DALLAS — When Mark Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks in January 2000, he didn’t have a timetable for turning around a franchise that went 239-549 (a pitiful .303 winning percentage) during the ’90s.

“You can’t plan that, you just don’t know,” Cuban said as he worked out on a Stairmaster before Wednesday night’s Nets-Mavericks game.

Cuban, however, knows when things could turn around for the Nets and their brethren across the Hudson River, the Knicks: in a New York minute. Actually, he gives it a little more than a month.

“I said this to Kiki and Rod both,” Cuban said about Nets coach and GM Kiki Vandeweghe and team president Rod Thorn, “there’s about a month, five weeks left in the regular season. In five weeks, them and the Knicks become the darlings of the NBA. They’re all anybody’s going to be talking about in regard to free agency.

“They’re gonna go from being zeroes to heroes. The guys in the locker room who will stick around over there, they’ll be talking about them as they’re key components in the next generation Nets.

“Five weeks. They’re going to be everybody’s darlings.”

ShareObviously, it’s not that way now as the Nets have been everyone’s doormats as they entered their Wednesday night game against Cuban’s Mavs with a 7-56 record. The Mavs, meanwhile, had ripped off an NBA-high 12 straight games and look every bit a championship contender.

As for any similarities between the two franchises in respect to when Cuban took over the Mavs and where the Nets are now, Cuban dismisses such a notion.

“Not at all, not even close,” Cuban noted. “When I got here, management was like, ‘Let’s blow up the season to get a draft pick.’

“I was like, ‘We have to start to win.’ We didn’t gear toward free agency at all.”

Cuban can rattle of the numbers easily as he describes that first season as Mavs owner. Dallas was 9-23 when Cuban bought the team, but finished the 1999-2000 season with a 31-19 run.

“We had to change the culture. It wasn’t like, ‘This should be easy.’ You had to get people to recognize that if they didn’t play to win, they would be gone.”
- Mark Cuban, on turning
the Mavericks around “And that included a six-game losing streak,” Cuban noted.

Like a good half-court set, change for the Mavs came from the inside-out.

“We had to change the culture,” Cuban said. “It wasn’t like, ‘This should be easy.’ You had to get people to recognize that if they didn’t play to win, they would be gone.

“I just had to change the culture.”

And Cuban changed the Mavs culture with three things he had plenty of: time, attention and most famously, money. Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who has a deal to buy the Nets, has the money. The question is how hands on will Prokhorov be, and does anyone need to be as hands on as Cuban felt he needed to be.

“Of course, money helps, especially where we were coming from,” Cuban said. “I probably had to overspend to compensate for the perception that Mavs were a cheapskate organization that didn’t care about winning.

“I had to overcompensate. I don’t know if the Nets have to do that or not.”

As for the criticism that he went overboard with a luxurious locker room in the American Airlines Center, Cuban said it’s not a spend-money-to-make-money thing.

“You have to treat people with respect and put them in a position to succeed,” he said. “Sometimes you have to step out of the ordinary. That people may criticize, that you just have to ignore.

“You gotta be there every day. They have to see you to know that someone is holding them accountable.

Cuban’s hands-on — and some would say annoying — philosophy has paid off handsomely. The Mavs are 583-272 under Cuban’s ownership and have been to one Finals.

“I was at practices. If they were practicing at Reunion Arena, I’d be running stairs. If I can work, they can work.

“There was really only one direction we could go, and that was up.”

Same goes for the Nets, who will break ground on the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday. In the meantime, the Nets will head for Newark to play in the two-year old Prudential Center before heading to New York’s most populous borough.

Cuban insists, it’s not where you play, but who plays for you and how well they play.

“It depends on the culture of the team,” Cuban said. “Reunion was a dump, it didn’t matter. If the players feel that someone cares about winning and puts that emphasis in and follows through, that’s contagious. It won’t put you over the top, but it could set you in the right direction.”

But moving from the dreadful Izod Center in the Meadowlands to the Rock and then to Barclays can only help the Nets in wooing free agents, for whom they have plenty of salary cap space. Couple that with a nice nucleus and things can turn around sooner rather than later.

“I think that’s what people are missing,” Cuban said. “While it’s painful now, they’ll have a great draft pick and they have a good nucleus with Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian and Courtney Lee.

“If they’re able to develop a winning culture, it could be a quick turnaround.”

The Nets and their fans can only hope Cuban was as correct about this as he was with the Mavs.

MINNEAPOLIS — Denver coach George Karl stayed at home to receive treatment for cancer and did not make the trip to Minnesota for the Nuggets’ game against the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

It has long been planned that Karl would remain in Denver for this trip to the Twin Cities. Assistant Adrian Dantley filled in as head coach for the fourth time this season.

Karl, who has neck and throat cancer, had surgery on Monday to have a feeding tube inserted into his stomach.

Karl was diagnosed last month with cancer and is undergoing a rigorous six-week treatment program of radiation and chemotherapy.

He hopes to be back on the sideline Friday night when the Nuggets travel to New Orleans.

DALLAS — Centers Erick Dampier and Brendan Haywood returned to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night against the New Jersey Nets.

Dampier missed the previous 12 games with a dislocated right middle finger. Haywood sat out two games with lower back tightness.

Dallas played long stretches of zone defense and used small forward Shawn Marion at center while its two big men were sidelined.

The Mavericks ruled guard Jose Juan Barea out with an injured left ankle sustained in Monday night’s 113-93 victory at Minnesota. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle doesn’t expect Barea’s injury to be long-term.

Dallas remains without No. 2 scorer Jason Terry, who missed his fourth consecutive game after undergoing surgery to repair facial injuries.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The New Orleans Hornets’ depleted starting lineup is taking another hit.

Forward Peja Stojakovic joined All-Star point guard Chris Paul on the injured list Wednesday, and he’s expected to miss at least two weeks with a lower abdominal strain.

“That’s a minimum timeframe, and it will all be dictated by the healing process,” Jeff Bower, the Hornets’ coach and general manager, said before his team’s game at Oklahoma City.

Even before Stojakovic was hurt Monday in a victory against the Golden State Warriors, the Hornets had been scuffling. Entering Wednesday night, they had lost six of their last eight games to fall five games behind eighth-place Portland for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Paul has missed 19 games following surgery on his left knee last month and was also sidelined for eight games earlier this season with an ankle injury.

“Injuries are a part of this, and they’ve had an impact on us, but our players have shown resiliency in the past and have understood that we have to just figure out a different way whenever someone goes down,” Bower said. “Our job is to put them in position to be successful, and we’ll try to use the strengths of the players that we have available to us to help our team.”

Julian Wright made his eighth start of the season Wednesday night in place of Stojakovic, who had played in all but two of the Hornets’ first 64 games this season and started 55 times.

“That phrase ‘if we stay healthy,’ is not one that we use or will rely on,” Bower said. “We intend to continue to compete with whatever the injury situation is.”

Stojakovic averages 12.6 points and leads the team with 132 made 3-pointers this season. Wright had made only two 3-pointers in 52 games.

“That changes the defensive floor. The fact that he’s spaced in the weakside corner or on the weakside wing changes how the lane is going to look,” Bower said. “That’s going to be a big thing for us to have to deal with and overcome from an offensive flow and movement standpoint. That will have a big impact that we’ll have to handle.”

Bower said he hoped Wright, a first-round pick in 2007, would use the extra playing time to further his development. With Paul out, rookie Darren Collison has emerged as a budding star for New Orleans, averaging 18.9 points and 8.8 assists in his 26 starts.

“I think he’s done a good job using his physical talents, looking to be a bigger factor in transition and offensive board work,” Bower said of Wright. “I think his overall offensive game is coming along in a limited role.

“I think this opportunity is going to be a stretch where he’ll get extended minutes and be able to settle into a comfort zone on the floor perhaps, and we could see an increased level of production from that standpoint.”

Paul casually shot around on the Ford Center floor prior to the game but Bower said he’s progressing toward a return.

“When he’s able to get back on the court and begin running, the transition will really take on a faster pace, and he’s getting very close,” Bower said. “That’s the next step for him.”

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors say center Andris Biedrins has undergone surgery to repair a small tear of an abdominal muscle.

Biedrins had the surgery Wednesday in Philadelphia. The team says it will be four to six weeks until Biedrins can resume basketball-related activities.

With only five weeks remaining in the season, that means Biedrins is not expected to return until next season.

Biedrins is averaging 5.0 points and 7.8 rebounds in 33 games this season. If he does not return this season, his 16 percent free throw shooting (4-for-25) would be the worst in NBA history for a player with at least 20 attempts.

The previous low is held by Boston’s Garfield Smith. Smith made 6 of 31 attempts for 19.4 percent in 1971-72.

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia 76ers coach Eddie Jordan says he’s not worried about a newspaper report stating he could be fired soon.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing unidentified sources, reported on Tuesday that Comcast-Spectator was ready to fire Jordan, likely after his first season with the team is complete.

The 76ers are 23-40 heading into Wednesday night’s game against Charlotte, 8 ½ games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Jordan signed a four-year contract when he was hired.

He said of the speculation, “that if you know how to handle it, then it won’t bother you.”

Jordan says he hasn’t approached his bosses regarding the report.

MIAMI — Rafer Alston’s absence from the Miami Heat took another turn Wednesday, with the team denying that the embattled point guard was told shortly before his sudden departure he would no longer get playing time.

Alston was quoted by ESPN.com saying that he chose to leave because of a personal issue involving a family member, plus said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told him that he “wouldn’t be playing any more.”

On Wednesday, Spoelstra — who, like the rest of the Heat organization, said he still has not heard from Alston since a text-message exchange last week — denied Alston was told that his minutes were gone, saying only that the 11th-year guard was informed before Miami’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers last Thursday that Carlos Arroyo was taking over the starting job.

“Actually, he probably still would have been in the rotation,” Spoelstra said. “Probably not with the minutes he would have liked, and I also told him that the way the year’s been going, that it’s still up for grabs. I’ve had those conversations with everybody in the locker room. It’s about production right now.”

Spoelstra said he was aware of the comments attributed to Alston.

“My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,” Spoelstra said. “But we still have not talked to him, so our stance is the same. … I think we’re all curious just to find out more.”

Alston played the first 6 minutes of Miami’s win over Golden State last Tuesday, then appeared to be upset when removed from that game. Alston didn’t play two nights later against the Lakers, and has not been with the team since.

Alston played in 25 games for the Heat since signing with the club on Jan. 7, averaging 6.6 points and 2.9 assists.

Spoelstra said the team has continued reaching out to Alston, to no avail. He wouldn’t say if Alston would be welcomed back, should he even try to return to the Heat.

“As soon as we find out more, I’ll be able to tell you more,” Alston said.

Alston told ESPN.com, “the way I handled it was wrong” and that “I still want to go back and tell them face to face” about the situation.

The Heat have been having internal discussions for several days about adding a player to the roster, because Arroyo and Mario Chalmers are the only two full-time point guards currently in the locker room — where Alston’s nameplate has stayed on his dressing stall. They are carrying 14, one under the league minimum, so they would not have to formally part ways with Alston before making a move.

“We have one spot available,” Spoelstra said. “Like a lot of teams that have a spot, you’re weighing whether bringing somebody in can actually help, whether it might be a development player, somebody you can secure for the summer, and you’re also weighing whether that person can disrupt the continunity based on their expectations.”

Gone are the days when Detroit would cruise annually to the Eastern Conference finals. Now, the Pistons are on a road to nowhere.

You can’t say this team is rebuilding. It used gobs of salary-cap room last summer on ill-fated signees Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva when the Pistons could have waited until the big free-agency summer of 2010 to try to lure a real big-time player (Chris Bosh?).

The city of Detroit has been falling apart during this tough economy. OK, so the Pistons play in Auburn Hills. They’ve just brought more despair to the suburbs.

“It’s sad,” Denver point guard Chauncey Billups said of the Pistons, 22-41 and losers of six of their past seven.

Share When the history books are written, the trade of Billups, who helped lead the Pistons to six straight conference finals from 2003-08, might go down as having wrecked the franchise. To borrow from local resident Bob Seger, who regularly attended games during the team’s glory years, the Pistons are running against the wind after some night(mare) moves.

The most ill-fated move came Nov. 3, 2008. Billups, believed by Pistons brass to have lost a step at 32, was shipped to the Nuggets in a deal that brought Allen Iverson and 2009 salary-cap room. The Iverson experiment was a disaster, and Detroit wasted its cap room last summer faster than a kid blowing all his allowance at the candy store.

“I don’t think they (Pistons brass) ever thought that I would have done what I’ve done nor they do what they’ve done,” Billups said of having earned two All-Star berths with the Nuggets and leading the team to the last spring’s Western Conference finals. “I don’t think they ever thought that.”

Billups was the heart and soul when the Pistons won the 2004 NBA title and lost in Game 7 of the 2005 Finals to San Antonio. Two players have continued to remain from those teams, forward Tayshaun Prince and guard Richard Hamilton, and center Ben Wallace returned this season after bolting as a free agent in 2006.

“I thought obviously we made a change too early as far as the guys that we moved.”
- Tayshaun Prince “I thought obviously we made a change too early as far as the guys that we moved,” said Prince, touching upon the dealing of Billups.

The money cleared by the Billups trade resulted in Gordon, a guard last with Chicago, getting a five-year, $58 million deal and Villanueva, a forward last with Milwaukee, a five-year, $35 million payday. But Gordon’s scoring average has dropped from 20.7 last season to 13.7 and Villanueva’s has fallen from 16.2 to 12.3.

Not only that, neither is a typical Piston. It’s no wonder Billups and Darvin Ham, a forward on the 2004 and 2005 Finals teams who is now retired, both see a Detroit team that has lost its gritty edge.

“When I was there, we embodied the city of Detroit,” Billups said. “Tough and rugged, like blue collar. Our team embodied that so the city got behind us. And that’s how we played. We hung our hat on stopping teams and offense just kind of happened. We had great players. You just don’t see that same commitment. You don’t see that desire with the team they have right now.”

While some phrase it differently, the bottom line is Gordon and Villanueva are soft. When asked if the two aren’t typical gritty Detroit players, Nuggets coach George Karl said, “I would see that. I can say that.” Ham, now an assistant for the D-League’s Albuquerque Thunder, agreed the shoot-first mentality of the two doesn’t fit in the traditional Pistons’ style, saying, “I totally think so.”

“Everybody talked about our team like we were a bunch of castoffs because we never had a big high-profile player, but the reason we came out and kicked butt every night is you got guys with a chip on their shoulder who knew what being a Piston meant,” Ham said of the top teams of the past decade as opposed to the current Detroit outfit. “And I think they’ve kind of lost that.”

Ham said the trade of Billups has been the biggest reason for Detroit losing its edge. After last season, a key contributor from two Finals teams, forward Rasheed Wallace, and one from the 2005 Finals, forward Antonio McDyess, both departed as free agents.

While we’re at it, the Pistons are for sale and attendance is in a free fall after they had led the league in six of the previous seven years and were second in the one year they didn’t. Detroit’s average has dropped from 21,877 last season to an announced average of 18,190.

“It’s funny,” Ham said. “Now, the auto industry is not what it once was in Detroit. And, you look at the Pistons, and it’s like the same thing. You compared the auto industry with a basketball team with a hard-working blue-collar identity, but now it’s like they lost their identity.”

Pistons general manager Joe Dumars, the man behind trading Billups, did not return a phone message or an e-mail seeking comment on the team’s decline. First-year coach John Kuester, an assistant on the 2004 title team, saw some validity in what Ham said.

“I understand where he’s coming from,” Kuester said. “We’re starting to learn that (it’s needed to be more of blue-collar team). It’s taken time and we haven’t had the luxury (due to injuries) of all the guys that we’re accustomed to teaching the young players. … We have some people that can put the ball in the hole but we’ve got to have that mentality Ham is talking about, the blue-collar work ethic. And, hey listen, we’ve got to get stops.”

Kuester referred to the many injuries the Pistons have had, and they indeed have been banged up this season. Prince has missed 32 games, Hamilton 27 and Gordon 19.

“It’s been tough being in the Eastern Conference finals every year and having to go through this. But it can only make you stronger. In this league, you find out a lot about guys when things happen like this.”
- Rip Hamilton But it’s tough to make the argument Detroit would be even a .500 team with a fully healthy cast. In games this season in which Hamilton, Prince and Gordon all have played, the Pistons are 8-18.

That’s right. They’re 8-18, even worse than their overall winning percentage.

“It’s tough,” Hamilton said of all of the losing. “It’s hard. We’ve been banged up. It’s been a different season. I missed almost 30 games, Tayshaun the same. But, just the same, it’s been tough being in the Eastern Conference finals every year and having to go through this. But it can only make you stronger. In this league, you find out a lot about guys when things happen like this.”

The Pistons, in recent years, also have been finding about coaches. Flip Saunders was dismissed after going 176-70 with Detroit from 2005-08.

Since then, the Pistons haven’t been willing to spend top dollar for a proven coach, and it’s showed. Rookie Michael Curry was fired after going 39-43 last season, one torpedoed by Iverson complaining about not starting and eventually being shut down for good late in the regular season for what was termed a back injury.

Kuester, another rookie coach, has done even worse. There’s no certainty he’ll be back next season, which could result in the Pistons having four coaches in four years.

“They won the championship with a game that was very possession-oriented, defensive-minded type of game,” Karl, an ESPN analyst during Detroit’s 2004 title season before coming to Denver in January 2005, said of the evolution of the PIstons. “Their game has changed a little bit and their personnel has changed. And I think, in the same sense, they might have lost the defensive mindedness.

“But, offensively I think they’ve lost some things, too. I don’t think they’re as up to date offensively as the pin-down game (setting a pick near the basket to free a player for an outside jumper) and run-play game. I think they’re kind of East Coast grind it out. They’ve stayed with that kind of trend and when you do that you’ve got to be really good to win with that trend.”

So the Pistons are out of date. In some ways, that means they are your father’s Oldsmobile.

It’s understandable the guys remaining from the glory days are showing age. At least Ben Wallace, 35, is doing as well as one could expect from a guy who said that last summer he was “not close but very close” to retiring. Although the center, averaging 9.1 rebounds, said he hasn’t made up his mind yet, there’s certainly a good chance he really will be done after this season.

While Hamilton, 32, is averaging 18.9 points, he’s seen his field-goal percentage plummet to 40.8. Prince just turned 30 and has been playing well of late, but his 12.8 scoring average is his lowest in six years.

As for the reinforcements, Gordon and Villanueva, have not come close to delivering and having center Kwame Brown doesn’t help anybody’s blue-collar image. The Pistons do have a fine young point guard in Rodney Stuckey, averaging 17.1 points and 5.0, assists, but he’s still no Billups and his 19.6 three-point percentage won’t lead to anyone calling him “Mr. Big Shot II.”

Dumars did make a nice second-round draft selection last summer in energetic forward Jonas Jerebko. But it remains to be seen if their first-round pick, flagpole-thin forward Austin Daye, will pan out.

As for another move Dumars made last summer, call it another reason why he might want to consider retiring in Denver if he wants to always have his tab picked up for the early-bird special. The Pistons handed intriguing young guard Arron Afflalo to the Nuggets for next to nothing to clear cap room to give forward Chris Wilcox $3 million this season.

Afflalo has become Denver’s starting shooting guard, and is third in the NBA in three-point shooting. Wilcox has been a nonentity with the Pistons, averaging an embarrassing 4.5 points.

To recap the appreciation in Denver for Dumars, he selected Darko Milicic with the No. 2 pick in 2003, allowing Denver to take Carmelo Anthony at No. 3. And then there was the Billups trade.

In case you’re wondering, no, the Nuggets don’t want Hamilton, who could be the next piece moved from Detroit’s glory years. But, with three years and $34 million left on his contract after this season, that will be hard.

“My mindset is nowhere else but here,” Hamilton said when asked if he would welcome a trade this summer. “But it’s not something I think about.”

Prince will be easier to move due to a contract that expires after he makes $11.5 million next season. So does he want to be dealt?

“I’ve always been happy here,” Prince said. “When you start losing, the speculation is going to come regardless, especially I think when you’ve been somewhere for a long time. … But I like the team we have now. We’ve been hurt and those things are unfortunate.”

What Billups says is unfortunate is watching his buddies, Hamilton and Prince, losing so much after so many great seasons.

“I do feel bad for them. You never know what can happen,” Billups said of whether he’d like to see the two shipped to contenders. “You hope they have the chance to win another championship. I don’t know if they could do it in Detroit or not. But, right now, it’s just not looking good.”

It didn’t look for the Nuggets last season until they were able to somehow pry Billups away from Detroit, a move Karl said might have saved his job and one that got Denver’s Mark Warkentien the trophy for Executive of the Year. Before the deal, the Nuggets had not won a single playoff series in 15 years while the Pistons, with Billups leading the way, had won 15 series in the previous six years.

The trade ended up sending two franchises in opposite directions.

“It was a great move for me because it really rejuvenated me,” Billups said. “It gave me a chip on my shoulder that I probably lost in Detroit because we were just so good. I kind of got a little stagnant. It gave me a reason to be able to show me that I’m still me. I can still play at a very high level.”

Meanwhile, the Pistons have sunk to a very low level. They’re on pace for their worst record since going 20-62 in 1993-94.

But that team was rebuilding after getting old following winning titles in 1989 and 1990. There was an attempt to rebuild this team last summer but it was done with particle board.

Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com or on Twitter @christomasson

NEW YORK — Ryan Hollins of the Minnesota Timberwolves has been suspended without pay for two games for punching DeShawn Stevenson and striking Dirk Nowitzki, both of the Dallas Mavericks, on Monday, March 8. The suspension was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident between Hollins and Stevenson occurred with 9:15 remaining in the second period, and the incident between Hollins and Nowitzki occurred with 3:38 remaining in the fourth period of Dallas’ 125-112 victory over Minnesota at Target Center.

Hollins’ suspension will begin tonight when the Timberwolves host the Denver Nuggets.

3/10/2010 4:00 PM ET By Brett Pollakoff

• • Brett Pollakoff
  • Brett Pollakoff is an NBA blogger for FanHouse

The Mavericks might be the hottest team in the NBA, but the Bucks might be the scariest — especially for the elite teams in the Eastern Conference. Since dealing for scorer John Salmons at the deadline, Milwaukee has won 10 of its 11 games, with the last two coming against the Cavaliers and the Celtics.

With their recent surge, the Bucks find themselves in the top 10 this week. As for everyone else? Read on to see where your favorites landed in this edition of our rankings.

• 1. Mavericks (44-21) | Prev.: 1
  The winning streak has reached 12, and if we’re being honest, it’ll likely continue for at least another week. Dallas plays its next four games at home, and even with Jason Terry temporarily out of the lineup, the next serious challenge wouldn’t appear to come until March 20th when the Celtics come to town. — BP
  
• 2. Magic (45-20) | Prev.: 3
  Journeyman Matt Barnes is getting plenty of attention for his defensive work, especially after his dancing with Kobe Bryant on Sunday. Magic fans shouldn’t get too excited, though. There is a reason this is his seventh team in seven years. Lamar Odom compared him to a professional wrestler. — Tim Povtak
  
• 3. Cavaliers (50-15) | Prev.: 4
  Rest for King James? No! What on Earth is going on with these superduperstars? First, Kobe tries to let his body heal (what a softie) and now LeBron is taking up to a week off to catch his breath? Of course, thanks to a Lakers losing streak, no one is breathing down Cleveland’s neck for anything, so it turns out brilliantly. Even if the fans have to sit through the Mo Williams Show for a few nights. — Tom Ziller
• 4. Lakers (47-18) | Prev.: 2
  Despite the Lakers snapping their three-game losing streak at the buzzer on Tuesday, the team wasn’t exactly giddy afterward. The team knows that playing its competition down to the wire every night isn’t going to get them back to a title, but unless the focus defensively comes from the opening tip — no matter who the opponent is — don’t expect much to change between now and the postseason. –BP
• 5. Jazz (41-22) | Prev.: 10
  Since a disappointing road loss to the Clippers, and after three tough periods against the Suns, the Jazz have righted the ship in a big, big way. Beginning with the fourth quarter in Phoenix, Utah has outscored its competition by a total of 65 points over the last nine quarters. I believe that’s called “rolling.” — BP
  
• 6. Suns (40-25) | Prev.: 5
  Dropped a game that they really should have won against the Jazz, but bounced back with a physical win over the Pacers. Phoenix had more than its fair share of schedule woes to start the season, but the team is currently in the midst of a five-day break, which really couldn’t come at a better time: Steve Nash needs the rest, and everyone can always use a few extra days to prepare to take on the Lakers, who come to town on Friday. – BP
  
• 7. Nuggets (42-21) | Prev.: 6
  Winners of three straight, but with Kenyon martin going down with an injury, the team is said to be in search of a big man. Denver worked out Brian Cook, who, being listed at 6′9″, technically fits the bill. But he’s always been a finesse guy who prefers to shoot three-pointers more than he cares to mix it up in the paint, so he would seem to be an odd fit for a Denver team that needs a stronger inside presence. — BP
  
• 8. Thunder (38-24) | Prev.: 7
  OKC has won five of its last six, and barring a catastrophic collapse, a playoff berth seems almost assured. Now it’s time to think seeding, because while they’re just a half-game behind the Suns for the fifth spot, the team is also just two games from slipping to eighth. And a first-round date with the defending champs certainly isn’t what a team making its first trip to the postseason wants to see. — BP
  
• 9. Bucks (34-29) | Prev.: 13
  Another streak has begun, with the Bucks beating two of the East’s top four teams (one without LeBron, albeit) in the Bradley Center. Andrew Bogut has been a flat-out beast of late, averaging 3.7 blocks per game over the past 10, and blocking a monstrous six percent of all opponent shots on the season, good for fourth in the league. If not for Mr. Dwight Howard, this dude’d be a legit All-Defense first-teamer. He’ll have to be content with the second team, assuming voters list Tim Duncan as a forward. — TZ
  

• 10. Celtics (40-22) | Prev.: 9
  Boston had won four in a row before running into the train that is the Milwaukee Bucks. The loss itself isn’t a huge deal, but how the Bucks beat them should be cause for concern. Milwaukee took it to Boston in the paint: Andrew Bogut went for 25 and 17, while Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett combined for just 20 and 15. – BP
  
• 11. Spurs (36-25) | Prev.: 11
  Tony Parker’s hand won’t require surgery, which means he’ll be back in about four weeks. As long as Manu Ginobili can play near the level he did in the team’s close loss to Cleveland (38 points on 23 shots!), the Spurs are likely to keep themselves in play for a spot in the postseason. (Speaking of which, if San Antonio finishes in the seventh or eighth spot? Wow. That’s obviously not going to be any walk in the park for the Lakers or Dallas in the first round.) — BP
  
• 12. Heat (32-32) | Prev.: 15
  Heat are fighting for their playoffs lives, and they just lost the tie breaker with Charlotte. If they finish eighth and get creamed by the Cavs in the first round, it’s only going to fuel the notion that Dwyane Wade and LeBron could end up together in New York. –TP
• 13. Hawks (40-23) | Prev.: 8
  As much as some people want to get excited about the Hawks, they still remain a cut below the premier teams in the league. No better example than their third consecutive loss to the woeful Knicks, who are tanking the season. They may have peaked as a team that can’t get past the second round of the playoffs. — TP
  
• 14. Blazers (38-28) | Prev.: 12
  The Blazers sent everybody and their mother to the Sloan conference over the weekend, supposedly showing off the fact that the team is at the forefront of using advanced statistical analysis in making personnel decisions. But instead of math-based conferences, with all the injuries they’ve sustained this year (and last, if you’re counting Greg Oden) perhaps the team should be attending medical ones instead. — BP
  
• 15. Grizzlies (33-31) | Prev.: 19
  Memphis is just 7-10 in its last 17 games, taking a bit of the luster off of the streak that the team put together in December and January. Call it the curse of the Lakers: since beating L.A. to kick off February, the Grizz immediately dropped six of seven, and hasn’t been right ever since. – BP
  
• 16. Rockets (32-31) | Prev.: 16
  Trevor Ariza returned to the lineup on Tuesday, after missing seven games with a hip injury. He did so by coming off the bench, and contributed 13 points, three rebounds, two assists, and a couple of steals. What’s interesting is the fact that Ariza was brought in to be the main man offensively, but since the team traded for Kevin Martin, the bench role for Ariza is something that’s likely to stick for the remainder of the season. — BP
  
• 17. Bobcats (31-31) | Prev.: 20
  You have to love Larry Brown. His team is battling to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, and he’s sending out feelers to the Clippers that he wouldn’t mind coming there next season as coach and general manager to tutor Blake Griffin. — TP
  
• 18. Raptors (32-30) | Prev.: 17
  Toronto played the Lakers as close as possible on Tuesday, but the team has been otherwise unremarkable. Sure, Chris Bosh missed some time, and that obviously makes a huge difference in the quality of this team. But going through a 1-6 stretch with the only win barely coming at home against the Knicks isn’t exactly a good sign that there’s enough talent here to compete if these guys manage to hold on to a spot in the playoffs. — BP
  
• 19. Hornets (32-32) | Prev.: 18
  Exciting rookies in scorer Marcus Thornton and assist-machine Darren Collison, but not much beyond that to keep you watching. NOLA is capable of surprising if not taken seriously, and showed it by knocking off the Magic not long ago. But with the only win in the team’s last five barely coming against the defense-less Warriors, that was obviously more of a fluke than anything else. – BP
  
• 20. Bulls (31-32) | Prev.: 14
  Life without Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas isn’t easy goin’, friends. The Chicago defense hasn’t had a passable performance since Feb. 27 against Indiana, and hasn’t had a good performance since Feb. 20 against the Sixers. Recent games have come against zippy offenses, yes. But you can’t excuse 26 points on 12 shots from C.J. Miles (much of it due to a collapsing defense that couldn’t stop Deron Williams). The Bulls are unlucky No. 9 in the East right now, drawing elite Orlando Thursday and with a big (huge!) game in Miami on Friday. — TZ
  
• 21. Knicks (22-41) | Prev.: 28
  For several days, Knicks players had to wear hats and dark glasses when out in public. New York had suffered a second defeat this season to woeful New Jersey, this one a humiliating 20-point setback. But at least the Knicks made up for it with an impressive 99-98 home win Monday over Atlanta, with Danilo Gallinari scoring 27 points. The Knicks just hope LeBron James, injured that night in Cleveland’s game against San Antonio, might have been able get a few quick peeks at that game. — Chris Tomasson
  

• 22. Pistons (22-41) | Prev.: 24
  Detroit is going nowhere fast, and Joe Dumars will really have to earn his salary this summer (assuming he’s kept around, which seems like a pretty safe assumption, although you never really know). How bad have the injuries been? Out-of-retirement Ben Wallace and rookie Jonas Jerebko are No. 2 and 3 on the minutes played list for this team. Sure, those two have been the pleasant surprises through the morass. But that’s just damning. – TZ
  
• 23. Pacers (21-43) | Prev.: 26
  The best news for Pacers fans all year (until, of course, Indiana gets lucky with the ping pong balls in may): Kevin Pelton, APBRmetrician extraordinaire, is advising the team on quant analysis matters. Huzzah! Sadly, I’m afraid he might not be an NBA level shooter … – TZ
  
• 24. Sixers (23-40) | Prev.: 23
  The Eddie Jordan watch is in full gear. There are reports the coach, in just his first year with the 76ers, soon could be ousted. But even if he makes it to end of the season, his prospects for next season are gloomy. Philadelphia has dropped six of its past seven, but at least promising young rookie guard Jrue Holiday is showing something, with three 20-point games in his last five outings. No wonder the 76ers didn’t mind getting Allen Iverson out of the way to clear time for Holiday. – CT
  
• 25. Kings (21-43) | Prev.: 25
  After a 4-23 stretch, the Kings suddenly have become competitive again, winning three of their past seven. And all of those four losses have been to likely playoff-bound teams, with none by more than seven points. The acquisition of gritty forward Carl Landry last month from Houston has helped. He’s averaged 17.6 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 53.4 percent in his 10 Kings games. — CT
  
• 26. Wizards (21-40) | Prev.: 22
  Wizards have gone five games without reaching 90 points, which makes it difficult to actually win a game. Young Andray Blatche got in the face of Boston’s Kevin Garnett, trying to stand up to the future Hall of Famer. It looked good on television,but all it did was motivate Garnett, and it taught Blatche a lesson about knowing his opponent. — TP
  
• 27. Clippers (25-39) | Prev.: 21
  The Mike Dunleavy era is finally over in Clipper-land, but where does that leave the franchise now? They say they’ll make a play for LeBron James this summer, effectively offering him unprecedented complete control by being able to name his own coach and general manager. But the problem here has always been ownership, and until that changes, it’s hard to imagine any of the league’s elite willingly committing to this horrid franchise. — BP
  
• 28. Warriors (17-46) | Prev.: 27
  Don Nelson needs just seven wins to become the all-time leader in career coaching victories, and with 17 games remaining, he might just get there this season. But with the way he’s mismanaged things in the Bay Area and helped run this franchise into the ground, it’s unlikely that any die hard fans of the team will share in his celebration. — BP
  
• 29. Timberwolves (14-50) | Prev.: 29
  Big man Al Jefferson was on a mission Monday when he had 36 points and 13 rebounds in his first game back after missing two due an arrest on suspicion of DUI. Not that it resulted in a win. The Timberwolves have dropped six straight and 12 of 13 after a stunning four-game winning streak. Looks like some of their young guys are wearing down. This is a bit longer than a college season. Rookie point guard Jonny Flynn had eight turnovers against Dallas. — CT
  
• 30. Nets (7-56) | Prev.: 30
  When will the party be? When can the Nets celebrate that 10th win and perhaps allow the thousand or so fans on hand (if it’s a home game) rush the floor? With two wins in their past six games to climb to 7-56, the Nets finally look to be in good shape to avoid Philadelphia’s 1972-73 futility record of 9-73. Coming up huge lately has been guard Courtney Lee, who has averaged 26.0 points in the last four games he has played, although they haven’t been all in a row since he missed three with a sprained ankle. — CT
  

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