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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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Kareem Interested In Filled Bucks Job?

March 5, 2013  ·  3:26PM

Headed toward the playoffs for the first time in three years and only the second time in seven, the Milwaukee Bucks have won four in a row. That includes overtime thrillers vs. Toronto and Utah in the past two and, before that at Dallas and Houston, the franchise’s first multi-victory Texas trip since 1986.

Monta Ellis was named the East’s player of the week – he’s averaging 26.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 4.8 steals in the winning streak – and Brandon Jennings has put up 18.0 ppg and 9.5 apg over the past eight. At 30-28, the Bucks woke up as close to the No. 2 spot in their conference (Indiana, 38-22) as they were to the falling out of the bracket to No. 9 (Philadelphia, 23-35).

So naturally, it’s time to bandy about possible coaching hires.

Actually, no, it’s silly. Jim Boylan, taking over after Scott Skiles‘ abrupt exit in early January, has calmed down and pulled together Milwaukee’s locker room. He’s getting good production from his undersized, offensive-minded backcourt and better results from the likes of Samuel Dalembert and Ersan Ilyasova. But he has that “interim” tag in front of his title, so options remain open.

Standard fare for talk shows and Internet boards, the Bucks’ head coaching gig was a topic on the airwaves when longtime Milwaukee sportswriter Dave Begel tuned in the other day. That’s when the light bulb went on over Begel’s head:

One name I didn’t hear, and one that I think should move to the very head of the line is a man I talked with last week who said he’d jump at the chance to coach the Bucks.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

I asked him flat out if he would be willing to be the head coach of the Bucks.

“Of course,” he replied.

Gotta like that phrase-ology. Asked if he’d be willing to coach the Bucks, Abdul-Jabbar said “Of course.”

Abdul-Jabbar, of course, is part of the franchise fabric in Milwaukee. He was their No. 1 draft pick in 1969 before their second season, a prize conveyed by a coin flip with Phoenix that delivered not only a young superstar from UCLA – “Lew Alcindor” back then – but an NBA championship two years later. Milwaukee made it to The Finals again, its last, three years later.

A year after that, in 1975, Abdul-Jabbar wanted out of town, pushing for a trade either to New York or Los Angeles. The deal with the Lakers replenished the Bucks’ talent base with quality, at least, but the 7-foot-2 center was the one who won five more rings and played 14 more seasons to become the league’s all-time leading scorer.

Few ever have questioned Abdul-Jabbar’s basketball pedigree, which Begel got him talking about in presenting his credentials to be an NBA head coach.

But besides his reputation, what else would he bring to the Bucks?

“I know how to prepare for a season as an individual and I know what that means in terms of team commitment,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “I can get all the right people together that have some chemistry and care about each other and they love the game. That’s where teams are made or not made successful.

“That’s very hard for GM’s to figure out. They know talent when they see it. But that ability to connect with your teammates, that personal chemistry is a hard thing to see in people. I can help players learn how to develop that chemistry. We had Pete Newell out here (in Los Angeles) and he was a master at understanding the personal fire within each player. I’d be a coach who can provide respect and keep the guys on the same page for a whole season.”

Lindsey Hunter is working the Phoenix Suns’ sidelines with a lot thinner resume than Capt. Sky Hook. Lots of career pluggers – lifetime coaches – have gotten two or three shots simply by climbing a coaching ladder, then lingering near a microphone.

But Abdul-Jabbar will be bucking a couple of trends if he winds up getting serious consideration from Milwaukee GM John Hammond and owner Herb Kohl.

First, there’s an apparent bias against centers among NBA head coaches. Bill Cartwright got a shot for a spell and, though he always was listed as power forward, Houston’s Kevin McHale certainly ranks among the league’s great big men. But others such as Patrick Ewing and Bob McAdoo have been waiting for years. Something about their specialness as players – seeing the game from about seven feet up – seems to work against them.

Second, there’s an apparent bias in the NBA against prickly sons of guns. The fraternal order of coaches and the league overall tends to rewards the regular Joes, the fellows who mix and blend and get along. Abdul-Jabbar came across for years as aloof and distant – a late Milwaukee Journal sports columnist said, “I interviewed his back for six years” – and more recently has seemed like one of those who “learn to say hello when it’s time to say goodbye.” The PR value of bringing the big fella back to a city he once fled would be mixed, possibly negligible.

Third and most important – the job is filled. If the Bucks indeed make the playoffs, even if it means a first-round collision with Miami, Boylan should be at the top of management’s list to stay on. He will have earned an offseason of prep time and a real training camp, at least. Abdul-Jabbar has him by 38,387 career NBA points, but this should not be about that.

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Buss, Hearn Rank Among Greatest Lakers

February 25, 2013  ·  5:36PM

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They gathered at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, on Chick Hearn Drive and everything, for a public goodbye to Jerry Buss, with Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Stern, Shaquille O’Neal and others talking at a memorial for the Lakers owner who died last Monday. That was followed by a private ceremony Friday as Buss was laid to rest.

Mourners spoke with sincerity and humor – and even love, the way Johnson came to view Buss as a father figure – and in some cases tried to define Buss’ impact on the NBA since buying the Lakers in 1979. That was the easy part. Former Suns owner Jerry Colangelo said “He was as innovative as anyone I’ve met in basketball in my four or five decades.” Stern noted a few years ago that “Jerry, quite simply, was a pioneer in understanding what the value of entertainment was in a community” and 10 titles is a statement all its own. Buss made historic contributions.

Placing him in the entire Lakers stratosphere, home to legends on and off the court, is tougher. Several of the 10 or 15 greatest talents in league history have played, or continue to play, for the franchise. One of them (West) is also among the best front-office minds ever. This is the organization that had the rarity of a broadcaster making the Hall of Fame.

Put it this way: Wilt Chamberlain casts a shadow over most every player in NBA history, but has trouble cracking the team’s top 10 because all he had was five seasons. Some were pretty remarkable (20.5 points and 21.1 rebounds in 1968-69, 27.3 points and 18.4 rebounds in 1969-70), but the cold reality is that the imposing Wilt wasn’t even the best center in the L.A. era. Abdul-Jabbar was, and O’Neal may be ahead of Chamberlain as well.

Strictly on impact during the Los Angeles years:

1. West. He averaged 27 points, 6.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds while playing his entire 14-year career for the Lakers, numbers that stand out enough but are especial because he and Elgin Baylor helped the team carve out an audience after the franchise moved from Minneapolis. And then West became the personnel boss who kept L.A. in near-constant title contention. Plus, he coached three seasons. His presence with the Lakers span four decades – from 1960 through 2000 – and set standards as a player and executive.

2. Johnson. He was more than just great to the extent of three MVP awards, three Finals MVPs and centerpiece of five championship clubs. Johnson was, well, Magic. He was the embodiment of what Buss wanted in a glam franchise, he was a leader, and he was demanding in a way that was welcome at the time but would have been savaged today in the way every Bryant sideways look at a teammate is dissected.

3. Buss. The doctoral student in chemistry turned real-estate mogul turned owner was the only Laker who bought his way into the organization. Once there, he tilted life in Los Angeles toward the NBA, surpassing the Dodgers in passion in a change that once seemed impossible. Buss did more than just fund West’s jackpot roster moves. He made the money flow by promoting the Lakers as a Hollywood landmark with glitter falling off players as they breezed downcourt, which made the rest of the league jealous and/or angry but also made the rest of the league rich. Buss was known to meddle in personnel decisions, but, a gambler himself, also urged West to go for broke rather than play it safe.

4. Bryant. His on-court feats make him one of the legends regardless, but he gets extra credit as a player who bridged championship generations. Bryant may be known to many for being divisive but should be remembered, among the many positives, for being part of a continuation, no easy task. Simply, if Bryant does not work, prepare and will himself into becoming a superstar, the Lakers get more like one, maybe two, titles in the 2000s instead of the five.

5. Phil Jackson. Jackson was an underrated coach, far better on Xs and Os than most outside the game would credit, but his presence was undeniable. The credibility he built up from the Bulls years allowed him to tweak, drive, cajole and manage head-strong Bryant and head-strong O’Neal. Most others in the same situation would have become road kill.

6. Pat Riley. What a fit in style of play and style period. Riley mastered the psychological tricks long before Jackson and perfected the Showtime system Buss wanted, all the way to Riles becoming part of the Hollywood production himself. The slicked-back hair, the expensive suits, the draw to the spotlight, the growing ego – Riley fit the mold. Four titles in seven years said it was OK to be that way.

7. Abdul-Jabbar. Of course the numbers – the average of 22.1 points and 9.4 rebounds in 14 seasons in L.A., the three MVPs in that time, the five championships, the first two seasons of leading the league in five statistical categories each time. But the real impact is that Showtime doesn’t play out to full glory without his professionalism and preparation. Imagine if Abdul-Jabbar led with his ego when Magic splashed onto the scene. Imagine the infighting, imagine the trade possibilities that could have altered the NBA landscape for years. Kareem was a selfless, well-liked teammate from high school to college to the pros, and never was that more meaningful in setting an example of maturity with the Lakers.

8. O’Neal. People forget, in the rush to knock Shaq for his behavior late in his career, that the O’Neal of the Lakers years was an awesome display of power that few can come close to matching, let alone actually being on the same short list. When the work effort matched the talent, he was that rarity of the player no team could answer. And when the work effort didn’t, because of health or dedication, he still put up Hall of Fame numbers.

9. Baylor. He never won a championship, which pained him decades later anytime someone mentioned it as a needle, but an incredible forward who once averaged at least 27 points a game in five out of six seasons. It was Baylor, not West, who was the established star to attract attention when the team moved to Los Angeles in 1960.

10. Chick Hearn. A tough call between Hearn and Chamberlain. Chick’s impact on the Lakers, though, is greater. He had a huge role popularizing the NBA after the move from Minneapolis and, in decades to come, became nothing short of one of the popular men in the city, if not the sporting world. Hearn was a connection that lasted decades.

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Will Week Of Mourning And Remembrance Bring Clarity For Howard?

February 23, 2013  ·  9:36AM

HANG TIME SOUTHWEST – Dwight Howard is coming to Dallas.

That is, he’s coming with his Los Angeles Lakers teammates Sunday for a high noon (CT, ABC) showdown against the Mavericks, an important matchup for two franchises uncomfortable with being out of the playoff mix and determined to get in.

In Big D, sports radio has buzzed about Howard signing with the Mavs since the day his three-team wish list surfaced last year, with Dallas next to Brooklyn and the Lakers. With each dose of drama from L.A., hope floats that the game’s most dominant center will soon come to stay.

Local air-wave chatter with the Lakers coming has been off the charts. Brooklyn is virtually out of the picture and Howard’s L.A. story soured long ago, so, “Why not Dallas?” is the dialogue now. The morning talk guys are pleading for a Dwight love-in Sunday at the American Airlines Center. Because, really, that’s all that the playful Howard really wants, to be loved, right? To be part of a tight-knit family, to be cheered by loyal fans through thick and thin?

In a most unexpected way, the passing of the Lakers’ visionary patriarch, Dr. Jerry Buss, and the emotional proceedings this week might somehow pierce Howard’s hardening exterior and help clarify what lies ahead. During this sad week of mourning and remembering in L.A., perhaps a glint of inner-peace — or at least a clearer understanding of his time and place — will nestle into Howard’s too-often conflicted noggin.

Howard has likely never experienced the varying emotions that he has witnessed since the organization announced Monday that Buss lost his fight with cancer at age 80. That emotion erupted in every nook and cranny of the proud Lakers franchise that Howard has known for all of eight months. It touched the core of the Lakers’ vast fandom. It swelled throughout the city of Los Angeles.

During Thursday’s memorial service at Nokia Theater, Howard, 27, watched as Lakers greats Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and the original Superman, Shaquille O’Neal  (often critical of Howard), paid tribute to the man who created Showtime, the most glamorous and glorious enterprise the league has ever seen.

Magic asked all past and present Lakers players and coaches, about 50, to stand and be recognized. Earlier, Kobe appealed directly to his teammates.

“For our current Lakers,” Kobe said, “I encourage all of you to look around the room, look at the greatness of one man’s vision, look at the players that are here, coaches that are here; we have one thing in common, we all believe in Dr. Jerry Buss. We are playing for something bigger than ourselves, bigger than a single season, playing for the memory of a great man, Dr. Jerry Buss.”

It should have served as a humbling moment for Howard, a player boasting all the physical gifts to thrive but whose immaturity and indecision have damaged his reputation. It should have made his differences with Kobe — Howard’s polar-opposite, a hard-driving, unrelenting, five-time champion — seem infantile and insignificant.

The night before, Howard played his most inspired game of the season with 24 points and 12 rebounds to beat Boston in something rare this year, a Lakers’ rout. He said he had been thinking all day about getting the win for Dr. Buss. On Friday he played through pain and posted 19 points and 16 rebounds in a hard-fought home win over Portland. Before he tweaked his right shoulder, Howard had 15 and eight in the first half.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak this week heeded the advice of the local Dallas talk show hosts and showered the chiseled, 265-pound Howard with loving praise on national radio. Kupchak even said that Howard, who will become a free agent on July 1, should one day have a statue in front of Staples Center. He told Howard to trust him. Told him the future of the great Los Angeles Lakers belongs to him.

The Lakers have opened their arms to Howard. And all he’s had to do is watch and listen to understand what that means. The franchise is Howard’s — if he wants it.

As he repeated during All-Star weekend, he won’t be rushed: “This is my life, this is my career, it’s my legacy…”

All of that comes to Dallas on Sunday.

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Buss Made Lakers A ‘Showtime’ Operation

February 18, 2013  ·  12:47PM

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Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who brought 10 NBA championships to Los Angeles and “Showtime” to the basketball world, died Monday at the age of 80.

Buss died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to his assistant Bob Steiner. He had reportedly been hospitalized with cancer, but the immediate cause of death was unknown.

There have been few sports executives in history to make the kind of impact as Buss, putting together lineups that included superstars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant and took the Lakers to the top of the basketball world.

Prior to Buss taking over the Lakers in 1979, the Boston Celtics were the NBA’s reigning royalty with 13 championships and six times defeating L.A. in The Finals. But under this ownership, the Lakers ushered in the ‘Showtime’ era behind Johnson, Worthy and Abdul-Jabbar to win titles in 1980, ’82, ’85, ’87, ’88. With O’Neal and Bryant (both as a pair and with Bryant as the headliner later on), L.A. took home titles in 2000, ’01, ’02, ’09 and 10.

In the process, Buss made the Lakers into the most exciting act and hottest name in sports by attracting A-list Hollywood celebrities to their home games at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. and the downtown L.A. Staples Center. It was the presence of Academy Award winner Jack Nicholson sitting courtside and interacting with players and coaches as the Lakers’ highest-profile fan that led to the star-filled scene on Sunday at the Toyota Center in Houston where the 62nd NBA All-Star Game was a virtual Who’s Who of big names from the movie, music and sports industries.

Born Gerald Hatten Buss on Jan. 27, 1933 in Salt Lake City and raised in Wyoming, he worked himself up as a child of Depression Era breadlines to become a multi-millionaire. He would complete one of the biggest transactions in sports history when he purchased the Lakers, L.A. Kings hockey team, the Forum and a large chunk of California real estate from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979 for $67.5 million. The Lakers franchise has an estimated worth of $1 billion, according to Forbes magazine, second only to the New York Knicks in the NBA.

The day-to-day operation of the team had recently been taken over by Buss’s children, Jim (basketball operations) and Jeanie (business operations).

Buss was a graduate of the University of Southern California, earning a doctorate in physical chemistry.

Even in a city such as Los Angeles, where the Hollywood stars shine, Buss — for more than three decades — had the show that most often sparkled. The NBA and the sports world are dimmer with his passing.

“He’s meant everything to me in my career in terms of taking a risk on a 17-year-old kid coming out of high school and then believing in me my entire career,” Bryant said at an All-Star weekend news conference in Houston. “And then for the game itself, the brand of basketball that he implemented in Showtime carried the league.”

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Sizzling Stars: LeBron and KD Meet Again

February 14, 2013  ·  10:07AM

OKLAHOMA CITY – The historic impact of the supremacy of LeBron James and Kevin Durant is impossible to ignore. Legends are being made before our eyes, and before All-Star weekend arrives, the NBA gives us the final regular-season meeting between two of the most uniquely gifted players compiling two of the most individually intriguing seasons ever.

No, it’s not a stretch to make such a pronouncement about two players dominating individually and who also have their teams positioned for ultimate goal: a potential NBA Finals rematch in June.

James, built like a bull at 6-foot-9 and 25o pounds and defying every traditional position on the floor, is averaging 27.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 6.9 apg. He’s shooting 56.5 percent overall and 42.0 percent from beyond the arc. The Heat (35-14) have won six in a row and lead the Eastern Conference by three games.

Durant is listed at 6-foot-9, but everybody knows his 235 pounds (probably a stretch) are spread out over a near-7-foot frame and boasts a ridiculously wide wing span. He’s averaging 29.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg and 4.4 apg. He’s shooting 51.9 percent overall, 43.2 percent on 3s and 90.4 percent from the free-throw line. The Thunder (39-13) own the league’s best point-differential at plus-9.1, although they trail San Antonio by one game in the loss column.

When it comes to LeBron and KD, no matter the era, the numbers don’t lie.

“They’re two unique bodies and two unique styles of play,” said former Atlanta Hawks great and 1986 scoring champ Dominique Wilkins. “Totally different, but with the same efficiency. The thing with these guys is you rarely see them take a lot of bad shots. That’s why they shoot the percentages they are. When guys have great shooting percentages, they limit their bad shot attempts. That’s what both those guys have done.”

James floats into Thursday’s game at Oklahoma City (8 p.m. ET, TNT) on a run for the ages as the only player in NBA history to reel off six consecutive 30-point games while shooting better than 60 percent in each. And forget about 60 percent, James is 66-for-92 in those games for a blistering, almost unbelievable, 71.7 percent.

It’s the kind of stretch that has practically assures him of joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players to twice win consecutive MVP awards. And if he does win it this season, James and Bill Russell will be the only players named MVP four times in five seasons. Oscar Robertson – perhaps the player James most resembles — stopped Russell’s run at three in a row in 1963-64. Russell followed the next season by winning it again.

Derrick Rose‘s awesome 2010-11 MVP season stopped James at two straight and Rose could ultimately prevent him from being the first player to ever have won it five consecutive seasons.

Still, a fourth MVP would already give LeBron, at age 28, more than the three won by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone, while tying him with Wilt Chamberlain and moving him one away from matching Michael Jordan and Russell at five. A sixth would put LeBron with Abdul-Jabbar on the mountaintop.

In any other season, Durant would be the frontrunner for his first MVP. As it is, he’s locked in a battle with Carmelo Anthony for a fourth consecutive scoring title — both lead the league at 29.0 ppg. Only Wilt (1959-66) and Jordan (1986-93), each with seven consecutive scoring titles, have won more than three in a row.

Durant is one of just five players to claim three straight: Jordan (1995-98), George Gervin (1977-80), Bob McAdoo (1973-76), Neil Johnston (1952-55) and George Miken (1948-51).

If Durant — who is also on pace to notch the ultra-rare 50-40-90 season (50 percent field goals, 40 percent 3-pointers, 90 percent free throws) – claims the scoring title, he will tie Allen Iverson and Gervin — the player Durant is most often compared to because of his slender frame and cool demeanor — with four.

Even if Durant doesn’t pick up his fourth in a row, at only 24 years old, he’s still lined up to threaten Jordan’s unprecedented, and once thought to be untouchable, 10 scoring titles.

For history in the making, stay tuned.

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History: Fear The Streaking Clippers

January 1, 2013  ·  9:51AM

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HANG TIME, Texas — It might be time to change the name of Lob City to Titletown or Bannerburgh.

Either way the streaking Clippers are on the verge of moving into a rather exclusive neighborhood that merits quite serious attention. It’s a ritzy place that comes with lots of shiny gold hardware.

When Chris Paul and his pals won back-to-back games over the Jazz to run it up to 17 consecutive wins, they squeezed into a tie for the ninth-longest single-season streak in NBA history.

With one more win tonight at Denver — No. 18 — the Clippers would take another step toward forcing themselves into the conversation as honest-to-goodness contenders.

Of course, the 1971-72 Lakers top the list with their all-time record 33-game win streak that many consider to be unbreakable. But of the eight teams currently ahead of the Clippers, five of them went on that same season to win the NBA championship and two others advanced to the conference finals. Only the 2007-08 Rockets failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs.

1971-72 L.A. Lakers
Streak: 33

Coach: Bill Sharman
Stars: Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich

Start: Nov. 5, 1971 (110-106 over Bullets)

End: Jan. 7, 1972 (120-104 to Bucks)

Record: 69-13

Playoff result: Won NBA championship

2007-08 Houston Rockets

Streak: 22 games
Coach: Rick Adelman
Stars: Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming

Start: Jan. 29, 2008 (111-107 over Warriors)

End: March 18, 2008 (94-74 to Boston Celtics)

Record: 55-27

Playoff result: Lost in first round

1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks

Streak: 20
Coach: Larry Costello
Stars: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson

Start: Feb. 6, 1971 (111-105 over Warriors)

End: March 8, 1971 (110-103 in OT to Bulls)

Record: 66-16

Playoff result: Won NBA championship

1999-2000 L.A. Lakers

Streak: 19
Coach: Phil Jackson
Stars: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal

Start: Feb. 4, 2000 (113-67 over Jazz)

End: March 13, 2000 (109-102 to Wizards)

Record: 67-15

Playoff result: Won NBA championship

2008-09 Boston Celtics
Streak: 19

Coach: Doc Rivers
Stars: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen

Start: Nov. 15, 2008 (102-97 over Bucks)

End: Dec. 25, 2008 (92-83 to Lakers)

Record: 62-20

Playoff result: Lost in conference semifinals

1969-70 N.Y. Knicks
Streak: 18

Coach: Red Holzman
Stars: Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley

Start: Oct. 24, 1969 (116-92 over Pistons)

End: Nov. 29, 1969 (110-98 to Pistons)

Record: 60-22

Playoff result: Won NBA championship

1981-82 Boston Celtics

Streak: 18
Coach: Bill Fitch
Stars: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish

Start: Feb. 24, 1982 (132-90 over Jazz)

End: March 28, 1982 (116-98 to 76ers)

Record: 63-19

Playoff result: Lost in conference finals

1995-96 Chicago Bulls

Streak 18
Coach: Phil Jackson
Stars: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman

Start: Dec. 29, 1995 (120-93 over Pacers)

End: Feb. 4, 1996 (105-99 to Nuggets)

Record: 72-10

Playoff result: Won title

2012-13 L.A. Clippers
Streak: 17
Coach: Vinny Del Negro
Stars: Chris Paul, Blake Griffin
Start: Nov. 28, 2012 (101-95 over Timberwolves)
End: ???

* 20 consecutive wins by 2011-12 San Antonio Spurs was split between 10 regular season and 10 playoffs and thereby does not qualify officially.

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Is 40K Possible For Kobe, LeBron And KD?

December 10, 2012  ·  3:06PM

HANGTIME SOUTHWEST – Last week, Kobe Bryant became the fifth player in NBA history to reach 30,000 career points.

In his 17th season, Bryant, 34, is as durable as ever and is leading the league in scoring at 28.6 points a game. It’s quite possible that he’ll pass No. 4 all-time scorer and fellow Los Angeles Lakers great Wilt Chamberlain (31,419 points) before the end of this season and then next season bear down on No. 3 on the list, Michael Jordan (32,292).

It will take three more seasons of Bryant matching his career scoring average of about 25 points a game to catch the No. 2 man, Karl Malone (36,928), and into a fourth season to overtake the game’s all-time leading scorer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387).

As for players that can threaten 30k, LeBron James and Kevin Durant head a short list. (Dirk Nowitzki probably has the best chance among active players with more than 20k: Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Tim Duncan).

LeBron became the youngest player to reach 10,000 points (23 years, 59 days) and is on pace to hit 20k by mid-January, just a few weeks after he turns 28 (his birthday is Dec. 30). Durant became the second-youngest to reach 10k last season (24 years, 34 days).

“Yes, obviously, knock on wood, if he stays healthy he definitely will be in that category as one of the best players ever,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said of his reigning three-time scoring champ. “He works hard, he has the skill set, he has the talent, he has a great attitude, he’s coachable.”

OK, so how about 40k?

First off, think of the era and had Kareem not stayed all four years at UCLA. What if he had just played one season like Durant? Or what if the 7-foot, 3/4-inch, 18-year-old named Lew Alcindor had come straight out of New York City’s Power Memorial and skipped college altogether like Kobe and LeBron?

Kareem had just turned 42 when he retired after 20 seasons. He would have turned 38 at the end of his 20th season had he skipped college and, in that case, he might have kept going considering that the Lakers were still title contenders.

Kobe’s pursuit of 40k could ultimately come down to his desire to keep going. If he finishes this season with 2,000 points (he’s on pace for more, but 2,000 is about his average over the last four seasons) he’ll have 31,484 points.

That means he would need to score about 1,750 points (an average of 21.3 points over 82 games) in each of the next five seasons to surpass 40k.

(It’s a point total he has eclipsed in 11 of his previous 16 seasons, including last year’s 66-game lockout-adjusted schedule if extrapolated over 82 games. He could also get there with about 2,150 points in each of the next four seasons, but that’s probably too tall an order, even for Kobe.)

Kobe would turn 39 prior to that fifth season, which would be his 22nd, or the same age as Jason Kidd is this season, his 19th, or how old new teammate Steve Nash will turn in February of this, his 17th season.

“This being 17 years for me, it’s pretty crazy to me. Sometimes I just don’t know what the hell I’m doing here,” Kobe said, grinning before last Friday’s game against Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. “To be competing and still be at a high level, again, that’s fun.”

On that night, Durant scored 36; Kobe had 35.

If Kobe decides to call it a career after two more seasons as he hinted he might during a training camp interview with CBSSports.com, then the chase will shift to LeBron and KD.

LeBron will cross 20k midway through this season and he could get to 30k around his 33rd birthday during the 2017-18 season. At his career pace, he could reach 40k during his 20th season when he turns 38.

Durant, in just his sixth season, might even be a stronger contender for 40k. He’s not as physical a player as LeBron and he’s a better perimeter shooter. Durant, averaging 26.3 points for his career and 27.0 so far this season, continues to improve each season from 3-point range. As he settles into his mid-to-upper 30s, he might find it easier than LeBron (whose 3-ball is also becoming more accurate) to keep his scoring average up in the mid-to-upper 20s.

“He has the body, he has the mind, he has the toughness, he has the ability,” Brooks said of Durant, “to be a 28- to 30-point scorer for a lot of years.”

Maybe no one will last long enough to reach 40k. Three players are in position, and the chase should be thrilling to watch.

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Hang Time Podcast (Episode 95) Featuring Etan Thomas

December 5, 2012  ·  6:49PM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – From Bill Bradley a generation ago to Kevin Johnson and Dave Bing, the list of NBA stars who have gone on to distinguished careers in politics is as impressive as it is brief.

If we had our way, Etan Thomas would join that list one day.

A 10-year NBA veteran, Thomas is an accomplished poet, author, activist, public speaker and all around renaissance man in the mold of conscious professional athletes from a bygone era — when you grow up with an understanding of the legacy of living legends like Bill Russell, Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Muhammad Ali there is only one way to go.

Born in Harlem, raised in Tulsa and now a resident of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, the former Syracuse and Washington Wizards (he also played with Oklahoma City Thunder and Atlanta Hawks) star is in a prime position to follow in some pretty famous footsteps … whenever he’s ready.

But before he moves on to a life in politics beyond the work he did in helping President Barack Obama get a second term, we enlisted the services of the author Fatherhood: Rising To The Ultimate Challenge, to assist our very own Lang Whitaker with some of the nuances of the job just five days into his journey as a new dad. We also debate about the Wizards and how many games they’ll win this season, discuss the impact Robert Griffin III is having on the entire region and the link Thomas has to Tulsa’s famed Booker T. Washington high school and one of its most famous alums, the late former NBA and jazz great Wayman Tisdale.

You get all of that and a complete examination of the news and headlines in the NBA on Episode 95 of the Hang Time Podcast  featuring Etan Thomas, with your hosts Sekou Smith,  Whitaker and Rick Fox. 

LISTEN HERE:


As always, we welcome your feedback. You can follow the entire crew, including the Hang Time Podcast, co-hosts Lang Whitaker of SLAM Magazine, Sekou Smith of NBA.com and Rick Fox of NBA TV, as well as our new super producer Gregg (just like Popovich) Waigand and the best engineer in the business, Jarell “I Heart Peyton Manning” Wall.

– To download the podcast, click here. To subscribe via iTunes, click here, or get the xml feed if you want to subscribe some other, less iTunes-y way.

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The Milestone Kobe Really Wants

December 5, 2012  ·  2:24AM





Thirty-thousand points?

Sure. Why not? As long as he happens to be in the neighborhood. Kobe Bryant, 13 points away, will likely reach the milestone tonight in New Orleans … and keep going in the search for something more. Two wins in a row for the Lakers, for one thing.

Michael Jordan, for another.

Let’s be real. Bryant will say all the right things when he joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain on the 30K plateau, the exact level of appreciation depending on whether the Lakers win. But the whole 30,000-point thing is just fun with numbers. Retiring at 29,000 or 31,000 would not change the Bryant legacy by a fraction, and he knows it.

Retiring ahead of Jordan … that gets into legacy-changing. Jordan has been the focus point on Bryant’s horizon from the beginning, the only player to measure himself against. Jerry West is The Logo and a Laker icon who became one of the few able to reach young Kobe, Malone was briefly a contemporary and teammate who went all the way to No. 2 on the career scoring list. But Bryant throughout his life would measure himself only against Jordan.

Plus, Jordan is the only other guard in single digits of the scoring leaders, until Oscar Robertson at No. 10. They are surrounded by centers and power forwards. Jordan, then, would be the showdown.

That is the case with championships more than anything – current score: Jordan 6, Bryant 5, with time winding down on the clock – but it’s a good bet that passing MJ will mean more to Bryant than busting through 30,000. Not because it’s for third place and the medal stand on the all-time list, two spots better than his current standing. Because it’s Jordan.

At the moment:

  1. Abdul-Jabbar, 38,387 points.
  2. Malone, 36,928.
  3. Jordan, 32,292.
  4. Chamberlain, 31,419.
  5. Bryant, 29,987.

(The rest of the top 10: Shaquille O’Neal, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon, Robertson.)

Bryant is 1,432 points behind Chamberlain and 2,305 away from catching Jordan, putting both within range, barring major injury. Malone, 6,941 in the distance, is a much harder sell.

At something close to the current rate of 28.5 points a game, Bryant will get to fourth place late in the season, depending on the number of contests missed to injury, and to third around this time in 2013-14, again depending on good health. And the current rate could hold. The Lakers will be playing faster under Mike D’Antoni than with Mike Brown as coach, and the some-day return of Steve Nash will make L.A. more efficient, even if Nash will also take some of the baskets. The increased pace and scoring opportunities could be enough to offset any reduction in minutes Bryant may have with D’Antoni.

Even dialing the numbers down, getting past Wilt and Jordan is still within sight. Put Bryant at 24 points a night and he gets to No. 4 in 60 games and to No. 3 in 96 games.

He can still get to Jordan, which is a lot more important than getting to 30,000. Let’s be real.

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