Posts Tagged ‘Tyson Chandler’

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Knicks Finding (Again) That Two Point Guards Are Better Than One

March 30, 2013  ·  11:51AM

 

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – After three full months of mediocrity, the New York Knicks have seemingly woken up. They’ve won seven straight games after Friday’s 111-102 victory over the Bobcats, keeping themselves a game in the loss column ahead of the Indiana Pacers for second place in the Eastern Conference.

All seven wins have come without defensive anchor Tyson Chandler, and the one that got the Knicks started on this run – a critical victory in Utah on the second night of a back-to-back – came without Carmelo Anthony.

The streak hasn’t come against the toughest schedule – four of the wins have been over Toronto, Orlando and Charlotte – but it has included a win in Boston and a win over the Grizzlies. And it’s mostly been an offensive run, though the Knicks’ sketchy defense has held three of the seven opponents under a point per possession…

Knicks efficiency

Timeframe W L OffRtg Rank DefRtg Rank NetRtg Rank
Through Dec. 16 18 5 111.1 2 102.3 16 +8.8 3
Dec. 17 – March 17 20 21 104.6 11 103.8 15 +0.8 11
Since March 18 7 0 117.1 1 101.9 8 +15.2 2

OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
DefRtg = Points allowed per 100 possessions
NetRtg = Point differential per 100 possessions

The Knicks’ resurgence has been keyed by a couple of unlikely contributors. Kenyon Martin wasn’t in the league five weeks ago, but has filled in admirably for Chandler as a 6-foot-9 center. And Pablo Prigioni, a 35-year-old rookie who was signed last summer to be the third-string point guard, has stepped into a role no one could ever have imagined him playing.

Both Martin and Prigioni have started all seven games of the Knicks’ winning streak. But the winning started when Prigioni started, for the first time in his NBA career, alongside Raymond Felton in a two-point-guard lineup.

Two point guards playing at the same time is nothing new for the Knicks, who started Felton and Jason Kidd for 22 of the first 28 games this season, mostly because they didn’t have another shooting guard to start. And as long as both were healthy, Mike Woodson basically started Felton and Kidd together through the end of February.

But Kidd really struggled at the end of that run, shooting a brutal 7-for-52 (13 percent) from 3-point range between Jan. 26 and March 1. So Woodson went with just one starting point guard for a stretch of 10 games. And because he refuses to start J.R. Smith under any circumstances, he had either James White or Chris Copeland in the lineup.

To no one’s surprise, that didn’t work too well, so Woodson decided to go back to the two-point-guard lineup, this time with Kidd coming off the bench and Prigioni, who had been given three DNPs earlier in the month, starting.

So far, so good. The Knicks are now 30-13 in games in which they’ve started two point guards and 15-13 in games in which they’ve started just one. Felton’s 12-game absence in December and January has something to do with that mark, and starting lineups sometimes play no more than 10 minutes together, but the Knicks have proven to be much better with two point guards on the floor, whether they’re starting together or not.

Knicks efficiency

PGs on the floor MIN OffRtg DefRtg NetRtg +/-
Felton + Kidd + Prigioni 17 159.6 70.6 +89.0 +29
Felton + Kidd 1,003 109.6 103.3 +6.3 +106
Kidd + Prigioni 204 107.1 103.8 +3.3 +10
Felton + Prigioni 139 119.4 101.4 +18.0 +47
Two PGs 1,346 110.2 103.2 +7.0 +163
Only Felton 837 108.2 108.0 +0.2 +18
Only Kidd 559 102.9 102.8 +0.1 -20
Only Prigioni 650 105.6 97.9 +7.8 +63
One PG 2,046 105.9 103.4 +2.6 +61

Note: The three-point-guard numbers are obviously a small sample size, and they’re a bit skewed by a crazy 3:27 stretch at the end of a Dec. 21 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Anthony, Chandler and Woodson had all been ejected and the Knicks scored 21 points in the final 3:27 with a lineup of three point guards, Copeland and White, turning a 13-point deficit into a more respectable, four-point loss.

The big difference between two-point-guard lineups and one-point-guard lineups has been on offense. And the key has been turnovers and 3-pointers.

The Knicks lead the league in turnover ratio, coughing the ball up just 13.2 times per 100 possessions. And that number is even lower – 12.9 – when they’ve had two point guards on the floor.

And when they have two point guards on the floor, they shoot and make more 3s.

Knicks 3-point shooting

PGs on the floor 3PM 3PA 3PT% %3PA
Two 324 868 37.3% 37.8%
One 422 1152 36.6% 33.5%

%3PA = Percentage of total FGA from 3-point range

Even though Kidd’s shooting went into the tank in February, the Felton-Kidd combo still has great numbers over the biggest sample size of any of the combinations. And the new Felton-Prigioni combo has only been better, though in just 139 minutes. Kidd, meanwhile, has shot a more respectable 34.4 percent from 3-point range since being benched on March 1.

Amazingly, Prigioni has the best per-possession plus-minus on the team, with the Knicks having outscored their opponents by 9.7 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor. And it’s been on defense where Prigioni has made the biggest impact.

The Argentine is just 6-foot-3 and rather slight, but he’s a real pest on the ball and in the passing lanes (a few examples here, here and here). The Knicks have forced 18.0 turnovers per 100 possessions when he’s been on the floor, a rate which would lead the league by a good margin (the Clippers are No. 1, forcing 17.4).

Woodson alluded to Prigioni’s plus-minus when asked about his newest starter this week.

“He’s a student of the game and the fact that he’s kind of waited and he’s watched and he’s learned,” Woodson said. “He’s played the minutes that I’ve given him. His minutes have always been pretty positive. If it was five minutes, it was five good minutes. And I think the fact that he is very knowledgeable of the game, he has patiently sat and waited and now his minutes have grown a little bit, and he still looks like he belongs.”

The Knicks’ schedule is about to get much tougher, with their next five games against playoff teams, a stretch that includes visits to Miami and Oklahoma City. Chandler’s continued absence (with a bulging disc), meanwhile, isn’t exactly encouraging.

But the Knicks are certainly rediscovering their offensive rhythm at the right time, which has helped them stay comfortably on the right side (the 2-3-6-7 side) of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket. And while they certainly can’t maintain the level of offense they’ve been playing over the last seven games, this run has certainly established both Martin and Prigioni as valuable contributors going forward.

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Denver Disaster Brings Knicks To Knees

March 14, 2013  ·  12:31PM

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To much of the rest of the free world, at least among those sporting slide rules and pocket protectors, today is Pi Day.

To the New York Knicks and their fans, the morning, afternoon and evening after Carmelo Anthony‘s disastrous return to Denver has been more Pie-In-The-Face Day.

In offering his assessment of how bad a turn the Knicks have taken lately, New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro dusted off the notorious, long-ago mea gulpa from guard Micheal Ray Richardson. That mercurial Knick’s pre-mortem for back in 1982 was short on grammar but long on street cred. It has a timeless quality, too, that applies just as well right here, right now.

“The ship be sinkin’,” Richardson said, an NBA utterance that ranks with Moses Malone‘s “Fo’, fo’, fo’” in the sport’s grand ineloquence.

Vaccaro went on to connect the dots between that 1981-82 New York team’s miserable finish to the nosedive in progress by the current edition. After quoting center Tyson Chandler in the rubble of the 117-94 loss to the Nuggets – “We’ve been in a little bit of a decline. Even in our wins,” Chandler said – the Post columnist wrote:

It’s bad. It’s very bad. And it only gets worse night after night, game after game, drubbing after drubbing. Yes, the most haunting image of another lost night Out West was Chandler splattered on the Pepsi Center floor, clutching his left knee, agony creasing his face late in the second quarter of what was already an unwatchable mess of a game.

Yet Woodson said Chandler’s prognosis was surprisingly positive, diagnosed with a contusion. Woodson actually called Chandler “probable” for tonight’s game in Portland.

Less good: Carmelo Anthony finally succumbed to his balky knee, leaving his hellacious homecoming early in the third quarter, bound now for a plane back to New York and a draining needle.

Least good: these developments came long after the truest believers had retrieved Sugar Ray’s observation from the index of their memory banks. The Nuggets jumped on them early and pounded them relentlessly. If there were a mercy rule in the NBA, for the second straight night, the Knicks would have qualified.

“It’s something we have to address, and quickly,” Chandler said, “because they were beating us up even before we got hurt.”

There might be no fixing the Knicks at this point, what with Anthony headed in the opposite direction from the rest of the team Thursday – East for his knee analysis and drainage while the others face Portland (10:30 p.m. ET, TNT), with two games to go on the West Coast swing. Amar’e Stoudemire might be done till October with his latest knee surgery, Chandler might be gimpy for a bit and Iman Shumpert still isn’t his old self after ACL surgery. Besides, any roster with Jason Kidd, Kurt Thomas, Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin and Rasheed Wallace has to know it will hear more popping than the multiplex concession stand on a Friday night.

With troubled joints like theirs, they ought to be rechristened the Kneecks. The prospect of a strong finishing kick toward the playoffs? Ouch.

Much of this could have been anticipated, except maybe this question: Since when do a sinkin’ ship be havin’ so much trouble with wheels?

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Will The Knicks Miss Stoudemire?

March 9, 2013  ·  11:15PM

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HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – Was the news of Amar’e Stoudemire‘s latest knee surgery a surprise? It depends on your perspective.

On one hand, Stoudemire looked better over the last two months than he did at any point last season. And he totaled 38 points and 17 rebounds in 60 minutes on Wednesday and Thursday. The news was sudden.

On the other hand, this is Amar’e Stoudemire we’re talking about. And it would probably have been a bigger surprise if he had made it through the rest of the season healthy.

Either way, the Knicks’ rotation just got even thinner now that Stoudemire is set to have surgery on his right knee, which will keep him out of action for the next six weeks. Six weeks from Saturday is the first day of the playoffs, but it would be awfully optimistic to think that he could be ready for the first couple of games of the first round.

In addition to Stoudemire, the Knicks will be without Rasheed Wallace for the rest of the season. So, even if you count Carmelo Anthony (who’s also out with a knee injury) as a power forward, the Knicks’ third big in the rotation is Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin or Kurt Thomas. Take your pick, because none of the three has been effective.

Stoudemire had been pretty strong offensively, averaging 14.2 points in 23.6 minutes on 58 percent shooting. But it’s hard to say that he made a big difference for the Knicks overall.

Stoudemire wasn’t a part of the Knicks’ early-season success and they were 16-13 in his 29 games. His defense wasn’t good and he was just a plus-28 in 682 total minutes.

The Knicks were pretty good with Anthony, Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler on the floor together, but take Chandler out and they were pretty terrible … on both ends of the floor.

Knicks efficiency with Anthony and Stoudemire on floor

Chandler on/off floor MIN OffRtg DefRtg NetRtg +/-
Chandler on 222 115.5 107.6 +7.9 +36
Chandler off 210 98.2 113.7 -15.5 -65
Total 432 107.0 110.6 -3.6 -29

OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
DefRtg = Points allowed per 100 possessions
NetRtg = Point differential per 100 possessions

So yeah, the Knicks were, once again, outscored by their opponents when Anthony and Stoudemire shared the floor.

Of course, the Knicks have been generally mediocre for the last two months, whether or not Stoudemire was on the floor. He did help them on the interior offensively as their 3-point shooting regressed.

Still, if New York is going to win a playoff series for the first time in 13 years, it has to get better on the defensive end of the floor. And that might be easier to do without Stoudemire, as painful as it is to see guys like Thomas and James White get minutes.

Ultimately, Anthony’s health is a greater concern. The Knicks won a laugher over the Jazz without both Anthony and Stoudemire on Saturday, but that probably said more about Utah than it did about New York.

 

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Can ‘Stubborn’ Woodson Step Up?

March 6, 2013  ·  2:34PM

 

HANG TIME, Texas — Stubborn is refusing to take the fashion hint that it’s not OK to wear that plaid shirt with those striped pants. Stubborn is not letting the guy in the next lane with his turn signal on get in front of you during rush hour.

The admission by Knicks coach Mike Woodson that he ignored a request by Carmelo Anthony to come out of the game against the Cavaliers would seem to go way beyond stubborn to that other word that begins with “st.”

In an interview with ESPN New York 98.7 FM, Woodson said that Anthony had asked to be removed from the game due to knee discomfort before suffering an injury in the second quarter.

Woodson decided to leave Anthony in the game and his leading man aggravated the right knee injury when he tripped without contact. Anthony went to the locker room with 6:42 remaining in the second quarter and did not return to the game, which the Knicks rallied from 22 points down to win.

Anthony officially has been diagnosed with a sore knee and is listed as questionable for tonight at Detroit and could miss Thursday’s high-profile showdown at Madison Square Garden against the Thunder.

“Melo was hurt,” Woodson said on The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show. “For him to ask me to come out of the game before he actually took that spill made me realize that something wasn’t right. He’s never ever, ever, even hinted about coming out of the game [before Monday]. I play him too much in that regard. Melo’s a trooper — he’s a warrior, he’s a tough kid.”

Asked why he chose to leave Anthony in the game after the request to come out, Woodson said: “I should have [taken him out]. Stubborn coach — I just didn’t.”

It is almost inconceivable that a head coach would blow off such a request from his star player, which has led some to speculate that perhaps Anthony was looking for a quick exit after an 0-for-4 first quarter and ultimately a 1-for-5 shooting performance that left him with a season-low six points.

But considering that Anthony could be on the shelf now for the next two games, that cover-up hardly seems likely.

There is also the matter of Woodson leaving Amar’e Stoudemire on the bench for the final eight minutes on Sunday when Miami was making a comeback from 16 points down to beat the Knicks.

Woodson said after the game that he stuck with his lineup of Anthony, J.R. Smith, Jason, Kidd, Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler because he liked the Chris Bosh-Chandler matchup when the Heat went small. But he has since changed his mind.

“Bad coaching,” Woodson said. “You can blame that on coach. Hey, you live and you learn. I learned from it.”

In the little over a month since Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert have returned from injuries, Woodson has handled his rotation like a one-armed juggler, grasping wildly at anything.

At a time when the Knicks should be gearing up for the playoffs with the confidence that comes from a solid identity, they have neither. That’s on the coach.

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Do The Knicks Measure Up To The Heat?

March 3, 2013  ·  11:04AM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Twice already this season the New York Knicks showed themselves to be a worthy Eastern Conference adversary to the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat.

We’re not talking about some computer simulation or some theoretical conversation between smart guys at an analytics convention. This was flesh and blood work, the Knicks stroking the Heat twice (on Nov. 2 and again on Dec. 6) by 20 points each time.

In any other situation that would give the team with a 40-point cushion in the season’s first two matchups (the second time without their own MVP candidate Carmelo Anthony). But much has changed since that last meeting between these two outfits.

The Heat enter today’s game at Madison Square Garden (1 p.m. ET, ABC) riding the wave of the best stretch of basketball LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have played since joining forces in Miami. Winners of 13 straight games, the Heat we’ve seen recently don’t resemble the team the Knicks took apart at the start of this season.

Instead of waiting until the postseason to lock down, the Heat have tightened things up earlier this season. They are not only dominating the competition, they are serving notice nightly that they don’t believe anyone else in the league is on their level.

Bosh said it best, perhaps, while praising James after his rare off night (18 points on 4-for-14 shooting in a win over the Memphis Grizzlies) during recent tear. “He’s the best player in the world,” Bosh said. “But we have the best supporting cast.”

The Knicks have won three straight games themselves, but they’re not the same team they were in November and December, when they were raining 3-pointers from all directions and defending at the highest level.

Their 17-15 record since mid-December is indicative of a team that is barely better than average. They finished January with a 6-5 record and February with a 7-6 record, hardly the stuff of champions.

This afternoon’s test will shed more light on the Knicks’ recent struggles or provide them a stage to prove that their funk was momentary and that they are still capable of competing with the best of the best.

Surely, Knicks coach Mike Woodson has warned his crew that the Heat will show up looking to make a statement of their own. Not only are they still smarting from those two, 20-point whoopins they took earlier this season, they are intent on making sure the Knicks understand that things have changed.

“Absolutely,” Knicks All-Star center Tyson Chandler told ESPNNewYork.com. They know that we got them here and embarrassed them at their house, so we expect them to come here fired up,” Chandler said. “They’re the champs for a reason they’re not laying down for anybody. It should be a dog fight.”

A big dog picking on a little dog or two big dogs going at it?

We’ll know for sure this afternoon!

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Steph Curry Lights Up The Garden (Video)

February 28, 2013  ·  8:10AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – The New York Knicks got the win.

Let’s just get that part of the business out of the way right now.

Tyson Chandler had a monster night, grabbing a career-high 28 rebounds, and Carmelo Anthony came up with the daggers when the home team needed them late, finishing with a team-high 35 points. J.R. Smith was fabulous as well, scoring 26 as well.

But make no mistake, Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden belonged to one man and one man only. Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry dropped an NBA season-high 54 points on the Knicks, guaranteeing Mike Woodson and his coaching staff didn’t get a good night’s sleep.

Take a quick look at this artist at work:


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Kobe To Cuban: ‘Amnesty THAT’

February 24, 2013  ·  10:18PM

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DALLAS – After torching the Dallas Mavericks for 38 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to get the Los Angeles Lakers a key win, Kobe Bryant shot back at the Mavs owner who days earlier suggested the Lakers should consider using their amnesty clause on their 17-year superstar.

Via Twitter, Kobe wrote:

Cuban, talking on a local sports talk radio show Friday, immediately followed his amnesty comment by saying he was speaking hypothetically and that the Lakers would never do such a thing. It didn’t stop the Lakers organization from getting ruffled, calling Cuban’s comments “inappropriate,” in an official statement and suggesting it would not oppose the league stepping in with a fine.

That’s not likely to happen.

Cuban, whose team fell to 25-30 and suffered another blow to its diminishing playoff chances, was amused enough by Bryant’s Twitter response to tweet back:

On the radio show, Cuban was asked if he’s surprised at the state of the Lakers. Early in the season, Cuban said he hoped the Lakers “suck.” He said the Lakers’ struggles have surprised even him, and then he steered the conversation back to the topic of the CBA.

“If you look at their payroll, even if Dwight [Howard] comes back, you’ve got to ask the question: Should they amnesty Kobe?” Cuban said on the show. “You just don’t know, right? It’s the same reason I wouldn’t get rid of Dirk Nowitzki.

“I’ll take a hit for a season rather than get rid of Dirk. That’s just it. I’ve made that commitment to him over the years, and he’s returned that commitment. Maybe that’s selfish, but that’s just the way it is. So I’m just saying that hypothetically. When I say, ‘amnesty Kobe’, I don’t think they’d do it, but they’ve got some choices to make. Now, they’re in a big market, but they’re still limited. The Knicks, the same thing. Boston, same thing.”

Prior to Sunday’s game, Cuban reiterated that he was simply giving a hypothetical as an example to make a point.

“Any time you try to explain the CBA, it’s hard to do without giving an example,” Cuban said. “Whenever the commissioner or anybody talks about the CBA, they talk about Dallas and Tyson Chandler or Dallas and Dirk or whatever. You’ve got to use examples.

“I was clear saying it was hypothetical and I didn’t expect it to be that way, but it was a good example because they have the highest payroll and the highest-paid player in the league. That’s the end of the story.”

At the end of Sunday’s story, it was Kobe with the last laugh — or last tweet as it were.

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What’s Next For Season’s Stretch Run?

February 19, 2013  ·  11:24AM

Do either of these star-less teams have a chance to win big? (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE)

Do either of these star-less teams have a chance to win big? (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

Calling these “second-half storylines” would be both misleading and bad math, because All-Star Weekend didn’t exactly split the 2012-13 with Solomon-like equanimity. So we’ll go with “home-stretch storylines,” situations and people that NBA fans should keep their eyes on over the final two months of regular-season play. By dealing with trade-deadline drama separately on this site, we can limit this list to the five most compelling things to watch between now and the best-of-sevens:

1. Can the Lakers avoid making the wrong kind of franchise history?

It happened once in the “aught’s,” once in the 1990s, twice in the ’70s and then, continuing backwards, you’ve got to go back to their Minneapolis roots to find an NBA season that wasn’t followed immediately by a postseason for the Lakers. But math is beginning to loom large as a course this team will not pass in 2012-13.

Four games under .500 and 3.5 games out of the final playoff berth in the West wouldn’t ordinarily seem like a failing grade. But there is another team, Portland, wedged between L.A. and Houston that doubles the leap-frog challenge — and no suggestion that any of the clubs above them are headed downward in the conference standings. Then there’s the schedule: More intra-conference games for everyone means that one or more of the Lakers’ chief competition will be winning on many nights. And given their 9-18 road schedule, March looks tortuous with 10 of 15 away from Staples Center.

Stir in all the issues – coach-talent disconnect, miserable defense, fractious locker room – that have been part of the league’s No. 1 storyline to this point and it doesn’t look fixable. The passing of Jerry Buss as Lakers owner seems, sadly, like a clear sign this is not their year.

2. Can the Spurs’ regular-season success translate for a change?

OK, the “for a change” part is a bit snarky, given San Antonio’s four NBA championships since 1999. Yet it’s going on six years since the last one and even in 2007, there was a sense that the club’s window of contention was closing, based on its marvelously constant but aging core.

Coach Gregg Popovich and GM R.C. Buford have retooled in both precise and daring ways, shifting from the team’s old grinding defensive style to something sleeker, more offensive-minded and more democratic. Still, the Spurs’ three most important players are the same as a decade ago: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

All the controversial “resting” that Popovich practices and all the supposed advantages to old legs and big reputations that we see in the playoffs – no back-to-backs, slower pace, star whistles – haven’t paid off for San Antonio since before the Sonics left Seattle and Gilbert Arenas was a big NBA deal (for good reasons, that is). (more…)

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Steady Big Man Lopez Hoping For A Second-Half Revival Of Williams

February 18, 2013  ·  10:14AM

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HOUSTON – Brook Lopez took his rightful spot on the glittering stage Sunday tonight and was introduced as a first-time member of the Eastern Conference All-Stars, and the lone representative of the Brooklyn Nets.

The face (and supposed savior) of the franchise, point guard Deron Williams, had his three-year All-Star run snapped by a substandard half-season.

That Lopez and not Williams was in Houston serves as a timely reminder that while D-Will might be the club’s star name, Lopez has been its most valuable player. He’s been the key to the Nets being 31-22 heading into the season’s stretch run. Brooklyn is 17-8 since coach Avery Johnson was fired days after Williams criticized the former coach’s offense as reason for his shooting struggles.

“I’m just trying to help our team in any way possible,” Lopez said. “I think our team has been pretty successful, but we’ve been a little inconsistent. But when we’re at our best, I think we’re capable of competing with anyone. I think our goal for the second half is just to become more consistent throughout the rest of the season and in each specific game.”

The Nets’ big man — whom the franchise dangled for so long in pursuit of a trade for unhappy Dwight Howard — initially didn’t garner enough votes from the East’s coaches to be one of the squad’s seven reserves. Omitted despite averaging 19.0 ppg — tops among the league’s centers, including Howard — on 52 percent shooting. Despite picking up his rebounding, especially on the offensive glass. Despite, on average, blocking more than two shots a game, ranking sixth-best among forwards and centers.

And any advanced metrics guru will tell you that no player boasting Lopez’s superb player efficiency rating of 24.8 — the league average is 15.0 — gets left off an All-Star team. Yet, it took Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo suffering a season-ending ACL injury for the 7-foot Lopez to get the commissioner’s blessing to join the East’s crowded 6-foot-11-and-over club with starters Kevin Garnett and Chris Bosh, and reserves Joakim Noah and Tyson Chandler.

Vindication for a monster season post-Dwightmare, right?

“No,” said Lopez, who was the last of the East reserves to make an appearance in the second quarter and made the most of his 11 total minutes (three points, five rebounds, three assists). “I wanted to come out and play my best basketball possible. That’s how I approach every game. I ignored all the trade talks, everything in the offseason. I don’t read much in the papers or ESPN.com or anything like that. I was just focused on bettering myself as a player and putting myself in the best situation possible for whatever happens.”

And so what about D-Will? The hits kept coming this weekend with USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo saying that Williams ”was not in the best shape” and “a little overweight” during the Summer Games in London. Williams has struggled with various injuries this season, although he’s missed just three games, while his production across the board has declined to levels of his first two seasons in the league.

“He’s getting a good rest right now,” Lopez said. “I think he’s confident. Our team is doing well right now. He’s the face of the franchise, our leader, he drastically affects what we do. We’re doing well right now and that’s mostly because of him.”

Lopez is clearly a Stanford man — smart and savvy.

He said he’s optimistic that Williams will play better in the final 29 games. That can only be encouraging for a team that has endured early turmoil and high expectations, yet is just 2 1/2 games behind the New York Knicks for the East’s second seed.

The Nets play at home Tuesday against Milwaukee, then at Milwaukee on Wednesday. Three of their next four are at Barclays Center, but it would be easy against West playoff teams Houston and Memphis.

“Like I said, when we’re at our best I think we’re capable of competing with anyone,” Lopez said. “It’s just a matter of being consistent.”

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Advanced Stats: East All-Stars

February 15, 2013  ·  9:56AM

as-logoHOUSTON – NBA All-Star Weekend is upon us and it’s time to take a break from the condensed schedule to celebrate the best basketball players in the world. Before we get to Sunday’s game (8 p.m. ET, TNT), we’ll dig deep into each All-Star’s first-half statistics.

You already know the basics (scoring, rebounding, etc). So here are some noteworthy, below-the-surface numbers regarding each of the 13 Eastern Conference All-Stars, coming from the new NBA.com/stats site. Click on the nuggets below to go into even more detail.

All stats are through Wednesday, Feb. 13. Minimum requirements were set at 100 field-goal attempts for shooting stats, 500 minutes for non-shooting stats and 100 minutes for lineup data, unless otherwise noted.

Dwyane Wade, G, Miami

Carmelo Anthony, F, New York

LeBron James, F, Miami

Kevin Garnett, C, Boston

Chris Bosh, F, Miami

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