Here they come, spinning out of the turn.
Yes, finally, it’s the stretch run in the NBA, though what that means in Chicago is lining up a few golf lessons and making sure the club membership is paid up. The Bulls go to Philadelphia on April 18, and then it’s almost six months off.
For most of the rest of the NBA, these last 20 games are the final kick for playoff positioning, message sending and statement making.
“The dog days should be done,” Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. “With 20 games to go, you forget about the last 60.”
It’s all about the playoffs now, and games do matter.
“Every game is huge for every team,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after his team finished a four-games-in-five-nights run last week with road wins over Portland and the Lakers, the latter in overtime. “For all of us, every game is huge. Anybody who says different is blowing smoke at you.”
Even in defeat, Lakers coach Phil Jackson could not disagree.
“They’re pretty big,” he said.
Especially in the West, with the Spurs the hottest team among the five that have been separated by barely a game since the All-Star break. San Antonio went to 12-3 since the break after Friday night’s win over the Lakers, just ahead of Utah’s 11-3, while the Trail Blazers may be blazing out, 0-3 since adding Rod Strickland and just 7-6 since the break.
“We’re heading for an early exit from the playoffs,” Scottie Pippen warned.
Why? Start with Rasheed Wallace, who has 11 technical fouls, three ejections and a league suspension in his last 15 games.
“It’s a major problem,” veteran Detlef Schrempf said. “It’s a problem that should have been addressed a long time ago, but it wasn’t and now it’s definitely too late.”
Perhaps it’s too late for all the Blazers, as internal disputes have increased with the continued addition of players. Damon Stoudamire, having perhaps his best season, was clearly miffed by the addition of Strickland.
“What is there to say?” he said. “Go talk to the people who have control.”
At the bottom of the picture, it’s a race among Minnesota, Phoenix and Houston for the final playoff spot in the West, and in the East it’s between Boston and Indiana for the last spot. The big surprise in all this may well be the Utah Jazz, which was not supposed to be battling the Western powerhouse teams but has won 23 of 29 after losing in Sacramento 105-90 Sunday and was playing like a championship contender.
The “old” Jazz is 10-3 in the second of back-to-back games and is on pace to break the franchise record for road wins with the West’s best road record. The addition of Donyell Marshall has been big, and Danny Manning and John Starks have played significant roles.
“Donyell Marshall has been a major force in our road games,” assistant coach Gordon Chiesa said. “Jeff Hornacek would get us points and make plays. Donyell gets them on rebounds and inside play.”
“In the past we’ve always worried about matching up with other teams,” Karl Malone said. “Now teams have to worry about matching up with us. When you bring in guys like Donyell and Danny Manning, and now Bryon Russell is coming off the bench, teams have to play us.”
But the main thing is they still have to play Malone and John Stockton. No one in NBA history will have as many assists as Stockton. And maybe no one will have more points than Malone, now the No. 2 NBA career scorer, who is considering a run at career leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And with the way he’s playing and the support he’s had this season, why not?
“There’s no excuse playing back-to-back games being 38 or 39 years old, having more energy than guys 10 years younger,” Malone said. “You know we’re just the old Utah Jazz. We’re just this boring old team that’s no fun to watch and doesn’t get, or want, any credit. If you give us some, fine. If not, that’s fine too.”
Coach Jerry Sloan said: “We weren’t even supposed to be in the race, were we?”
No, they weren’t. But they never seem to go away.
What’s up, Doc? It’s amusing when people say what they really think of each other. It happened last week after the Magic and Pistons played twice.
Detroit remains bitter over Grant Hill’s departure, particularly because he was still using team facilities, including the team plane, after he’d privately agreed to go to Orlando. So Orlando pulled bang-a-Ben on former Magic player Ben Wallace, a poor free-throw shooter who was in the Hill sign-and-trade deal. Wallace was furious and called Magic coach Doc Rivers a coward for employing such tactics.
Pistons coach George Irvine said: “Maybe we should have fouled Charles Outlaw [a 50 percent free-throw shooter] every possession. Then we could have Ben shoot free throws versus Charles. That would be a heck of a game.
“I remember seeing a coach on TV a couple of weeks ago saying he would never use that strategy because it would be demeaning to his own players [when Orlando played the Lakers] and would be admitting they couldn’t stop a guy. I’m not going to say who that coach was, but I think everybody knows who it was.”
That prompted Rivers to fire back.
“George should spend a little more time coaching his team because he’s not doing a very good job coaching ours,” he said. “I lost respect for George Irvine a while back for the statements he made about Grant, saying Jerry Stackhouse was more of a leader than Grant ever was. Basically, [Irvine] buddied up to Grant to get that job. I lost all respect for him after that and haven’t had anything to do with him since.”
What would Reggie do? When they talk about adding veterans to a team, this is what they mean:
Last Thursday night, while Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal was home watching Portland and San Antonio play on television, he received repeated text messages on his cell phone from Reggie Miller, who was also watching the game. Spurs guard Derek Anderson hit three consecutive jumpers, largely because Tim Duncan ran the floor and drew the attention of the defense, leaving Anderson free.
Miller, who often believes his efforts to run the floor are wasted because he doesn’t get open for a quick shot, wanted to make sure O’Neal noticed. O’Neal sent a confirmation.
“OK, Reggie, when I don’t do this, get on me,” he replied.
As the Shaq turns: Phil Jackson must put them under hypnosis in those Zen sessions of his. Now Shaquille O’Neal is saying he’ll retire if Jackson leaves as coach. O’Neal told the Denver Post: “If Phil goes, I’m right behind him. He’s the best coach in the business. At this point in my career, I couldn’t play for anyone else. I will not start over with some other coaching staff. Who else can I play for?”
Two-man games: O’Neal and Kobe Bryant shot all 26 of the Lakers’ free throws against the Spurs last week. Then there’s the Celtics’ Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce, who combined for more than 60 points against the Bucks. Walker and Pierce have asked the team to bring back interim coach Jim O’Brien, so maybe the Celtics should listen.
Fast breaks: Terry Porter got his first ejection in 16 years against Portland last week as referees tried to quiet the crowd after ejecting Wallace and Bonzi Wells. . . . Bobby Hurley, the Kings’ No. 1 pick in 1993, is considering taking his $1 million horse, Songandaprayer, to the Kentucky Derby in May after it won a big stakes race last month.
