ESPN NBA

• Zach Lowe of Celtics Hub explains how you assemble a strong 21st century defense. The recipe for success? Focus on the two areas in the half-court where opponents put up the highest effective field goal percentage: The 3-point line and the immediate basket area.
• Kurt Helin of Forum Blue & Gold explores what's eating Andrew Bynum.
• Capologist Larry Coon at the New York Times' Off the Dribble blog says that if Eddy Curry is willing to leave some money on the table, he's imminently buyout-able. The sticky point? Curry's player option.
• A pessimistic Jeremy Schmidt of Bucksketball sizes up the state of the Milwaukee Bucks as we head into 2010. Among Bucksketball's revelations: Contrary to popular belief, there's no evidence to suggest Scott Skiles hates rookies.
• The Painted Area presents its All-Underachiever Team for the decade.
• Sports Media Watch lists its five biggest NBA stories of the decade. At first blush, the list that seems a bit dated in current context, though it's easy to forget how much both the game and the league's persona has evolved over the past ten years.
• Rob Mahoney of Two Man Game enumerates all the reasons why Dallas' road win over Denver last night was extremely satisfying. Not only did the Mavs overcome Dirk Nowtizki's off night, but the Dallas defense brutalized one of the most potent offenses in the game. More than anything, though, when you watch Dallas you see a team of grown-ups that knows how to execute its stuff on both ends of the floor.
• Geoff Lepper of 48 Minutes.net wonders if Stephen Curry can learn to be a better defender.
• John Krolik of Cavs the Blog elaborates on how LeBron James deployed his emerging post game against an undersized Rockets team.
• Rahat Huq sounds the alarm on Trevor Ariza: "I just don’t understand what is going on with Ariza. I don’t want to just criticize; I want badly to just understand the rationale behind what is taking place. I just can’t think of any logical explanation as to why this player is being allowed to frequently attempt feats which he has absolutely no hope of achieving. It’s become mind boggling at this point. I have said many times that I am all for experimentation and player development. But these have to be within certain limits of realism. You play David Andersen despite his defensive troubles because he will improve. You live with Jermaine Taylor getting blocked at the rim because he will learn from it and adjust his shot. These are areas where players improve from in-game experience. Trevor Ariza cannot compensate for his complete and total lack of skill and body control with in-game experience. It just won’t happen. Letting him take in-game reps at creating off the dribble is completely counterproductive – he just can’t do it. Maybe he’ll improve over the summer, but affording him such a leash during the season is simply hurting this team."
• More great visuals from Kyle Weidie of Truth About It illustrating the Wizards' woes.
• Knicks highlights and lowlights from the decade, courtesy of Knickerblogger. Needless to say, the latter outweighs the former.
• Philadunkia poses that age-old conundrum for underachieving teams whose seasons appear over: At what point do you throw your rookie point guard into the deep end to see if he can swim rather than stick with your unexceptional, but proven veteran? Jrue Holiday and Willie Green are the respective players in questions.
• Cringe-worthy montage of various Sacramento Kings performing in-studio covers. (Hat Tip: Cowbell Kingdom)

How much can you take away from a single regular-season loss?

For fans of the Lakers and Magic, that debate had every bit as much resonance over the weekend as the discussion about what, specifically, went wrong in their teams' respective losses against Cleveland and Boston on Christmas Day.

I have trouble embracing the idea that a December loss forebodes anything meaningful about what might happen in May or June. If you follow one of the elite teams, you sometimes fall victim to the belief that only your team is capable of churning out a loss as profoundly ugly and inexplicable as the one you just witnessed. There must be something fatally flawed about the Lakers if they get blown out at home in decisive fashion to Cleveland.

Perhaps.

But if the Lakers' effort raises the panic level to Defcon 4 in Los Angeles, then shouldn't the Nuggets, the presumptive No. 2 team in the West, be super-concerned that they lost on their home floor to the team primed to leap-frog them in the conference hierarchy? Shouldn't an Orlando team be chewing on its limbs after watching Dwight Howard and company put up a paltry 77 points in 96 possessions against Boston? And how about Boston's inability to close out a Clippers team that was coming off three consecutive blowout losses?

Yes and no.

No, because pre-New Years basketball is about discovery. If I'm Stan Van Gundy (and can you imagine being Stan Van Gundy for a day? If that were a silent auction item, I'd be hovering over that sign-in sheet until last call, boxing out all comers, money no object), I want to understand and diagnose why Boston's big men give Dwight Howard the yips. Better to acquire that information now rather than later. I get four months to employ my coaching prowess to make an adjustment to the offensive scheme. How do we get Dwight deeper position and buy a little more space and a little more time to go to work on the block?

If I'm the Lakers, I want to use this loss to the Cavs to better understand why my team entered Sunday night tied for 15th in the NBA with the Houston Rockets in offensive efficiency rating. How can a team as long and skilled in the post as the Lakers have this much trouble finishing at the rim? Is there something amiss with the spacing, even though the unit operates in a system that thrives on space? Are the Lakers becoming needlessly impatient trying to pound the ball inside instead of drawing defenders to the perimeter, which would get them cleaner looks underneath? Addressing these questions over the next 50 games seems like a very doable exercise.

Denver can't wring its hands over its first home loss since Thanksgiving weekend, but it should take note of the fact that each of the "Big 4" teams -- along with Dallas -- have five of the top 6 defensive efficiency ratings, while the Nuggets rank 17th. They're giving up a ton of second shots. Is that because they're too eager to leak out in transition? Is Denver's lightning-quick pace hurting them on the defensive end? Considering the number of superior post players on the roster, is it possible that whatever the Nuggets might leave on the table offensively by slowing things down, they'd more than compensate by giving up far fewer buckets in transition?

So far as the Celtics go, chalk up last night's loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles as an outlier. Make a mental note that the vicious strong-side pressure defense that works brilliantly on 95 percent of possessions might need to be tabled in tight late-game situations -- something the Celtics don't encounter all that often. Offensively, understand your strengths and exploit them. Your offense works most efficiently with rotating pick-and-rolls that confound defenses and run big men ragged. Yes, there will be mismatches at times that invite exploitation, but understand that whatever you gain by working against inferior post defenders in isolation might be offset by upsetting your offensive rhythm. The truth, though, is that the no team in the NBA can touch the Celtics' offensive-defensive differential. The Celtics are simply killing opponents on a nightly basis. To make wholesale adjustments after fluke losses would be the equivalent of sending Rajon Rondo to the line for technical free throws because he's drained his last three from the stripe. Play the odds, C's, they're in your favor.

It's unlikely that many of these questions have definitive answers right now. Coaching staffs need to do some trial-and-error and employ the good ol' scientific method this early in the season. Don't worry so much about "rotations being set" -- a common complaint among observers -- in December. Better to arrive at these truths headed into the postseason. Flexibility is a beautiful principle -- one Orlando rode to the Finals last season over a much more orthodox Cleveland team.

Give it some time, Lakers fans. I know, on paper, your team should be infallible. But your center needs a little nurturing. Your star needs to heal. And your coach is on the case.

For sheer theatrics, nothing beats a decisive, buzzer-beating shot.



But often, it's the penultimate possession that sets the stage for the dramatic finish. That was the case last night at Staples Center where the Clippers nipped the Celtics, 92-90.

Here's what transpires with the Clippers down 90-87 and about 25 seconds remaining in the game. The Clippers collect the rebound off a Ray Allen miss on the defensive end. Rather than call timeout, Baron Davis marches the ball down-court. Remember, the Clips need three to tie -- a 2-point basket still leaves them down a point. Watch Ray Allen and Eddie House, Boston's wing defenders, on the play, and pay particular attention to Rasual Butler in bottom right-hand corner of your screen.



The Celtics are usually an unfailingly smart defensive unit, which is why seeing both Allen and House leave Rasual Butler and Eric Gordon alone on the arc is so strange. Butler and Gordon are the Clippers most potent 3-point threats. Leaving either one of them open behind the line to collapse on a driving Baron Davis with 12 seconds left on the game clock doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Let's play out the counterfactual. Say Allen and House stay at home on the Clippers' snipers. Davis, who has beaten Rajon Rondo and Rasheed Wallace on the high screen from DeAndre Jordan, glides relatively untouched to the hoop. That's not something you want to see if you're Doc Rivers, but given the circumstances, you can tolerate it (In most cases, you'd play off Davis to induce a long 3-point attempt off the dribble). Your team still leads by one point with about 10 seconds left on the game clock. In that situation, the Celtics would take a timeout, and inbound the ball on their side of the floor to Allen, Wallace, House or Kevin Garnett, each of whom is an 80 percent free throw shooter. The Clippers would get the ball back, behind one (or more likely two) with about seven seconds. They'd still have an opportunity to win the game, but would have to do so under pressure.

Instead, the Celtics have the ball in a tied game with 8.5 seconds left. Rondo works in isolation against Davis. Despite Davis' best efforts to wall off the paint, Rondo gets about a step ahead of him at about 10 feet, then angles his way in from the left side of the lane. With that long, outstretched right arm, Rondo has a good look at the basket, and Davis hacks him with 1.0 left. Rondo, a 52.7 percent free throw shooter, misses both ends. The Clippers get a free look at a potential game-winner.

After Butler drains the 3-pointer, Rivers laces into House over on the sidelines, with House snapping back at him. In his post-game remarks, Rivers says, "We had a whole potpourri of mistakes we made down the stretch -- mental mistakes. It's nothing that anyone did, just us mentally. We talk about how the only opponent we have every night is ourselves and, tonight, we beat ourselves."

I'm not sure the Celtics could have done much more defensively on Davis' game-winner, but they'll definitely be looking at some film of Butler's game-tying bomb from long range.

• Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times: "The Clippers scored five points in the final 8.5 seconds to defeat the Celtics, 92-90, the winning shot being a fadeaway jumper by Baron Davis at the buzzer. It stopped Boston's nine-game road winning streak, marking only the second Celtics loss on the road this season. This had echoes of the Clippers' upset of the Celtics last season at Staples Center, a two-point victory in February. 'You've got to prepare your mind for it when you're getting ready to take a shot,' Davis said. 'I didn't know what Coach was gonna draw. I made it known that I wanted to get the ball and if I got it with a second left, if I can get to my fadeway over [Rajon] Rondo, at least we'd be able to get a good look.' Dunleavy confirmed the conversation."
• Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: "It was great when it happened, the night rookie point guard Brandon Jennings scored 55 points against the Golden State Warriors. But the expectations it brought have the Bucks' 20-year-old rookie wondering whether it was worth it to get 55 so early in his career, in just his seventh NBA game. 'I feel like it's a curse because of the 55,' Jennings said after the Bucks' practice session Sunday. 'It's almost a curse. Now that I've scored 55, everybody expects me to go out there and score big numbers every night. I'm just trying to find my way. Not every night is going to be easy. A lot of teams are changing their defense. So it's not as easy as everyone thinks it is.' Jennings had 10 points and took just eight shots in the Bucks' 112-97 loss to San Antonio on Saturday, the Bucks' fourth straight home defeat. He contributed eight assists and committed three turnovers while playing 30 minutes. He had scored just seven points in the Bucks' previous game, a 109-97 loss to the Washington Wizards."
• K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: "Bulls fans have blamed Tyrus Thomas for everything from not being LaMarcus Aldridge to taking ill-advised shots. That's why the reaction -- a prolonged, rousing ovation -- when Thomas checked in for the first time in seven weeks Saturday resonated. 'That was nice,' Thomas said. 'I appreciated it.' The maturity Thomas displayed on the court in tallying 21 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots -- with rarely a bad decision -- extended off the court as well. Thomas sounded downright introspective when asked what the time off did for him. 'It made me calmer,' he said. 'I try to be anyway -- on the floor, off the floor. I had a lot of time to think. You think, some guys have season- or career-ending injuries. It makes you understand what you're here to do. Just try to take advantage of the moment.' Thomas won't always enjoy such game-changing nights. But his energy and athleticism change the way the Bulls play. And that's why coach Vinny Del Negro doesn't want to change the way Thomas plays."
• Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: "I feel sorry for Tracy McGrady. I could scream about his selfishness, but this thing goes way beyond McGrady caring more about himself than the team. There's a real element of sadness in this deal. Yes, he bailed on his teammates this weekend. When Rick Adelman wouldn't give him what he wanted, McGrady got mad and left. In that moment, he revealed that he's only a member of a team as long as its in his own best interest. Yes, he's the NBA's highest-paid player at $22.8 million, so he's not a sympathetic figure in the way most people see sympathetic figures.But he's 30 years old and on the verge of being considered a has-been. Think of how that must feel."
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "The Pacers would have been better off going straight to Chicago - or even staying home for that matter - than flying to Miami. The Heat took the Pacers out back and gave them the type of beat down where you want to go hide your face for a couple of days. The Heat had enough dunks - 13 - to make their own highlight reel for the season. They had dunks on three straight possessions against a defense that was worse than what you would find at a peewee basketball game on a Saturday morning. Members of the Miami media were cracking up as Heat players were trying to one up each other with dunks. 'This is a piss-poor effort,' forward Troy Murphy said inside a rather silent locker room. 'We got dominated in every facet of the game. This is a terrible loss, a terrible effort, a bad situation all the way around.' "
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "Mike Miller was able to shoot jumpers on the strained right calf that has sidelined him the past five weeks, but was sore because the injury forced him to miss playing against two of his former teams, Minnesota and the Memphis Grizzlies, whom the Wizards play Monday night. He said the loss to Minnesota, which traded him to Washington last June, stung. 'Brutal. You want to win those games. I don't care what anybody says, people always comment that it's a regular game. It's not,' said Miller, who has missed the past 16 games after injuring himself in San Antonio on Nov. 21. 'When you play against the team that traded you, your goal is to win the game. I think people get caught up in wanting to have big numbers but how you hurt the organization that traded you is by beating them. Ultimately, they don't care about what you do as long as they win.' "
• Larry Coon for The New York Times: "If Eddy Curry really does want to pull a Snake Plissken and escape from New York, he is going to have to make a sacrifice. We are talking about the dreaded 'B' word -- a buyout. Buyouts are a pretty standard way for teams and players to effect a divorce when they come to grips with the fact that they have irreconcilable differences. It is a club Donnie Walsh has in his bag but rarely pulls out -- the only time he has used it in recent memory was with Stephon Marbury last season. But if Curry really wants out, and is willing to sacrifice, a buyout can give Walsh exactly what he wants — more cap room in 2010. It is the only way (other than a trade) to have Curry completely off the books when the free agents hit the market next summer. The key is Curry’s player option. Curry’s contract technically ends after this season, but he has the option to extend it for one more season at $11.3 million. Since he is unlikely to command anything approaching that amount as a free agent, it is considered a no-brainer that when the time comes, he will pick up the option and guarantee himself the salary. And once he does, the salary is stuck on the Knicks’ books, reducing Walsh’s spending power by that same $11.3 million. If Curry is willing to give up his option for next season, Walsh would likely give him a buyout in a heartbeat, rushing to get it done before Curry has a chance to change his mind."
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: "Mike Conley regained his confidence stroke by stroke by tickling the ivory keys. The third-year point guard turned to the piano when times got tough, and to help drown out the noise of naysayers. 'It helps ease the stress,' the Grizzlies point guard said of his new hobby. 'You get home, play the piano and feel better. It's something to chill with.' ... About a month ago, Conley was walking in Best Buy with rookie teammate Sam Young. The pair stopped at a keyboard that Young began to play masterfully. Conley became impressed and interested enough that he bought a keyboard the next day. Conley has learned the piano with the help of one-hour DVDs ever since, which included about four hours on Christmas Day. 'It's something to take your mind off basketball,' said Young, a piano player since the ninth grade after picking up the talent from his blind younger brother, Michael Spriggs."
• Brian T. Smith of The Columbian: "Jeff Pendergraph did not deny it. In fact, the Portland Trail Blazers rookie forward embraced the notion. Yes, Pendergraph said, when he is on the court, he is definitely a little crazy. And that’s just the way Pendergraph -- and the Blazers -- want it. 'I think that’s definitely a thing I bring. I bring a little extra,' said Pendergraph, following a Sunday morning workout at the team’s practice facility. 'Everybody’s tough; there’s no soft guys on this team. But I just have an abundant amount of craziness.' Pendergraph’s self-avowed crazy streak has been the perfect antidote for a Blazers season that has mixed the surreal with the macabre, as Portland has been forced to fight through a never-ending run of injuries and setbacks. ... Nate McMillan stated that some NBA players are more concerned with their image and how they look on television rather than their actual performance. But that is not the case with Pendergraph, McMillan said. Portland’s coach said the idea of an on-the-court screen test for Pendergraph has likely never entered the rookie’s head. 'Cuteness, he’s not concerned about,' McMillan said.
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: "The Suns are 5-9 this month, the third-worst record in the Western Conference. Their defense has been at its worst, prompting coach Alvin Gentry to call it 'ridiculous,' 'pathetic' and 'absolutely horrendous' after they allowed 132 points Saturday night at Golden State. Their offense scores big, but not when it counts in recent losses, managing to post a season-low fourth quarter (19 points) amid Saturday's season-high total (127). Bring on the Lakers and Celtics! The Suns' 14-3 start has been torched in December, and here comes kerosene with each conference's top team visiting - Los Angeles (24-5) Monday night and Boston (23-5 entering Sunday night) on Wednesday. 'To play at a high level, you have to be mentally tough, and right now we're definitely not that,' Suns forward Jared Dudley said. 'If you ask me who I'd rather play, it wouldn't be the Lakers coming off a loss. But we're at home. This team plays better at home. If we win, it might be the turning point.' "
• Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune: "John Stockton , Karl Malone and Rickey Green are the only players in Utah Jazz history with at least 3,000 assists. Deron Williams is about to join them. After handing out eight assists in Saturday night's 97-76 victory over Philadelphia, Williams has 2,975 in his career. Williams needs 25 assists for 3,000. If he reaches his season average of 10 assists in games at Minnesota (Wednesday) and Oklahoma City (Thursday), Williams will get No. 3,000 on Saturday night, when the Jazz play Denver at EnergySolutions Arena. The game will be the 341st in Williams' five-year career. Stockton is the NBA's all-time leader in assists with 15,806. He handed out his 3,000th assist in a 107-93 win over Chicago on Nov. 30, 1988. It was the 341st game of his career. Amazingly, Williams is on the exact same pace set by Stockton -- at least on paper."
• Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: "Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair didn't have to go far to recall his history at Madison Square Garden. On the wall outside the Spurs' locker room, alongside pictures of Bruce Springsteen and Frank Sinatra, hangs a photo of Blair as a freshman at Pittsburgh, jumping center in a game against Duke. 'I forgot that was there,' Blair said, grinning. 'It's cool.' As a collegian, Blair played at the Garden eight times, many of them Big East tournament games. In that, he played at the so-called 'World's Most Famous Arena' more times in two seasons at Pitt than some of his more veteran Spurs' teammates have in their careers."
• Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: "The Raptors have now done something they haven't done in their 15-season history. Won a season series from the Detroit Pistons. With Sunday's 102-95 win, Toronto has beaten Detroit three straight times year, guaranteeing they'll win the four-game season series. Twice before, they've split four games but Toronto has never won three in the same season."

By Chris Sheridan

In case you missed it, Tracy McGrady is no longer with the Houston Rockets.

Physically, that is.

And perhaps only temporarily.

But if you want to start speculating on whether this separation will lead to a divorce, you'll have to wait a couple more days to have anything of substance to go on.

Coach Rick Adelman said McGrady's status will be re-addressed on Monday and/or Tuesday when the Rockets return home from a two-game back-to-back road trip that began with a 98-93 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Saturday night and concludes in Cleveland on Sunday.

Team sources said they expect the meeting(s) will involve Adelman, McGrady, general manager Daryl Morey and perhaps agent Bob Myers to discuss what will be the best way to move forward regarding McGrady, who wants his playing time increased after being limited to 46 total minutes in six games since he made his return from microfracture surgery on his left knee.

McGrady asked Adelman for an increased role, and the coach told him no. That prompted McGrady to leave the team Saturday following their morning shootaround at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

It remains to be seen whether McGrady will ever wear a Rockets uniform again, although one team official said Houston does not have any concrete trade offers on the table that they'd deem acceptable while still allowing them to maintain about $8-9 million in cap space (they could have even more space -- "max space" -- if they renounced several key players) to use in the summer of 2010.

"This is my fourth year being in Houston, and as players, whoever is in uniform that night, that's who we go with," Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "But there's been so many injuries, a lot of drama the last couple years, so for me and the guys who have been here, you just get the mentality that all that extracurricular activity and all the injuries, you can't worry about it. And so we've got to go with the guys who performed tonight, and that's the way we've been able to survive."

Does this speed up the timetable on a resolution between McGrady and the Rockets, whose victory Saturday night improved one of the NBA's more surprising records to 18-12?

"I don't know. I think a lot of it has to do with what the front office is thinking. We have a lot of good young players, and when you have a guy like Chase Budinger who's playing really well, and Trevor [Ariza] is developing, it's tough to take minutes away from them. It becomes a numbers game at some point," Battier said. "But Tracy has been nothing but good in the locker room, so I don't think this is a case where he's causing turmoil in the locker room. He's kept his mouth shut, he's worked hard and supported his teammates, and that's the promising part of all this."

Stay tuned.

By Marc Stein

Faithful readers will have noticed that the Weekend Dime didn't appear on the NBA page Friday like usual. Fear not, friends. It'll be posted Saturday night.

Andy Ayres, Maurice Brooks, Justin Verrier and Matt Wong are the devoted NBA editors who have to deal with my drivel day after day. Those four deserve a holiday more than anyone else on ESPN.com's hoops team, so with Christmas falling on a Friday we pushed back the publication of the WD by about 24 hours to give them some family time.

We also tried to fill the void Christmas morning with our Chris Paul piece on TrueHoop and have another small WD preview for you now: Brandon Roy is this week's guest in the One on One section.

Here's an early peek at our chat with B-Roy:

Q: Is this the season from hell?

A: It’s tough, man. These are bittersweet wins because now we’re two centers down for the rest of the season. It’s frustrating [to lose Joel Przybilla to a season-ending knee injury after Greg Oden’s season-ending knee injury].

I’ve played basketball for a long time and I’ve never been part of such a season where everybody is so excited about it . . . we get Andre Miller, Greg’s healthy, great offseason and then it all goes, bam, down.

So my thing, as the leader of this team, is to just try to stay positive and just keep trying to let guys know there’s an opportunity for guys to step up and make a name for themselves. It’s a chance for me to try to lead.

It’s unbelievable, though. It’s unbelievable. I don’t know how you spin a positive out of it. When Joe went down, I was like, “I don’t believe this.” We were just looking at each other [on the court] like, “Can you believe this?”

Q: I’m guessing I don’t need to brush you up on the history of this franchise. And I know there’s really no such thing as a curse, but . . .

A: I don’t believe in curses and those things. I think this is just a little bit of adversity. I’m hoping at the end of my career I can look back and say that was a small portion [of it]. That’s just the mentality you’ve got to have. You’ve got to have that or we might as well stop playing and say we’re cursed.

Q: On top of all the injuries, there’s been a lot of trade speculation surrounding Andre and this team. Do you think that has affected you guys, too?

A: I really don’t think it has. I don’t know about Dre, but we haven’t talked about it at all [as a team]. . . . I think he’s here, he’s going to be here and right now we need him. I don’t think we’re going to do any trades, but that’s not my side of the job.

Q: If you guys don’t make a move, can you survive [in the West] with the bigs you have?

A: I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I don’t know what moves they can make. It’s one thing to [get by at center] for the next 10 games but we’ve got to hold it down for the next 50. But with [so many] guys out, I don’t even know if there’s moves available.

Q: In general would you say that the mood of the team is pretty good considering everything that’s happened?

A: It is pretty good, because even with the injuries we haven’t gone on a really bad losing streak or gotten blown out. We’ve been pretty competitive. We’re still playing well and I think that’s key. If you keep playing well and keep guys motivated, then guys don’t get down on themselves.

It’s scary in a way because guys are looking around like, “Who’s next?” It’s unfortunate, but, again, I’m just taking it as an opportunity where I’m just going to keep trying to show up, keep trying to lead and keep this team at a high level where people look back and say, “That wasn’t that bad of a year for us.”

By Marc Stein

Surely you've heard the suggestion that the free-agent obsession for fans and media pests, as soon as we get past the Summer of LeBron, will be Chris Paul’s potential availability in the summer of 2012.

Chris Paul has heard the talk, too.

He's well aware that trying to gauge his happiness with the stripped-down Hornets is a go-to pastime for NBA know-it-alls.

"I hear it all the time," Paul said in a recent visit with ESPN.com.

And?

"I'm happy," Paul insists.

"That's the thing that's funny. Anybody around our team that knows me knows I'm happy."

The chat with Paul wasn’t long, because catching him after an L is the wrong time for any sort of in-depth discussion with one of the game’s self-confessed worst losers.

But he did field a few questions about the future, dismissing the rumblings that he’ll be pushing for a trade sooner rather than later in the wake of good friend Tyson Chandler’s trade to Charlotte, New Orleans’ salary-shedding summer giveaway of Rasual Butler in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers and the recent firing of coach and mentor Byron Scott without a heads-up from management.

"I'm good," Paul said. "I love the city. I love New Orleans."

Asked specifically about the summer of 2012, when he can opt out of the final year of his new four-year, $62.6 million contract extension to have the right to pick a new team in free agency like his Team USA pal LeBron will have this summer, Paul said: "That's so far away, man. 2012? I’m worried about that movie that came out [called] '2012.' "

Sources with knowledge of the Hornets’ thinking maintain that the club won’t even consider trade inquiries for Paul, even though New Orleans remains $3.3 million over the luxury-tax threshold and despite the fact that big spenders in the league such as the Dallas Mavericks are believed to be eager to offer the Hornets major payroll relief by volunteering to take on an unsavory contract – such as Peja Stojakovic’s deal and/or Emeka Okafor’s – for the privilege of pilfering Paul.

The reality, though, is that teams are bound to keep trying to pry Paul away from the Hornets, no matter how determined they are to keep the backcourt dynamo. It’s the ultimate quandary. The Hornets don’t appear to have the financial flexibility or the trade assets to significantly upgrade Paul’s supporting cast, but trading him is the last thing that they want to do, not only because of his status as one of the league’s revolutionary point guards but also given his popularity in town. Paul almost exclusively made the Hornets viable business-wise after Hurricane Katrina and continues to be the club’s No. 1 connection to the city.

"He literally saved basketball in New Orleans," says one Paul loyalist.

Yet Paul is also aware that outsiders will remain skeptical about how long he can stomach life with the Hornets’ status as a team flirting with .500 and struggling to crack the top eight in the West, just two years removed from a Southwest Division title and a seven-game series with San Antonio that left New Orleans one win shy of the Western Conference finals.

"People are going to talk [about his future]," Paul said. "They’re going to do that. My thing is I can’t worry about it. My guys in the locker room know that I’m with them and they’re with me. These are my brothers and we’re going to fight to the end."

Asked about the in-game frustration that he’s finding harder and harder to mask, Paul said: "I hate to wear it on my face, but I want to win. I want to win, plain and simple. Whatever it takes to win, that’s what I’m willing to do. It’s tough, but at the same time we can only get better and that’s what I’m excited about. When this thing turns around it’s going to be a lot of fun.

"I definitely see hope. And the thing is that we’re capable. We’re capable. Sooner or later we’re going to get fed up with [.500 ball] and everyone is just going to be pissed and that’s when you better watch out for us."

The Hornets are 10-8 under new coach Jeff Bower and 6-3 since Paul returned from an eight-game absence caused by an ankle sprain. He’s not quite back to full speed – “I’m getting there,” Paul says – but the averages we’ve seen since his comeback suggest otherwise: 16.9 points, 12.8 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 steals.

"We control our destiny," Paul said, refusing to concede anything to the know-it-alls who say that the Hornets would be better served by tearing down and starting over. "I’m telling you.

"I promise you [that] I have the utmost confidence in this team right here. I’m not saying I just hope we make the playoffs. We’re getting to the playoffs."

Until quite recently, 6-foot-11 Jared Jeffries, who's in the fourth season of a 5-year, $30 million contract, was known as one of the two players you'd have to absorb in any deal with the New York Knicks (Eddy Curry is the other). Jeffries is a versatile defensive ace whom the Knicks will use at the top of their zone, on the ball, as a rover, and on traps. He also has a great deal of trouble putting the ball through the cylinder which, as you can imagine, makes him a liability on the offensive end. If he remains on the perimeter, defenses sag. Play him close to the basket, and something pretty amazing happens -- defenses actually sag outward against the 3-point happy Knicks.

To the frustration of Utah Jazz (who own the Knicks' first-round pick in the upcoming draft), the Knicks have played respectable basketball for the better part of a month. New York is 8-3 in December and has beaten some pretty good teams (Atlanta, Phoenix, Portland) in the process.

According to Wayne Winston, Jared Jeffries has been part of the recent surge:

I believe the key to the Knicks' improvement has been primarily the improved play of Jarred Jeffries and to a lesser degree the improvment of Duhon and Lee. In 109 December minutes where Jeffries was in and Chandler was out the Knicks have played 24 points better than average. When Chandler is in and Jeffries is out the Knicks have stumbled around and played 5 points worse than average. Jeffries adjusted +/- rating for December is 15 points better than average.

Amazingly in December Lee Jeffries and Duhon in together have played 16 points better than average. When Lee and Duhon are in without Jeffries the Knicks have played at an average level.

Winston notes that when the Knicks field a lineup of Chris Duhon, Larry Hughes, Danilo Gallinari, David Lee and Jeffries, they're "an amazing 51 points better than average per 48 minutes."

Jeffries averaged 19.2 minutes per game in October and November, but has logged 30.4 minutes per game in December. It's a small sample size -- and I'll take Chandler over Jeffries most days unless I'm confronting a very specific defensive riddle -- but the Knicks are undoubtedly a better defensive team than they were a month ago. Does Jeffries' uptick in playing time have something to do with that improvement?

• How do you manage only 64 points against Toronto? Detroit's effort last night was painfully familiar to Dan Feldman of PistonPowered. Instead of composing a fresh recap, all he had to do was dust off the one from the previous game against Charlotte: "A few small fixes, and last night’s works just fine."
• John Krolik of Cavs the Blog took some strong impressions away from watching Tyreke Evans last night. The Cavs couldn't find anyone the guard the Kings' rookie over the first three quarters. Then Cleveland remembered it has this very athletic, physically impressive, relatively young wing they can utilize in case of defensive emergency.
• The Kings were in position to win the game. The fact that they didn't wasn't a result of youthful inexperience, says Zach Harper of Cowbell Kingdom: "At a certain point, [the Kings] got caught up in trying to make Evans a star. If he beats LeBron one-on-one a couple of times, you might lead off SportsCenter and get every national blog linking to you for the fourth time in a week. You might convince people to keep coming to the games (great crowd at the game last night by the way). Take a lesson from what LeBron James did: find your teammates and make the smart play when the offense isn’t going your way."
• Wendell Maxey, writing for the Portland Sentinel, recounts a fun anecdote about how in 1986-87, then-rookie Nate McMillan earned the respect of his Portland teammates. The story involves Maurice Lucas, McMillan telling off a veteran and a Coke machine.
• Michael Schwartz of Valley of the Suns says that Phoenix lacks toughness. That's a general problem, of course, but particularly costly on the offensive glass: "For a team that thrives on playing with rhythm and speed, it is nearly impossible to win giving up 16 offensive rebounds. Not only is an offensive board and bucket a huge momentum-changer, it slows down the pace of the game, which is something the Suns obviously don’t want to do."
• It was a big win for the Thunder in Phoenix. Royce Young of Daily Thunder took note of a creative decision by Scott Brooks: "I found it interesting that Thabo [Sefolosha] guarded Steve Nash for most of the game. Maybe that’s because Nash likes to hide behind screeners and shoot or fall away and shoot and maybe Thabo’s length could bother him. Thabo didn’t have a point, but I thought he played Nash well, especially in the second half. After nine assists in the first half, Nash had just three in the second." That's another thing that Russell Westbrook gives you -- the ability to put your most physical perimeter defender, Sefolosha, on the ball at strategic moments. Because Westbrook is capable of cross-matching, Brooks has the luxury to experiment and switch things up defensively.
• The Clippers will have a decision to make with Marcus Camby who, at 35 years old, is having one of the most productive seasons on his career. Camby is on the final year of his current deal and the Clippers have Blake Griffin coming back at some point in late January. D.J. Foster debunks the idea that if you don't trade a player with an expiring contract before the deadline that you're "letting him walk for nothing." Cap relief is often far more valuable than whatever a team might acquire in return for such a deal.
• The Kamenetzky Brothers always deliver with their podcast. When the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Brian Windhorst is the featured guest, it's tremendous stuff.
• Clark Matthews of the Daily Thunder reviews some of Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti's greatest hits.
• According to Jeremy Schmidt of Bucksketball, the Wizards deployed an "attack Brandon Jennings" strategy to beat the Bucks at the Bradley Center Wednesday night. Jennings gambles too frequently, gets taken out of plays by strong screens, and bigger guards have been backing him down effectively. But rookie point guards almost always confront steep learning curves defensively, and Jennings will improve.
• For teams like the Trail Blazers in need of a big body, Scott Schroeder of Ridiculous Upside runs down the list of front-court candidates the D-League has to offer. In the backcourt division, D-League Digest's Steve Weinman is a fan of four-year Memphis guard Antonio Anderson, who's playing for Rockets affiliate Rio Grande Valley. While we're on the topic of RGV's guard rotation, I still believe Garrett Temple will play meaningful minutes in the NBA at some point.

The 25-30 game mark is my favorite moment in the NBA season.

Come again? What can you possibly glean from December basketball?

Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane once described his trifurcated view of the long baseball season. The first of the season is for taking inventory of what a team has. The middle third of the schedule is for making the necessary adjustments. And the final third is for making a run.

The formula works for basketball as well. The throat-clearing phase of the season is nearly over. Teams have a better feel for their assets, needs and aspirations than they did at the start of the season. That transition between observation and implementation is happening right now, and last night's slate of games offered a window into what some of the league's more interesting teams are doing.

Orlando vs. Houston
For sheer eye candy, the Orlando Magic's half-court offense is the best thing going this side of the Harbor Freeway in Los Angeles. The Magic's first third of the season was largely about appraising to what extent they could replicate last season's efficiency given the turnover in the roster. Hedo Turkoglu offered Stan Van Gundy a special kind of flexibility in the offense, because there aren't many 6-10 players in the league who can hold down ball-handling duties and run either end of the pick-and-roll.

Watching the Magic last night was a reminder that a good system is a powerful thing. Pieces can be added and subtracted without disruption. There's a possession about four minutes into the game where Rashard Lewis runs an early high screen for Jameer Nelson, who's making his first start since November 16. Nelson dribbles to his right, while Lewis runs a little flare cut along the left side of the arc around Dwight Howard, who steps in Luis Scola's path as Scola tries to recover. Lewis gets a wide open at a 3-pointer. He actually misses the shot (and all six of this attempts from beyond the arche finishes 4-7 in 3PAs on the night), but it's a clean look. What's more impressive are the remaining options on the floor even Scola is able to recover or Chuck Hayes is able to close out on the shot. A quick skip pass to Vince Carter or Mickael Pietrus on the weak side would yield similarly good stuff.

The Rockets are a middle-of-the-pack team in both offensive and defensive efficiency, something that's astounding when you look at the roster. They run out of gas in the second half, but for the better part of two quarters, they stay in the game with Aaron Brooks breaking down the defense with penetration, and Scola -- along with Carl Landry -- finding open space for shots at close range. No team in the league squeezes more out of less in a possession of basketball than the Rockets. They fade in the latter stages of the third quarter when Orlando makes some strong defensive adjustments. The Magic defense takes away the 3-pointer and with the luxury of knowing Dwight Howard is right behind them, Orlando's perimeter defenders stay up on Houston's perimeter players one-on-one (very few double teams), denying them room for easy shots.

Atlanta vs. Denver
Last week, John Hollinger wrote about how the NBA's three most efficient offenses were taking vastly different paths to success. The Hawks have gotten there with the league's lowest turnover rate, by killing it on the offensive glass, and with some easy buckets in transition precipitated by strong defense. Wednesday night in Denver, the Hawks aren't themselves in the first half. They nab only a single offensive rebound, turn the ball over eight times and generally give Denver anything it wants in the half-court.

One of the funnier anecdotes from the 2009 postseason came by way of Sekou Smith, who reported that Mike Woodson and Mike Bibby had a spat on the bench after the Hawks coach expressed his displeasure over a decision by Bibby late in a possession against Cleveland to pass the ball to inveterate shooter Josh Smith for an open 24-foot jumper. Bibby snapped back at his coach:

“If you don’t want me to throw to him put him somewhere else,” Bibby shouted. “He’s wide [@*&$%] open. Wide open. What do you want me to do? If you don’t want him shooting that then put him somewhere else. You tell him.”

If the Hawks have unearthed anything in the first third of the season, it's some very persuasive evidence that the Josh Smith Reformation Program for the Undisciplined Jump Shooter has been a success. Only 24 percent of Smith's attempts from the floor this season have been from 16 feet or beyond, down from 34 percent last season.

Against Denver, the entire Hawks team is impatient, launching ill-advised long jumpers en masse. It's a shame, too, because Denver's aggressive, early double-teams against Joe Johnson give the Hawks a bunch of good opportunities which they exploit effectively in the first few minutes of the game, but abandon after that.

The Nuggets' questions over the first third of the season surrounded how they'd maintain their perch near the top of the Western conference with the same roster minus Dahntay Jones and Linas Kleiza. Denver starts Ty Lawson in place of Chauncey Billups, who misses his third straight game with a left groin strain. How does Lawson measure up as a starter? Just fine, furthering answering critics who felt that his size and "mid-range game" might hold him back. Lawson finishes with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists against a large and capable defender, Joe Johnson. Six of those seven field goals are at close range. Lawson’s patience in the half-court is as pronounced as his decisiveness in transition. He’s absolutely attuned to Denver’s priority on each possession, which is to pound the ball inside for a close-range shot or a trip to the stripe or, if the defense collapses, J.R. Smith from distance (he drains 10 of 17 attempts from beyond the arc).

Watching the Hawks -- and most of Denver's recent opponents -- one thing is certain: The level of disruption Carmelo Anthony is causing in the half-court is profound. The Nuggets are able to play Powerball right now because every defense they encounter is preoccupied with Anthony. It's not Denver's post play that's getting them to the rim at will -- it's all that open space inside that's freed up by defenders cheating over to Anthony, whether he has the ball or not.

Portland vs. San Antonio
This is a battle of two teams with grave existential questions as we enter the second third of the season. For the Spurs, have their early-season struggles been the product of acclimating a bunch of new players, or is there something fundamentally unsound about the pieces they've added to their aging foundation?

For the Trail Blazers, who have lost Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla in recent days, there's desperation in the air, and it's compounded Wednesday night by the absence of Brandon Roy, who's nursing a sore shoulder.

The Spurs toy with Portland on the first couple of possessions, working mismatches Richard Jefferson to get him shots at the rim. But Portland is able to leverage its sole advantage over San Antonio -- speed. The Trail Blazers don't exploit that advantage in transition (only seven fast break points). Instead, they whirl around in the half-court and get some very nice looks for jump shooters, most prominently LaMarcus Aldridge (9-for-13 from the floor). Jerryd Bayless? the speedster doesn't need much help getting nice looks. He'll create them out of thin air -- on the perimeter with a quick release (with out without a high screen) or off the dribble through the seams of the defense.

Blazers Edge describes what else goes right for Portland:

The keys to the game were pretty simple. Portland packed the paint on defense, first denying the ball to Tim Duncan then daring him to score over multiple defenders and the rest of the Spurs to hit outside shots instead of driving. It was the only conceivable way to make up for the utter lack of interior power on that end. Once the shot went up the Blazers rebounded hard down to the last man. You saw four, five guys swarming the glass. On offense the plan was clear: take advantage of any mismatches (Bayless, Aldridge), use screens to get them free, and when the main guys got shot down pass the ball out quickly and hope the jumpers fall. They did. San Antonio's did somewhat but it wasn't enough. Combine that with 8 turnovers and more energy than the Spurs and you walk away with a win....as big of a win as you can get at this stage of the season...a win that didn't depend on lucky threes...a win Blazers got on a night when San Antonio shot 6 percentage points better than they. Priceless.

Reports of the Spurs' demise have been exaggerated for the better part of a decade now, but if you want to diagnose what might prevent them from playing into mid-May, you should examine their defense. In a game that features only 85 possessions per side, the Spurs surrender 98 points, which is more than acceptable against a skeletal Portland lineup. Unusual for a team coached by Gregg Popovich, the Spurs elect to double-team LaMarcus Aldridge. 48 Minutes of Hell wonders aloud:

My last question concerns Gregg Popovich’s decision to aggressively double team LaMarcus Aldridge. In Monday’s game against the Clippers, Pop chose to consistently play Chris Kaman straight up. Apparently he is more threatened by Aldridge, given that he sent two defenders at him throughout the second half. But Aldridge effectively passed out of the double, and the Blazers nailed five of the eleven three-pointers they took before scrambling rotators were able to recover. What was it about tonight’s game that made Pop more willing to stray from his “stay home” defensive strategy, and risk the open three in order to double Aldridge?

It's an interesting question and you can only assume that Popovich feels that his team might not feature the kind of one-on-one matchup advantages they're accustomed to having. The Spurs have racked up championships on the strength of their base defense, but for the first time in a long while, the Spurs are being regularly outmatched and outwitted on the perimeter.

If you simulate this game with the same shot attempts ten times, I'm not sure the Trail Blazers win more than three of the match-ups. Designating 30 of your 77 shot attempts as long 2-point jumpers is treacherous, but being lightning quick to the ball and to the glass has a way of mitigating those kinds of numbers.

One thing's for certain: No two teams will be more interesting to watch during the "middle third of the season adjustment phase" than the Trail Blazers and Spurs.

• Fred Kerber of the New York Post: "'Twas the night before the night before Christmas ... and the Nets still lost. They had Yi Jianlian back from a knee injury, and he made a big difference. They shot the 3-ball better than they have all season, making nine. Keyon Dooling played a season high minutes and excelled. Courtney Lee shot like Courtney Lee is supposed to shoot. Devin Harris drove and pushed the ball and scored. And the Nets still lost -- against the second worst team in the NBA. So it didn't matter if it was the night before the night before Christmas or the Fourth of July or Income Tax Filing Extension Day. They lost."
• Joe Freeman of The Oregonian: "LaMarcus Aldridge stepped out of a boisterous Trail Blazers locker room and strutted down a dimly lit corridor in the bowels of AT&T Center toward the team bus, echoing a fitting phrase over and over. 'This is a good day for the Trail Blazers,' he said, grinning. 'This is a good day.' In yet another head-scratching outcome, the Blazers overcame yet another injury and played yet another inspired game to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 98-94 Wednesday night before 18,581. Jerryd Bayless, in his first career start, had a career game, and the Blazers enjoyed key contributions from virtually everyone on their decimated roster. 'I don't think anyone (outside the organization) believed we could win,' Bayless said. 'But we're just trying to set out and prove people wrong.' Shortly before tipoff, the Blazers learned All-Star Brandon Roy would not play because of a sprained left shoulder he suffered in the closing minutes of Tuesday night's win at Dallas. Roy, who underwent multiple medical tests in San Antonio, will have an magnetic resonance imaging performed today after the team returns to Portland."
• Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News: "Don't believe the hype or numbers. Kobe Bryant is the best player in basketball and no one, not even LeBron James, comes close. The champion Lakers play the Cavaliers on Christmas Day, and of course it's billed as Kobe vs. LeBron. The truth is, the only thing the two truly have in common is they're Nike puppets. One Eastern Conference scout said there's no comparison between Bryant and James, noting the difference in how they perform in the clutch. Bryant has numerous game-winners, while James has a handful. 'Kobe is a killer, and to be that, you must be selfish,' the scout said. 'Kobe has a level of arrogance that he doesn't give a (darn) what anyone thinks. LeBron has always had to share, ever since his childhood. It's not in him to be selfish. Whatever that 'it' is, Kobe has it and LeBron doesn't yet. (James) can get to a point where he's dangerous, but to Kobe's level? I don't think so.' "
• Israel Gutierrez of The Miami Herald: "With the Heat playing in Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day, Erik Spoelstra said he doesn't anticipate Dwyane Wade and his impending free agency being much of a story, despite the New York media's history of dredging up the issue with most of the 2010 free agents. 'By this point now, if it hasn't been an issue, I don't think it will be,' Spoelstra said."
• John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times: "For nearly two months, Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro was remarkably patient with his underperforming veterans, but he finally got tough Tuesday night -- yanking John Salmons and Brad Miller from the starting lineup at the beginning of the second half of the Bulls' 88-81 loss to the New York Knicks. It's about time. Now, I'm not saying that all of the Bulls' woes are because of Salmons and Miller. All I'm saying is that everybody on a team -- including veterans with a proven track record -- must be held accountable for their actions."
• Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: "The Nuggets got sweet revenge on Atlanta, a team that smacked them around Nov. 7. The Nuggets are 13-1 at the Pepsi Center, the best home record in the NBA, thanks to a 27-assist performance with the players actually passing to one another. Smith shot himself out of a slump that had caused his coach consternation. His recent shooting totals included 0-for-8, 5-for-14 and 2-for-12 in the most recent game at Memphis. 'I don't think my jump shot has been as consistent as I want it to be,' Smith said, 'but I don't think it's been an up-and-down year, as long as my defense is still consistent.' On Wednesday, Smith shot 15-for-25 from the field but 1-for-6 from the foul line, where he has struggled all season. 'I would bet it's never happened in the NBA,' Nuggets coach George Karl said. 'You saw history tonight.' "
• Scott Cacciola of The Commercial-Appeal: "Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol have emerged as one of the most dynamic post tandems in the NBA. The simple truth is that they have made each other better, and the Grizzlies are flourishing as an inside-out team. 'They just vibed so quickly,' assistant coach Johnny Davis said. 'Neither one of those players is selfish by nature. They enjoy the other's success. There are no jealousies, there are no hidden agendas. They just both enjoy the beauty of the game.' They also have enjoyed winning. And if there are differences in their backgrounds, then they share remarkable similarities. Both are versatile big men who can post up, pass, rebound and shoot. Both joined the team with much to prove — Randolph as a reclamation project, Gasol as just a project. And both are here as a result of the deal that sent Pau Gasol, Marc's older brother, to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2008."
• Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: "During the first third of the NBA season, Dirk Nowitzki has played at such a high level that the Mavericks have survived the following: 1) One of their best players, Josh Howard, missing 20 of their 29 games. 2) Another top contributor, Jason Terry, shooting 46-of-138 (33.3 percent) over the last 10 games. 3) Yet another key player, Erick Dampier, missing eight games. 4) Eight starting lineups, one for every 3.6 games. Considering all that, it's a darn good thing Nowitzki has played MVP-caliber basketball through the season's first two months. If not, the Mavericks wouldn't be atop the Southwest Division and perched behind the Los Angeles Lakers with the second-best record in the Western Conference."
• Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: "Cavaliers center Shaquille O'Neal has a special relationship with Bill Bertka, an Akron native who is in his 29th consecutive season with the Los Angeles Lakers and his seventh as director of scouting/basketball. 'Bill Bertka is a legend and taught me a lot,' O'Neal said as the Cavs prepare to visit the Lakers on Christmas Day. 'He was vital to my career. He kept me out of a lot of trouble.' No doubt there are a lot of Lakers -- present and past -- who can make the same claim. ... Although O'Neal once gave Bertka a Rolex watch as a gift, Bertka said the two don't communicate often. Still, he feels as if they're close. 'I always have a real warm spot in my heart for Shaq and always will,' Bertka said. 'I always enjoy seeing Shaq. He's not looking to take an 82-year-old man to dinner, but he's always very warm and friendly when I do see him.' "
• Kate Fagan of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "After Tuesday night's loss, a game in which the Sixers were ahead, 79-72, going into the fourth quarter, Sixers coach Eddie Jordan repeatedly called the fourth-quarter defense "horrible," while power forward Elton Brand, clearly not speaking about himself, said, 'Certain guys have a longer leash than others, so they played longer and the mistakes were shown.' By deduction, Brand's words seemed to be meant for backup center Marreese Speights, who played 9 minutes, 51 seconds in the fourth quarter, nearly all of that time alongside Brand. Speights is known for his scoring, not his defending. Brand said the Wizards 'did what they were supposed to do. They out-energy-ed us, outhustled us.' Five games ago, Jordan moved Brand, who had been a starter for all of his 10-plus NBA seasons, to the bench. After the loss to the Wizards, Brand seemed frustrated, nearly despondent. When asked whether he had any ideas that might improve the team, Brand said he did not. 'I have no idea,' he said. 'I'm just going to follow ... and work hard and try to turn this thing around.' "
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "The Rockets almost bring back Von Wafer, don't sign Von Wafer, and then sign Mike Harris instead, with Harris in Toyota Center anyway, watching the Rockets play the Clippers on a night off from his gig with the Vipers. Harris had no idea the Rockets had anything in mind for him, but Wafer failed a physical and lost his chance while the guy next in line was sitting in the stands. The most amazing thing in all this was that Wafer and his agent would let him fell a physical, at all. He had bombed in Olympiakos, one of the worst fits imaginable, and had made himself a free agent in a buyout. Things could have worked out, however, with the Rockets having a roster spot and a sudden reason to feel a need for what he does. The Rockets were going to give him a minimum contract for the rest of the season, a good value for them and another chance for him. But he had already reportedly failed a physical with the Grizzlies. To go for another one made no sense unless he was sure he could pass it. The Rockets have not said what went wrong, but Wafer has long had back issues."

By Chris Sheridan

With NBA gate receipts down less than anticipated, the doomsday scenario of a $6-7 million drop in the salary cap for the 2010-11 season now seems overly pessimistic.

Everyone still expects the cap to go down heading into the summer of 2010 when the league will have one of its strongest free agent classes in years, but by how much?

ESPN.com has been digging around for preliminary cap projections, and here is what we have uncovered:

The Miami Heat are the most conservative in their estimates, basing their planning for next summer's cap at $52 million.

The New York Knicks are using $53 million as their operating number, and the New Jersey Nets are being the most optimistic, expecting the cap to come in between $54 and $55 million.

The league office told teams at the Board of Governors meeting on the eve of the season opener to expect the cap to come in somewhere around the $52 million range, but agents who have been briefed on updated financial receipt figures now are using $54 million as their operating number.

The salary cap dropped from $58.68 million in 2008-09 to $57.7 million for the current season, and the league issued a memo in early July projecting that Basketball Related Income -- the formula through which the cap is calculated -- was expected to drop 2.5 to 5 percent this season, hence the doomsday scenario of a cap drop all the way down south of $51 million.

Gate receipts over the remainder of the season will impact the cap calculations going forward, so the numbers listed above are merely the best guestimates available at this time. But one thing is certain: The Knicks, Heat and Nets -- the teams who will have the most cap space -- are all hoping that ticket sales and gate receipts continue to come in stronger than originally forecast, which will give them more money to throw around when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Carlos Boozer and a host of others become unrestricted free agents.

By Marc Stein

Pau Gasol's extension is worth an even $57 million over three seasons, according to figures obtained by ESPN.com.

The official numbers on Gasol's three-year extension with the Lakers starting in 2011-2012 were circulated through the league late Wednesday afternoon.

The year-by-year breakdown of the extension: $18,714,150 in 2011-12, $19,000,000 in 2012-13 and $19,285,850 in 2013-14.

Gasol is earning $16,452,000 this season and is scheduled to earn $17,823,000 next season in the final year of his previous contract.

The contract, according to league-issued specifics obtained by ESPN.com, also contains a trade kicker.

UPDATE: Capologist extraordinaire Larry Coon checked in via his Twitter feed with the reminder that the Gasol figures, even though they've been circulated leaguewide, are technically "tentative" because the first-year amount in an extension can't exceed the league's maximum salary. The rules in the next collective bargaining agreement, starting in 2011-12, could change how maximum salaries are calculated, so his first-year max salary could still be lowered from the $18,714,150 currently earmarked for the Spaniard that season. The total value of Gasol's deal, in that scenario, would have to be reduced.

The Blazers started the year with gaudy depth. Maybe the most depth in the league.

One of the positions that was particularly stacked was center, where Greg Oden was penciled in as a future franchise player, and Joel Przybilla -- who led the whole league in rebounding percentage last season -- has often been called the best backup in the NBA.

Another position that was deep -- too deep, according to most pre-season analyses -- was small forward. Nicolas Batum was the long "D and 3s" guy that winning teams love to have alongside stars. As a rookie, he had started on a team that won 54 games. Over the summer, he had killed it for the French team, and hopes were high and getting higher. Travis Outlaw can get his shot off against anyone. And Rudy Fernandez is the leading candidate to become the NBA's next Manu Ginobili.

All of those players are out. The small forwards have the potential to return before the playoffs. But the centers are evidently out for the duration, which is a truly spectacular run of injuries.

What a flood of bizarre feelings for Blazer fans:

• If you added some roster filler around Portland's injured players -- Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla, Rudy Fernandez, Nicolas Batum, Travis Outlaw and Patrick Mills (rookie point guard who has also been out all season) -- you'd have a fighting chance at making the playoffs.
• New plan: Trade every healthy player for draft picks or something before their seasons end.
• What's worse? The injury that takes out your first center? Or the injury that takes out your last center? When Oden got hurt, it was big news. But that meant Przybilla was starting, and he's a stud. When Przybilla got hurt, that means ... Juwan Howard is starting. (Yes, he's still in the NBA. He's not a center, by the way. And he's backed up by, well, I'm not sure who's backing up the backup to the backup.)
• Ahh, you say, so now the Blazers can go small. That can be an advantage. Coach like Don Nelson! But remember, when teams go small, that usually involves getting some small forward to guard a big man. Portland doesn't have any small forwards left. So ... when the Blazers go small, it's four guards and a skinny big man like LaMarcus Aldridge, or Howard (or last night rookie Jeff Pendergraph played his first NBA minutes after an injury of his own). If size matters in the NBA, Portland is doomed.
• If Nate McMillan can steer this ship to the playoffs, that's your leading candidate for coach of the year.
• Strange things happen. Maybe all this mayhem leads to things we'd never expect. For instance, last night, the Mavericks were determined to crush Portland's tiny lineup, and so played Erik Dampier long minutes. Only they're way better with, say, Jason Terry or Jose Juan Barea in the game. And Portland won.
• Desperate times call for desperate measures. And sometimes those pay off. For instance, Jerryd Bayless has been getting lots of playing time, and wow! He is officially now due to become a YouTube star. The other day he made an out-of-bounds/backcourt violation save that he had no business completing successfully. One of those moments that tells you he's a super special athlete. And his combination of intelligence and aggression is delightful. Last night, Dirk Nowitzki was coming to life. The Mavericks had figured out how to get Portland to switch to get little guys like Steve Blake isolated against Nowitzki. (In that scenario, Dirk makes the bucket apparently without even being aware that there had been a defender there.) (Also, that moment was a microcosm of the next few months for Portland. The other guys are now way bigger.) Things were looking bad for Portland. But Bayless -- a heady little dude -- plunged in from Nowitzki's blind spot and poked the ball free, creating a momentum-changing turnover (which, by the way, was scored as a Blake steal -- he collected the loose ball).

Through it all, I think Blazer players, fans, employees and the like have had a crazy roller-coaster ride of emotions. What pleases me is to see guys like Roy (who, by the way, is set to have an MRI on his shoulder) and Bayless talking a good game about staying scrappy.

For whatever reason, Blazer fans are, in my experience, particularly prone to wallowing in a victim complex. The refs, the opponents, the League, the media ... to a lot of Blazer fans, they have all always been out to get this team since its inception. (The current Blazer broadcasters play no small role in this -- the subtext of every broadcast is "that was a horrible call against Portland). Counting your misfortunes is precisely how you don't succeed in tough times.

You count your blessings. For the players, how about this? Just about everybody involved (sorry, D-League call-up Anthony Tolliver) is a millionaire. Injured or not, everybody has top-notch health care. Everybody has a roof over their heads and three square meals a day (or five, if that's what your dietician is into). Everybody gets to be in the NBA. Everybody gets to prove themselves, now, or after all the rehab. Functioning knees or not, everybody on this team is lucky compared to 99% of the planet.

And for the fans: If you're biggest troubles are in your entertainment life? If the people who are hurting are people you don't even know personally? Well, consider yourself very lucky indeed.

No, this season has not gone how any Portlander wanted it to go. But nobody has good fortune all the time. Everybody gets a turn to play a bad hand. Play those cards well, and you're really something special.

UPDATE: Amazing but true. Portland PR says: "Brandon Roy (left shoulder strain) is out for tonight's game at San Antonio. He is listed as day-to-day." Roy is scheduled for an MRI when the team returns to Portland.

UPDATE: And with a road win in San Antonio, Portland makes this post's headline look good. Jeff Pendergraph, by the way, is the backup to the backup's backup at center. Juwan Howard was something of a star on the night. Neither big man comes with high expectations at this stage, but both are feisty and can hit the open jumper.

• An amazing tale of Rod Thorn and his remarkable father.
• Dan Feldman of PistonPowered on the Pistons, who lost "The Larry Brown Cup" to the Bobcats: "The Pistons aren’t a good team right now. We can debate all we want how much better they’ll be when fully healthy. But, for now, they’re nothing special."
• The Bobcats won that game despite turning the ball over a ton. They are league leaders in that category and it's not close.
• When LeBron James passes for the assist, who is he passing to? More than anyone else, according to this fancy pie chart, it's Anthony Parker. (Via Cavs the Blog)
• Zach Lowe of CelticsHub: "Classic. [Paul] Pierce was 0-of-9 over the first three quarters before erupting in the 4th. And the thing about Pierce is that he was still productive on offense -- or at least not unproductive -- over those first three quarters because of his determination to get to the line. Like I said, we’ve seen this movie before. For 12 years. Appreciate."
• Huge frontcourts can be punished by smaller, quicker, more skilled players like Carl Landry, as the Clippers found out.
• Rahat Huq of Red94: "Tracy McGrady ... had by far his best performance of the season, even coming close to a dunk on one occasion."
• Flip Saunders punishes the regulars with a benching, and it totally works.
• Bret Lagree of Hoopinion: "Kevin Love's offensive rebound rate: 26.9%. Atlanta's team offensive rebound rate: 29.5%" Paging Josh Smith, Al Horford, Zaza Pachulia, Jason Collins, Joe Smith ...
• Dave from BlazersEdge on Joel Przybilla's knee injury: "What can you do at this point but shrug your shoulders and laugh? Not a funny laugh, mind you. It's the laugh you laugh when your house burns down and the fire truck that came to save you tips over on your new car."
• A real deal stat geek digs deep into the "who's the best clutch player" question, and looking at the 2008-2009 season comes up with a list that is topped by LeBron James, Brandon Roy, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.