Eastern Conference teams limping to finish
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Wednesday, March 24
What if they held an Eastern Conference playoff race and nobody showed up?
"I'm willing to delay it as long as it gets better," New York Knick guard Allan Houston told the New York Post. "If it's two games . . . if it is the end of the season. I don't want to think that, but it could be a possibility."
One game? Two games? That could be the end of the season. Allan Houston may be the team's best shooter, but he's also got the team's most brittle knees outside of Dikembe Mutombo. As it stands now, the Knicks are 33-38 and the seventh seed in the playoff race, but only 1½ games from falling to the eighth seed behind the Cleveland Cavs and two games from being eliminated by the Boston Celtics.
But speaking of the Cavs . . .
"It's very difficult to not have your main guy, and then he comes back, and we expect it to all fall into place," head coach Paul Silas said in the News-Herald. "This is a game of highs and lows. We were as high as we can be, and one little injury caused us to go off-kilter. Now we've got to find it back, and it's tough to do. It's frustrating when you're young and haven't been together, but well see. There's no excuses. We'll just have to go out and get it done."
But how can they get it done when that guy he's referring to can't quite get his shoulder to start working again.
Jeff McInnis
Shooting Guard
Cleveland Cavaliers
"I feel real good passing the ball, but when I try to shoot, it just hurts a little," Jeff McInnis said. "It felt good when I started the game."
But . . .
"Bad. That's why I've got to rest it," he said. "I won't play (Friday) if it feels like this. I want to get back to 100 percent."
With McInnis ailing, the Cavs have lost three games in a row and are only a ½ game from being eliminated altogether.
And speaking of losing streaks, the New Orleans Hornets had lost six of their last nine games before Tuesday night's last-second win over the Detroit Pistons. But in the process, they may have lost something even more important.
"It hurts, it really does," point guard Baron Davis said in the Times-Picayune.
Near the end of the third quarter of aforementioned game, Davis dove after a ball and came up limping on his left ankle, the same ankle that forced him to miss six games earlier in the season. He left the game and never returned with an MRI scheduled for today.
The team's leading scorer is listed as day to day, which is better than the team's second-leading scorer, Jamal Mashburn, who has played in only 19 of the team's 71 games so far this season.
And speaking of leading scorers, even the conference's best team is hurting.
"We're just hoping for the best. That's really all we can do right now," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle in the Indianapolis Star. "We're probably looking at some bastard lineups. Fred Jones playing some three (small forward). Reggie (Miller) playing some three. Maybe Anthony Johnson will play some two (shooting guard) or three. I just don't know. It's not going to be easy."
Jermaine O'Neal
Power Forward
Indiana Pacers
It's not going to be easy because the team's best player and MVP candidate, Jermaine O'Neal, underwent an MRI on Tuesday that revealed a bruised bone in his left knee that they have no idea when it will heal.
"When it's your knee, it's just a scary injury to have happen to anybody," teammate Austin Croshere said. "When it happens to your leading scorer, your huge-play guy, I think that it becomes more significant."
But more significant because the Pacers are also dealing with injuries to Ron Artest, Jonathan Bender and Croshere.
And speaking of huge-play guys, what about Jason Kidd missing opening day of the playoffs altogether.
"You have to see what happens," Nets president Rod Thorn said in the New York Times of Kidd's left knee. "Obviously, if the swelling continues and he can't play near 100 percent, he's not going to be effective. You have to be concerned. I don't know about lying awake sleepless, but you have to be concerned. We'll see what transpires here the rest of this week . . . It would be very difficult without him because he's a great player. He's one of the best players in the league. Any time a player of that stature is not playing, you miss him."
And if that isn't enough to keep him awake at night, how about the fact that fellow all-star Kenyon Martin has missed the last three games with tendinitis in his left knee and will also miss the next three.
Let's have a recap.
That's Allan Houston out for the Knicks, Jeff McInnis for the Cavs, Baron Davis for the Hornets, Jermaine O'Neal for the Pacers and Jason Kidd for the Nets.
And we haven't even gotten to point guard Alvin Williams of the Toronto Raptors, one game back of the Cavs, who is out indefinitely with a banged up right knee and missed Tuesday night's crucial game, a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, that could have put them into the playoffs.
If I were Ben Wallace of Detroit or Michael Redd of Milwaukee or Lamar Odom of Miami, I'd be walking very careful about now.
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Wednesday, March 24
What if they held an Eastern Conference playoff race and nobody showed up?
"I'm willing to delay it as long as it gets better," New York Knick guard Allan Houston told the New York Post. "If it's two games . . . if it is the end of the season. I don't want to think that, but it could be a possibility."
One game? Two games? That could be the end of the season. Allan Houston may be the team's best shooter, but he's also got the team's most brittle knees outside of Dikembe Mutombo. As it stands now, the Knicks are 33-38 and the seventh seed in the playoff race, but only 1½ games from falling to the eighth seed behind the Cleveland Cavs and two games from being eliminated by the Boston Celtics.
But speaking of the Cavs . . .
"It's very difficult to not have your main guy, and then he comes back, and we expect it to all fall into place," head coach Paul Silas said in the News-Herald. "This is a game of highs and lows. We were as high as we can be, and one little injury caused us to go off-kilter. Now we've got to find it back, and it's tough to do. It's frustrating when you're young and haven't been together, but well see. There's no excuses. We'll just have to go out and get it done."
But how can they get it done when that guy he's referring to can't quite get his shoulder to start working again.
Jeff McInnis
Shooting Guard
Cleveland Cavaliers
"I feel real good passing the ball, but when I try to shoot, it just hurts a little," Jeff McInnis said. "It felt good when I started the game."
But . . .
"Bad. That's why I've got to rest it," he said. "I won't play (Friday) if it feels like this. I want to get back to 100 percent."
With McInnis ailing, the Cavs have lost three games in a row and are only a ½ game from being eliminated altogether.
And speaking of losing streaks, the New Orleans Hornets had lost six of their last nine games before Tuesday night's last-second win over the Detroit Pistons. But in the process, they may have lost something even more important.
"It hurts, it really does," point guard Baron Davis said in the Times-Picayune.
Near the end of the third quarter of aforementioned game, Davis dove after a ball and came up limping on his left ankle, the same ankle that forced him to miss six games earlier in the season. He left the game and never returned with an MRI scheduled for today.
The team's leading scorer is listed as day to day, which is better than the team's second-leading scorer, Jamal Mashburn, who has played in only 19 of the team's 71 games so far this season.
And speaking of leading scorers, even the conference's best team is hurting.
"We're just hoping for the best. That's really all we can do right now," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle in the Indianapolis Star. "We're probably looking at some bastard lineups. Fred Jones playing some three (small forward). Reggie (Miller) playing some three. Maybe Anthony Johnson will play some two (shooting guard) or three. I just don't know. It's not going to be easy."
Jermaine O'Neal
Power Forward
Indiana Pacers
It's not going to be easy because the team's best player and MVP candidate, Jermaine O'Neal, underwent an MRI on Tuesday that revealed a bruised bone in his left knee that they have no idea when it will heal.
"When it's your knee, it's just a scary injury to have happen to anybody," teammate Austin Croshere said. "When it happens to your leading scorer, your huge-play guy, I think that it becomes more significant."
But more significant because the Pacers are also dealing with injuries to Ron Artest, Jonathan Bender and Croshere.
And speaking of huge-play guys, what about Jason Kidd missing opening day of the playoffs altogether.
"You have to see what happens," Nets president Rod Thorn said in the New York Times of Kidd's left knee. "Obviously, if the swelling continues and he can't play near 100 percent, he's not going to be effective. You have to be concerned. I don't know about lying awake sleepless, but you have to be concerned. We'll see what transpires here the rest of this week . . . It would be very difficult without him because he's a great player. He's one of the best players in the league. Any time a player of that stature is not playing, you miss him."
And if that isn't enough to keep him awake at night, how about the fact that fellow all-star Kenyon Martin has missed the last three games with tendinitis in his left knee and will also miss the next three.
Let's have a recap.
That's Allan Houston out for the Knicks, Jeff McInnis for the Cavs, Baron Davis for the Hornets, Jermaine O'Neal for the Pacers and Jason Kidd for the Nets.
And we haven't even gotten to point guard Alvin Williams of the Toronto Raptors, one game back of the Cavs, who is out indefinitely with a banged up right knee and missed Tuesday night's crucial game, a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, that could have put them into the playoffs.
If I were Ben Wallace of Detroit or Michael Redd of Milwaukee or Lamar Odom of Miami, I'd be walking very careful about now.
