March 7, 2010 in Sports

New blood infuses playoff race

Month brings hope for four teams

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Associated Press photo

Associated Press Kevin Durant has led a remarkable turnaround in Oklahoma City.
(Full-size photo)

Meaningful games in March.

Barring an unlikely total collapse by the Milwaukee Bucks, it’s an expression that will be heard often in these parts in the weeks ahead.

The Bucks will be playing key games down the stretch and – at least with the younger players – learning what it takes to make the NBA playoffs.

But the Bucks won’t be alone in this endeavor, as other playoff-starved teams such as Oklahoma City, Charlotte and Memphis are being educated in just how tough it gets around this time of the year.

Meaningful games in March? It sure beats the alternative, which Bucks center Andrew Bogut has discovered over the past few seasons.

“Last year, I stuck around (despite being injured) and it was hell,” said Bogut, who played five playoff games in his first four seasons. “You never want to be in a situation where you’re not playing for anything with 20 games left. It’s dismal. It’s almost suicidal.

“Some guys don’t mind. Some guys like having early summers. But experiencing it the last three years, it’s definitely not fun.”

Oklahoma City has not made the playoffs since 2004-’05, when the franchise was in Seattle, but the Thunder have experienced a major turnaround and looks to be playoff bound.

After winning 23 games last season, the Thunder are on pace to win 49, and only nine teams in NBA history have had a 26-game improvement in consecutive seasons. Most of those teams – like the 1970 Bucks who improved by 29 games after drafting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – experienced their turnaround after adding Hall of Fame-caliber players.

The 2008 Boston Celtics posted a record 42-game improvement after trading for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

That’s not the case with Oklahoma City, though, which has improved from within and has not lost more than three consecutive games all season.

“It’s a sign of toughness,” coach Scott Brooks said. “Our guys are getting (mentally) tougher every day. The way they show toughness every night is the way it’s supposed to be played. It does not surprise me. That’s how they practice every day.”

The Charlotte Bobcats and Memphis Grizzlies, on the other hand, have had difficulty keeping pace.

The Bobcats looked to be headed for the playoffs earlier in the season but have fallen out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference as they have battled fundamental breakdowns and a maddening inconsistency.

“We beat Cleveland (two weeks ago) and Cleveland was on a 14-game winning streak,” coach Larry Brown said. “We played pretty darn good. We didn’t play a good game before that for about two weeks and we haven’t played a complete game since then. The way I look at it, if we can beat Cleveland, we can be better than we have been.”

“Even if we manage to figure this out and some other team slips, I don’t know what kind of game we’d play (in the playoffs),” Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace said. “I’m worried if we do (make the playoffs), we’ll get swept.”

Memphis was six games better than .500 in January but is starting to look like a long shot to make the playoffs in the West.

The Grizzlies’ downfall has been an inability to win at home. They took a seven-game home losing streak into Saturday’s game against San Antonio at FedExForum. Conversely, the Grizzlies’ victory at Chicago last week was their franchise-record sixth straight on the road. If anyone can figure it out, please inform coach Lionel Hollins.

“If I had an idea I surely would try to do something about it,” he said. “I can’t explain it.”

One thing is certain. It’s definitely more fun playing for something in March.

“It’s much more exciting,” Bogut said. “The arenas have more excitement about them. The game becomes more exciting. The fans are more excited. It becomes infectious.”

Slimming down

In Los Angeles Lakers-land, longtime trainer Gary Vitti is being credited with whipping Ron Artest into shape for the playoff run.

At Vitti’s behest, Artest has been shedding pounds and is tipping the scales at about 255 pounds, down from the 268 at which he peaked earlier this season. Artest, who has been out jogging in the wee hours of the morning, wants to get down to 250 by the playoffs.

The weight loss has eased the pressure on a foot injury and has improved his foot speed and defense.

“Getting back to how I know I can play,” Artest said.

Red alert

Houston’s Aaron Brooks has been hot from the 3-point line, with a streak of 35 consecutive games in which he had made at least one 3-point shot. That’s the longest such streak in the league and three shy of Luther Head’s team record.

“I think that’s my coach giving me minutes, my teammates giving me good looks, and my dead-eye accuracy,” Brooks said.

Tough road to hoe

Coach Jerry Sloan’s Utah Jazz, who earlier this season won seven straight road games, have taken a step backward as it lost recent games at Sacramento and in Los Angeles to the Clippers. Utah is on a four-game trip this week and will play 10 road games in March.

Four of Utah’s six games in April are away from home.

Sloan, of course, is less than sympathetic to his team’s plight.

“If I hadn’t played, I’d say, ‘Yeah, that’d be really difficult,’ ” Sloan said. “If you like to compete, this is where it’s at. When you step up to the plate, that’s when people recognize what you’ve done.”

Hobbling along

The San Antonio Spurs got a scare last week against Phoenix when forward Antonio McDyess, trying to follow a miss by Manu Ginobili, landed on one leg, had his left knee buckle and tumbled to the floor.

It was the same troublesome knee that had caused McDyess to miss playing time twice previously. McDyess had to be helped off the court, but he was back in the game in the fourth quarter.

Coach Gregg Popovich couldn’t resist the inevitable Willis Reed reference afterward.

“Don’t be late for the plane, Willis,” Popovich told McDyess.

Change in policy

The big news in Oklahoma City is that coach Brooks has lifted the ban on lob passes. In fact, the Thunder used three alley-oop dunks in last week’s victory over Sacramento.

“The first 40 games there was a no-lob policy because we couldn’t convert,” Brooks said. “I’m not going to put our guys in position to turn it over. But now we’re doing a much better job of throwing them and catching them.”

Loving the whistles

Dwight Howard’s frustration with the referees continues. Last week against Miami, the Orlando star saw his franchise-record streak of 20 consecutive double-doubles broken because he got in foul trouble.

“I don’t know what it is,” Howard said. “I’m a nice guy. I’ve been nice to the referees and nice to everyone.”

But then last week against Golden State he didn’t get whistled for a single foul in 32 minutes, marking the first time he didn’t commit a foul since playing 23 minutes in a game against Phoenix on Dec. 12, 2008.

“That’s a world record for me,” Howard said. “I think the guy from Guinness was here tonight.”

He’s been struggling

Spurs forward Richard Jefferson is finally starting to play better after struggling this season.

The big difference is that Popovich has not been asking him to play power forward as much. Popovich often went with a small lineup with Jefferson at the power forward, where he would match up against bigger players.

Popovich has promised that Jefferson will play mostly at small forward now.

“Anybody who watches the game with an intelligent eye can see I was doing a lot of things I had never done over the course of my career,” Jefferson said. “You can’t really say that my role on this team is the same role you’ve seen me do the last eight years.”

Fast breaks

Mavericks’ Jason Terry on Jason Kidd: “They should just put him in (the Hall of Fame) now. Not a first-, second- or third-team ballot. First active player to ever be in the Hall of Fame. Why not?” … The Rockets have not won consecutive games since Feb. 2 and 5, and consecutive home games since Dec. 29 and 31. … Cleveland’s Mike Brown after the Cavaliers averaged 107 points per game in February: “Maybe I can coach offense now.” … The Indiana Pacers’ loss in Los Angeles last week left them with a 0-14 record at the Staples Center against the Lakers. … Popovich on Michael Finley’s departure from San Antonio: “We didn’t let him go, he requested a buyout. … I want to make sure that distinction is made.”

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