Reeling Contenders Give Local Teams Opportunity
Welcome to what may be the least inspiring playoff chase in the history of sports. With a month to go in the season and two Eastern Conference playoff spots up for grabs, the question du jour is this: Does anybody really want to win this thing?
The way the East's alleged contenders are falling all over themselves to avoid winning, it appears the answer is no. Take the Knicks, for example, who entered yesterday's games in possession of the no. 8 seed in the East. They earned this not by embarking on a winning streak, but simply by not playing any games. The Knicks only had two contests in a 10-day stretch and split them; usually, you would think that would leave them right where they started.
Not this year. Just look at what New York's alleged competition "achieved" in the same time frame. The Nets dropped four straight games by lopsided scores, allowing the team to fall behind New York for the coveted no. 8 spot. Orlando lost three straight, including an embarrassing loss to the Emeka Okafor-less Bobcats on Monday night, to also move behind the Bockers in the standings. And then there's Indiana, who lost four times while the Knicks were cooling their heels.
The big picture for each of these teams is looking worse by the day. For the Knicks, this includes yesterday's news that forward David Lee will miss three to four more weeks with a stress reaction in his ankle. Lee's extended absence compounds an injury situation that already includes the loss of Jamal Crawford for the season and renewed back trouble for forward Quentin Richardson; only Steve Francis's miracle "recovery" from knee tendonitis has helped the team avert total disaster. Additionally, you might want to bet the "over" on how long it takes Lee to come back three to four weeks is a floor, not a ceiling.
However, the Knicks' problems pale besides those of some of their competitors (if we can deem them worthy of that title). For instance, Orlando has won twice in its past 10 games and is a ghastly 722 since early January. Meanwhile, its management keeps whistling Dixie, opting not to make any moves at the trade deadline despite obvious signs of distress. Just this week, Orlando announced that embattled coach Brian Hill would return next season even though it seems the players are tuning him out.
Until recently, the Magic could blame injuries for their slump center Tony Battie, forwards Hedo Turkoglu and Trevor Ariza, and dynamic swingman Grant Hill all missed time. But of late, it's hard to know what the Magic's excuse is. Everyone except Battie is back healthy, and yet the team looks worse than ever.
Of course, Indiana would kill for the Magic's problems. After seeming safely entrenched as a top 6 seed in the East, the Pacers went into a freefall after the All-Star break and haven't stopped. Nine straight losses five of them by 20 or more points have put the Pacers right back into the mix in the East, clinging to a one-game lead over New Jersey heading into yesterday's games.
And it may get worse for the Pacers before it gets better. Big man Jermaine O'Neal is out at least a few games with a troublesome knee, while the midseason trade of Stephen Jackson and the subsequent injury to Marquis Daniels has left the club without a true shooting guard on the roster.
Plus, the effort has also seemed notably lacking of late, calling into question coach Rick Carlisle's job security. And the schedule only gets worse from here. Indy's brutal, upcoming slate includes a fivegame stretch that goes Houston-San Antonio-Miami-Chicago-Cleveland. Have fun with that.
So pitiful have the East's playoff hopefuls been that they're falling back to the pack. Philadelphia, left for dead after trading Allen Iverson and waiving Chris Webber, rode a seven-game win streak into yesterday and was only four games behind the Knicks. Philadelphia's opponent last night, Atlanta, trailed by four and a half. With the alleged contenders slipping closer to both teams every night, each has reason for optimism despite pitiful records.
All of which brings us back to the Nets. New Jersey was among many Eastern teams that looked completely hopeless last week; in fact, you could argue it looked the most hopeless of all. The Nets suffered five straight double-digit losses, including an inexcusable defeat at home to the lowly Celtics, to drop them to 2835 on the season.
Normally, being seven games under .500 with 19 left to play would pretty much kill a team's playoff hopes, but normal left the building a long time ago. Instead, the incompetence of the East has given New Jersey a reprieve, and now it's the team's turn to take advantage.
Two recent changes have put things back in New Jersey's favor: First, the schedule evened up a bit, and second, Richard Jefferson came back. The schedule couldn't get more brutal than the dreaded Texas triangle, home to three of New Jersey's defeats last week, but seven of the Nets' next nine opponents have losing records. Additionally, the Nets will have plenty of time to jell with Jefferson before their most important games. New Jersey plays the Knicks twice, and Indiana once, in the season's final six days.
Speaking of which, the bigger news by far is that Jefferson is on the court again. You could see the difference in Monday's win at Memphis. Sure, it was only Memphis, but the easy baskets Jefferson provides in transition provided a welcome addition to a Nets offense that has stagnated in his absence. And with Jefferson adding more scoring, Jason Kidd can comfortably return to his role as a facilitator instead of trying to be the second scorer behind Vince Carter as he did Monday in an eight-point, 12-assist effort.
With RJ back, the Nets are whole again at least, as whole as they'll be until Nenad Krstic comes back next year. They have an established nine-man rotation, some scoring off the bench for once in the form of the healthy Eddie House and the rejuvenated Bostjan Nachbar, and of course two reliable cornerstones in Kidd and Carter.
Thus, on paper, the Nets should be able to blow past the East's paltry pretenders and finish no worse than seventh in the East. Unfortunately, we can't say they'll actually do this with any confidence. After all, they've fallen short of expectations all season; why would they stop now?
What we can say, though, is the time for excuses is over. The Nets could feel sorry for themselves while Jefferson and Krstic both were out, but at this point the team's actually healthier than most of its competition. Meanwhile, the other teams in the East are bending over backwards to keep New Jersey in the playoff chase. If they fail to take advantage, they have nobody to blame but themselves.
