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Rockets Had The Surprise Win Streak

March 26, 2013  ·  2:59PM

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HANG TIME WEST – He had teams ride long winning streak before, all the way into the mid-teens.

“But those teams were very good teams,” Rick Adelman said. “You kind of expected to get win streaks from some of those teams I had.”

True. He coached the late 1980s/early ’90s Trail Blazers with a roster good enough to reach The Finals, have All-Stars and eventually send players to the Hall of Fame. He coached the 2002 Kings team that got to Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.

These were the 2007-08 Rockets that won 22 games in a row, though, and by an average of 12.3 points per. With Yao Ming getting hurt and few realistic hopes for a playoff run without their star center. And yet, Houston rolled up what at the time with the second-best streak in NBA history, behind only the 33 of the 1971-72 Lakers and since surpassed by the 2012-13 Heat at 27.

“I know even though they have the talent and everything else, it’s still hard,” Adelman, now the coach of the Timberwolves, said of the current Miami run. “You’re still going to run into games where you need to get a break here or there to win. I know what they’re doing. They’ve been going through it with no injuries or anything else and they’re playing at a high level anyway. They’re probably the best team in the league. But we weren’t in that case. That’s what I look back and really remember. We played like it. After we got into that streak, we were playing like we expected to be there every night, and that’s what a lot of fun. You go out on the court, you walk out there and you expect, ‘We have a great chance to win this game.’

“We were kind of trying to get it together. And all of the sudden we started winning. Probably the biggest thing, I think we lost Yao for the last 11 games of the streak. We just got on a roll. The thing I remember is we were not only winning, we were winning big. I think we beat Sacramento on a last-second shot in one game that kept the streak. We had Tracy (McGrady) and Yao for part of it, but other than that, I think Shane (Battier), who’s on this team’s streak right now, said it best: We had a lot of journeyman players who played their tails off. With Yao getting hurt and the season over for him, it was kind of our championship. That winning streak, in the regular season, you just don’t do that very often. It was a lot of fun.”

It’s not such a bad thing for Adelman in 2012-13 either, as Minnesota limps to the end of a season ravaged by injury.

“We’ve been struggling to get one (win in a row) right now,” he said. “But it’s been a nice diversion over the last couple weeks for us, to talk about that (Heat streak) rather than what we’re going through.”

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Little Man Beverley Coming Up Big

March 25, 2013  ·  12:19AM

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HOUSTON — Danny Green was sailing in on the right side for what would been a layup that stretched the Spurs run out to 12-0 and their lead up to six points with just under 1 1/2 minutes to play.

It’s not the first time nobody saw Patrick Beverley coming.

The Lakers had made him a second-round pick in 2009 and flipped him to Miami on draft night. He had previously spent a season in the Ukraine and when the pre-LeBron James Heat were doing everything they could to free up cap room, they packed his bags and extended his European vacation in Greece.

When the Rockets finally bought out Beverley’s contract from Spartak in St. Petersburg, Russia, and brought him home on Jan. 7, his first stop stateside was the NBA D-League Showcase in Reno, Nev.

“All I want to do is get a chance to show people that I can play,” Beverley said then. “Just give me a chance.”

It was the kind of move that drew little notice around the league, a young team adding another set of young legs.

A split second after the ball left Green’s hand on Sunday night, those young legs launched Beverley skyward. James Harden felt something zooming over his head like a meteor.

“You don’t usually see little guys making a play like that,” Harden said.

The little guy’s rejection of Green was big, big, big and it became huge when Chandler Parsons nailed a 3 at the other end, Harden bagged a pull-up jumper in the final seconds and the Rockets held on for a 96-95 win.

Sometimes these so-called playoff preview games can be more than a bit overblown. But having lost three times already to the Spurs this season and giving up an average of 123 points a game, it was a statement the Rockets needed to make, if only to themselves, as the possibility of a first-round Texas Two-Step series hovers.

Harden has long since proven himself as a frontline All-Star performer this season and Jeremy Lin’s game has steadily rounded into shape. And if there’s any surprise left in the Rockets’ backcourt, the 6-foot-1 Beverley has been doing all that he can to dispel it over the past two-plus months. He’s averaging five points and just under 16 minutes per game, but it’s when those minutes often come that are of note.

Rockets coach Kevin McHale put Beverley back in for Lin to play the point with 3:50 left, the score tied at 89 and going head-to-head against All-Star Tony Parker.

“I’m prepared at all times,” Beverley said. “Throughout this whole season I’ve been put in this situation a lot more than once. Orlando game, Wizards game. I just try to go out there and do what I do. Get some stops and make some open shots.”

Beverley made shots, open and otherwise, shooting 4-for-4 for 11 points in the first half and then played a critical role with his defense down the stretch.

“Patrick had a good game going,” McHale said. “Parker was driving hard and getting fouled, so we went with Patrick out there to get a little more defense and then Chandler switched off. I thought one of the biggest plays of the game was Patrick running down that block. That was a phenomenal block.”

After Harden’s jumper put the Rockets in front and the Spurs had their last chance, it was Beverley who prevented Tim Duncan from making a handoff return pass to Manu Ginobili to get the shot San Antonio wanted.

So here is the 2012 Eurocup MVP, who began another season playing on the far side of the world suddenly smack in the middle of a playoff race.

“I was on my way home from (shootaround) today and I called my mom and told her I still can’t believe I’m in the NBA,” Beverley said. “I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I’m enjoying it…I can finally show the world I can play basketball.”

Especially those who never saw him coming.

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Pop The Rock Rolls Up On Win No. 900

March 22, 2013  ·  11:35AM

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HANG TIME, Texas – It’s no wonder most NBA coaches are constantly moving on the sidelines. Theirs is a peripatetic lifestyle, usually with one hand gripping a suitcase and one foot out the door.

Among many other things about his worldly background and his puckish personality, it is his stability that makes Gregg Popovich unique.

With a win tonight at home against the Jazz (8:30 ET, League Pass), Popovich will become the 12th coach in NBA history to win 900 career games, but will be the first to claim each and every victory with a single team.

Over the past 17 seasons, the Spurs have been Pop as much as much as they have been David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and the other 130 players who have worn the silver and black uniform.

In a league that is teeming with exceptional coaches — Denver’s George Karl, Boston’s Doc Rivers, Minnesota’s Rick Adelman, Memphis’ Lionel Hollins, Dallas’ Rick Carlisle, Chicago’s Tom Thibodeau, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra – Popovich stands a step apart and above.

He is always the first and usually the last to tell you that it’s all about the players, but to a man, they will tell you he is the one whom they are all about in the way the prepare, work and attack every game and play.

When he sat at a makeshift table for a news conference last spring when he was named Coach of the Year for the second time in his career, Popovich’s face turned different shades of red. But it wasn’t for the usual reasons of screaming at a referee or boiling at another question from a reporter. He was, in short, embarrassed with the attention.

Pop’s Way. That’s what they call it around the executive offices and on the practice floor and in the locker room.

“It’s about us, not me,” he said, sheepish from the attention.

But year after year, season after season, it has been about him getting the most out of his team by being willing to change the pace of play — from slogging, powerful inside ball to Duncan to a microwave fastbreak that is sparked by Parker — but never his principles or his own personal style.

He just wears suits, doesn’t model them.

“They’re not Italian,” he told an inquiring mind years ago.

He doesn’t do TV commercials or endorsements.

“I refuse,” he said another time. “I’d rather spend time in other ways.”

Pat Riley, the Hall of Fame coach and stylist, once said the Spurs are “the most emotionally stable team in the league.”

That’s because it is a team in Popovich’s image. He picks the players, he builds the team, he molds them and has constructed a franchise that has always eschewed endearing to be enduring. It’s all added up to the best record in the Western Conference again, an NBA record 14 consecutive 50-win seasons, 16th straight trips to the playoffs and puts him on the doorstep of history, all in one place.

After 900 wins, Pop won’t be going anywhere but straight ahead. (more…)

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The Kings Nearly Stopped The Streak

March 21, 2013  ·  4:35PM

HANG TIME WEST – Of course they think about it.

The Kings had a very good chance to beat the defending champions on Feb. 26, in Miami and everything. That in itself ranks the missed opportunity pretty high on the regret scale. But now the Heat have 24 consecutive wins, have amassed the second-longest winning streak in NBA history and have the record of 33 in a row by the 1971-72 Lakers within range, and it’s the Kings, of all teams, that had the best chance to end the Miami express.

“It’s crazy to think that we could have been that team to break the streak,” power forward Jason Thompson said.

The Cavaliers had the Heat on the ropes Wednesday in Cleveland, leading by 27 points before Miami asserted itself for a 98-95 victory. Two nights before that, the Celtics were up 17 in Boston and the visitors responded for a 105-103 win. But the Kings. Oh, the Kings.

Sacramento went into the game with a 19-38 record but built an eight-point lead in the first half. It was within 112-110 after consecutive 3-pointers from Marcus Thornton. And after Dwyane Wade missed two free throws with 20.8 seconds remaining in regulation, the Kings capitalized when DeMarcus Cousins put back an offensive rebound with nine seconds to force overtime.

That five-minute extra period ended at 124-124. Sacramento got off the ride there – the Heat opened the second overtime with an 11-3 run and went on to a 141-129 victory, tying a Miami team record for single-game scoring as LeBron James had 40 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds while Wade went for 39 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

“We still weren’t in the caliber of that basketball team,” Kings coach Keith Smart said some three weeks later. “Close, but we didn’t get the ultimate prize.”

The win.

“I thought we had it, yes,” Smart said. “But until it actually goes in the bucket, you walk in the locker room and say, ‘Man, it was real close.’ But I thought our guys played the right way. For the most part, our team has played pretty well against a lot of teams. There’s been only a handful, if a handful, of games where we just couldn’t do anything and were really blown out. But overall, these guys have competed and played at a high level and worked every day like you were playing for it all. That’s all you can ask for a team. With all the other issues that have gone on with our basketball team, nevertheless these guys still come in with a working mentality and we’re going to keep going until our opportunity comes. And it’s coming.

“That game is in the books until the next time we play the Miami Heat, which is next year. You move on. There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s great for basketball right now. It’s great for our fans and fans of basketball that are kind of watching this and kind of looking.”

That night at AmericanAirlines Arena extended the Heat winning streak to 12, which seemed pretty impressive at the time. In the new perspective of 24 in a row and counting, it is an infant moment in the serious run at history that almost never happened.

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Jerry West A Believer And A Fan of Heat

March 21, 2013  ·  4:10PM

Down through the years, any time another NFL team has approached matching their feat of an undefeated season, the members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins have openly rooted against them, even popping the cork on a celebratory bottle of champagne at the first loss.

However, as the leading man on the 1971-72 Lakers team that holds the NBA record for consecutive victories at 33, Jerry West is not only a believer in the Heat, but a fan.

“Honestly, I think they’ve got an incredible chance to do it,” said the Lakers Hall of Famer, now an executive with the Warriors, on a conference call Thursday. “I really do.

“People say to me, ‘Does it bother you?’ Absolutely not. I think it’s great for the league and I’m delighted obviously for my friend Pat Riley that he’s going to be able to maybe replicate this not only as an executive but as a player. That’s pretty special.”

Though the marquee lineup of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh grabs most of the attention, West praised the Heat for coming together to make a unit that’s greater than the sum of their parts.

“They have a team,” West said. “So much of the NBA has been about marketing its stars and players that have a flamboyant way of playing and we’ve got some incredible athletes playing this game. So much of the marketing of the NBA frankly has been about players.

“I think it’s time we talk about teams. When I look at the league this year, we’ve got a number of really good teams. And I’m not talking about individuals. You look how they play together. You’re talking about Denver, Memphis, San Antonio, obviously the Heat, and I don’t want to leave anyone out. I’m just mentioning those four teams, if you watch them play, particularly three of them.

“Miami has the biggest star in the game, OK? The best player in the game. Having him as a teammate has to be very special for all the other players. He makes it easy for them. He’s one of those unique players that comes along, a Kobe Bryant, players like that. (Kareem) Abdul-Jabbar, some are truly great, great players that will live forever. He’s in that class and Michael Jordan is, obviously. He just makes it so much easier for those guys. He’s just an amazing player and frankly I’m thrilled for him because of all the negative things that were said about him as a player and I think he’s rightly proved what kind of player he is and, more importantly, what kind of person he is.”

With the Miami streak now at 24 after the Heat’s 27-point comeback at Cleveland on Wednesday night, West said there’s no reason to think it can’t go on for a long time.

“It may not end. That’s why I think it’s so remarkable. I look at the schedule and I see one team on there that’s a terrific team and obviously that’s the Spurs. I don’t know what game that would be. That would be a game that I would be concerned about, playing in San Antonio and they’re going to have Tony Parker back by then.

“I just think … some nights you’re gonna go out there and you can’t make a shot and it might be all of you and it becomes contagious. But the one thing they’ve got going for them is defensively they can really get after you because of the ability of Wade and particularly LeBron. They’re ballhawks, and when you turn the ball over, it’s going to be a layup. It’s not going to be a jump shot. It’s going to be a layup. Those two guys in particular, if they’re in the open court, you can forget it. They’re going to score or get to the free-throw line.

“I just think it’s going to take a combination of a team that’s shooting the ball well that also has the capability to defend to beat them and obviously a poor shooting night on Miami’s part. But honestly, I haven’t looked at all their schedule, but I see their schedule coming up. There’s gonna be more and more focus on the games and I think it makes the players focus more on trying to achieve the record that everyone said couldn’t be broken. I think they’ve got a great chance to do it myself.”

West, who was also the architect of the “Showtime” L.A. teams of the 1980s and the Kobe-Shaq combo that “3-peated” to start the 21st century, cautions that this year’s Lakers could still be a playoff force if they qualify.

“I definitely wouldn’t want to play them, I know that,” he said. “I think they’d have a chance against anyone.

“I think if the Lakers would have their preference, they probably wouldn’t want to play Denver. I don’t think anyone would want to play them. Denver has proven they can win on the road and they just don’t lose at home.”

He called Memphis “a bunch of pack dogs” and the Grizzlies the toughest match for the Lakers because of their defense and their man in the middle.

“To me, they’ve got the most underrated player in the league on their team in Marc Gasol,” West said. “That guy is really a good player.”

He did not disparage the defending Western Conference champion Thunder, but has questions.

“If you watch Oklahoma City, to me, they don’t look like they’re the same team,” he said. “I think that they’re terrific, but they lose a great player in James Harden, and that’s going to happen to a lot of teams today, and can they make up for the loss of him? I’m not sure.”

West is also not sure who is up to finally ending the Miami streak.

“I look at their schedule and I say, my gosh. And you think to yourself: ‘I don’t know who.’ Unless they just have a horrible, horrible shooting night, I just don’t think those teams are capable of coming close to them.”

Even though it’s been 41 years and even though no other team had gotten closer to his Lakers’ streak than 11, West said he never believed the record was untouchable.

“I never thought that way,” he said. “I think this is what makes sports so intriguing. Is a number out there — (Joe) DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. Will anyone ever do that? Football, the Dolphins, undefeated. A lot of people don’t think those things are possible. Well, they are possible.

“Particularly in basketball, I think you get a real unique team and Miami has a unique team. They’ve got great 3-point shooting and they’re never out of a game because of that. Then they’ve got the best player in the game that does all the little things. I’m sure any coach would love to coach him because he does so much.

“I never thought this streak would live forever. No. Not in today’s games… I just think it’s a streak that could very easily be broken this year. I really believe that.”

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The Psychology Of A Win Streak

March 19, 2013  ·  4:29PM

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The victories keep piling up, 23 of them in a row now, and the milestones keep turning into blurred signs along the side of the freeway as the Heat blow past to build the second-longest win streak in history. This has been some party on wheels.

And this has been a unique emotional challenge. It usually is for Miami anyway, with opponents particularly amped to face the defending champs, only now beating the Heat would be even more of an occasion than usual. The next team to knock them off would own one of the biggest regular-season single-game outcomes in years.

What has emerged to sports psychologists, though, is that the Heat are not playing with a burden. If anything, they have looked smooth despite the extra burden, a very positive statement while ramping up for the playoffs, the actual pressure time.

Monday night in Boston was a double-win in that way. Not only did Miami rally from 17 points down to beat the Celtics in a difficult road environment, when the Heat could have walked away in defeat but feeling very good about all that had come before, but LeBron James had an insightful statement after No. 23, as quoted in the Miami Herald: “We grew again tonight and that’s big for our team.”

Nearing the end of the third regular season with the core of the roster together, with the invaluable experience of the 2012 title run in the bank, and they’re noticing growth from a March game against an opponent that won’t touch them in the playoffs.

Heat upcoming schedule
Day Date Loc. Opponent Time (ET) TV
Wed. 3/20 @ Cleveland 7 p.m. League Pass
Fri. 3/22 vs. Detroit 7:30 p.m. League Pass
Sun. 3/24 vs. Charlotte 6 p.m. League Pass
Mon. 3/25 @ Orlando 7 p.m. League Pass
Wed. 3/27 @ Chicago 8 p.m. ESPN
Fri. 3/29 @ New Orleans 8 p.m. League Pass
Sun. 3/31 @ San Antonio 7 p.m. NBA TV

“When athletes are on a streak of any kind, the challenge is to keep their focus on the game at hand,” said Dr. Eddie O’Connor, a clinical sports psychologist in Grand Rapids, Mich., and a fellow and certified consultant through the Association for Applied Sports Psychology. “The context and pressure of winning/losing streaks can distract players from what is essential. So a streak could help or hurt, depending on is the athlete uses the streak to improve concentration or if it becomes a distraction.

“In much the same way, when teams are gunning for you, you have to be at your best. I work with athletes to ‘play to your own standard of excellence, not up or down to the level of your opponent.’ This develops a killer instinct against lesser opponents and establishes a performance routine of consistently playing at a high level. This attitude insulates players from putting forth effort based on expectations…. Having teams always challenging you can get you ready for playoff basketball. Again, the key is the athletes’ ability to focus on the moment and let go of distractions.”

Said Dr. Ross Flowers, a San Diego-based psychologist with an extensive background in sports and performance from kids to several United State national teams: “One of the things that can be great about it and is probably why they have this streak is because they’re performance focused. When you’re playing that well, there’s definitely a synergy. And from what I’ve seen and heard through the media sound bites, they’re well-connected. All their comments are about how well they’re playing together. It’s not about one individual, it’s about them working together as a team. I think that’s what we’re seeing. They’re performance focused. And so when there’s all this talk about a streak, they’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’ But if they continue their focus on performance, that streak can go on through the title game.”

Can a streak of this length also become a burden?

“If they allow their attention to be about the streak and not about performance, absolutely,” Flowers said. “If it happens, we’ll see the play change. It will be more about LeBron taking every shot or Dwyane Wade taking every shot. That’s when things can become more of a problem, because it’s less about performance. It’s more about ‘Let’s make history.’

“I think there’s definitely pressure there. And it’s up to them as the professional athletes that they are to manage it by a singular focus: play the game. Let the commenting and the media and all the tweets happen after the game. But when they’re on the floor, focus on being consistent players.”

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Heat Streaking To A Place Of Their Own

March 19, 2013  ·  2:39PM




We’re past the point now where the Heat can slip on their noise-canceling headphones and pretend the only beats they hear have been downloaded according to personal taste.

After 105-103 in Boston on Monday night, the drums are pounding louder than the “1812 Overture” all over the basketball world.

The Heat’s 23rd consecutive victory pushed them past the anomaly that was the 2008 Rockets and at very least tiptoes them across the threshold and inches them into the throne room with royalty.

Wilt, West and Goodrich. LeBron, Wade and Bosh. That’s a Hall of Fame red carpet that’s rolled out between them.

Make no mistake. It is all no more than a hollowed-out log if they aren’t standing under a shower of confetti and holding up the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. Because that’s why you play the game. It is fine for the contrarian Jeff Van Gundy and stat geek Daryl Morey to point out that these serpentine win streaks that stretch from one month into the next are almost as rare as unicorns and therefore technically more difficult to achieve than championships.

But let me know the next time somebody hangs a win streak banner from the rafters or hands out rings for consecutive regular-season wins.

As Magic Johnson said: “I’ll take the diamonds.”

Heat upcoming schedule
Day Date Loc. Opponent Time (ET) TV
Wed. 3/20 @ Cleveland 7 p.m. League Pass
Fri. 3/22 vs. Detroit 7:30 p.m. League Pass
Sun. 3/24 vs. Charlotte 6 p.m. League Pass
Mon. 3/25 @ Orlando 7 p.m. League Pass
Wed. 3/27 @ Chicago 8 p.m. ESPN
Fri. 3/29 @ New Orleans 8 p.m. League Pass
Sun. 3/31 @ San Antonio 7 p.m. NBA TV

Still, there is no denying that what is happening here is special. Even the usual facade of the ‘”We’re-above-it-all” Heat is slipping to reveal the emotion that’s building like the lava dome under a volcano.

A week ago, those in the Miami locker room still insisted that nobody was thinking about a double-digit win streak or rushing to flip ahead several pages in the record book. But a look at the expressions and the emotions that showed on the Heat faces in the fourth quarter at the TD Garden on Monday night showed just how much has changed. They were down 13 with eight minutes to play. Rather than appear defeated, the Heat were defiant.

It is prudent to note that they are just over 2/3 of the way from the record of 33 held by the 1971-72 Lakers. If the Heat were an individual player chasing Wilt’s 100-point game, they would have 69. Impressive, but still a long way off. Yet stepping over the flotsam of the Houston team that couldn’t even win a first-round playoff series in 2008 clears a path toward their own unique place in the game.

“It means a lot,” James said. “I am a historian of the game. I know the history of the game. I know almost all the teams that have come through the ranks. To be sitting in second place right now, with so much that this game has given to our fans and everything, for us to be there, doing it the way we want to do it, it means a lot.”

Back in the summer of 2010, in the aftermath of “The Decision,” James was ridiculed for ticking off the number of championships that the Heat could win — “not one … not two … not three … not four … not five … not six … not seven …”

But now that they’ve got the first title, and it seems reasonable to think there’s another in the pipeline, this could be their once-in-a-slam-dunking-lifetime opportunity to put an indelible stamp and stake a place in the NBA’s pantheon.

While Michael Jordan’s Bulls won six championships, it is the 1996 team that set a regular season record of 72-10 that stands above them all. The 1967 Sixers, led by Chamberlain, won a then-record 68 regular-season games and made their mark by ending the eight-year reign of Bill Russell’s Celtics. The 1983 Sixers vaulted from an overpowering 68-14 regular season to the pinnacle behind Moses Malone’s “Fo’, fo’, fo’ “ proclamation that they nearly fulfilled by running through the playoffs with a 12-1 record. And, of course, the Lakers ran off their 33-0 streak early in the 1971-72 season, won a then-record 69 games and made their claim as the all-time best team by closing the deal on the championship.

A singular achievement. That’s where the Heat are now, fully engaged and fully aware that this is now the stuff of legacy. It is what James and Wade and Bosh came together to do.

“We’re aware, and it’s a special opportunity that we have with this group,” said coach Erik Spoelstra. “And you don’t want to take it for granted. You want to treat every day as a special opportunity to be with this group, to share these moments together, but more importantly to take a step closer to going after our goal. And every day that we improve puts us in a better position in a quest where nothing is guaranteed for anybody.”

It is almost a living, breathing creature inside the locker room, one they’ve fed and fueled. It forces the Heat to look at themselves differently.

The beat goes on, only now they’re driving it.

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Defense Grew Rockets’ 22-Game Streak

March 15, 2013  ·  9:48AM

 

HOUSTON — As far as seismic shifts in the landscape go, there was no tremor, no low rumble of an earthquake’s warning and it never hit with the fiery blast of a volcanic eruption.

When the Rockets went 49 days — seven full weeks — without a single loss in 2008, it grew quietly for the longest time like an oak tree’s roots growing up through the cracks in a sidewalk until one day it was busting apart the concrete.

The 22-game win streak, second-longest in NBA history, is the outlier in the record book, the one that nobody, even themselves, saw coming, and many, even in hindsight, can still not comprehend.

Before the defending champion Heat, led by the three-headed juggernaut of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, joined the club, only three teams in history had won 20 in a row. The 1971-72 Lakers with their record of 33 consecutive wins and a star-studded roster of Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Gail Goodrich went on to win the NBA title. The 1970-71 Bucks, led by Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, ran off 20 straight on their way to win it all.

In fact, of the top eight win streaks ever in the NBA before the Heat, five of those teams won championships. Only the Rockets did not get out of the first round of the playoffs.

“Our names will be mentioned with Hall of Fame people,” said point guard Rafer Alston. “We have something to tell our kids.”

Shane Battier, now with Miami, has called the Rockets’ streak “organic,” part of a process that evolved over time.

It wasn’t often flashy or pretty, but it was effective, like seeing a boa constrictor slowly squeeze the life out of its prey.

The Rockets were led by Tracy McGrady’s bundle of offensive skills, but they survived the loss of Yao Ming and they won and won with a growing confidence and surging defense. During the 22-game streak, they held 19 of their opponents under 100 points and 13 under 90. They won 14 games by double figures, an average margin of 12.36, and had only three games decided by fewer than six points. They won 15 games at home and seven on the road.

The Rockets even won the last 10 without their All-Star center Yao, whose season was ended by a stress fracture in his left foot on Feb. 26.

“Every time a team gets a chance to come close, the streak comes up,” said forward Luis Scola, now with the Suns. “It was a great stretch. It was a good team. If we lose any of those games it wouldn’t change that fact. But maybe that team wouldn’t be as remembered.

“You know we were playing well. It was a fun team to play with. The momentum that we had going. We were playing very well. We were beating teams just because we were good…That month and a half was great. I remember it was a lot of fun.”

The Rockets were 15-17 on Jan. 2 and 24-20 when they beat Golden State 111-107 on a night when Yao was dominant with 39 points and 19 rebounds. They were fighting for their playoffs lives, sitting precariously as the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Two nights later, they went on the road to win at Indiana 106-103 and ran off seven straight wins where they never gave up 90 points.

“What we’re developing is a great team like the Pistons,” said McGrady. “A great defensive team going out there and playing together and not relying on one or two people to score the rock.”

No. 8 was their narrowest escape, needing Steve Novak to come off the bench to hit a 3-pointer — his only field goal of the game — with two seconds left to rescue an 89-87 win over the Kings.

The streak continued through trades. On the afternoon of No. 10, they sent Bonzi Wells to New Orleans and Kirk Snyder to Minnesota, yet didn’t miss a beat in thumping Miami. They attracted real notice around the league when they whipped the No. 1-seeded Hornets in New Orleans.

When the Rockets took the floor on Feb. 26, the word was out that Yao was lost for the season and the fears inside Toyota Center were palpable. But with 41-year-old Dikembe Mutombo blocking shots, waving his finger and filling the middle, the streak rolled on.

“You could probably check this, but I’m thinking all the way to the 17th or 18th game of the winning streak we still were in the eighth spot or the ninth spot or something like that,” Scola said. “It was a really tough year for the West. The playoffs were in jeopardy.” (more…)

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Ginobili Is Still Crashing Toward Future

March 11, 2013  ·  8:45AM


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SAN ANTONIO – Eleven seasons into this frantic NBA career as a two-legged entry in a demolition derby, Manu Ginobili is long past the point where dented fenders, a dragging muffler and wheels spinning right off the axles should have him sitting as a heap of spare parts off in some corner.

After all, El Contusion is as much a straight description as it is a nickname.

Yet here are the Spurs heading into the stretch run of another season trying to hold onto the No. 1 overall seed in the Western Conference with a 35-year-old guard who might as well be held together himself with baling wire and duct tape.

A sprained ankle has Tony Parker sidelined for maybe a month and that means the Spurs’ crutch as they head into a showdown tonight against Kevin Durant and the Thunder is suddenly a guy whose minutes played over the past two seasons are the fewest since his rookie year.

Never mind the previous hints about the end of the road. He’s not going anyplace but hellbent right into the teeth of whatever defense thinks it can finally rope him in.

If you ask him, he’ll tell you that the little things are felt more by that body that’s been recklessly thrown all over basketball courts from Argentina to Spain to every corner in the NBA, which is why he has to keep a closer eye on his rest and his diet and his stretching exercises.

But if you watch him, your eyes will tell you that very little has changed about the way he plays, which is a good and necessary thing for the Spurs.

While the delivery by Tim Duncan, who’ll turn 37 in April, at an All-Star level has been a revelation, there was at least reason to expect that The Big Fundamental and his earthbound game could push the limits to extend his career.

Ginobili, on the other hand, never figured to fade softly into a twilight. He’s always been more of a total eclipse guy, where one day the lights would simply go out.

When Ginobili signed his two-year contract in the summer of 2011, he told an Argentinian website that it seemed like that would take him to an “appropriate age to stop playing.”

However, he has seen the Spurs finish with the best record in the West the past two years, extend their excellence this season to stubbornly hold open the window of opportunity to add another championship and now Ginobili is saying he we would like to play two more seasons. The timetable fits perfectly with the contracts of Duncan and Parker, which expire in 2015 and could probably expect that to go out together in silver and black, he’d probably give the Spurs a “hometown discount” similar to his buddy Tim.

Of course, that all comes before potentially another two-month grind of the intense, rugged playoffs, fraught with the possibility that a human pinball could again do something to make his body go “tilt.”

Ginobili has been labeled increasingly fragile as the years have piled up, but that hardly seems as apt as just plain stubborn. Like the words from the Jacob Riis philosophy of “pounding the that rock” that adorn the halls leading to the Spurs’ locker room at the AT&T Center, eventually even the strongest substance will crack. Ginobili has simply been willing to hammer away at his own bones and ligaments and joints to point of breakdown.

“I’d rather play with someone like him, who plays hard and gets hurt, than someone who is afraid,” teammates Stephen Jackson said recently.

Various aches and ailments forced Ginobili to miss 16 games a year ago and 13 this season. Yet when he’s been on the floor, he’s been more than just respectable. While his field goal percentage (.448) and range from behind the 3-point line (.373) might appear pedestrian, his true shooting percentage is actually higher than the All-Star Duncan’s and he among the top three Spurs with a defensive efficiency rating of 99 points allowed per 100 possessions while he’s on the floor. As the minutes have increased out of necessity, so has his production.

In the four games since Parker was carried off the court on March 1, Ginobili has , shot 23-for-44 from the field and dealt 30 assists. He’ll continue to come off the bench, but will be the one running the offense at crunch-time and will also be called on for more scoring as the Spurs hit a stretch of schedule that after tonight will include a gantlet of the Nuggets, Clippers, Heat and at Memphis and at OKC a little over three weeks.

His fearless style has always kept the x-ray and MRI machines humming, yet the way he’s kept coming back from all of those injuries is one of the main reasons the Spurs have continued to push their time as championship contenders past their expiration date as declared by the experts. If those bursts of imaginative artistic brilliance don’t last as long, they can still come often enough to make the difference when the clock runs down and a game or a playoff series or a season might be on the line.

There will ultimately come a time when those wheels finally come off Manu Ginobili, but for now and, it seems two more years, he’ll keep the Spurs rolling.

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Rose Return A Slam Dunk Away?

March 8, 2013  ·  1:01PM

 

HANG TIME, Texas — Lace up the adidas. Cue the music. Put the Heat, Pacers and Knicks on high alert.

It looks like The Return of Derrick Rose is getting ready to jump from very cool TV commercial to red hot reality.

According to Melissa Isaacson of ESPNChicago, Rose’s doctor has given him clearance to return to the Bulls’ lineup. Of course, like most of us, he’ll be using the “left-foot dunk test” to make his final decision.

Rose, who had surgery to repair a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on May 12, has been videotaped dunking off each foot, but more casually than he would during a game. A source said that although he has been practicing and scrimmaging hard, he told the Bulls that until he feels “in his mind” he can confidently dunk off his left foot in a game situation, he is not 100 percent mentally ready to return to competition.

The team is not pressuring Rose, the source said, but the Bulls are confident he will return this season and are still hoping for a mid-March return, which would mark 10 months after his surgery. The Bulls play at Golden State on March 15.

The source said the team has been assured by Rose’s doctor that there is no more chance of the former MVP getting injured upon his return than anyone else and that the doctor told the Bulls that physically “he can play now.” Rose is now dealing with the psychological side of trusting his body.”

Since Rose collapsed in a heap at the end of Game 1 of last year’s playoffs, it has always been most prudent for the Bulls to take the long view for the benefit of their MVP, All-Star guard’s career, not to mention the five-year, $94-million investment that was made with his 2011 contract extension. But over the past month, there have been dramatic swings in the situation as word got out that Rose was making solid progress.

Even as Rose has been taking part in 5-on-5 scrimmages with his teammates over the past three weeks, he also raised the possibility of not returning at all this season when he last spoke with reporters on Feb. 13. Then his brother Reggie told ESPNChicago that the team’s failure to improve the roster would be a “big factor” in Rose’s return. Derrick Rose said he did not share his brother’s sentiments.

Though the Bulls are currently in sixth place in the playoff race, a return by a fully recovered Rose changes the entire landscape of the Eastern Conference, vaulting them clearly into that second tier of contenders with the Pacers and Knicks and could even make LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the defending champion Heat sit up and take notice.

Once he gets that left-footed dunk down comfortably, it’s time for the next step. The Return of Derrick Rose isn’t the end of the road, just the beginning of a new story.

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