LINE OF THE WEAK: Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee at Indiana, March 22: 31 minutes, 1-15 FGs, 0-7 3-pointers, 2-3 FTs, two rebounds, three assists, one steal, three turnovers, four points in a 102-78 loss. In the same game, Jennings had some stiff competition from teammates Marquis Daniels (2-
of-11) and J.J. Redick (1-of-11). But he gets the nod because he was piloting Milwaukee’s worst offensive showing of the season.
TRILLION WATCH: This week’s honors were shared by Indiana swingman Sam Young, who had a 4 trillion Tuesday vs. Orlando, and Atlanta forward Anthony Tolliver, who had a 4 trillion Wednesday vs. Milwaukee. Both came in victories.
GAME OF THE WEEK: Miami at San Antonio, March 31. This will be the fifth game in eight days for the Heat, who do visit Chicago during that stretch. But it is likely that Miami will bring a 29-game winning streak into San Antonio. The Spurs will have slept in their own beds for a week and already will be battle-tested with home games Wednesday vs. Denver and Friday vs. the LA Clippers. And don’t forget the first meeting in Miami in late November, when Gregg Popovich sent all his stars home – drawing a $250,000 fine – and nearly beat the Heat anyway.
GAME OF THE WEAK: Orlando at Charlotte, March 27. Both teams presumably will be coming off beatings from Miami – the Bobcats on the road Sunday, the Magic at home Monday – and can compare notes before waging an epic battle of tanking for the better odds in the draft lottery.
TWO MINUTES: This is the first time in NBA history that two teams have had simultaneous winning streaks of at least 13 games. What is even more remarkable is how close the struggling Sixers came to ending both streaks. On March 13 vs. Miami, Philadelphia erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and was tied with 1:20 to go before Jrue Holiday dribbled the ball off his foot and Spencer Hawes missed an open driving layup. On Wednesday at Denver, Philadelphia had a seven-point lead and the ball with less than 1:30 to play and scored two more points and still lost. Among the notable transgressions were rookie Arnett Moultrie committing a two-shot foul 75 feet from the basket, a missed layup and two missed free throws by Evan Turner and Damien Wilkins fouling Corey Brewer on a 3-point try. “whatever could go wrong, did go wrong,” Turner said. Sixers CEO Adam Aron was not as diplomatic, tweeting, “That was the worst last minute of 76ers basketball I’ve seen in ages. Mind-numbingly bad.” … There are times when I am watching games or scanning boxscores and I start thinking that these are the three best players in the NBA: 1. LeBron James. 2. Kevin Durant. 3. James Harden. … Toronto’s Alan Anderson became the fifth player this season to score at least 35 points off the bench when he went for a career-high 35 in Friday’s loss to New York. Milwaukee’s 
Samuel Dalembert (35 at Denver on Feb. 5), Sacramento’s Marcus Thornton (36 at Miami on Feb. 26), New York’s J.R. Smith (36 vs. Oklahoma City on March 7) and Denver’s Wilson Chandler, who had 35 at Oklahoma City on March 1 and another 35 at Chicago on Monday. … Spurs coach Gregg Popovich notched his 900th career win Friday vs. Utah. While that left him 12th on the all-time list and 435 wins behind leader Don Nelson, only Jerry Sloan won more games with one club, collecting all but 94 of his 1,221 wins with the Jazz. And the next closest coach to compile all his wins with only one team is Billy Cunningham, who had 454 with the Philadelphia 76ers. … When Magic coach Jacque Vaughn decided to start Kyle O’Quinn in Friday’s home loss to the Thunder, it created the 22nd different lineup for Orlando this season. “How many stages are in the Tour de France?” Vaughn asked. “I’m trying to get there.” He should have no problem now that leading scorer Arron Afflalo is out for the season. … The Golden State Warriors have not won in San Antonio in the Tim Duncan era. They have lost 29 straight visits to the River City since their last win on Feb. 14, 1997, when the Spurs were tanking playing out a season without an injured David Robinson. The leading scorer for the Warriors was Latrell Sprewell. Taking the court for the Spurs that night were Vinny Del Negro, Avery Johnson and Monty Williams, all of whom began this season as coaches. … The Cavaliers are 17th in offense and 26th in defense but they do lead the league this season in one category: protective masks. Luke Walton wore one this week after breaking his nose trying to take a charge from Tim Duncan, bringing their total to four. Tristan Thompson (nasal fracture), Kyrie Irving (facial fracture) and Tyler Zeller (fractured cheekbone) are the others.
Trivia Answer: Larry Drew, Kevin McHale and Byron Scott. … Happy 40th Birthday, Bob Sura. … When Andrew Bynum says he is having season-ending surgery on both knees, does he mean this season, or next season?
Chris Bernucca is the deputy editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Monday during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.
I thought this was a site for more intelligent basketball readers: Why are you using total points per game to illustrate D’antoni’s defensive woes instead of points per 100 possessions or any more illuminating metric, and why do you not acknowledge that perhaps Nash’s woes have much to do with the fact that Kobe is the prime ballhandler for LA?
This seems a hastily written post with poor backing information (advanced analytics? Points per game barely counts as any kind of analytic) in chase of some personal vendetta, not anything that actually is insightful. (And this coming from someone who generally dislikes the Lakers and D’antoni).
Seconded. Although I do hate “advanced” analytics.
Why do you hate them, out of general curiosity?
I dislike improper usage or the usage of it above all else, but do believe proper usage of it can enlighten fans and help teams.
Let’s take PER for example. I know a lot of people who hate the way it seems to be the most popular advanced metric and tries to do the most by placing a numerical value on a player’s overall performance. My question to those who dislike it, though, is how is PER any different than looking at two players’ traditional box score line and judging which had ge better game? I don’t believe it’s any different at all, only better because it takes more background and context on each stat, better than any one mind could on its own in a second. So if we would compare players based in some part on their numbers, and w agree being well rounded is a good trait, what is wrong with a standardized formula instead of us making general guesses?
Raymond Felton didn’t play with Carmelo Anthony until this past year. The two never played together under D’Antoni.
Thanks, James. Fixed.