Sometimes, we glance at the calendar to see what day it is, we put that day of the week into the headline, and we talk NBA shop in short, sweet thoughts. Today, Thursday April 7th, we do just that.
- After another loss, this time to the Denver Nuggets, the Dallas Mavericks locker room has a stench of tanking coming from the linoleum floor tiles to the DVD players. If Dallas loses enough in their final four games, they can fall into 4th place, avoiding the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the playoffs. We're not saying that the Mavs are indeed losing on purpose, but resting Jason Kidd, Tyson Chandler, and perhaps other rotation guys in these final games definitely omits some sort of smell that reminds us of both fish and armored war-mobiles.
- The Lakers, meanwhile, have lost 3 straight games after winning 18 of 19. Their scoring has dropped from the low 100s to the low 90s in the three losses, and after everyone was ready to hand LA the West crown, their recent toe-stubbing against Denver, Utah, and Golden State is causing some second guesses. Everyone knows the Lakers have the size to beat smaller teams, and giving the ball to Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum in the first three quarters, then letting Kobe take over in the 4th, has become the blueprint of Laker winning. One has to wonder though, with none of the three losses this week coming against teams with stellar bigs (something we all thought a team needed to beat LA (Golden State doesn't even have quality big, singular)), maybe the dynamic duo down low aren't as formidable as we thought? Then again, the Lakers don't seem too worried, so the best bet for their fan-base is to share in that confidence as we all prepare for playoff basketball.
- The Miami Heat (minus a sidelined DWade) lost to the Milwaukee Bucks last night. Obviously, no Wade makes the Heat a mere glimmer of what they truly are, but with the loss to the nonplayoff team Bucks, Miami has added yet another chip in the axle that differentiates them from new Eastern Conference favorite Chicago. With Boston playing .500 ball in their last 16 games, and with the rest of the East in a separate category altogether, gotta hand it to the Bulls. Their home-court in the East should be the difference, but if it isn't, the difference will be the simple fact that they're better than the rest.
-This year, the Spirit Award goes to the Houston Rockets, who will probably miss the playoffs with a winning record. H-Town competes every night, and their season shouldn't be mocked. They're a fast paced offensive team again, and Kyle Lowry is this year's most improved player. They don't necessarily have the building blocks for an uplift in future potential, but their pieces have the talent and grit to find themselves in another race for a lower playoff seed next season. I love teams that resemble my favorite fictitious team, the Bad News Bears (the 1976 one), and this year in the Association, Houston fits the bill. I can picture it now, on the final day of the season, Rick Adelman standing on the sidelines watching the Grizzlies celebrate their playoff clinch. "Hey Grizzlies! You can take your playoff appearance and your trophy and stick it straight up your ass!" Then a drunken bath of beer for the 9th place Rockets.
- Samuel Dalembert recently admitted to eating dried apricots as a source of energy. His quote: "Dried apricots are golden nuggets from a nutritional goldmine."
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