Author: John Paulsen (Page 743 of 937)

Down nine at halftime, the Spurs blitzed the Lakers in the third quarter, outscoring L.A. 31-12 behind some energetic play from Manu Ginobili, and good shooting from Ime Udoka and Brent Barry. Udoka, who played for Portland last season, finished with 18 points on 7-10 shooting (3-4 from long range). He is a good defender and continues to improve his jumpshot. I think he’ll eventually replace Bruce Bowen as the Spurs’ perimeter lockdown defender.

Barry had a great sequence to close the third quarter. First, he hit a three-pointer with 0:06 to play. Then he stole the Lakers’ inbound pass and flipped the ball to Tony Parker, who fed the ball back to him on the wing for another bomb with 0:01 to play.

Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 29 points, while Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 28 points and 17 rebounds.

T-Mac doesn’t think he can play in the All-Star Game.

Good, because he doesn’t deserve to go in the first place.

With his left knee giving him more problems in his second game back than Saturday in his first, Rockets guard Tracy McGrady said again that he thought he would like to sit out the All-Star Game next month.

“Right now, I think I might have to pass on that,” McGrady said. “I’ll attend, but I don’t think I can play.”

I excluded T-Mac from my list of All-Star picks for good reason. The Rockets (22-19) aren’t playing well enough to justify two All-Star spots, especially considering that T-Mac has missed 14 of the team’s 41 games this season.

The good news is that if he skips the game, a more deserving player like Baron Davis may get his spot.

Kobe’s team is off to a great start, but the loss of Andrew Bynum and a grueling upcoming schedule will be a tough test for the Lakers. If they’re going to weather the storm, the young team needs Kwame Brown to ignore the boo birds and step up his game in Bynum’s absence. I cover this and more in my latest column.

CBS Sports’ Tony Mejia is reporting that there are two factions in the Suns’ camp. One is willing to trade away Amare Stoudemire and the other is dead set against it.

While Stoudemire has improved as a defender, whispers that his increasing frustration with not being the focal point of the team’s fast-paced offense have become a distraction — and could be a reason some within the organization would be willing to move him if the right offer comes along.

Shawn Marion asked for a trade in the offseason, but the Suns have been more than satisfied with his professional approach.

Something is obviously amiss, and chemistry seems to be the major issue. So where does this leave Stoudemire? Even those in favor of shipping him out know he’s among the most feared big men in the game, so getting back equal value is a must, regardless of how badly the Suns need a facelift. If GM Steve Kerr is swayed to make a move, it will definitely take someone along the lines of Memphis’ Pau Gasol or Toronto’s Chris Bosh to get a deal accomplished.

The trade deadline (Feb. 21) is approaching and these are the kinds of stories that keep NBA writers busy this time of year. Trading Stoudemire right now seems like a bad, bad idea to me. The time to move him (if at all) was last summer, when Kevin Garnett was available. The Timberwolves would almost certainly have settled for a straight up swap, but it never got done. KG is the kind of player that could have put the Suns over the top, but the Suns must have been reluctant to pull the trigger, and I don’t blame them. Stoudemire is younger and has a bright future ahead of him.

If I’m the Suns GM (and, by the way, I’d take the job if they offered it), I’m standing pat right now. The team has the best record in the West, so whatever “chemistry issues” Mejia is talking about certainly haven’t hurt the Suns too much. The biggest offseason worry – Shawn Marion – has been a pleasant surprise, so I don’t think it’s time to panic and make a bad move. You might add a piece here or there, maybe a backup point guard or an interior defender, but shipping away a young star wouldn’t be wise. Sure, if Stoudemire is truly disgruntled and is becoming a headache, and Toronto is willing to swap Chris Bosh for him, it would give me pause. But I don’t think I’d do a deal for Gasol – I don’t think he fits the Suns’ up-tempo attack.

The Suns were a couple of bench-clearing suspensions away from upending the Spurs in last year’s playoffs. I’d give this group another shot before tweaking its core.