One and done in the NBA playoffs? Let's talk Madness

Chauncey Billups has seen the excitement of the NCAAs and the NBA playoffs.

Want to see an NBA player get excited? Hand him a copy of the bracket for the NCAA Tournament and watch him pick out the winners.

It's about alma maters and hometowns, about friendships and rivalries. Some even like to think it's about that extra bit of insight they have playing the game.

Want to see an NBA player start to hyperventilate or turn blue in the face? Ask him if he'd like the NBA playoffs to be just like March Madness a single elimination tournament. One and done. Loser goes home.

"Are you kidding me?" said Denver Nuggets' All-Star Carmelo Anthony. "Well, the playoffs would be shorter, that's for sure.

"You wouldn't have any of this stuff where you get a week to get ready for one team and then you see them every night for a long time. You'd get one day, maybe two and then you play and move on to the next one. But I'm praying to God they don't ever go to that here. That's a tough thing to do."

Anthony did it, though, when he carried Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA title -- the only one in school history -- and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

"I think the NCAA is harder to win," he said. "When you get a chance to play a team seven times, both teams figure each other out and it's just who wants it the best, the hardest, the most. In the NCAA Tournament, every possession counts. It always comes down to one play on one day."

Shane Battier of the Houston Rockets was the national college player of the year when his Duke team ran the table to win the NCAA Tournament in 2000. His eyes light up at the notion of March Madness or a June Jumble in the NBA.

"I would love it," Battier said. "I really would. America loves a do-or-die situation and that's why the NCAA Tournament is so fantastic.

"You have to be at your peak every game. Not that you mail in a playoff game, but if things aren't going your way, you can say there's a tomorrow, unless you're facing an elimination game. You have to be at your peak at all times."

Of course, the thing that makes the NBA playoffs so pure and often so dramatic is that the cream rises to the top. You can't often win four best-of-seven series without being the best team.

March Madness allows for the longshot, the upset, the flukes -- North Carolina State over Houston, Villanova over Georgetown, Danny Manning and the Miracles of Kansas.

Even though he played for one of the big name schools -- Kentucky -- Battier's teammate Chuck Hayes, closed his eyes, threw his head back and said he was tempted go with the March Madness format.

"Oooooooh, man! Man. As much as I think it might be, as much as I want, you can't play one-and-done in the NBA. Think about it. Your champion could be an eight seed. Think about when the Knicks went to the Finals in '99. You tell me all they have to do is win one game against San Antonio and they're the champs?," Hayes said. "Or if you had the Warriors in 2007 when they were No. 8 seed and beat Dallas in the first round. You tell them all they had to do was beat the Jazz once and the Lakers once and they're in the Finals. Who knows? Maybe they stay on the roll. Maybe they make it happen. You can't let that possibility happen, can you?"

Battier has no pity for the Goliath who gets slain by David.

"Boo-hoo," he said. "I hate to break it to you, but life ain't fair always.

"(In the NBA) the best team, usually with the highest payroll, wins. Let's level the playing field a little bit. Let's see who can perform on the ultimate stage -- you lose and your season's done.

"Look, I think they should shorten the playoffs. I liked the best-of-five series in the first round just because it gave the lesser team a shot. There's no shot for the lower seeded teams now -- six, seven and eight."

Memphis coach Lionel Hollins shook his head at the notion.

"Shoot, we went into Boston and won on one night," Hollins said laughing. "Now ask us to beat them three more times and it wouldn't matter where you play.

"I think our system is the best system when you're trying to prove who's the best team. The earlier rounds probably, for me, could be shortened.

Usually there's not a lot of upsets in any system in the first round, no matter what. So you're wasting energy on what is basically a mismatch. But overall, I believe the NCAA one-and-done works for the NCAA and our system works for us."

Denver's Chauncey Billups has survived the grueling gauntlet of the NBA playoffs to win a championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. He felt the heartbreak of traveling so far only to lose Game 7 of the Finals to San Antonio In 2005.

He also played in the NCAAs at Colorado and knows the feeling of walking on that one-game tightrope.

"Very, very exciting," Billups said. "The stakes and the energy and emotion would be kind of high-level every game. Actually, it would be a lot of fun.

"Everything could be different if you played it like March Madness. This is the NBA, where everybody can play and guys can get hot. I know we've lost games to a lot of teams that we probably shouldn't have this year. That could happen in the playoffs if that was the case.

"The thing about a best-of-seven is you're eventually gonna get things figured out. You play a team seven times over a week and a half and you're gonna find out which one is really better.

"We came out of the series with the Lakers in the West Finals last year thinking we could have beaten them. But from top to bottom they were more mentally focused. They did the detail things. The best team takes care of all the details."

Aaron Brooks of the Rockets is in favor of the truer test of an NBA series.

"You don't get those lucky games," said. "And I'll take us in a best-of-seven series against anyone."

Hayes kept shaking his head and saying he couldn't go along with the injustice of a Valparaiso or Cornell getting a chance to ride a hot streak to the title game. But ask him about the rules if the Rockets can close fast this season and sneak in as the eighth seed in the West.

"Oh, man! If you tell me that all we've got to do is beat the Lakers one game -- and we've already won one out there this season -- I wouldn't mind that at all," he said. "If we're in at No. 8, change the rules and bring on the March Madness, baby."

Increased playing time suiting Scola just fine

Luis Scola (left) played a key role in the Rockets' big win over Denver last week.

Up to the trade deadline, the differences between Carl Landry and Luis Scola in Houston were hard to distinguish. Both played roughly the same amount (Landry averaged 27.2 mpg to Scola's 31.2 mpg), scored about the same (Landry at 16.1 ppg, Scola at 15.6) while Landry was the better shotblocker and Scola was the better rebounder.

Amid all of those statistical similarites was the Rockets' quandry of who to play down the stretch. Do they go with the banging, hustling Landry? Or do they play the jump-shooting, fleet-footed Scola instead? Tired of the guessing game (and more importantly, in need of more scoring), the Rockets dealt Landry to the Kings basically for Kevin Martin. As much as Martin has benefitted from the trade, Scola is doing more now than he ever did with Landry.

Since Landry's trade, Scola has seen his scoring average jump to 20.1 ppg and has played 37 or more minutes seven times in the last 12 games. (By comparison, he played in 37 or more minutes seven times in the Rockets' first 53 games.) His play in the last five games (in which Houston is 4-1) has given the team renewed hope in a late-season surge for the playoffs.

Coach Rick Adelman has praised Scola for his energy and rebounding prowess, something that was on full display last week in a big win over the Nuggets. It was Scola who had two quick baskets as Houston cut into the Nuggets' 11-point fourth-quarter lead, Scola who got an easy fast-break bucket to give Houston a 122-121 lead and Scola who came down with a late defensive rebound that gave Aaron Brooks a free-throw attempt that helped set up the game's final thrilling sequence.

While the Rockets have a steep climb to make it back to the playoffs, the post-trade deadline time has been a vital one for Scola and the Rockets' future.

What Scola is doing has been done while the Rockets' frontline has been banged up (David Andersen), is young (Jordan Hill, Hilton Armstrong) and is missing its franchise player (Yao Ming). If Scola's last two weeks of play are any prediction of the future, it looks like the Rockets won't have to worry about their quandry at the power forward spot anymore.

G. Aaron Brooks, Rockets

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
66	36.0	20.1	2.6	5.2	0.9	0.2	.440	.393	.811

Last Week's Rank -
Brooks (like Scola, who we'll get to in a little bit) has been scorching, averaging 24.4 ppg and shooting 50.8 percent over his last 10 games, something he can probably thank the Nuggets and Grizzlies for. In an up-tempo win over the Nuggets, he had 31 points (going 11-for-17) and nailed the game-winning pull-up jumper over Anthony Carter with 2.9 seconds left. Then came possibly his best performance of the last few weeks, when he also scored 31 on the Grizz, but did so with a seven-for-seven showing from the 3-point line that set a team record previously held by Shane Battier (he was once six-for-six). The Grizzlies didn't exactly pressure Brooks on some of those threes -- a confounding strategy considering Brooks' 3-point shooting percentage and that he's the league leader in 3-pointers (169). In fact, Brooks has hit a 3-pointer in 39 straight games, which is a Rockets record and is the longest current streak in the league. "It was a weird experience," Brooks told the Houston Chronicle. "I don't think I ever shot 7-for-7 in a game or in a pickup game. Some of the shots were off-balance. I don't know -- it felt pretty good. Shane (Battier) passed it to me, so I'm sorry. Sorry, Shane."

G. Russell Westbrook, Thunder

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
66	35.1	16.8	5.1	8.0	1.4	0.4	.423	.242	.757

Last Week's Rank - --
Last week, Westbrook feasted on the bad teams (read: Clippers and Kings) and got himself a spot in our list. This week, he gets the nod after giving a few lessons to some rookies and outplaying an All-Star. Against the much-balleyhooed New Orleans rookie tandem of Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton, Westbrook put up 17 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and two steals while holding the aforementioned guard pairing to 19 points on 4-for-17 shooting. Two games later, he burned Jazz guard Deron Williams for 30 points and 11 assists as the Thunder went up 3-0 in the season series (thus winning it) to keep the Thunder right in the mix for the West's No. 4 spot. Aside from his usual forays to the hoop, Westbrook showed off his devloping post-up game, taking the 6-foot-3, 207-pound Williams on the block and either scoring or dishing to open teammates. "It was like a wrestling match out there with those two," teammate Kevin Durant told The Oklahoman. "They went at it. I'm sure Russell is just concerned we came out with the win. This shows how much he's improved, a drastic improvement. Everybody's seen it."

C. Andrew Bogut, Bucks

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
60	32.7	16.2	10.4	2.0	0.6	2.5	.520	---	.652

Last Week's Rank - --
There's no denying the Bucks play better when Bogut does better, and we have the stats to prove it. Milwaukee is 21-6 when he scores 17 or more points, 15-3 when he goes for 20 or more and 12-1 when he gets at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. It's not all about offense for Bogut, who is closing in on Vin Baker for seventh all-time on the team's shot-blocking list. Milwaukee is 13-2 when he swats four or more shots in a game, something that was on display last week in a win over the Jazz. Though Bogut struggled to a 5-for-15 night and had 12 boards, he had four blocks and helped turn Utah's high-energy players like Paul Millsap and Andrei Kirilenko into virtual non-factors. More than anyone on the Bucks, it's apparent that he can be trusted to make plays down the stretch. Bogut told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that GM John Hammond's move to sign him to an extension in the summer of 2008 made a big impact on his confidence. "I appreciate that," Bogut told the newspaper. "I didn't have the best couple years before that contract, but they knew I worked hard and I'm a team-first guy. They put a lot of investment in me and I respected that, but you've still got to go out there and earn it."

F. Stephen Jackson, Bobcats

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
58	40.5	21.5	5.2	3.8	1.9	0.5	.428	.329	.780

Last Week's Rank - --
All good things must come to an end. The Bobcats' six-game win streak did on Tuesday with a disappointing loss to the Pacers. It's hard to fault Jackson for that loss, though, or for his play throughout the win streak. We mentioned his impressive game against the Lakers in last week's edition and he was equally solid in a win Sunday over the Magic, snapping Orlando's eight-game win streak. Jackson went for 28 points on 10-for-20 shooting and didn't just camp out on the perimeter, sealing the game with a turnaround jumper from the post with about a minute to go. Plus, Jackson did all of this while the Bobcats' All-Star forward Gerald Wallace sat out with a sprained left ankle. He even repeated the feat on another big stage as he had 20 points as the Wallace-less Bobcats rallied to beat the Thunder on Wednesday ... which was also the same day that Michael Jordan was officially approved as Charlotte's new owner. "We're playing like we want to be a playoff team," Jackson said. "To let that one get away last night and then bounce back against a good team like Oklahoma City tonight says a lot about this team."

F. Luis Scola, Rockets

G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
66	31.4	15.7	8.9	2.0	0.7	0.3	.520	.250	.777

Last Week's Rank - --
Simply put, Scola's play was nothing short of stunning last week. First, he had a career-best 44 points (on 20-for-25 shooting) and 12 rebounds as Houston squeaked past the Nets. More stunning than that gaudy point total were these two stats: Scola became the first Rockets player to go for that many points since Tracy McGrady scored 47 against the Jazz on Nov. 11, 2007 and his 20 field goals were the most made by a Houston player since Hakeem Olajuwon (24) in 1997. His encore performance, a 23-point, 11-rebound game against Denver, was equally solid. He got some quick scores inside and in transition to spark Houston's fourth-quarter comeback, but also got himself going throughout the game with some nice jumpers and hook shots around the basket. Much like Zach Randolph (who we've mentioned in this space before), Scola does most of his damage with footwork on offense and positioning on defense. They're vital (if underappreciated) skills in the NBA and he's doing his best to pass them on to another generation. The Houston Chronicle reports that Scola (along with defensive whiz Shane Battier) are two of the veterans working the most with rookie Jordan Hill (whom Houston acquired from New York for T-Mac). "We're just trying to help him make the least mistakes possible," Scola told the newspaper. "He has a good attitude. Just by talking to him we can eliminate some of the mistakes you usually make when you're young and come to a new team."

The Next Five

G George Hill, Spurs -- When word came out on March 8 that starting point guard Tony Parker would miss the next six weeks to recover from a broken right hand, how many of you started eulogizing the Spurs? But in typical Spurs fashion, a secondary-role player (Hill) has picked up the slack during an injury. Though Hill has been starting for the Spurs since about mid-Januray, he's had to move from shooting guard to point guard while the Spurs try to climb away from the No. 8 spot in the West. How's he done? San Antonio lost its first game with Hill as the starting point guard (March 8 vs. Cleveland), but has won four straight in fairly comfortable fashion with Hill in charge of the offense. We could quote you some stats here, but instead we'll focus on two key pieces of information. First, Hill hasn't tried to be Parker and score a ton of points, but rather tried to just keep the offense moving. "It's different just to play behind Tony than to then be asked to be the man in there, but I think he's doing a great job. We just have to help relax him and make him feel that he doesn't have to 'replace' Tony," teammate Manu Ginobili told the San Antonio Express-News. Second, he now has a clear sign that as a young player, he's turning heads around the league. Newspapers in other towns are bemoaning the hometown squad's inability to unearth a hidden gem like Hill (such as the Sun-Sentinel did last week after Miami's loss to the Spurs). Though he had an awful game against the Magic on Wednesday (two points, 1-of-5 shooting, four fouls in 30 minutes), we still think he's played well enough to earn himself a spot here.

G -- Jerry Stackhouse, Bucks: A game like Sunday night's was probably what the Bucks had in mind when they picked up Stackhouse off the waiver wire in midseason. As Milwaukee's go-to players (John Salmons, Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut) struggled through a 13-for-36 night against the Pacers and seemed to have their four-game win streak in jeopardy, Stackhouse found the fountain of youth. Stackhouse scored 20 points and nailed four 3-pointers in an otherwise quiet night and kept the Milwaukee offense moving along until Salmons and Bogut hit some big buckets down the stretch in the victory. Aside from his performance against the Pacers, Stackhouse also is giving the Bucks a little off-court edge, too, what with his recent barbs fired toward Spurs forward Richard Jefferson on his SIRIUS Satellite Radio show. His veteran play and touch of swagger gives the Bucks a little something to look forward to come playoff time.

F -- Nicolas Batum, Blazers: A few weeks ago, we spotlighted Batum and talked about how getting consistent play from the small forward spot has always been a problem for the Blazers. Over the last week or two, though, Batum has been as dependable as a well-set clock. Since his 31-point, seven-rebound, seven-assist game against Minnesota in late February, Batum has become a fairly reliable option on offense (11.9 ppg) and his defense has been solid, too. Aside from a 30-point game from Carmelo Anthony on March 7, Batum has kept his defensive matchup under wraps and was particularly solid on Sunday against Hedo Turkoglu. He held him to 14 points and pressured him into four turnovers while finishing with an efficient 22 points (on 7-for-9 shooting), with two rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

F -- Andray Blatche, Wizards: My NBA.com colleague (and reporter extraordinarie) David Aldridge touched on whether or not Blatche has become the sterotypical late-season fool's gold (the equation for which has usually been talented player plus big stats plus out-of-it team). There's a point there, considering Washington has lost nine straight games and has been beaten by 10 or more points in five of those games. Yet Blatche is doing more than just put up scoring stats (25.9 ppg during slide); he's blocking shots or getting steals (1.58 spg), he's rebounding (8.86 rpg) and he's shooting well (50.3 pct.) despite being a focus of defenses. We've liked what we've seen out of him since he took over the starting forward spot from Antawn Jamison. Coach Flip Saunders is impressed with his performance, too. "I don't think anybody's ever questioned Andray's skill level," Saunders told Aldridge. "It's been all the other factors. What you hope happens is, as I told him, the more success you have on the court, the more responsibility you hold off the court. And that kind of goes hand in hand. There's no question he's a building block."

C -- Mehmet Okur, Jazz -- Across the board, Okur's season has been one of his worst since signing with the Jazz as a free agent in 2004. He's posting near-career lows in scoring (13 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg) and might have to go on a late scoring binge just to reach 200 3-pointers (he's had 200 or more in each of the last five seasons). All that being said, Okur has started to perk up in the last month and is averaging 17.6 ppg and 7.6 rpg in March (after about 12 points and seven rebounds a game the other five months this season). He helped stretch the Bucks' defense last week in Utah's loss to Milwaukee, scoring 20 points and nailing some perimeter jumpers late in the game. The Jazz will need to see more continued success from Okur if they want to make any real noise in the playoffs.

Hawks hit the boards, but suffer getting back in time

Josh Smith and the Hawks can get some offensive rebounds. It's getting back on D that's troublesome.

I wrote last week about the Hawks' defense and how it's keeping them from being an elite team.

Through Wednesday, the Hawks rank fourth offensively and 13th defensively, and they've regressed on defense as the season has worn on. One specific concern I noted is their transition defense. Atlanta is the best in the league in taking care of the ball, turning it over just 12.7 times per 100 possessions. But they allow the fifth-most fast-break points: 17.3 per 100 possessions.

If you subtract their opponents' steals per 100 possessions (to eliminate dead-ball turnovers) from their opponents' fast-break points, you get 10.8, the highest differential in the league. The league average is 7.2. The only teams close to the Hawks are the teams that are bad defensively overall. The best defenses in the league are on the other end of the chart.

To get back quicker on defense, the Hawks would probably have to sacrifice some offensive rebounds. They're the seventh-best offensive rebounding team in the league, grabbing 27.8 percent of available offensive boards. But does that make up for the poor transition D?

Turning it around

BEST TRANSITION DEFENSES, 2009-10

Team OFBP-OST Rk. Def. Rat. Rk. Orlando 4.3 1 99.6 1 Boston 4.4 2 99.7 2 Oklahoma City 4.5 3 100.5 5 L.A. Clippers 5.3 4 106.5 18 Charlotte 5.8 5 100.3 4

Not turning it around

WORST TRANSITION DEFENSES, 2009-10

Team OFBP-OST Rk. Def. Rat. Rk. Minnesota 9.9 26 108.8 28 Memphis 10.1 27 107.1 22 New Jersey 10.2 28 108.3 27 Toronto 10.5 29 110.1 30 Atlanta 10.8 30 104.0 13

OFBP-OST = Opponents fast break points - opponents steals, per 100 possessions Def. Rat = Points allowed per 100 possessions Rk. = Defensive league rank

Not even close, because the Hawks are the second-worst team in the league in converting offensive boards into second-chance points. For each offensive rebound, the Hawks score 1.12 second-chance points. The league average is 1.21 and only New Jersey's conversion rate (1.08) is worse than Atlanta's.

It's a strange phenomenon, because Atlanta is a very good offensive team overall. Also, the Hawks rank 12th in the league in field-goal percentage from less than five feet from the basket. So it's not like they're poor at finishing close to the rim.

But when you take their poor conversion rate into account, the Hawks' 13.9 second-chance points per 100 possessions is the same as the league average, despite the fact that they're one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league. So crashing the boards definitely does not make up for the poor transition defense.

The Hawks do push the ball the other way, ranking fourth in the league by scoring 17.7 fast-break points per 100 possessions. So perhaps because they expend energy in running the floor toward their own basket, they don't have the energy to run the floor the other way.

Even if you take that into account, as well as the offensive rebounding, there's no denying that the Hawks' transition defense is poor.

Watching them closely, you will see that the numbers don't lie. They get back slowly, allowing even the opponents' big men to beat them down the floor. They don't collapse into the paint when they do get back, so layups can be had when teams cut to the basket early in a possession. And they don't identify shooters on the perimeter quickly enough, so teams can hurt them from the outside.

Putting it back

HIGHEST OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING CONVERSION RATE, 2009-10

Team 2CP/OReb. Rk. Off. Rat. Rk. OReb Rt. RK Cleveland 1.34 1 109.3 3 0.253 21 Denver 1.30 2 109.6 2 0.263 17 Golden State 1.28 3 104.9 13 0.215 30 Boston 1.27 4 104.9 14 0.226 28 L.A. Lakers 1.27 5 106.3 11 0.274 10

Not putting it back

LOWEST OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING CONVERSION RATE, 2009-10

Team OFBP-OST Rk. Def. Rat. Rk. Minnesota 9.9 26 108.8 28 Memphis 10.1 27 107.1 22 New Jersey 10.2 28 108.3 27 Toronto 10.5 29 110.1 30 Atlanta 10.8 30 104.0 13

2CP/OReb. = Second chance points / Offensive rebounds OReb. Rt. = Percentage of available offensive rebounds obtained

Chris Bosh's jumper was the game-winner Wednesday in Toronto, but the Hawks put themselves in a position to be beat by allowing the Raptors to rack up 31 fast-break points, their second-highest total of the season.

In all, the Hawks' poor transition defense is a recipe for disaster. Smart teams have and will continue to take advantage of it.

A few additional notes

There's a pretty strong correlation (0.66 for you math majors) between the transition defense metric used above and overall defensive efficiency.

There's also a pretty strong correlation (0.57) between offensive rebound conversion rate and overall offensive efficiency, but not (-0.15) between the conversion rate and offensive rebounding percentage. So the best teams at grabbing offensive rebounds aren't the most efficient at converting them into points.

Here are the best and worst teams at converting offensive rebounds...

There's a lower standard deviation (meaning there's less variation) for opponents' conversion rate than there is for teams' own rate. The best team at defending second-chance opportunities is the Lakers, whose opponents score just 1.12 points per offensive rebound. The worst is Portland, whose opponents score 1.35 points per offensive board.

All stats are through Wednesday, March 17 and were compiled with the help of the NBA and StatsCube.

Praise, stats put Kings' Evans in an all-time conversation

Kobe Bryant is among the players with high praise for Kings rookie Tyreke Evans (right).

• This is getting serious. More than just another Rookie of the Year conversation, the numbers and reviews surrounding Tyreke Evans exceed the usual first-year debate. The discussion has moved from Evans vs. Stephen Curry this year to ranking Evans against past ROY winners for the best debut seasons in memory. At 20.3 points, 5.6 assists and 5.3 rebounds, the Kings' power ballhandler is on pace to join three other rookies to reach 20-5-5. The three others being Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. The response from Warriors fans to the premise that the race ended when Sacramento traded Kevin Martin was admirable, no surprise since Golden State backers are wonderfully loud and loyal and Curry is deserving of every positive word. But one newcomer is having a good season and the other is tracking to historical.

• Then there are the reviews of Evans by those around the league. In the previous six days alone, Kobe Bryant said "Tyreke is a grown-ass man" and Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan said "I really feel he's got some magic in him." As in, electric player, special talent? No. Magic. "Johnson," McMillan clarified. "He's a big guard that can pass, he can get to the basket. He's very similar to Magic in the sense in transition going coast to coast." Oh, is that all?

• The Bulls are doing everything possible to secure an invitation to the lottery -- a 31-36 record, nine consecutive losses, an average of 112.3 points allowed in that time -- but playoff hopes remain. They trail No. 6 Charlotte by four games but still have two more meetings and the chance to claim the tiebreaker. They trail No. 7 Miami by 3 1/2 but still have one more game and the chance for that tiebreaker. And they trail No. 8 Toronto by 2 1/2 but still have one more game with the Raptors.

• Resiliency is one thing, and it definitely is their thing, but the Nuggets have taken it to the absurd with Johan Petro. Pressed into duty at an urgent time of the season, with Kenyon Martin sidelined by injury and Dallas and Utah charging for second place in the West, Petro went from so far at the end of the bench he might as well have been sitting in Colorado Springs to a dramatic impact Denver couldn't have imagined. The former Super Sonics first-round pick is riding a six-game stretch with three outings of 10 boards and another of nine, despite never breaking 24 minutes. He went from 32 rebounds his first 17 appearances to 48 the next six.

• Since it will come up soon enough, when ballots are returned at the end of the regular season and Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks is named Coach of the Year: No one has won the award in their first full season as a coach since Avery Johnson of the Mavericks in 2005-06. Mike D'Antoni of the Suns sort of did it the year before -- it was his first full season in the NBA, but after eight in Italy.

• Forget recommended viewing. Dan Klores' work documenting the Knicks-Pacers rivalry of the 1990s as part of ESPN's 30 For 30 series is mandatory viewing. Klores understandably focuses on Reggie Miller and Spike Lee as the main protagonists of the 1995 playoff series -- the show is, after all, called Winning Time: Reggie Miller Vs. the New York Knicks -- but recounts how the mood made the moment. Indiana-New York was the accompanying storyline as the people of Indy delightfully embraced the Hicks-Knicks angle rather than being offended, parking a tractor outside Market Square Arena and labeling it Pat Riley's limousine. It was a great postseason rivalry to be around, it had great fan involvement and got a great re-telling in 2010.

• One of the most telling statistics as the Trail Blazers go from limping along the side of the road to healing into a factor for the playoffs is that beat-up, eternally short-handed Portland is 13-3 on the second night of back-to-backs. They have a seven-game winning streak in such situations and don't seem like a team ready to go away.

• Deron Williams overall: 18.4 points, 10.3 assists, 47.6 percent from the field. Deron Williams in three games against the Thunder: 17 points, 8.7 assists, 45.2 percent. Russell Westbrook overall: 16.8 points, eight assists, 42.3 percent. Russell Westbrook in three games against the Jazz: 18.3 points, eight assists, 50 percent. Just in case it should happen to come up in the playoffs. Also: Oklahoma City is 3-0 vs. Utah, with one meeting to go.

K.G. out with whimper ... and other unfortunate situations

Kevin Garnett hasn't looked like the same player since having knee surgery in 2009.

He's had not one, but two contracts worth over $100 million, lives in a nice Malibu spread, is the brother-in-law of R&B hit-maker Jimmy Jam, has the respect of the great Bill Russell, owns a championship ring and is a lock for the basketball Hall of Fame.

And yet, is it OK to say Kevin Garnett's had a tough break?

Watching him drag his bum leg around for 30 minutes reminds you of why K.G.'s career, great as it's been, will end somewhat shortchanged. It's all a matter of perspective, actually.

Yes, he's obscenely wealthy and already ranks among the best ever at his position. True, he just has a repaired knee; it's not like he's hooked up to life support. Nobody's saying we throw a pity party for a person who, all things considered, has led 10 charmed lives.

Charmed, yes. Perfect? Hardly, at least not professionally. K.G. spent all but two years of his career trapped in Minnesota, never maximizing his amazing skills or seeing the fruits of his hard work during the height of his prime, in terms of championships. His Minnesota teams fluctuated between bad and somewhat interesting, and finally disintegrated infamously when Latrell Sprewell immortally uttered something about feeding his family.

And then, after experiencing instant gratification once he joined the Celtics, K.G. was robbed of a repeat championship when his body snapped during an unexpectedly intense playoff series against a No. 7 seed, causing him to have surgery. He hasn't been the same since the Celtics took those body blows from the Bulls last spring. And now, given his health and the wear and tear, there's the very real possibility K.G. will live out the remaining years of his contract as an expensive ornament that sparkles only occasionally.

He deserves better. This is a player who always stayed in shape, refused to moan his way out of Minny, never took anything for granted, kept working on his game even after the big money and stayed unselfish to a fault. But because of circumstances he never created or asked for, Garnett appears to be going out with a whimper. Players who otherwise wouldn't venture anywhere near the lane with K.G. on guard are now going for the poster, realizing the Celtics big man is nailed to the floor. The Celtics have fallen to the No. 4 seed in the East and if the Bucks get any hotter, look out below. Plus, if times are looking bleaker now for K.G. and the Celtics, wait 'til next season.

His case falls under the category of Unfortunate Situations, of which there are a handful in the NBA right now:

Utah owning the Knicks' No. 1 pick

Well, yeah, it was due to great general managing and foresight. Or maybe due to Isiah Thomas. That's how the Jazz came away with a reserved seat in this summer's Draft lottery. To recap: When Isiah took over the Knicks in 2004, he wanted to make a splash, and he did, trading the future pick and some bad contracts to Phoenix for Stephon Marbury. Whoops. Months later, the Jazz grabbed the pick in a salary-dump swap with the Suns. Double-whoops. With Carlos Boozer perhaps headed elsewhere this summer via free agency, the Jazz can draft some inside muscle. Or, if they strike gold and get No. 1, they can grab Evan Turner or John Wall, two underclassmen expected to enter. For the record, Deron Williams says he'd have "no problem" if Utah goes that route. The only folks with a "problem" are the Knicks and their fans. How much longer must they suffer for mistakes of the past?

Blake Griffin and Greg Oden knee injuries

What are the odds of a pair of young big men, counted on to transform the franchises that drafted them No. 1 overall, suffering season-ending injuries? Hard to tell which one was crueler: Oden going down for a second time or Griffin never getting a regular-season minute. At least Garnett had 14 years before limping off the court.

Flip Saunders getting Gilbert'd

Barely halfway through his first year on the job in D.C., it all came crashing down for Saunders. Gilbert Arenas brings guns to the locker room, and that's the tumbling domino that leads to the Wizards stripping the team bare and starting over. When Flip took the job, he had visions of 50 wins and the playoffs. Now he gets to watch Andray Blatche pad the stats.

Michael Heisley's monetary misery

A rich basketball fan buys the Grizzlies and moves them from Vancouver to Memphis, where there's little to no competition for the entertainment dollar. He hires Jerry West to help launch the operation. He gets a new arena. And after a bad stretch of losing, has an entertaining team and an All-Star on the floor this season. And guess what? He still sees a half-empty building. In Memphis, Elvis gets more customers in death than the Grizzlies can get alive.

Al Jefferson laboring in Minnesota

He was sent to Minny in the K.G. trade and is spending his prime seasons (17 points and nine rebounds a game this year) on a team that could be years from contending for the playoffs. Isn't this how this story began?

Various injuries make Williams game-time decision for Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah guard Deron Williams has a bruised left shoulder and mild left ankle sprain and is a game-time decision for Friday at Phoenix.

The Jazz say Williams had an MRI on his left shoulder on Thursday, which confirmed the bruise. He played through the injury in a win Wednesday over Minnesota, finishing with nine points and 11 assists. He also rolled his ankle late in the first quarter against the Timberwolves, but was able to return in the second.

Forward Andrei Kirilenko is listed as questionable for Friday with a strained left calf, which he aggravated in the third quarter Wednesday.

Guard Wesley Matthews has a mild ligament sprain in his left knee and will also be a game-time decision in Phoenix.

Nuggets' Karl misses sixth game to continue cancer treatment

DENVER (AP) -- Denver Nuggets coach George Karl is skipping his team's game against the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday night as he continues intensive treatment for neck and throat cancer.

This is the sixth game Karl has skipped since announcing a month ago that he'd been diagnosed with cancer. He has three weeks left in his treatment.

Karl was on the bench for the Nuggets' win over Washington on Tuesday night but didn't speak with reporters before or after the game so as to preserve his voice and strength.

The Nuggets took a 4-1 record under acting head coach Adrian Dantley into Thursday night's game.

Jordan calls owning Bobcats 'dream come true'

Michael Jordan says he plans to be more hands-on and visible as the Bobcats' new owner.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- A relaxed Michael Jordan broke into a wide smile as he sat at his desk Thursday night amid his whirlwind week of realizing a longtime goal of becoming an NBA owner.

Soon, though, that steely resolve that defined his superstar playing career peeked through as he fielded a question about his commitment to turn the Charlotte Bobcats from a money-losing, non-playoff team into a winner in both areas.

"It's motivating," the six-time NBA champion said of the naysayers who joke he'll be more worried about tee times than season ticket renewals. "I've never been asked to be out at the forefront of an organization. I never had the financial commitment to do that. Now I have. Now I'm involved. How can I not, when I'm owning 80 percent of the basketball team, not put my face on the organization?"

Jordan's $275 million purchase of the club from Bob Johnson was approved by the rest of the league's owners on Wednesday. The North Carolina native spent his first full day on the job insisting he's ready to "dive in with my sleeves rolled up" to turn around the six-year-old franchise, while downplaying the significance of becoming the first former player to own an NBA team.

"I'm not wearing that on my sleeve," he said. "For me, everybody just wants to see us win. Doesn't matter if it's me. Doesn't matter if it's Bob. Doesn't matter if it's anybody else. I'm happy to be in this position and given this opportunity by Bob.

"But that part of being the first athlete to control his own team is secondary in terms of me trying to provide a winning program here in Charlotte."

A few hundred season ticket holders watched Johnson hand the team to Jordan in an event at Time Warner Cable Arena on Thursday night. Johnson, the first black majority owner of a major professional sports team, lost tens of millions of dollars annually as the city struggled to warm to the expansion team that replaced the New Orleans-bound Hornets.

"I think he'll do absolutely great," Johnson said. "I think you will see a change in him in that he now knows he's on point. He is the face of Charlotte. He knows that this town asks a lot of its owners. And to me, emotionally, psychologically, economically he's prepared for that task.

"When I talked to him I said, 'One of the things you've got to do here is you've got to be willing to touch and be touched.' And I'm sure he'll do that."

Jordan didn't in his role the past four years as a minority investor with the final say on basketball decisions. Jordan was rarely seen at games or practices and was criticized for a couple of early decisions: drafting the disappointing Adam Morrison No. 3 overall in the 2006 draft, and hiring the inexperienced Sam Vincent as coach.

Since then, Jordan has been on a roll with his moves. After firing Vincent after just one season, Jordan hired Hall of Famer Larry Brown. The team has made numerous trades, including acquiring Stephen Jackson in November, that's helped propel the Bobcats (35-32) to the verge of their first playoff berth.

"You guys got to admit on nights where we play well and we can beat the Lakers, we can beat Cleveland on the road, we can beat Orlando on the road, man, the imagination runs wild," Jordan said. "With that said, I'd like to see where this imagination takes us."

But the 47-year-old Jordan has several obstacles. He's assuming about $150 million in debt and the club is expected to lose about $30 million this season. Charlotte ranks 22nd out of 30 teams in attendance, has poor television reach and sluggish sponsorship sales.

There's even an issue with the Bobcats name. While Johnson denies it, the impression by many is he named the club after himself. There has been discussion about changing the nickname, a process that could cost up to $10 million and take a couple of years.

"If I get the understanding from the community, from the public, that we need it and it signifies a change, yeah, I will do that," Jordan said.

And the 69-year-old Brown, in his record ninth NBA head coaching job, is always a threat to leave. While he has two years left on his contract, there have been reports linking him to jobs with the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. Brown's wife, Shelly, lives in Philadelphia with their kids.

"I don't want Larry to leave, but I cannot control and totally understand his relationship in terms of what Shelly feels in terms of a husband-wife scenario and what's best suited for their family," Jordan said. "Now I'll do whatever I can to keep him here and I want him here, but for family reasons, or Shelly's reasons, he feels like he needs to do something else, what else can I do?"

Jordan indicated he doesn't plan to get into luxury tax territory with payroll "until we go deep" in the playoffs. He stressed that he wanted Charlotte to "experience what it's like to win" and is confident he can create another milestone by doing that as an owner.

"I've dealt with criticism my whole career," he said, "and each and every time it's been a motivating factor for me."

Pistons expect Stuckey to play Friday night

Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey is expected to play Friday night, two weeks after collapsing on the bench during a game.

Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars says Stuckey practiced well on Thursday and expects him to play at Indiana against the Pacers.

Stuckey was out of the lineup Tuesday night against Cleveland, missing his sixth straight game since he went off the court on a stretcher and was taken to a hospital during a March 5 game at Cleveland.

Doctors cleared Stuckey for exercise last week after extensive cardiac tests.

Stuckey missed two games last season after experiencing dizziness. The guard has insisted he's not worried about the same problems happening again.

Two Spanish paparazzi photographers follow Lakers' Gasol

REDONDO BEACH, California (AP) -- Police in Redondo Beach, California say two men they stopped for following Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol turned out to be Spanish paparazzi.

Sgt. Phil Keenan says Gasol told officers he saw the men following him before he got into his car on Wednesday.

Keenan says the men tailed Gasol's car and the Spanish athlete was worried that they might be stalkers.

Gasol called a friend in law enforcement who told him to pull into the police station, and he described the men's black sedan to officers.

Keenan says officers pulled over the car near the station and officers discovered that the men worked for a Spanish news agency. They were allowed to leave and Gasol was escorted home.