TRILLION WATCH: Detroit Pistons forward Slava Kravstov became the fourth rookie this season with a 5 trillion in Monday’s loss at Utah. He joined Oklahoma City’s Perry Jones III and Toronto’s Terrence Ross. In all, there have been 17 players with a 5 trillion or more this season, still topped by Portland rookie Will Barton, who had a magical 11 trillion vs. Washington on Jan. 21.
GAME OF THE WEEK: Denver at Oklahoma City, March 19. This will be an excellent test for the Nuggets, who beat the Thunder at home on March 1 but now have to do it on the road to extend their 11-game winning streak. It also begins a tough two-day exam for the Thunder, who visit Memphis on Wednesday.
GAME OF THE WEAK: Minnesota at Sacramento, March 21. As if the NCAA Tournament needed any more help attracting viewers.
TWO MINUTES: Last week, we mentioned how Blazers forward J.J. Hickson is playing his way into an eight-figure contract in free agency this summer. Look how high he is in our free agent rankings! Another player who should get similar attention – although not similar money – in Wizards swingman Martell Webster, who is averaging career highs in points (11.5), floor shooting (.458), free-throw shooting (.871) and 3-point shooting (.453), where he ranks third in the NBA. Webster is making just $1.6 million this season and should easily triple that in free agency. The Wizards will not be under the cap but will be under the tax and can offer Webster the mid-level exception to keep him. “I already talked to Ted (owner Ted Leonsis) about that one,” teammate John Wall said. “That’s an easy, hands down question about trying to get him back here. Him being a free agent, a lot of people are going to come after him. Especially after the season he had this year.” Does Webster want to come back? “I would love to be here next year, but this is a business and we’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’m having an extraordinary time. The city is great, the fans are great, teammates are awesome.” … On Saturday night in Utah, Memphis center Marc Gasol lost his sneaker, picked it up and then used it to extend his reach around Derrick Favors and poke the ball away. Yes, he was called for a foul. Yes, he complained anyway. … When LeBron James shot 3-of-11 in Atlanta on Tuesday and 8-of-19 in Philadelphia on Wednesday, it marked just the second time this season he has shot less than 50 percent in consecutive games. The first time was Nov. 15 at Denver (11-of-23) and Nov. 17 at Phoenix (8-of-20). By the way, the Heat won all four games. … Is Brandon Jennings growing tired of Milwaukee? Throughout his four seasons with the Bucks, he has been criticized for his shot selection – somewhat justified, given his career .395 shooting percentage. However, in March the slender point guard is averaging less than 12 shots and nearly 11 assists while shooting a more respectable 43 percent, including 46.5 percent from the arc. “I haven’t been shooting as much, but when I was shooting it was a problem,” he said. “So now that I’m not shooting it’s like, ‘Oh, he doesn’t want to play basketball.’ But I do, it’s just that I’m looking for my teammates more.” … The Nuggets have outscored their last 48 opponents in the paint, have been outscored in the paint just twice this season and lead the league with 57.6 points in the paint per game. Keep in mind that Denver also leads the NBA with 19.7 fast break points – any scored within the first six seconds of the shot clock – most of which are points in the paint. But in Friday’s 87-80 win over Memphis, the Nuggets held a 50-36 edge in points in a grinder game that did not favor their tempo. “I thought this was a good test for us,” coach George Karl said afterward. “I said at the beginning of the fourth quarter, ‘This is good for us. We’ll find out how we have to do it. Can we do it?'” Denver has won 11 in a row for the first time since March 1983, when it had three 20-point scorers in Alex English, Kiki Vandeweghe and Dan Issel – and no other double-figure scorers. Also on that team was Danny Schayes, our newest columnist. … The are a number of differences between Rockets rookie Royce White and Mavericks rookie Chris Wright. White has an anxiety disorder while Wright has multiple sclerosis. White made a very public stink about the lack of support he received from the Rockets to assist him with his disease, while Wright made no such declarations about his. And White hasn’t played in an NBA game this season, while Wright has. He is believed to be the first player known to have MS to play in the NBA when he entered Wednesday’s home win over Cleveland in the final minute and scored the team’s last basket. “I just wanted to go in there and contribute something positive,” he said. “That was pretty cool.” White is averaging 9.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 12 games for Rio Grande Valley of the D-League.
Trivia Answer: Shane Battier, as noted in this column. … Happy 35th Birthday, Soumaila Samake. … My Final Four picks are Miami, Boston, Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
Chris Bernucca is the deputy editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Monday during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.
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