Is it possible that the Boston Celtics will not make the playoffs?
Miles (59 games) remain on an endless 82-game NBA season, but at this point the Celtics appear to have few answers in a season that has produced a large number of bumps in the road.
The Thunder keep moving the chains.
2008-09 – Last place
2009-10 – Western Conference quarterfinals
2010-11 – Conference finals
2111-12 – NBA Finals
Only a convenient turn in the schedule that took the Lakers to the nation’s capital on Friday night has enabled Mike D’Antoni’s beleaguered team from carrying a 5-game anchor of a losing streak to Philadelphia tonight.
With the Sacramento Kings it’s not always about basketball, which seems a little odd. But over the last few years the focus has been on the owners (the Maloof Brothers) or the gasoline-and-fire personality of angry big man DeMarcus Cousins.
Pass, pick, cut to the hoop, layup. Play defense. Do it again. And again. Every game.
The pressure builds and builds and builds on Kobe Bryant’s 34-year-old shoulders as the Lakers stumble through the first part of the season.
The Warriors come in to this one with four straight road victories and seven wins in their last eight games, but – and it’s a but that would make Sir Mix-a-Lot smile – just about all of it has been accomplished by grabbing low-hanging fruit.
In a league season filled with so many throwaway games, it’s nice to be able to check in once in a while on a matchup that has a little juice.
Pau Gasol may or may not play in this one, depending on whether the tendinitis in his ailing knees is acting up.
Other than a pair of blips on the road (two-game losing streaks in Florida and out west), the Brooklyn Nets are starting to raise a few eyebrows in the Association.
The Phoenix Suns will look to build on Sunday’s win as they prepare to dominate the Golden State Warriors one more time after having won seven straight, including three in Oakland, and 11 of the last 12 overall.
Two of the East’s top teams will do battle on Sunday when the Chicago Bulls face off with the Boston Celtics in Beantown.
The Thunder will enter Friday night’s contest in Salt Lake City on the heels of a Thursday night bout at the Sacramento Kings.
The Dallas Mavericks have hit a rough patch as of late, and after losing three straight, will aim to take advantage of a Denver Nuggets team that will be without forward Danilo Gallinari who is expected to miss a month with a severely sprained left ankle.
The only team worse than the Hornets in the NBA right now is the Charlotte Bobcats.
The struggling Orlando Magic will meet up on Saturday with a much-proved, surging Indiana Pacers team that has surpassed the century mark in at least three contests leading up to tip off, after failing to reach 100 points in 13 straight games.
