Category: NBA (Page 583 of 595)

As evidenced by the Kings’ 96-78 win over the Utah Jazz on Sunday, the team is suddenly playing much better defense. The catalyst in this transformation has been Ron Artest, who played in the game despite a nasty injury.

Even hobbled with a hip pointer that was so tender he could hardly walk Saturday, Artest made a difference, not so much in hawking ballhandlers, but just being out there.

Artest looked like a man trying to play ball while weighted down with a backpack loaded with bricks. It was painful to cut, to run, to crash the boards, and he grimaced and winced through most of his nearly 36 minutes on his way to nine points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal.

But if Kings coach Rick Adelman wanted an example of guts and guile, of taking a season personally, he got it, wearing No. 93. “I don’t know how he played and fought through that,” Adelman said. “That’s the one thing I really like about him. He doesn’t care that he had nine points, but he had a real presence on the floor defensively, and he had a presence with the way he played. I was amazed.”

Artest, always good for an interesting quote, compared the Kings’ defensive habits to nicotine.

“It’s like when you smoke cigarettes, you got to take that nicotine patch and break that habit,” Artest explained. “We’ve got a habit of losing right now, (and) it can become a real bad habit. It wasn’t hard for Snoop Dogg to stop smoking marijuana.”

There is very litte evidence that marijuana is addictive, but I get Ron’s point. In the span of a few games, the Kings are already tougher and more stubborn on defense, and this will translate to wins. This is the good that comes from trading for Artest. The downside is that you just don’t know how long the fuse is on his tempermental personality. He is going to explode again – it’s just a matter of when.

Since they were going to lose Peja Stojakovic at the end of the year, it was a good move by Sacramento to bring Artest in. Being mired in last place in the Pacific Division, they had little to lose. With the win on Sunday, they are now only four games behind the Lakers for the 8th spot in the West. If they can get Brad Miller and Bonzi Wells back from injury, and can keep up this newfound defensive intensity, they just might make a run at the playoffs.

Take a losing organization like the Los Angeles Clippers and add an ornery, difficult player like Sam Cassell (not to mention a shot-happy Cuttino Mobley) and it would seem to make for a combustible combination. Instead, Cassell has led the Clippers to a 28-17 record, which is the first time in franchise history that the “other” LA team has been 11 games over .500.

Cassell has been extremely hot of late, averaging 22.2 points and 7.4 assists, while shooting at a scorching .553 clip. Moreover, the guy is clutch. In yesterday’s victory against the Raptors, he scored 14 of his 27 points in the final four and a half minutes of regulation and hit a three pointer with just 5.5 seconds remaining to force overtime.

But the truth is, the Clippers have been on the rise since the arrival of Elton Brand. This season, the power forward has been phenomenal, averaging 25.1 points, 10.3 boards and 2.6 blocks per game, while shooting a stellar .526 from the field.

Even more surprising is how the Clippers have made this run without star shooting guard Corey Maggette, who has been out of the lineup since December 6th with a foot injury. This injury might be a blessing in disguise as it kept a Maggette/Ron Artest swap from happening – which may have worked for a while in the short term, but would have been a doomed scenario in the long run.

Wayne Embry’s first move as the Toronto GM was to unload Jalen Rose’s hefty contract. He traded Rose to the Knicks in exchange for Antonio Davis’ expiring contract. But this trade isn’t about either player. The Raptors are desperate to keep Chris Bosh and need to be under the cap this offseason, so they can find a big body to protect their franchise player.

ESPN columnist Marc Stein says that Nene is the prime suspect.

Denver’s injured power forward/center will be a restricted free agent this summer and a target for any team with salary-cap space, with Chicago and Atlanta already known to be interested. But the Raptors just added themselves to the short list of clubs that might be able to put forth an offer that the Nuggets deem too rich to match or (more likely) forces Denver into a sign-and-trade & especially if Embry can follow through on his efforts to move swingman Eric Williams before the Feb. 23 trading deadline.

Even if Nene can’t be lured north of the border out of Denver, having significant cap space is vital as the Raptors try to start over around Bosh. They need to make a splashy acquisition or two to convince Bosh that he would be wise to sign a long-term extension before next season, and cap room makes the Raps a contender for not only Nene — whom doctors expect to recover fully from his Opening Night knee tear — but perhaps sharpshooting free agent-to-be Peja Stojakovic, a move that would be well-received by Toronto’s expansive Serbian community as well.

Toronto has been so bad for so long and the main reason is that they have been unable to keep their star players (Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady). Nene is very talented and would be a great running mate for Bosh. He’s not getting much playing time behind Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin and his agent has said the Brazilian big man wants a starting gig.