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Morning Shootaround — April 5

April 5, 2013  ·  8:00AM

Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.

The one recap to watch: Does it get any better than a matchup of the West’s two top teams? We don’t think so, so that’s why last night’s Spurs-Thunder tilt from Oklahoma City gets the nod this morning. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook had the Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd rolling and high-fiving all night long, even though this one had a bit of a damper put on it with Tony Parker‘s injury (our man Jeff Caplan has more on what happened here).

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News of the morning

Report: Gallinari likely has torn ACL | Nowitzki chimes in on Griner-to-NBA talk | Bulls show toughness in win over Nets | Griffin, Jordan tiring of CP3′s chatter?

Report: Gallinari has likely ACL tear — A magical season in Denver took a turn for the negative last night when the Nuggets’ second-leading scorer, Danilo Gallinari, suffered a knee injury while driving to the hoop in the first half. He eventually fell to the floor and was helped off the court by teammates Timofey Mozgov and Quincy Miller and Denver was left hoping a season-altering injury wasn’t the cause. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has bad news for Nuggets fans as it looks likely that Gallinari has suffered a torn ACL:

After crumbling to the court and needing to be carried to the locker room, an initial examination of Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari suggested a season-ending tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday night.

“The doctor indicated that the ligament was loose,” one source told Yahoo! Sports. “They expect that it’s a torn ACL.”

Gallinari will undergo a full MRI examination on Friday to survey the complete damage to the knee. After driving on Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki in the Nuggets’ 95-94 victory on Thursday night, Gallinari planted his left leg only to have his knee buckle beneath him.

The Italian writhed in pain on the floor, and needed to be carted to the locker room.

Nowitzki, Carlisle mostly avoid Griner-to-Mavs talk — Mavericks owner Mark Cuban — as is his wont — caused quite a stir this week when he said he’d seriously consider drafting Baylor women’s basketball star Brittney Griner with one of his team’s picks in this year’s NBA draft. Griner, the top player in women’s basketball and the presumptive No. 1 pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft, finished her college career as the NCAA leader in blocked shots and the second-leading scorer in women’s college basketball history. Others have chimed in on Cuban’s statement — including University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma — and now the Mavs’ players are, too. In an interview with the Fort Worth Telegram’s Dwain Price, Dirk Nowitzki gave his thoughts on whether or not Griner, who is 6-foot-8, could make it in the NBA:

When Dirk Nowitzki was asked about the possibility of Baylor superstar center Brittney Griner playing in the NBA, he kept repeating two words demonstratively: “it’s tough.”

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Nowitzki weighed in on the controversy after Thursday morning’s shootaround at the Pepsi Center.

“I honestly have huge respect for [Griner],” Nowitzki said. “She may be the most dominant female player ever in college, but I don’t know if the NBA is made for a female.

“It’s physical, there are a lot of athletes out there. I think it’s tough.”

Speaking candidly, Nowitzki offered a suggestion for Griner, who will be the top overall pick in the next WNBA Draft.

“Maybe if she does want to maybe try in the [NBA] summer league to see how it is,” Nowitzki said. “But I don’t think a female, at this point, can play in the NBA.”

Coach Rick Carlisle admitted he hasn’t watched any women’s college basketball games this season, but is fully aware of Griner’s overwhelming talent.

“I know she’s a helluva player,” Carlisle said. “Beyond that I don’t want to get into the polarizing discussion about it because I think it’s important to have an owner that is open-minded and I think it’s important to be an organization that is open-minded.

“Ultimately, whether or not she can play is something I don’t want to get into.”

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“Six-foot-eight is about a [power forward] , I’d say,” Nowitzki said. “We have three guys playing at 6-8 and playing [small forward], so yeah, you’re kind of caught between a [small forward] and a [power forward].”

And there’s always the argument that the speed and athleticism of the NBA is superior to any league out there and could engulf Griner.

“It’s tough,” Nowitzki said. “You’ve got to be fast and athletic at that spot, you’ve got to be able to shoot, you’ve got to be able to go by people, guard people on the other end, chase people off screen and rolls, or in the post-up.

“It’s tough. It’s tough.”

Bulls prove playoff mettle in win in Brooklyn — Heading into last night’s game in Brooklyn, the Bulls knew they’d be without Derrick Rose. But they also added Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Richard Hamilton and Marco Belinelli to that list, which made an already thin Bulls roster even more so. Then came the game, where Chicago found itself down 16 points to Brooklyn and had every reason to pack it in and take a loss. But as has been the case with these Bulls under coach Tom Thibodeau, they fought back and, thanks to a late Nate Robinson floater, put away the Nets and moved ever closer to the No. 5 spot in the East. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune details a gutty win for the Bulls:

Thursday night is why anybody thinking the Derrick Rose-less Bulls will be an early playoff exit might want to reconsider.

Down three starters and two rotation players to injury, the Bulls rallied from a 16-point deficit and stunned the Nets 92-90 at Barclays Center when Brook Lopez‘s jumper went in and out at the buzzer.

Nate Robinson scored the go-ahead basket with 22.7 seconds remaining, Nazr Mohammed helped force a steal and blocked Lopez in the final minute and Carlos Boozer and Jimmy Butler provided multiple big plays.

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“You guys have seen the mark of this team: We fight to the end,” Boozer said. “We have some resilient guys in here. We just told ourselves to keep grinding and something would break.”

Robinson’s go-ahead basket came in the lane after he also got credit for a steal on Lopez, whom Mohammed ably guarded.

“I’m not afraid to take big shots if needed,” Robinson said.

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“The momentum switched in the third quarter,” Boozer said. “We know (people) don’t believe in us. But we believe in each other, man. We’ve had some close games. We just hope all this is building up to us winning close games in the playoffs.

“We feel if we have everyone out there, we still have a chance to do something special.”

Jordan, Griffin tiring of each other, CP3? — This one might need to be taken with a grain of salt, because as we’ve seen with the Oklahoma City Thunder, star players can have occasional infighting and still be successful. But according to T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times, the Clippers’ frontcourt tandem of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan got into a bit of a spat the other night and some things about Chris Paul bubbled to the surface, too. Here’s more:

The feel-good Clippers are gone, with DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin’s immaturity dragging the team down.

Jordan wants nothing to do with Coach Vinny Del Negro because he blames Del Negro for burying him on the bench.

Yet Jordan’s inability to play consistently or make free throws, thereby turning the ball over to the opposition much like a turnover, makes him a liability in close games.

Jordan sees it differently, and he has for the last two seasons, maintaining he would be more productive if allowed to play more.

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The other night in Sacramento, Griffin and Jordan exchanged words on the bench. Griffin told Jordan he best never again stare him down as he did when Griffin failed to give Jordan a good pass for a dunk.

Everyone else was left to sit there while waiting for the kids to stop bickering.

The pair have also grown tired of Chris Paul‘s voice, which is understandable at times.

Paul, very much like Kobe Bryant — who has turned off Dwight Howard with his out-of-this-world standards — is relentless. He never shuts up. And Jordan and Griffin have become weary of him.

When asked about being annoying, Paul smiled and said, “I need to work on being a better leader.”

ICYMI of the night: On a downer of a night in Denver, it’s nice to see Andre Iguodala come up big and keep the Pepsi Center rockin’ …:

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As Mavericks Flounder, Cuban Talks Of Drafting Baylor’s Griner?

April 3, 2013  ·  1:01PM

HANG TIME SOUTHWEST — Go ahead Dirk. Shave it off.

As Vince Carter said last week after the Dallas Mavericks’ first failed attempt to get back to .500, the beard brigade served its purpose, bringing this group of mostly one-year rentals closer and focused on making a run. To their credit they did. But now, as Carter also said, the hubbub surrounding their quest to finally shave after two months of battling to break even is — ahem — growing out of control.

To the point that the Indiana Pacers used Dallas’ planned post-game shave party with the now-famous Omar the Barber as motivation for their 25-point pounding of the Mavs last Thursday.

Still, Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas’ career lone superstar — looking half uni-bomber, half-Bill Walton ’77 — promised to abide by the non-shaving pact initiated by O.J. Mayo back in late January.

“We only have 10 games left,” Nowitzki said. “I’m not going to shave now.”

Now, with eight to go, it’s time. After Tuesday’s second failed attempt for .500, a 20-point road drubbing by the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas is 36-38 and essentially out of the chase for eighth, now a two-team race between the Lakers and Utah Jazz. Nowitzki, who had 33 points in an overtime win against the Clippers last Tuesday and 35 in Saturday’s miraculous comeback to beat the Bulls, fizzled in L.A. with just 11 points, appearing as old as the 45 years his mother said that beard makes him look.

There is no shame in the longtime face of the franchise opting for a shave. It will be refreshing, perhaps even a bit rejuvenating to see your still-youthful face again and finish out this lost season on a positive note.

Nowitzki’s 11-year All-Star run came to an end this season and he could suffer his first sub-.500 season since the turn of the century. Plus, he’s on the cusp of missing the postseason for the first time in 13 seasons, a remarkable run that only the Spurs can outdo, recently cinching a 16th consecutive playoff appearance.

The offseason promises to be a long one for Nowitzki, who turns 35 in June and who will wait and see how owner Mark Cuban again reshuffles the deck entering the final year of his contract.

Since winning the NBA title in 2011, the Mavs are 72-68 with a first-round sweep. He has grown weary of a makeshift roster and even questioned Cuban’s strategy earlier this season.

Surely Nowitzki didn’t take solace in Cuban’s comments Tuesday in Los Angeles that got him trending on Twitter. Cuban said he’d consider drafting giant of the women’s game, 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner.

It’s doubtful this is the star Nowitzki had in mind to join him for his twilight seasons.

Back in star-studded L.A., where he was filming the TV show “Shark Tank” last July when Deron Williams wondered why he wasn’t in his Manhattan living room, Cuban told reporters regarding Griner:

“Would I do it? Right now, I’d lean toward yes, just to see if she can do it. You never know unless you give somebody a chance, and it’s not like the likelihood of any late-50s draft pick has a good chance of making it.”

Perhaps Cuban saw the inevitable to come Tuesday night and figured he’d preempt Shaq’s big night and this beat-up, sub-standard Lakers team eventually demolishing of his Mavs by going headline hunting.

For one, Cuban has often talked about the heightened importance of the draft under the new collective bargaining agreement. Those more rigid, financially punishing set of rules convinced him to dismantle the 2011 title team, particularly by not re-signing Tyson Chandler and choosing to rebuild a contender through cap space and draft picks.

Dallas hasn’t hit on a draft pick since Josh Howard in 2003. Last June’s second-round pick, Jae Crowder, is the closest yet to becoming a contributing rotation player. Fellow second-round pick, 6-foot-10 former Air Force staff sergeant Bernard James, might tell Griner this gig isn’t so easy. First-round pick Jared Cunningham, a combo guard, has played a total of 26 minutes in a season the Mavs brought in Derek Fisher and then Mike James.

With free-agent star power this summer expected to stay where it is, and Dallas light on trade assets to acquire a rising impact player, the Mavs must find success in the draft — be it in the first round or the too-easily dismissed second round.

The Mavs need contributors, not marketing gimmicks. And that’s no shot at Griner, who dominated the women’s game and was recently described probably quite accurately by one Dallas radio commentator as the Wilt Chamberlain of women’s basketball.

But Griner can’t play in the NBA, and for Cuban to even suggest that he’d consider selecting her with a draft pick should only make the still-bearded, still-committed Nowitzki roll his eyes.

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Nowitzki’s 35 Keeps Mavs’ Season Alive

March 30, 2013  ·  7:51PM

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DALLAS – If time machines were real, Mark Cuban would have bought one months ago.

There’s no sense lamenting Dirk Nowitzki‘s injury absence for the first 27 games of the season and his rocky return following right knee surgery in the middle of training camp.

The Dallas Mavericks can only hope that their bearded big man’s brilliance this week — culminating with Saturday’s season-high and season-saving 35-point performance in a 100-98 comeback win over the Chicago Bulls — continues as they hit the road for four tough ones. All-in-all, the Mavs have nine games left to steal the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Bulls, playing without Joakim Noah and Marco Belinelli, led by 12 with 4:08 to go, by eight with 3:06 to go and by five, 97-92, with 1:27 to go. That’s when Nowitzki, 8-for-8 to start the game and 6-for-7 to finish it, kept hope alive and outscored Chicago 8-1 in the final 54 seconds.

“He’s made a career out of doing that,” Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich said.

The sold-out matinee crowd was ready to erupt when Nowitzki stunningly missed a trailing, straightaway 3 with 60 seconds left, what would be his lone misfire of a 15-point final period. But Dallas corralled the rebound and Nowitzki got it back, wide open for a rare corner 3. Bang.

Next possession he victimized second-year guard Jimmy Butler caught in a mismatch. Swish, 98-97 Bulls. An unnerved Butler then gave Dallas a gift, bricking two free throws with 15.9 to go.

The Mavs’ guards have caught plenty of flak for not finding Nowitzki in key situations this season. Not this time.

“We ran a play there that I think confused them a little bit; me, Vince [Carter] and Mike James were kind of all there, running a little action and I think they messed up the switch a little bit,” Nowitzki said. “So one guy was open, I swung it to Vince, then they [the defenders] both ran to him.”

Carter quickly swung it back to Nowitzki just to the left of the top of the arc with the clock ticking down … 5, 4, 3…

“Had a good look and let it fly,” Nowitzki said. “Actually, that one didn’t feel as good coming off my hands, but it helps when you make a lot of shots before that. It kind of snuck in there. It kind of rattled, too.”

Whatever, it dropped with 2.9 seconds to go. And what was minutes away from a terribly disappointing, and likely season-crushing 3-3 homestand, became a momentum-juicer heading into a two-day break and a Tuesday night showdown in Los Angeles against the Lakers.

“It’s kind of like the story of our season, every time people write us off or saying we’re done, for some reason we find a way to hang around.  The same happened again today. I thought everybody was thinking this game’s over and we went and found a way to turn it around and save our season. We’ve been able to make this a close race. We’ve had some great wins over the last three weeks and we’re still in the mix.”

Dallas has gotten a little something from up and down the roster during its run to get into contention. Against the Bulls, center Brandan Wright didn’t get the start, but bounced off the bench for 17 points and 13 rebounds. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle made a point to boost O.J. Mayo, who went 1-for-13 shooting, but gutted through 42 minutes lugging around a painful sprained left shoulder. And the defense finally buckled down when it absolutely had to late.

Still, Dallas, suddenly seizing close games it used to let slip away, isn’t sniffing the eighth spot without Nowitzki, claiming his best health of the season, recently returning to All-Star form. That 11-year run came to an end this season, but he hasn’t closed the book on a 13th consecutive playoff berth.

During the just-concluded homestand that improved the Mavs’ March record to 11-4, Nowitzki posted two 30-point games (33 in Tuesday’s overtime win over the Clippers) and averaged 24.0 ppg on 61.5 percent shooting overall and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.

“You can see him really champing at the bit to get to the eighth spot,” Mayo said. “He’s doing everything in his will to keep us within striking distance.”

His five 3-pointers on six attempts were a season-high and ruined Bulls guard Nate Robinson‘s incredible 25-point  game. Robinson connected on his first seven 3-point attempts, including a 32-foot, late-shot-clock heave that put Chicago ahead 93-81 with six minutes left in the game. His corner 3-pointer at the buzzer, though, bounced away, leaving Nowitzki and his Mavs with new life once again.

“The game is 48 minutes and we kept on playing,” said Nowitzki, who tallied his career 12th regular-season game-winner in the final 10 seconds of a game. “Myself, just step into the shots. I mean, really, there’s no other chance. It’s not like somebody else is unbelievably hot. … So just going to let it all hang out and see what happens.”

When Nowitzki does that, you just never know.

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Mavs’ Beard Talk Makes Pacers Bristle

March 29, 2013  ·  1:25AM

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DALLAS – Omar the Barber missed out on a big night of tips. The Dallas Mavericks’ beards will keep growing, and perhaps if they’re fortunate enough to play for .500 again in the final 10 games of the season, they won’t broadcast plans to hold a locker-room shaving party afterward.

Not that the Indiana Pacers needed additional motivation beyond the East’s No. 2 seed being up for grabs to get up for Thursday’s 103-78 smacking of the Mavs, but they pounced on it anyway.

“That was the message coach [Frank Vogel] said to us coming in,” Pacers forward David West said. “Another day for them to do it. It wasn’t going to be tonight.”

It was 41-41 at halftime and the Mavs’ sweaty, scraggly beards that should have had time-elapsed cameras trained on them since their late January inception, were 24 minutes from finally getting out from under them.

“Personally, whatever gimmick they have to do to rally themselves is fine,” center Roy Hibbert said in one breath after delivering 16 points 11 rebounds. In the next breath he said, “We wanted to shut that [expletive] down.”

The Mavs’ beard story has gained a lot of traction recently because of the team’s hot streak, riding Dirk Nowitzki‘s improved play to the cusp of the eighth and final playoff spot. That goal seemed a long shot back when Nowitzki, Vince Carter, Chris Kaman and others took O.J. Mayo‘s unity idea to heart — no shaving until .500.

So close to breaking even after Tuesday’s riveting overtime win against the Los Angeles Clippers, a giddy Mayo, who scored the improbable lefty scoop through a double-team to force OT, said innocently postgame that he’s ready to shave. Mayo’s barber, Omar — popular with other members of the team, too — would be at the American Airlines Center and ready to get to work.

Nowitzki, who dresses in the locker stall next to Mayo, had said the other night that he preferred not to talk about it for fear of jinxing it. After Thursday’s whipping, his hobo-like beard creeping a good half-inch down his neck, Nowitzki was more perturbed at the Mavs’ failure to move up the standings than missing out on a shave until at least Tuesday (when Dallas visits the Lakers).

“Knowing the Lakers lost now, we had an opportunity to cut into their lead,” Nowitzki said. “And it sucks. It sucks.” (more…)

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Mavs Seek To Shave Closer To 8th Spot

March 28, 2013  ·  11:26AM

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HANG TIME SOUTHWEST – Omar the Barber will be in the house Thursday night as the Dallas Mavericks take on the Indiana Pacers, the Mavs’ first attempt at reaching .500 since they were 12-13 in what seems like an eternity ago.

You might recall — and if you’ve seen Dirk Nowitzki lately you can’t forget — that some of the Mavs made a pact nearly two months ago not to shave until they reach .500. At the time it seemed a futile attempt to drum up motivation. Yet here they are, not only a whisker shy of breaking even at 35-36, but actually surging toward the No. 8 seed, having won nine of their last 12.

After a rousing overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday night, Mavs guard O.J. Mayo, whose beard isn’t quite yet Harden-esque but maddeningly itchy all the same mentioned that tickets will be left for Omar, the team’s favored barber, and his shears.

“I want to make sure he does it right. I don’t want to leave no patches,” said Mayo. “I haven’t done anything [to it], just kind of lined my mustache up a little bit, but letting it go. I’ve got hair up here and I’m ready to shave it, man.”

Nowitzki, who hasn’t finished a season below .500 since his second season in the NBA when the Mavs went 40-42 in 1999-2000, has guided Dallas to the playoffs in each of the last 12 seasons. But he was superstitious and not so keen about mentioning bringing in the barber before actually getting the shave-worthy win.

“I don’t really want to jinx it, but I’m ready to get this thing off,” said Nowitzki, who has not even trimmed his neckline. “That’s a big outing for us Thursday against a very good, tough team from the Eastern Conference.”

Nowitzki does have a point. Which team will be more motivated: The Mavs, knowing the barber’s in the building? Or the Pacers, knowing the barber’s in the building?

Indiana (45-27) has its own issues, like a battle for the all-important second seed in the East with the New York Knicks. They’re virtually tied in the standings, but the Pacers have one more loss. Finishing second means avoiding the Miami Heat until the East finals rather than in the second round.

The Mavs know they just have to keep winning with 11 games to go and hope the Los Angeles Lakers (hit with Wednesday’s news that Metta World Peace will miss at least six weeks with a knee injury) and Utah Jazz, both winners Wednesday night and both just a hair ahead of Dallas, lose along the way.

If the Mavs have anything going in their favor tonight it’s that the Pacers — 20-point winners over Dallas back in November at their place — played Wednesday night, beating the Rockets at Houston, 100-91.

The Mavs, a rather pedestrian 21-14 at home, are, however, 12-2 at home against opponents playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and have won eight consecutive such matchups dating to Nov. 24 when Dallas dropped to .500 at 7-7.

With a win Thursday night, Dallas would pull even with ninth-place and idle Utah. The eighth-place Lakers play the second night of a back-to-back at Milwaukee, so a Mavs win combined with a Lakers loss would reduce L.A.’s lead to a half-game over both the Jazz and Mavs.

Of those three teams, the Mavs have played the best in March. Utah, after dropping to 3-12 since the trade deadline with a loss at Dallas on Sunday, has since won two in a row.

Which team has the upper hand down the stretch? A breakdown:

No. 8 LAKERS (37-35)

Home games left: 6 (23-12)

Road games left: 4 (14-23)

Games against current playoff teams: 6

Key game and why: vs. Dallas (Tuesday); critical in standings and would lock up tiebreaker

Toughest stretch: Tuesday – April 10 (vs. Dallas, vs. Memphis, at Clippers, vs. New Orleans, at Portland)

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No. 9 JAZZ (36-36)

Home games left: 6 (26-9)

Road games left: 4 (10-27)

Games against current playoff teams: 5

Key game and why: at Portland (Friday); would extend win streak to three leading into four-game homestand

Toughest stretch: Wednesday – April 9 (vs. Denver, vs. New Orleans, at Golden State, vs. Oklahoma City)

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No. 10 MAVERICKS (35-36)

Home games left: 6 (21-14)

Road games left: 5 (14-22)

Games against current playoff teams: 6

Key game and why: at Lakers (Tuesday); critical in standings and would tie season series

Toughest stretch: Tuesday – April 7 (at Lakers, at Denver, at Sacramento, at Portland)

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Clippers Seek Rhythm As They Deal With Pressures, Expectations

March 27, 2013  ·  11:25AM

 

DALLAS – The Clippers’ pre-game locker room thumped with music as players jovially bounded about, getting in workouts with trainers on the floor of the cramped visitor’s locker room, telling stories as they sat at their locker stalls, laughing at a constant stream of jokes and generally having a good time.

This young, athletically gifted bunch, on its way to the playoffs for a second consecutive season for only the second time in the franchise’s 28-year history in Los Angeles, is known for its loose, if not the loosest, locker room in the league.

But the postgame scene in there is more frequently becoming hushed and tense. Such was the case Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center. The Clippers couldn’t build upon second-half leads, lost their composure and drew two costly technicals, mostly struggled in the half-court and couldn’t hold down a two-point lead in the final five seconds in losing 109-102 in overtime to the surging Dallas Mavericks just trying to slip in the backdoor of the playoffs.

Locked in a fight for seeds 3-5 with Denver and Memphis, L.A. dropped to fourth with three more road games in four nights starting tonight at New Orleans. They’re at San Antonio on Friday and Houston on Sunday.

As the regular season draws to a close, the Clippers, 5-5 in their last 10, seem to be creating more questions about their postseason viability than stamping their card as Western Conference title contenders.

“We had trouble executing down the stretch. That’s on me,” said Blake Griffin, who struggled to just 14 points on 4-for-12 shooting, and whose apparent, off-balance game-winning bucket with 0.4 seconds left was wiped away for using his forearm to push off Dirk Nowitzki. “Very disappointing, especially with Memphis and Denver losing [Monday] night. We needed to take advantage of it and we didn’t.”

Lame-duck coach Vinny Del Negro, who says he’s not concerned with his future, is always a target for criticism. Their often stale offensive sets remain an issue. They haven’t won more than four in a row since reeling off 17 straight in long ago December. Homecourt advantage is far from a lock and it remains to be seen if Del Negro’s deep rotation is sustainable, or even beneficial, in the playoffs.

“For us, I don’t think there’s any pressure,” said Chris Paul, who had a season-high 33 points, but also seven turnovers to match his season-high from just three games earlier when the Clips melted away at Sacramento. “For us, I think it’s just will, you got to have that will and just fight to the end. We’re going to do that, we’re going to do that. We’re going to keep trying to compete. We’re going to have an opportunity to do something that’s never been done, winning 50 games and winning a division, and not being satisfied with that.”

Paul does bring up a good point that perhaps ought to force everyone to take a step back in scrutinizing this team and view the larger picture. This is only Year 2 of the CP3 era, with the first being a lockout-shortened season. What has been accomplished is remarkable in terms of the franchise’s putrid history.

The Clippers need two wins to reach 50 for the first time in its existence in L.A., San Diego or Buffalo going back to the 1970-71 season, and the franchise has never won a division title. The Clips hold a 7 1/2-game lead in the Pacific over Golden State with 11 to play.

“I tell you, I could care less about the expectations or how happy people are that we win,” Paul said. “At the end of the day we’re playing for one reason and that’s to win a championship.”

In Del Negro’s first season, the year before Paul came into the picture, L.A. won 32 games. They’ve won 88 since, and expectations are that this team can challenge Oklahoma City for the West crown.

“The expectations, sometimes people get a little delusional in terms of how you’re going to get there and what you’re going to do, and people get sick of the word ‘process’ and things like that probably, but that’s what it is,” Del Negro said. “It’s a long NBA season. You got to handle the injuries, you got to handle a lot of things. I feel we’re in a pretty good position and we have to finish the season off strong and then it will come down to our health going into the playoffs.”

Chauncey Billups missed his 52nd game Tuesday night, but is expected to return on the road trip and giving the Clippers a clean bill of health. Paul said Billups changes the offense.

“Definitely a concern, but something that we can work at,” Paul said of the halfcourt offense. “We’re going to keep trying to work at it. We move the ball a little bit different when Chauncey’s out there because he’s another playmaker, another guard.”

Lob City has been one of the great stories the last couple seasons, and certainly no one expects Paul, a free agent this summer, to leave the franchise he’s turned around.

The same can’t be said for Del Negro if the Clips make a quick exit out of the playoffs.

This will get even more interesting in about three more weeks.

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James’ Determination Paying Off For Mavs

March 25, 2013  ·  2:30PM

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DALLAS – The NBA Developmental League is designed to develop young talent to one day be NBA-ready. But, hey, if it helps revive an old vet’s career along the way, what’s the harm?

See Mike James.

The Utah Jazz on Sunday night saw all they wanted and more of the 37-year-old fireplug point guard who refuses to stop believing just because NBA general managers did. James carved up the Jazz for a season-high 19 points and five assists to help his Dallas Mavericks to a 113-108 victory that put them in a tie in the standings for ninth place with the wheezing Jazz and two games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the final playoff spot in the West

James survived two 10-day contracts and earned his keep for the remainder of the season. And he’s hardly been just a passenger as he was last season when the Chicago Bulls picked him up and never found a use for him. James came to Dallas and rather quickly supplanted Darren Collison as the closing point guard. Following a 33-point loss at Houston on March 3, James took his spot as the starter, too.

The Mavs beat the Rockets in their very next game with James finishing with eight points, six assists and one turnover. Dallas is 8-3 sine he became the starter, is just two games off of .500 for the first time since Dec. 20 and is back in the playoff conversation with an April 2 meeting in L.A. against the shaky Lakers.

And the only reason James, a one-time 20-point scorer for the Toronto Raptors, is back in the league — let alone starting for the first time since 2008-09 with Washington — is because he didn’t stop believing and pleaded for one last shot in the D-League. The Texas Legends, the Mavs’ affiliate, gave it to him.

“It was frustrating for me to have to go that route,” James said. “It was frustrating that no team would really give me an opportunity, not because of my skill level, but because of my date of birth. So I just had to prove everyone wrong that what they believe about me, don’t put me in the same statistic as everyone else. So it’s not about living the dream, it’s about this is who I already know myself to be and the things I’ve already prepared myself to be capable of doing.”

In his 33 games with Dallas, James is averaging 6.0 ppg and 2.8 apg while shooting just 36.5 percent from the floor (and 40 percent from 3-point range), so he didn’t earn his playing time by instantly becoming an explosive scorer or playmaker.

Listen to Vince Carter describe what James, a reserve on the 2004 Detroit Pistons title team, has delivered:

“His ability to make shots, he’s been in big games before, he’s been in playoff games before, his toughness,” Carter said. “He’s not afraid to take the shot, he’s not afraid to guard the best player, best guard, whatever the case may be. He’s just very experienced, seasoned, and I think he’s done a great job in taking on the role, and he really brings it in practice. … He’s always ready to play. I recall playing against him and he’s always ready to go. I think that adrenaline can sometimes wear you out, and once he got his legs he had more arc in his shot and he’s just been in an unreal rhythm right now for our team.”

And coach Rick Carlisle, who has granted James — having played 15 games the last three seasons and out of the league entirely two years ago — this new life and finally settled the position after Derek Fisher came and went and Collison couldn’t consistently get the job done:

“The thing I like about him, he’s one of these guys that has great experience and he has great confidence in himself,” Carlisle said. “If there’s blunt things you need to say to him, you can be completely straightforward with him. He’ll take everything the right way, and he’ll keep battling his butt off.”

Most didn’t bat an eye when the Mavs called James up after just a few days with their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends. Hardly anyone noticed when he got a second 10-day contract and when he was signed for the rest of the season, making it 11 teams (including two stints with Houston) in 11 NBA seasons.

Now, some are taking notice, including Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin, who singled out James’ recent contributions before Sunday’s game. More will take notice after Sunday’s performance and as the stretch run heats up. In his 11 starts, James is averaging 10.4 ppg., 4.8 apg and is 24-for-51 (47.1 percent) from beyond the arc.

“This is just who I am, you know, I’m a worker bee,” James said. “Any time somebody’s started giving me credit and loving who I am as a ballplayer it makes me go in the gym even more and it makes me prepare even more because I understand that the only way that they’re giving me the love that they’re giving me is because of what I’m doing on the court. So I never focus on the praise that people give me. I just continue to keep focusing on my work.”

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Utah’s Only Hope is Eight of 12 At Home

March 25, 2013  ·  12:23AM

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DALLAS – Eight of 12.

Talk about last gasp, this is it for the Utah Jazz. Eight home games among their dozen remaining. It’s the final stand for a team laden with veteran free agents, including four of five starters; a team that prepared to be broken up at the trade deadline by reeling off 16 wins in 23 games, yet was left intact and has since tanked.

Utah is typically a force at home — 24-9 in front of one of the most engaged crowds in the league — and they’ll have to  be invincible starting Monday night against Philadelphia. Considering Sunday’s ugly 113-108 loss to the Mavericks was their ninth consecutive road defeat, any home slip-up will serve as sledgehammer to Utah’s eggshell playoff chances.

Utah flew home with the same record as surging Dallas (34-36) and smarting from allowing a 69-69 tie midway through the third quarter to quickly become a 20-point stomping before a fruitless late rally made it look more respectable. The Jazz allowed the Mavs’ starting point guard, 37-year-old D-League call-up Mike James, to to kill them with 19 points and five assists. He averages 5.6 and 2.7.

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin could only shake his head

So eight-of-12 is now something of a rallying cry.

“It has to be, it has to be now,” befuddled Corbin said.

Since the Feb. 21 trade deadline, when either Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap or maybe even both impending free agents figured to be moved to make way for developing big men Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter, the Jazz are 3-12.

It’s been almost a reverse effect. Instead of the anxieties and stresses applied by the approaching deadline sabotaging their effort and focus, the Jazz thrived, claiming wins against Miami, Indiana, Oklahoma City and Golden State during that 16-7 stretch from the start of January to the trade deadline.

They even came out of the All-Star break with a 115-101 dismantling of the Warriors 48 hours prior to the deadline.

When management left the team alone to build on a 31-24 record, they’ve flopped. There hasn’t been a road win since Feb. 12 at Minnesota, and Boston, Atlanta and New York have all walked out of Salt Lake City victorious.

Jefferson said the club’s demise and the timing of the trade deadline is merely coincidence, and Millsap didn’t disagree.

“I don’t know, I think everybody’s out there playing their best just like before the trade deadline everybody was out there putting it all on the line,” Millsap said. “This stretch we’ve had a lot of tough breaks, things just didn’t go our way. But we’re not counting ourselves out. We’ve still got a chance.”

Millsap, the Jazz’s elder statesman in his seventh season with the team that shrewdly drafted him 47th overall, said the locker room hasn’t fractured, that the players remain committed to Corbin.

“Absolutely,” he said.

Corbin, however, acknowledged the difficulties he’s had in trying to maximize a roster with four frontcourt players, two proven vets and a couple of emerging, developing talents that all want, and often deserve, the same minutes. (more…)

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Celtics Drifting, But Who’s Going To Count Them Out?

March 23, 2013  ·  2:13AM

DALLAS – The Celtics were in no mood to hear about a Heat hangover as an excuse for never leading in Friday’s 104-94 loss, their second straight road disappointment since letting Miami off the hook Monday night in Boston.

While the Heat pushed their win streak, one that the Celtics fail to view as particularly impressive, to 25 in a row on Friday, Boston took another step in the wrong direction. The Celtics lost for the third consecutive time to the Dallas Mavericks and the fifth time in seven games — a southerly drift that could ultimately lead to a first-round matchup with guess who?

“It’s a tough losing streak right now, three games, but we’re going to try to bounce back,” said Paul Pierce, who had a tough night with 16 points, but just seven through three quarters. “We’ve been through it before. This team is mentally tough and we’ll weather through the storm.”

Boston (36-32) moves on to a tough back-to-back at Memphis Saturday night with just two games separating it from the eighth-place Milwaukee Bucks. The Celtics will hope to have available starting point guard Courtney Lee, who sprained his left ankle late in the fourth quarter. After reaching the bench he was able to apply pressure and walk to the locker room on his own. He’s hopeful any swelling will be limited and that he’ll be ready to play.

No one would be foolhardy enough to count this stubborn, old Celtics team out. But at some point the emotional and physical toll of battling shorthanded night-in and night-out has to come home to roost. In consecutive games, they’ve fallen at New Orleans (the West’s last-place team) on a last-second tip-in, and on Friday they were out-hustled to loose balls and beaten on the boards by the light-rebounding Mavs, a team that’s played better of late but still sits 10th in the West.

“I just think we gave one away the other night in New Orleans, that was self-inflicted, and tonight they took it,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “They won the game. We didn’t play great. We missed a lot of open shots, we missed layups, but overall I’ll take those. I thought we played pretty hard. I wasn’t real happy with our defense and we’re going to have to clean that up.”

Dallas center Brandan Wright, in and out of the rotation all season, although playing more and quite well of late, lit up Boston’s interior defense for a season-high 23 points and a season-high-tying eight rebounds. Shawn Marion, back after missing eight games with a calf strain, had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

“I can’t wait to watch the film. I think we got crushed in the 50-50 game today,” Rivers said, referencing the loose balls that could go to either team, but mostly wind up in the hands of the players with more jump. “Some of those rebounds will count as rebounds, the long ones that were way out to the free throw line, we didn’t get any of those. They got them all. Shawn Marion, I don’t know what his numbers are, but he hurt us with his effort.”

Pierce played 40 minutes Monday against Miami, 33 at New Orleans and another 35 at Dallas. Kevin Garnett (16 points, 12 rebounds) logged 29 minutes in each of the last two games after sitting out two with a thigh injury, but Boston could have used him for 39. Off the bench, Jeff Green had 10 points, giving him 23 in the last two games after hitting Miami for 43. Jason Terry, in his return to Dallas, had little to say after scoring eight points on 3-for-9 shooting.

“All I was worried about was the win,” Terry said. “We have to end this road trip on a good note. Right now we’re just not getting it done.”

Resolve can be a powerful tool to beat back adversity, but eventually the absence of All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo — and even rookie Jared Sullinger to help on the boards – will wear down the older Celtics team. When Lee went down looking like he, too, could become a casualty, it had to be nothing short of disheartening.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve had so many ups and downs and always were able to find a way,” said third-year guard Avery Bradley, who missed the first half of this season recovering from shoulder surgery last May. “Last year we had  a lot of issues that people didn’t know about, a lot of injuries and we still were able to find a way, and still had an opportunity. It just shows what kind of organization we have.”

Finding a way this time will be an even tougher dig than a year ago when the Celtics clawed all the way to Game 7 at Miami in the East finals.

Still, nobody’s counting out the Celtics just yet. No, not even the Heat.

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Brewer Is Scoring … And Coming Up Clutch

March 22, 2013  ·  12:41PM

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HANG TIME SOUTHWEST — Corey Brewer is no longer just a smiling, string-bean of a kid who likes to remind people he’s a two-time NCAA champion. Nope, the 6-foot-9 Brewer is now a smiling, string-bean of an NBA man.

Finally having found a home with the Denver Nuggets where he can stretch his legs and exploit his raw athleticism, Brewer is also becoming something else: Clutch.

Brewer saved the Nuggets’ winning streak that reached 14 Thursday night with a career-high 29 points that included outscoring the Philadelphia 76ers, 6-0, in the final 9.2 seconds to secure the improbable 101-100 victory. Brewer first drilled his fifth 3-pointer of the game on a play out of a timeout in which Danilo Gallinari, Denver’s most dangerous 3-point threat, got the ball to Brewer open on the wing to make it 100-98.

Sixers guard Evan Turner then missed both free throws with 7.1 seconds left to set up Brewer’s final act, calmly sinking three consecutive free throws after inexplicably being fouled by Damian Wilkins on a deep 3 that didn’t seem to have a prayer. Brewer, a 67.5 percent foul shooter this season (but much better the last two months), hit them all.

After the first and second free throws, he walked to mid-court, could be seen talking to himself, then walked back up to the line and buried the shots that kept the streak alive.

Nuggets coach George Karl has talked a lot recently about his high level of trust with his team and he showed it in leaving Brewer in for the crunch-time minutes. The emerging sixth man has done it before. According to NBA.com/Stats, Brewer has scored 12 points in eight minutes while playing in the final minute of games that Denver either trails or is tied.

During those confidence-building opportunities, Brewer is 3-for-4 from the floor, 2-for-3 from 3-point range — where he’s just 30.4 percent on the season — and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. His plus-minus rating is a plus-16.

Brewer, who turned 27 on March 5, has been coming on strong over the last couple months and particularly during the win streak. Traditionally an inconsistent shooter, Brewer has averaged 14.9 points in March and is shooting 48.9 percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from beyond the arc. His free throw shooting is also vastly improved — 76.3 percent in February and 72.4 percent in March.

His plus-minus rating might be the most significant jump of all. In November, December and January, Brewer was a plus-two overall, meaning the Nuggets outscored their opponents by two points with Brewer on the floor. In February and March he’s an astounding plus-87.

Brewer has found the perfect home for his raw talents with Karl’s up-tempo Nuggets. Brewer languished on a young Minnesota Timberwolves teams in the post-Kevin Garnett era, and as part of the blockbuster Carmelo Anthony trade, he landed with the New York Knicks, but was released and signed by the Dallas Mavericks.

He played sporadically for the Mavs, but provided the key energy boost in the third quarter of Game 1 of the 2011 Western Conference semifinals against the Lakers. He then played a total of 11 minutes the rest of the way as the Mavs won the title.

Dallas then traded Brewer and Rudy Fernandez to Denver for a bag of beans (2016 second-round draft pick).

On Thursday, Brewer provided the energy and scoring punch (10-for-18 shooting and 5-for-6 on 3s) for a Nuggets team playing without Ty Lawson and Wilson Chandler. It marked his 12th double-digit scoring game during the win streak and eighth in a row, and it was his third game in the last 10 to score at least 20 points.

But none were bigger than six he dropped on the Sixers in the final 9.2 seconds.

“It’s a pretty big highlight,” Brewer told the Denver Post of the frantic finish, “Probably my best highlight since I was in the NBA.”

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