Time is short today, and with the All-Star Break upon us, let's look at...
Who's Hot?
Portland, San Antonio and Minnesota have all won 8 of their last 10. And the Lakers have won four straight, after a big win in Indiana last night. The Lake Show is now back at .500, just five days late of Bob Horry's prediction. Small potatos, really. The Lakers are 2.5 games behind Houston, and four back of Phoenix and Utah. They'll catch one of those teams, guaranteed. And once the playoffs start, the seedings won't matter. Nobody will want to play them. The only catch is, they can't suffer any injuries to Kobe or Shaq. It's going to be a nail-biter, but I think they'll get in.
Some Game Pipeline readers took issue with my early season characterization that the great majority of the talent in the NBA was in the West. At the time, I believe I said that arguably the four best teams were in the West. Some argued that the overall balance of power was close to equal this year. Well, check the records. The East is 105-143 vs. the West. The current eighth seed in the West, Houston, would be the fourth seed in the East. The top four teams in the West have a 55-16 record vs. the East. The top four teams in the East have a 37-26 record vs. the West. It's not even particularly close. I'll say it again...The West Is The Best.
Who's Not?
Boston, Philly, and Utah are all playing .500 ball in their last 10 games. Seems like Philly is always "not hot", or is that just me?
Downward Bound?
Who are the current participants in the LeBron Derby? Cleveland and Denver are strong contenders, as we knew they would be. Memphis is bad, but unless they swing a deal for a pick, they won't have a crack at the lottery this year, unless they get the #1 pick. Here are the bottom 13, by record:
Cleveland
Denver
Memphis
Toronto
Chicago
Clippers
Miami
Atlanta
Golden State
New York
Seattle
Orlando
Washington
That doesn't correspond directly to the lottery participants, due to trades, playoff seeds, etc. But that gives you an idea what teams are looking extra carefully at LeBron and Darko Milicic.
