There’s some sort of event called the Pac-12 Conference tournament being held in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. I think it has to do with college basketball. Anyway, it has forced the facility’s regular tenants – the Lakers and Clippers – to hit the road for a stretch. And things are not going well for either team. The Lakers were dispatched on a brief three-game sojourn and already have lost the first two, dropping to an abysmal 6-14 on the road.
Eight days until the trading deadline. Eight days for the Indiana Pacers to find the missing piece for a legitimate run at the conference finals, or for the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire the player that makes them a playoff team. Eight days for the Orlando Magic to go all in on Dwight Howard or blow it up and start over. Eight days for the Atlanta Hawks to avoid the luxury tax or the Los Angeles Lakers to add to it. Eight days to
The runaway NBA leader in 20-20 games is Dwight Howard. The runaway leader in triple-doubles is Rajon Rondo. And since the All-Star Game, they have been the runaway leaders in trade rumors. But while Howard’s name will remain at the head of the list, Rondo took a huge step Sunday toward taking his name out of sourced stories. Last week, Rondo reportedly was headed to Golden State for Stephen Curry before Celtics president Danny Ainge said it was highly unlikely his All-Star
Do the Oklahoma City Thunder have a toughness complex? One of the reasons the Thunder have the NBA’s second-best record is because they have three young, explosive players – Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden – who simply cannot be contained off the dribble. When defensive schemes cannot prevent a player from getting to the basket, teams usually resort to rough stuff as discouragement. Michael Jordan went through it. So did Allen Iverson. Tony Parker still gets thrown to the floor
While the swirl around Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo has calmed down to something less than a tornado, it is picking up elsewhere, specifically around the Portland Trail Blazers. After a quick start that saw the Blazers win at Oklahoma City and briefly hold the best record in the Western Conference, Portland has fallen to 18-18 and is on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. The Blazers have movable parts – the expiring contracts of Raymond Felton ($7.5 million) and Marcus Camby
Dwight Howard has asked the Orlando Magic for a lot, hasn’t he? Over the past couple of years, Howard has asked management to try to acquire a handful of players, including Monta Ellis and Deron Williams. During the preseason, he asked for a trade. Then he asked that any trade be limited to a handful of teams – the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks — that his agent was given permission to talk to. Now, Howard apparently again is
Even if you only tangentially follow the NBA, you probably know that today is the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game. On March 2, 1962, playing for the Philadelphia Warriors, Chamberlain scored 100 points in a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks before slightly more than 4,000 fans in Hershey, Pa. Many consider it the greatest single-event achievement in sports history. Others diminish its impact, saying Chamberlain was a behemoth who should have been as dominant
Erick Dampier will be with the Atlanta Hawks for the rest of the season. After signing the veteran center to a pair of 10-day contracts, the Hawks on Thursday signed Dampier for the remainder of the season, the team announced. Dampier was signed after both All-Star starter Al Horford (torn pectoral muscle) and backup Jason Collins (sprained elbow) went down with injuries. He has played 30 minutes over six games and yet to score but is averaging 1.8 rebounds backing up Zaza