Things have officially gone wild in the Wild Wild West. Over the past five seasons, at least one team with a winning record has failed to make the playoffs in the Western Conference as the competition has always been fierce and close until the final day of the season. It may never have been this close, however. Currently, 1 1/2 games separate the fourth seed and the ninth seed. Two teams — the Clippers and the Mavericks — are tied for the fourth seed
The race for playoff positioning is a day-to-day adventure in the ultra competitive Western Conference, and two teams in the thick of it all look to gain ground against each other — despite some separation in Sheridan’s most recent Power Rankings. The Dallas Mavericks — on a three-game winning streak including an impressive win over the Spurs — look to snap their seven-game road skid as they visit the Denver Nuggets in Monday’s best game. It has been a tale of home
Forget Linsanity. That’s soooo two weeks ago. The hot new trend is Ersanity. Ersan Ilyasova, the improving young big man of the Milwaukee Bucks, was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday. Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis received Western Conference honors. The Bucks went 3-1 as they were powered by Ilyasova, who averaged 25.0 points and 10.8 rebounds while shooting 63 percent from the field and 90 percent from the line. He had 18 rebounds in a
The bottom of the Western Conference playoff race just opened up a bit wider. The Houston Rockets, who currently hold the eighth and final spot in the West, announced Monday that will be without do-it-all point guard Kyle Lowry for two to four weeks due to a bacterial infection. The Rockets played New Jersey over the weekend, and Lowry was taken to a New York hospital with an illness. He underwent tests that revealed the infection and will remain hospitalized until Tuesday,