All the attention in the NBA right now is on the Lakers, who lost again last night. Unlike the first two losses, to the Dirk Nowitzki-less Mavericks and the projected also-ran Blazers, this one was to the Clippers, who are a likely playoff team and potential title contender.
But that’s not a whole lot of consolation to the Lakers, who are now 0-11 including preseason games. And amidst all the discussion of Mike Brown and the Princeton offense, the Lakers got even more bad news: Steve Nash has a small fibula fracture, and will miss at least a week. We’re wondering around here: How long will Brown last as head coach?
We’ve got a whole boatload of links to the latest news from around the NBA, but first — especially among our growing legion of fantasy players — you should check out Kent Williams’ roundup of last night’s games and Jeff Nichols’ review of the last week and look ahead to the rest of the season.
Now, on to the news:
- Somewhat buried in the Lakers’ 0-3 start is that their co-tenants at the Staples Center are 2-0. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld talks about the Clippers’ start to the season: “The Clippers’ biggest strength is their depth. Last season, the Clippers relied heavily on the one-two punch of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Now, they have multiple starting-caliber players at just about every position and they receive huge contributions from someone new each night. Los Angeles’ reserves have been outstanding, and the second unit will only improve in the coming weeks when Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill return from injuries. ‘I’m biased, but I think we’re the deepest team in the league,’ (Jamal) Crawford said. ‘This would have to be the most talented team I’ve played on. That’s no disrespect to any team I’ve played on in the past, but we’re 10 deep and maybe even deeper than that. This is the deepest team I’ve been on, by far. And these are guys who aren’t worried about anything but winning. That’s all it’s about.’ “