Kidd’s New Team Isn’t Faring Much Better Than His Old One

If you think life is bad for the Nets right now, you might take solace in the fact that it’s not much better these days for Jason Kidd.The Mavericks acquired Kidd from New Jersey at midseason in the hopes he’d propel them toward a championship run. Instead, Dallas finds itself in the unthinkable position of pondering the lottery.Dallas’s loss to San Antonio on Sunday was its sixth in 11 games in March, and the Mavs have still yet to beat a winning team since acquiring Kidd last month.The news went from bad to worse when Dirk Nowitzki went down in a heap late in that game, suffering a high ankle sprain and a mildly sprained knee. The Mavs are hoping he can be back in two weeks or less, but high ankle sprains rarely heal that quickly — it might be more like a month. In that case, he’ll miss the final 12 regular season games and the first round of the playoffs. Actually, hold that second thought. The playoffs were once thought to be a certainty for the Mavs, but the loss to San Antonio put them just a game and a half ahead of Denver for the West’s final playoff spot.Should they lose at Denver tomorrow night — a likely outcome given Denver’s dominance at home and Dallas’s weakened state without Nowitzki — their advantage would be almost gone. Such a loss would also give the Nuggets the tie-breaker edge because they have the better record in the season series, further putting the Mavs behind the eight ball.But Nets fans should hold off on the rejoicing. The 2008 first-round pick Dallas sent New Jersey as part of the Kidd deal is lottery protected, so if Dallas finishes out of the money, the Nets won’t get the choice until 2009; moreover, the 2010 pick the Mavs owe would shift to 2011.Nonetheless, no team took as big a drop in the rankings this week as Kidd’s Mavs. Here’s what’s going on with the other 29 teams:1. BOSTON CELTICS (55–15) (LW: 2): They laid the smack down on the West with an impressive sweep of a three-game Texas swing, including ending Houston’s 22-game winning streak in emphatic fashion. With 12 games left, they’re the unquestioned playoff favorite.2. L.A. LAKERS (49–22) (3): The Lakers have been a little up and down since losing Pau Gasol to an ankle sprain, but unlike Nowitzki he’ll be back in plenty of time for the Lakers’ postseason run. The only question is whether Andrew Bynum will join him.3. DETROIT PISTONS (50–20) (4): Here’s another team that had a bit of an erratic week, losing to the Cavs and Wizards and only surviving Phoenix with the help of the zebras. One suspects they’re a bit bored waiting for April.4. HOUSTON ROCKETS (48–23) (1): Twenty-two games later, the historic win streak is finally over. Now, on to the next big question: Without Yao Ming, will this team finally advance beyond the first round of the playoffs?5. UTAH JAZZ (46–25) (6): Utah ended their 19-game home winning streak, and the defeat may end up costing them home-court advantage in the first round if, as expected, they win the Northwest Division.6. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS (47–21) (8): We have a bench! We have a bench! Bonzi Wells and rookie Julian Wright blew up off the pine in the Hornets’ rout of Houston, helping put New Orleans atop the West in the loss column.7. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (47–23) (10): They righted ship with three straight wins after dropping six of seven, but they can’t relax now: Sunday’s tilt against Houston could end up deciding the Southwest Division crown.8. PHOENIX SUNS (47–23) (11): The Shaq experiment is looking much better, thanks, as a result of seven straight wins and a hotly contested OT loss in Detroit. You can see for yourself Saturday night when they visit the Swamp.9. ORLANDO MAGIC (46–26) (7): The East’s quiet sleeper is 14–4 since the All-Star break. Now they get to sleep for real, thanks to a weird schedule break that gives them just three games in a span of 13 days.10. DENVER NUGGETS (43–28) (9): The Nuggets are getting huge numbers off the bench from Jersey boy J.R. Smith, who scored 27 points in 21 minutes to help beat Memphis. They’ll need him to step up in key games against Dallas and Golden State this weekend.11. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (43–27) (12): Like Denver, the Warriors have almost caught up to Dallas, but their late schedule is a bear — starting Friday, they visit Denver, Dallas, San Antonio, and New Orleans.12. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (36–35) (13): A stunning road win in Boston is the latest example of Sixers’ newfound competence, and now they’re on the good side of .500. Philly has a great shot at stealing the no. 5 seed in East … and perhaps, a round in the playoffs, too.13. DALLAS MAVERICKS (44–26) (5): One thing to say in the Mavs’ favor — most of these losses have been by a fingernail in the final seconds, so bad luck has been as much a factor as bad play. But that probably won’t soothe Mark Cuban if he’s in Secaucus this May.14 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (40–31) (14): They’re the defending champs they have LeBron James. But seemingly every time they have a strong outing (an 89–73 win over Detroit), a dud quickly follows (Saturday’s embarrassment in Milwaukee).15. WASHINGTON WIZARDS (36–33) (17): The drama over Gilbert Arenas’s return is overshadowing a push for no. 5 seed in East. Agent Zero wants to play, but the Wizards want his surgically repaired left knee in better condition first.16. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (37–34) (15): If you’re trying to make a case as a rising force for next season, losing by 13 to Seattle probably isn’t the way to go about it. The Blazers don’t have a win outside Power Rankings’ bottom eight since February 29.17. TORONTO RAPTORS (35–35) (16): Chris Bosh called out his teammates, and with good reason. The Raps’ only wins since February 27 are against Miami (twice) and Seattle. Against the rankings’ top 28 teams, they’ve dropped 11 straight.18. ATLANTA HAWKS (30–39) (18): They’re looking like the least lame contender for the East’s no. 8 seed after knocking off Washington and Orlando. With five straight games against losing teams, it’s time for the Hawks to extend their lead on New Jersey and Indiana.19. INDIANA PACERS (29–41) (21): Donnie Walsh’s former employers need at least a split of this week’s pair against New Jersey to stay alive in the race for the East’s eighth spot, but an easy closing schedule puts them in far better position than the Nets.20. SACRAMENTO KINGS (31–39) (19): The Kings’ offense has been a bit more productive of late thanks to an increased effort to get their best scorer, Kevin Martin, the ball. You’d think they would have figured this out a little sooner.21. CHICAGO BULLS (27–42) (20): The Bulls play the Hawks twice this week and need to win both times to have any shot at the playoffs. But with the locker room in disarray — Andres Nocioni was the latest player to blow up at coach Jim Boylan — the quest seems improbable.22. NEW JERSEY NETS (30–41) (22): A win over Atlanta last week was crucial to the Nets’ flagging playoff hopes, but sweeping this weeks’ home-and-home series with the Pacers is just as important.23. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (18–51) (27): Does anyone else realize the T’wolves are 6–3 in their past nine games? Can this even be possible?24. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS (25–44) (23): Attention has turned from whether the Bobcats can make a playoff run (answer: no) to whether embattled coach Sam Vincent can survive the season with his job (answer: not if it was up to me).25. NEW YORK KNICKS (19–51) (26): They lost both ends of a back-to-back against Grizzlies and T’wolves. Really. But Donnie Walsh is coming, so we think, and we’ll move the Knicks up a few spots based on that piece of good news alone.26. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (18–52) (28): One happy by-product of the much-questioned Pau Gasol trade is that it’s allowed Hakim Warrick to blossom. The former Syracuse star is averaging 15.9 points and 7.7 boards since the All-Star break.27. MILWAUKEE BUCKS (24–45) (24): Sunday’s 79–73 loss to Miami may be the worst loss by any team this season. The Bucks had their entire opening day top six available; Miami had just one (Ricky Davis) and several D-leaguers.28. L.A. CLIPPERS (21–48) (25): Elton Brand is working out again and discussing returning for the Clippers’ final six games. Anyone else think this might be a dog-and-pony show for his potential free-agent suitors this summer?29. MIAMI HEAT (13–57) ( 3 0 ) : The aforementioned win over the Bucks was a coming-out party for Chris Quinn, who had a career-high 24 points and four steals. Backup center Joel Anthony has also quietly played well of late.30. SEATTLE SUPERSONICS (17-54) (29): The Sonics keep playing “Let’s Make a Deal” with the city, offering to leave the team’s logo and records behind a la the Cleveland Browns in order to make a clean getaway for Oklahoma City. So far the city isn’t buying.jhollinger@nysun.com

Kidd’s New Team Isn’t Faring Much Better Than His Old One

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