Page 2893 of 2957

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.