactly what is happening to the Mavericks after the Warriors sent them on an early vacation. Now there are rumors that Dallas could be looking to go after that interior stopper that could have filled up the lane against guys like Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson. And who’s the biggest guy in the league? Why the disappointed Shaquille O’Neal of course. So, what are the actually odds that Shaq jumps from Miami to Dallas at the age of 36? Probably not too good, but when Mark Cuban’s endless mountains of cash are involved almost anything is possible and desperate times often require desperate measures so don’t be surprised if Dallas starts courting the Diesel.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Carlos Boozer vs. Golden State 42 min, 17 pts (FG: 6-15, FT: 5-8), 20 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl

Buzzer Beater: Apparently the Madden curse has the reverse affect with the NBA Live series of video games. Normally great players appear on the cover of the latest Madden game and then promptly have their careers ended the next season on the field. Well, in the NBA if you get seriously injured during the season you are then placed on the cover of the game. At least, that’s what happened with Gilbert Arenas after he tore a meniscus earlier in the season. LeBron James was reported to be second in the voting. Hopefully for Arenas he’ll be back to carry the name of the game like several of his coworkers have. Tracy McGrady, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan have all made the cover in the past and they have all had pretty stellar careers. Sorry Madden, no curse here.

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NBA General

Around the Rim: Let the celebration begin!


1. The Warriors came out to play (and win)
Well, we’ve been talking about the “biggest upset in playoff history” for what feels like an eternity, but now it’s time to start discussing exactly where this bad boy ranks on the all-time upsets in the history of sports. Golden State used a 36-15 spanking throughout the third quarter to hammer the final nail into the Mavericks’ coffin, 111-86. Yup, that’s no typo; 111-86. Dallas now has to be considered one of the biggest chokers in recent postseason memory after blowing last year’s Finals to the Heat and now this inexcusable defeat to the Warriors. It’s surprising that Mark Cuban didn’t spontaneously combust during the game. Dirk Nowitzki didn’t even bother to show up in the biggest game of the year, but why should he? After all, he already said that the series would be over if they lost Game 4, which they did. Way to go Dirk, you just gift wrapped the MVP for Steve Nash with your pathetic postseason performance. Then again, that’s what friends are for.

2. Home cookin’ makes all the difference

This is what all fans of basketball look forward to every year, and now we finally have our first Game 7 of the 2007 postseason. So far the series between Utah and Houston has gone exactly according to form with each team winning the games on their home floor and Game 6 was no different as Utah used a late surge to force the ultimate win or go home scenario and won 94-82 in Salt Lake City. The Jazz big men led the way with 41 points and 18 rebounds and cry baby Andrei Kirilenko even wiped away his tears long enough to chip in a nice defensive effort of three steals and five blocks to go along with 14 points. The Rockets got decent offensive games from their stars but nobody else bothered to step up in the close out situation. Well, we can’t really say nobody; after all, this is a team that had only four players score in a game not too long ago.

3. Boy, Luol, you’re swell
Well, David Robinson, Grant Hill, AC Green and Joe Dumars will have to set the prim and proper table with one more setting for the newest member of the good guy club as Luol Deng snatched up the NBA’s sportsmanship award on Thursday. Receiving the award is a pretty lofty accomplishment but what’s even more impressive is that Deng beat out Mr. Manners Shane Battier. However, it wasn’t by much: 22 total votes to be exact. But we’re in the playoffs man, who really cares about sportsmanship? It’s good to know that there actually are players who give the league a positive image but now’s the time when we wanna see Deng start throwing some elbows when crashing the boards and putting a little extra umph into those picks. Chicago has Detroit in the next round and Deng has been a good boy long enough, it’s time for him to channel his inner Bad Boy.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Stephen Jackson vs. Dallas 44 min, 33 pts (FG: 10-19, 3FG: 7-8, FT: 6-8), 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl

Buzzer Beater: Ron Artest finally got sentenced for smacking his wife back in March and now he gets to spend a nice sized chunk of his summer picking up trash alongside the highway. A judge sentenced Ron Ron to 100 hours of community service and a 10-day work project to go along with a whole butt load of counseling. Despite what some reports said, Artest lucked out and avoided jail time; there goes his hardcore rap image. You can’t really get street cred by doing hard time in a 10-day work project. Something tells us that Tupac is looking at Artest from somewhere out there and just laughing his ass off.

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NBA General

Around the Rim: The Warriors’ grip slips

1. Another fight to the finish
The Warriors were down by 21 points in the first half of Tuesday’s Game 5 against Dallas, but a 3-point barrage helped them fight all the way back and take the game to another exciting finish. In the end, despite the fantastic comeback by Golden State, it was Dirk Nowitzki and his boys who barely made it off their home floor with a win, 118-112. Dallas was finally able to prevent the Warriors from getting all the way to the hoop in transition but it almost didn’t matter as GS went 16-of-35 from behind the arc. Now, the Warriors will take a 3-2 lead back to Oakland where a rowdy arena full of yellow-shirted fans will be going bonkers in hopes of seeing the first ever No. 1 vs. No. 8 upset in a seven game series. Golden State better treat this like a Game 7 because they won’t win in Dallas should the series return.

2. Marie Elie wants to be a rookie again

The Charlotte Bobcats are in need of a head coach to turn the franchise around and Larry Brown has been rumored to be in the running for the position. Brown has evolving pretenders into contenders for his entire career (minus that New York thing of course), but apparently the Cats aren’t quite ready to enter the cocoon. Well, maybe they are just exploring all their possible options because on Tuesday Charlotte interviewed former Rocket great Mario Elie for the head coaching vacancy. Elie might have potential but he’s not going to be taking this crummy team to the playoffs anytime soon. If the Bobcats decide to save some cash and go with Elie they can give their post season dreams the kiss of death.

3. Raptors almost blow a lead of Jurassic proportions
Game 5 between the Raptors and the Nets turned out to be a lot closer than anyone expected, especially Toronto’s fans. The Raptors were up by 17 in the second half but almost gave it away as New Jersey got to within two points at the final buzzer, 98-96. But hey, a win is a win and when you’re facing elimination you’ll take `em any way they come. Four of the five Toronto starters finished the game with double figures in scoring, the only one not to reach that plateau was T.J. Ford who went down in the first quarter after getting walloped and flopped on by Vince Carter. Eh, no biggie; Jose Calderon came off the bench to score a team-high 25 points to go along with eight assists. With a 3-2 Nets’ lead the series will shift back to Jersey for Game 6; maybe Chris Bosh will figure out how to be a post season All-Star by then after going just 3-11 for 11 points in the last game. Guess it was good that Ford got injured so Calderon could save the day.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Dirk Nowitzki vs. Golden State 40 min, 30 pts (FG: 7-15, 3FG: 2-3, FT: 14-15), 12 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk

Buzzer Beater: Chauncey Billups will become a free agent at the end of the year and there are tons o’ teams who are desperate to add the former Finals MVP to their squad. One unexpected team to be making at run at Billups is the former champs turned first round sweep victims, the Miami Heat. Now, talk about a dynamic duo in the backcourt; Billups and Dwyane Wade would make quite the formidable threat as the Heat tried to bounce back from their fall from grace. Personally, we don’t care where Chauncey ends up as long as it’s not with that retarded PA in Detroit as he stutters out Mr. Big Shot’s first name. Hell, we’d rather see Billups suit up with Memphis than stick around for another year of Detroit’s gi-gi-gi-gimmick.

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NBA General

Around the Rim: Happy Trails, Florida



I came back for this?

1. No more magic, no more heat: The two Florida franchises were knocked out of the NBA playoffs over the weekend. Swept out even. On Saturday, the Pistons took care of the Magic in Orlando. Detroit was down by 5 points with 3 minutes left but rallied to win the game and series. The Magic weren’t supposed to be anything more than a roadbump for the Pistons and the series went as expected. The Heat, on the other hand, were supposed to defend their NBA title and set up a stellar series with the Pistons. Instead, they went meekly into the night after the baby Bulls ran all over them from the getgo. The Heat were toast after losing game 3 at home on Friday night but we expected them to salvage some pride and win a game. Nope. Despite coming out quickly in the first quarter, they couldn’t keep the lead in the second half and the Bulls took care of business in the knockout game.

2. On the brink: Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire had stellar games for the Suns to put the Lakers into a 1-3 hole but the big story out west is the Golden State Warriors completely outplaying the Mavericks on the way to a 3-1 series lead. Baron Davis is playing the best basketball of his career at exactly the right time. He scored 33 points and handed out a team high 4 assists in Sunday’s 103-99 victory. Meanwhile, Dirk Nowitzki is playing like the anti-MVP. His stats still lead the Mavericks and he did have those two big 3s at the end of the game but it was too little too late. Already down 2-1 in the series, Nowitzki can’t wait the final minutes to start making big shots. He’s not Robert Horry, situational big shot Bob. He’s gotta dominate from the start. The Warriors have two shots to win this thing: Tuesday night in Dallas and then back home Thursday. There’s no way they win a game 7 in Dallas if it comes down to that, even though TNT is praying for that to happen.

3. On the brink 2: The Raptors might be the higher seeded team but the Nets are absolutely taking them out to the woodshed in this series. Sunday night’s game was especially embarassing for Chris Bosh and company as the Nets more than doubled them up in the first quarter and lead by as much as 33 points during the game. That’s two games in a row that the Nets have practically gone wire to wire. The Raptors will have to come out swinging in front of their home crowd on Tuesday, if not for their fans, then for NBA broadcasters who must be disgusted with the Eastern conference this year. Two 4 game sweeps that likely will turn into 3 when the Cavaliers take on the Wizards tonight. These playoffs aren’t doing much for the perception that the East is the JV league.

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NBA General

Around the Rim: Warriors lose their cool and game two

1. It’s getting hot in here
The series between Dallas and Golden State just keeps getting better and better as the rivalry grows bitterer and bitterer with every dribble of the ball. In game two we saw some real fire between the clubs in a very physical session that was littered with enough trash talk to fill a city dump. And in the end it was the Mavericks who walked away with a 112-99 victory and tied the series at 1-1. Baron Davis got ejected from the game at the end of the third quarter for clapping sarcastically at a call, which basically ended the Warriors chances of leaving Big D with a two game sweep in hand. Then Stephen Jackson took his sweet time leaving the court after he got ejected late in the fourth and gave the refs a nice sized piece of his mind on the way out. But just wait until an arena full of blood thirsty Warriors fans provide the backdrop for a big time game three that could swing momentum into the direction of either team. Hopefully there won’t be any suspensions handed out for the Davis and Jackson incidents or for a brief skirmish that broke out during the third quarter. Maybe all this bad blood stems from the Don Nelson connection but who cares how it originated, it’s producing some freakin’ exciting ballgames; even the one’s that are 13 point blowouts.

2. Carlisle out

In a pretty shocking move, the Pacers decided to axe their coach after the team suffered through a dreadful second half of the season en route to a 35-47 record. Indiana had a horrible season, their worst since 1988-89, and has gotten gradually worse every year under each of Rick Carlisle’s four years. But don’t expect this to be the last thing you hear from Indy this off-season because a complete overhaul could be in store for the Pacers. Stephen Jackson was already traded away and Jamaal Tinsley and Jermaine O’Neal probably aren’t too far behind. Larry Bird is a hardcore winner and he will do anything to get his fix, so a blockbuster deal for Kevin Garnett or Pau Gasol could definitely be in the cards. And, well what do you know; Larry Brown is suddenly interested in coaching again.

3. Gimme that game back!
San Antonio was rolling to an easy victory as game two of their series with Denver entered the fourth quarter but the Spurs almost let a late game slip cost them the victory. With 7:16 remaining in the game, San Antonio grabbed a 17 point lead, 84-67, but by the time the clock struck the 45 second mark, the Nuggets were within three points, 88-91, of a 2-0 lead over the three time champs. But the Spurs held on and evened up the series 1-1 after ripping off six unanswered for a 97-88 victory. The defensive focus was targeted on Denver’s duo of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson after they torched SA for 61 in the first game; in game two they were held to a combined 46 points on 46 shots. This series will be rockin’ in the Rockies on Saturday when these two hook up for game three.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Drew Gooden vs. Washington 32 min, 24 pts (FG: 10-13, FT: 4-5), 14 reb, 2 ast

Buzzer Beater: Earlier this week, Kobe Bryant made an interesting statement when asked about the window closing on his career. He responded by saying “We definitely have to get to that elite level. And we have to get to that level, like, now.” Bryant has been a winner for most of his career and you know that he is just praying for a Shaqless championship ring to go on his pinky finger, so getting bounced in the first round every year is probably not going to cut it for league’s best scorer. Without executing a serious roster overhaul, the Lakers will never reach that “elite level” that Bryant speaks of considering that Dallas, Phoenix, Utah, San Antonio and Houston don’t look like they’ll be giving up their spots any time soon. So, would Kobe consider leaving Tinsel Town for a more championship conducive environment? Hmmmmm.

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NBA General

Around the Rim: The month long first round has begun

NBA playoff action is fantastic!

1. Home-court disadvantage
Most teams won their home games when the opening round of the playoffs began this weekend, but there was a trio of teams who failed to please the fans inside their own gym and they are now looking to crawl out of a 1-0 hole. New Jersey grabbed a victory from a very inexperienced Raptors team in Toronto, but that wasn’t all that surprising. What was really shocking was that Denver and Golden State took advantage of a couple of Texas powerhouses by utilizing some great games from their stars. Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson combined for 61 of the Nuggets 95 points against SA, while Baron Davis, Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson hooked up for 69 of the Warriors 97. These series aren’t even close to being over but for the clubs that dropped game 1 at home, their next game is pretty darn close to a must win.

2. The Big Ticket’s possible big mistake

Nobody in Minnesota is talking, but rumor has it that Kevin Garnett is talking with the Timberwolves management about getting a contract extension. Why, KG, why?! Garnett seems to be the only person, besides the organization and their fans, who is content with him simply wasting away the remaining years of an incredible career as the big brother for a revolving door of lottery picks. Open your eyes Garnett; you might want to think that you can turn this team around but you can only do so much with the garbage that Kevin McHale surrounds you with. Garnett is signed through next year, then he’ll become a free agent, but we suggest that he faces the truth and forces a trade. He might not even have to go very far; the high-priced Jermaine O’Neal is need of a change of scenery as well.

3. Suns are too hot to handle for LA
Kobe Bryant tried to carry the Lakers on in game one of their series against the Suns, and it worked for about three quarters. That’s when the weight became too much, and Phoenix’s team ball offered too many solutions for problem posed by Bryant’s one man show. Bryant had 28 points in the first half but was then limited to just 11 in the second and, if that’s not devastating enough for LA, the team only scored 10 points in the fourth quarter. Phil Jackson said that his superstar “ran out of gas” down the stretch as he went 1-for-10 during the final 12 minutes. The odds are already stacked against the Lakers, but if Bryant can’t be stellar in this series then they won’t make it back to Phoenix.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: Baron Davis @ Dallas 44 min, 33 pts (FG: 11-20, 3FG: 4-7, FT: 7-8), 14 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Buzzer Beater: Just one game into the post season and Shaquille O’Neal is already complaining about the refs. And he’s not doing it quietly either. “My intention was to come out and be myself, until Eddie Rush derailed me,” said O’Neal. Shaq seems to feel that Ben Wallace was dropping like the flop king Vlade Divac and so he’s going to retaliate in the only way he knows how; by crying. Considering that he’s the biggest, baddest kid on the block, the Daddy sure does whine like a spoiled brat every time he doesn’t get a call. Sad thing is that his rant will probably change the way things get called in the next game. Now it is going to be up to Wallace to adjust his game accordingly or he’ll be the one watching the end of game 2 from the bench, instead of O’Neal.

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NBA General

Around the Rim: Guess who’s back

1. The Warriors found the golden ticket!
Thanks to an impressive victory over the Trailblazers last night, Golden State snapped the league’s longest current playoff drought as they will make their first post season appearance since 1994. And for all their hard work, the Warriors land a series with the NBA’s best team in Dallas. But if anybody knows how to beat the Mavericks, it’s their old coach Don Nelson. The Warriors have had Dallas’ number over the past couple of seasons but it’s going to be tough for them to pull out four wins against Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and the rest of Mark Cuban‘s boys. Lots of people, espically fans of Utah or Houston, would love to see Dallas go down, but Nelson is known for winning games; winning championships is a whole other story.

2. Professional leap frog

Before last night, Cleveland was set on a course in which they would collide head-on with the Miami Heat in the first round. And with a healthy Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade in the lineup, no team wants to draw them right now; thanks to a 109-96 victory over the Bucks on Wednesday, now the Cavs won’t have to and the Bulls will. With the victory, Cleveland leaped three spots in the Eastern Conference playoff picture and secured the No. 2 seed and a first round series against a Washington team that is missing their two most powerful Wizards. LeBron James wasn’t messing around as he went off for 24 points and nine assists, which made him just the second person in league history to average 27 points, six rebounds and six assists for three straight years.

3. More Crawford aftermath
Tim Duncan came out and said yesterday that he hopes that his team can “get a fair shake” from the referees after Duncan and the Spurs were at the epicenter of the Joey Crawford suspension. The officials aren’t too thrilled about David Stern‘s decision to give Crawford the boot, but hopefully for the Spurs sake the refs will be able to separate Stern from the Spurs. After all, the remaining referees can’t really argue that Duncan deserved to get T’d up and ejected while he sat on the bench; can they? Well, if they don’t want to end up with the same fate as their fellow zebra then they’ll be forced to call the games as usual, regardless of their personal feelings.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Pau Gasol @ Minnesota 36 min, 25 pts (FG: 9-15, FT: 7-9), 16 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk

Buzzer Beater: The Clippers were oh so close to grabbing the last playoff spot, but last night against the Hornets the Clippers pulled out their old tricks and dropped the must win game. It’s not surprising to see LA miss the post season, after all they are the Clippers, but it startling to see them fall so far in just one season. Last year at this time most were under the impression that Los Angeles finally had two professional basketball teams and some even believed that Clippers were on the verge of surpassing the Lakers for the domination of Hollywood. But you can scratch that idea now; and all those celebrities that were finally showing their faces at Clippers games will soon start donning the purple and gold once again.

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NBA General

Around the Rim: Let’s get it on!


1. He said, he said
The Spurs and Mavericks got together in Dallas on Sunday and as usual, they tore the house down with an extremely competitive game that we can only hope to see duplicated in the Western Conference Finals. The Mavs limited San Antonio to just 10 points in the fourth quarter to win 91-86, but the turning point of the game came in the third quarter when Joey Crawford decided to flex his officiating muscle by slapping Tim Duncan with his second technical as he sat on the bench laughing. Duncan claims that Crawford came into the game with a personal vendetta against him and the old man even challenged Timmy to a fight. “He looked at me and said, `Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?”‘ Duncan said. “If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don’t have any problem with him, but we can do it if he wants to. I have no reason why in the middle of a game he would yell at me, `Do you want to fight?”‘ Meanwhile, Crawford said that Duncan called him a piece of $#*! as he walked off the court. Wow; forget about Barkley vs. Bavetta 2, we wanna see Duncan vs. Crawford in a boxing match during next year’s All-Star weekend.

2. The Oden Ordeal

So, what’s the deal with Greg Oden? We already know that Kevin Durant is bolting from the Longhorns and into the pros, but conflicting reports over the weekend are leaving people scratching their heads about Oden’s intentions. First Oden’s old man told The Indianapolis Star that his boy was leaving Ohio State because “They had an exciting season, but why take the chance on him getting hurt?” But then Mike Conley Sr., father of Oden’s teammate Mike Conley Jr., basically told the press that Greg Oden Sr. was completely out of the loop. “The process for Greg Oden is, he’s going to talk to his mom today, he’s going to talk to me tomorrow, and he’s going to talk to Thad Matta on Monday,” Conley Sr. said. “And after that, he’s going to decide what he’s going to do and when he’s going to report it.” Conley Sr. can claim whatever importance in the equation that he wants to, but we’re going to believe Oden’s pops on this one.

3. The Magic’s Magic Man
The Orlando Magic guaranteed themselves a spot in the playoffs on Sunday when they narrowly defeated the Celtics, 88-86. Thanks to the victory, the Magic are back in the post season for the first time in four years and nobody is happier about it than Dwight Howard. Not only did he hit the final point of the game on a free throw with 4.6 seconds remaining, but he is also having some monster games as his team prepares for a playoff run. On Saturday night against the 76ers, Howard scored a career-high 35 points on 14-of-15 shooting and despite a poor offensive performance against Boston (3-8 FG, 4-12 FT), Howard still managed to pull down 14 rebounds. Howard now just needs to grab 18 rebounds while keeping his field goal percentage high over the final two games of the regular season to become only the second player in NBA history to shoot 60 percent and grab 1,000 boards in the same year. Not too bad for a 21 year old.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: Kobe Bryant vs. Seattle 42 min, 50 pts (FG: 18-25, 3FG: 3-6, FT: 11-13), 8 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl

Monday’s Game to Watch: Phoenix (61-19) @ Houston (51-29) With the playoffs beginning in less than a week, it’s match-ups like these that really get you excited about the post season. The Suns and Rockets are currently the two hottest teams in the West as they enter the games with five and four game winning streaks, respectively. Houston has looked like a completely different team since Yao Ming returned to form and is providing the perfect compliment to Tracy McGrady‘s stat sheet stuffing ability. But the two superstars are going to have to be at their best when the All-Star adorned Suns come to town. Phoenix really has nothing to play for considering they have already locked up the second seed in the playoffs, but this will be a great chance to get a feel for their possible second round opponent.

Buzzer Beater: The Lakers have been in a free fall for the past three weeks, but in their next to last game of the regular season they finally locked up a playoff spot by beating Seattle 109-98. In the process Kobe Bryant became the most prolific scorer in league history not named Wilt Chamberlain by racking up his 10th game with at least 50 points as he racked up an even fity against the Sonics. Los Angeles has a tough road ahead of them with a first round match-up against Phoenix or Dallas but, hey, at least Phil Jackson’s streak continues as his teams have never missed the playoffs in his 17 years as a coach.

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NBA General

Around the Rim: Wizard’s blizzard of injuries

Well, now he’s got more time
for bloggin’ and video poker.

1. Agent 0 goes undercover
Washington might be the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, but they might as well be sitting on the outside looking in because they are going to make some team the very happy owner of a four game sweep in the first round of the post season. Just days after Caron Butler broke his hand, Gilbert Arenas tore his lateral meniscus and will be sidelined for the remainder of the season. The Wiz are currently only just one game behind Miami for the division crown but nobody’s going to be cheering in Washington anytime soon as the “there’s always next year” mentality begins to take hold. But it was a great season for Arenas while it lasted as he scored 28.4 points per game to go along with 4.6 boards and 6.0 assists. He also made the All-Star team and threw a wicked b-day bash.

2. Losing ground quick

The Cavs looked dead in the water as their game against Miami was drawing to a close last night, but LeBron James rallied the troops for an 11-0 run to force overtime. However, the extra period would belong to the Heat as they clinched a post season berth while handing Cleveland a devastating loss. The Cavaliers fell all the way to the fifth seed in the East with the defeat after going into the game as the second best club in the conference. If the playoffs began today these two teams would be locking up in first round series with the Heat owning the home court advantage. The only difference between then and now is that the Cavs might have to contend with a well rested Dwyane Wade in the lineup. Cleveland is probably not too thrilled about that possibility, but a Wade/James showdown would be great for the fans.

3. Spurs rise, Suns set
Tony Parker scored a season-high 35 points as the Spurs held the Suns to just 85 points in a late season victory that showed why San Antonio will be a serious threat in the post season. Phoenix put together a late game run to make it interesting but the Spurs basically imposed their defensive will onto the Suns who average 111 points per game. Tim Duncan and Michael Finley both chipped in double-doubles and SA now holds the best record in the league since the All-Star break by winning 19 of 22 games. With the victory, the Spurs are now only two games behind Phoenix for the second best record in the league and second seed in the playoffs. The Suns are struggling to gain momentum before the season ends after going 6-4 in their last ten games, and should San Antonio catch Phoenix they also own the tiebreaker with a 2-1 record against the Suns in the regular season.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: LeBron James vs. Miami 49 min, 35 pts (FG: 11-21, 3FG: 2-5, FT: 11-13), 9 reb, 5 ast

Friday’s Game to Watch: Dallas (62-12) @ Denver (38-36) The Nuggets are riding a three game winning streak after knocking of the Sonics, Lakers and Kings since Sunday. Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson are really clicking as Melo has put up at least 30 points in his last four contests while AI has dished out 20 assists in two games. The Mavericks are rolling as usual and have won nine of their last ten games and won their last game against the Kings despite being without their superstar as Dirk Nowitzki who had food poisoning. This could be a preview of a first round match-up in the playoffs between these two since Denver is sitting just one game ahead of the Clippers for the seventh spot in the West.

Buzzer Beater: The Hornets have been surging of late as they have now won three consecutive games in an attempt to push their way into the playoff pack. Well, that task just got a lot harder after Chris Wilcox delivered a wicked, inadvertent elbow to the face of New Orleans’ most consistent player of the season, Desmond Mason. The elbow broke the nose and cheek bones of Mason and will probably keep him out for the remainder of the regular season. Mason was the only player to start every game for New Orleans this year and averaged 14 points and five boards per contest. Looks like it will be up to Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler to pick up the slack if the Hornets are going to extend their season long enough for Mason to attempt a return.