Seven questions for the next seven days:
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been listening to the chuckles and the doubts that have followed them ever since that 0-2 stumble out of the starting blocks. They've read the criticism that Shaquille O'Neal has not exactly fit like a hand into a custom-made glove in their lineup. They've heard all of the questions about whether this is the best way to get the most out of LeBron James.
And the Cavs' response has been to crumble it all up into a ball like torn Christmas wrapping paper and toss it into the nearest trash can. The Cavs allow the fewest points per game in the paint in the NBA, rank second in defensive field goal percentage, fourth in points allowed and fifth in 3-point field goals allowed.
In other words, the Cavs are playing some serious defense. Good enough, in fact, to have beaten both the L.A. Lakers and Orlando Magic on the road. A home-and-home, back-to-back against Atlanta this week (Tuesday in Atlanta, Wednesday in Cleveland) is the next test. Let the doubts keep coming . The Cavs are.
Coach Phil Jackson can insinuate on ESPN that it was all about bad calls and the fans at Staples Center can toss their foam fingers onto the court in displeasure, but does anybody really think the Lakers are going to repeat as champions if they don't start getting more production from their bench? Maybe they'd actually have to get a bench first, occasional highlight reel dunks from Shannon Brown notwithstanding.
As long as Kobe Bryant is out there hoisting up 32 shots in a game, the Lakers are going to be ripe picking for the likes of Cleveland, Boston, Orlando, Denver and Dallas in the playoffs.
It seems the Portland Trail Blazers are doing the best-ever group impersonation of the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. No matter how many injuries they suffer, the Blazers aren't backing down or throwing in the towel on the season.
Add up the casualties: Greg Oden, Nicolas Batum, Travis Outlaw, Rudy Fernandez and Joel Przybilla are scratched. They won in San Antonio last week with Brandon Roy on the sidelines and beat Denver at home on Christmas night when a wounded Roy pumped in 41 points. Geez, even coach Nate McMillan is hobbling around on crutches after rupturing his Achilles' tendon.
It all adds up to a four-game winning streak and the fifth-best record (20-12) in the West, just a game behind the Nuggets for the Northwest Division lead and probably the grittiest achievement in the league in the first half of the season.
Seems Tracy McGrady wasn't satisfied with his 7.3 minutes and 3.2 points per game in the half-dozen cameo appearances since his return to the Houston Rockets lineup on Dec. 15. So he decided to spread holiday cheer by saying that he believed it was time for his minutes to increase and, oh yes, maybe the soon-to-be free agent wouldn't mind returning to play with his old team in Orlando.
The Rockets reacted to T-Mac's opinions by pulling him from the lineup altogether in their back-to-back weekend set at New Jersey and Cleveland and say they'll be re-evaluating the process of McGrady's rehab schedule. In a related story, less then eight weeks remain until the Feb. 18 trading deadline.
Coach Vinny Del Negro is tired of talking about his situation and now refers all questions about his job to the front office. But there's always heat when a team loses 13 of its last 18 games, especially when one of them is a 35-point collapse at home against Sacramento.
So it's Brad Miller and John Salmons who pay the price by losing their spots in the starting lineup to Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich.
"I guess it was said ... that I'm pretty much the reason we're losing," Salmons said. "I just have to stay with it and hopefully still help the team win. I haven't been playing up to my potential. It's something I have to deal with. We're losing, I haven't been playing well. I just got taken out of the lineup, so put two and two together."
There's an aroma of desperation in every corner of the United Center.
In Memphis these days, the answer is Zach Randolph. There was plenty of debate and controversy when the Memphis Grizzlies added the sometimes-troublesome Randolph to their mix. But as the mostly young Grizzlies have picked themselves up off the floor after a 1-8 start, the nine-year veteran has been a constant force leading the way. Even when the Grizzlies fell in Dallas to end a three-game winning streak, it was the fourth straight outing in which Randolph scored at least 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
At first glance, it would seem to be the closest thing to a night off in the NBA -- a date with the New Jersey Nets. But the flip side of that coin is living with the pressure of being a rare victim of the lowly (2-28) Nets.
This week it's the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers who risk their reputations with trips into the Izod Center. As the Nets march (crawl?) toward history, nobody wants those Twitter accounts to fill up with 140 characters of trash-talking from friends around the league.
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