For what seems like the first time this season, some of the members of the Phoenix Suns called out their lack of concentration needed to be a playoff team in the West after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, from Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: “We didn’t know how to stop them. Our intensity was really bad. I don’t know why but it’s like nobody wants to play playoffs. It seems like that.”… “Chris Kaman is not the fastest guy in the world and he went from the top of the key and dunked it right down the lane and nobody seemed to step over,” Hornacek said. “That was the perfect sign that they weren’t ready to go and weren’t alert. It was one of those nights where nobody seemed to have it.”… “I don’t know if we had a single guy who came with the energy that they usually have,” Hornacek said. “It’s too late in the season to talk about lessons because we’ve had games like this before where they think they’re just going to show up and win a game. We’re not good enough to do that. These guys have been winning games lately because they’ve been focused in but tonight they just weren’t focused in.”
The Lakers are trying to play the spoiler role and get everyone to hate them as the season winds down, from Jovan Buha of ESPN LA: “The Lakers want their opponents to hate them. They want to knock postseason contenders down a peg or two in the standings, if not fall out of the playoff picture altogether. That, more than anything else, is their primary motivation for the rest of the season.“We embrace trying to be the ‘player-haters of the year,’” [point guard Kendall] Marshall said postgame. “We want to mess up seedings, keep teams out of the playoffs, and any type of motivation we can get to grow as a team is good for us right now.”Prior to the game, coach Mike D’Antoni was asked if the Lakers reveled in their wins against playoff contenders such as the Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks earlier this month.Without hesitation, D’Antoni said it’s something Los Angeles has been focusing on and talking about recently.“We want everybody to hate us by the end of the year,” D’Antoni said. “We did get New York and now we’re trying to get Phoenix and then we’ll try to give them a favor by getting Portland. We’ll have our chances, so hopefully we can do that.”
- With the Cleveland Cavaliers making somewhat of a late playoff push, Kyrie Irving may be looking to come back as soon as Wednesday, from Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: “Irving, the Cavs’ leading scorer (21.2 points per game) and playmaker (6.2 assists), is hoping to return this season. The Cavs are 4-4 without Irving. “You have to give Mike Brown a lot of credit,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said of the Cavs coach. “They’re playing really well without Kyrie, which has always been tough to do when you lose a guy as dynamic as Kyrie is. I think they’ve reshaped themselves a little bit with Kyrie out, and they’re playing good basketball.” Irving is hoping to return for the Orlando game on April 2.”
- Arnett Moultrie (no one blames you if you don’t know who that is) has been suspended for five games without pay by the NBA for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.
Mike D’Antoni touched on his two primary point guards and their current situations, from Mike Bresnahan of Los Angeles Times: “So the Lakers will take the 40-year-old Nash into next season and hope he can play more than a handful of games. “Marshall needed to develop a “grittiness” like slow but determined veteran point guard Andre Miller, D’Antoni said. “He gives up a lot of foot speed, but you’ve got to [overcome] it by angles and you’ve got to do it by anticipating,” D’Antoni said of Marshall. “What he does, he does really well. He just can’t have a day where you’re not thinking real hard, because you’re not going to make it up with your physical speed.” D’Antoni also had some thoughts on the injury-prone Nash. “He’s 40 years old, playing what he loves, so I’m pretty envious. I don’t feel sorry for him,” he said. “He could have quit early like everybody else did. I think it’s just remarkable.”
- Rick Adelman thought the refs let the Brooklyn Nets get away with a lot against Kevin Love, according to Jerry Zgoda of Star Tribune: “They held him all game,” Adelman said. “Just being honest.” “They did a good job, but it was really just me being exhausted,” Love said. “I couldn’t find any energy in the second half. That was really it. They did a good job, but I don’t know…” Asked if his exhaustion was the toll of a season in which he has been needed to do so much, he said, “I don’t know, I might be getting sick or something. I just had zero energy in the second half. I got nothing.” Adelman crediting the Nets for surrounding Love with active bodies. “They crowded him, that’s what they tried to do,” he said. “I thought they [the officials] allowed a lot, but then again, we have to do something to respond to that. Other guys have to step up and do it.”
- The NBA is now allowing the media to get a piece of what the rest of the league is receiving when it comes to communicating with the referees, and the most recent note is about how vertical defense is not allowed if you’re turning sideways in the air: “We want to make sure you are aware of the following topic we will be alerting referees to today. We have noticed that defenders have been turning sideways when jumping to defend an oncoming offensive player on drives to the basket. This is illegal and referees are being instructed to call this a blocking foul. While we commonly discuss verticality in the context of secondary defenders inside the restricted area (see restricted area and verticality reminder further below), this change will apply to defenders turning sideways while in the air whether inside or outside the restricted area on drives.
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
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The thing about the Pacers is that they are a healthy team other than Bynum, who apparently is finished. Jason Kidd won Coach of the Month for March. Vogel deserves Worst coach of month.
The Nets however are probably pleased that they may face the Heat instead of the Pacers if they make it to the 2nd round. I can just see the Pacers getting back to their old self if they had to play the Nets, without Brook Lopez again. Nets, if healthy give the Heat fits, with Kirilenko, Livingston, Pierce, Teletovic and now the added Thornton and Gutierrez, and not have to worry about being too small.
Regarding Kevin Love, he just can’t handle THE TRUTH. Nets are 13-4 vs. West in 2014, so he shouldn’t point fingers at the Eastern Conference.
The Lakers may think they are playing the role of a spoiler, but they are only spoiling their own chances of getting a top draft pick. Currently they might be favored to get the #6 pick, but could drop to #7 if they continue to spoil. They should pay attention to how Phila / Milw does it (Bucks just sat Ilyasova with an ankle (“Tank-le”) sprain for rest of season.