J-Speaks: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly In March In NBA

The month of March in the NBA is all about positioning yourself to be a serious contender in the playoffs, which begin in two weeks. The top two teams record wise in the Western Conference are doing exactly that and making some serious history league wise and franchise wise. The third ranked team in the West has gotten back on track after a rough start after the All-Star break. In the Eastern Conference, the second best team record wise made some franchise and league history of its own while three teams are really hitting their stride and are in a serious fight for the No. 3 spot. Another East team in the fight for the No. 3 Seed was off its mark in the middle of last month, while in the West a team from Texas is in major danger of missing out on the postseason party and one of the best young players in the league is on the shelf for the rest of this season. One of the NBA’s flagship franchises is dealing with a very touchy situation that has a major piece of their future having to do some serious damage control. Here is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in the NBA in March.

The Good

Defending Champs Break More Records

They achieved the best start to not just an NBA season, but the best start to a season in North American professional sports when they won their first 24 games to start the season. Their best player and the soon to be back-to-back MVP has made a three-point field goal in 145 consecutive games and became the first player in league history to make over 300 triples in a season. All that is left for the defending champion Golden State Warriors to do was try to break the all-time record for wins in a season set by the 1995-96 World Champion Chicago Bulls and win back-to-back championships. They are nearly near one part of that goal and along the way, made some more history.

In their 119-113 win versus the Orlando Magic (33-44) on Mar. 7, the Warriors (69-8) won their 45^th straight game at Oracle Arena, setting a new NBA record surpassing the 1995-96 Bulls record of 44 games from Mar. 30, 1995-Apr. 4, 1996. It has ballooned to 54 straight home wins currently. It was also their eight win in their last nine games dating back to February.

Curry led the way with his 12^th 40-plus point performance of the season with 41 points going 14 for 24 from the field, including 7 for 13 from long distance. He also had 13 rebounds and four steals. His fellow “Splash Brother” Klay Thompson had 27 points and six boards, going 11 for 23 from the field, including 5 for 11 from three-point range.

Curry also in the game set a new NBA record for three-pointers made in a season with 301 thanks to his great night from long range, which is now up to 361 makes out of 796 attempts, a 45.4 percent clip. His 12^th 40-plus point game of the season is the most since Hall of Famer Rick Barry did it 16 times back in the 1974-75 season.

“We just have a winning mentality. A winning mindset. It’s been good to us the last 45 regular season home games and even in the playoffs,” Curry said to Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area sideline reporter Ros Gold-Onwude after the victory. “This is a place we love to play in and get wins.”

The Warriors would not have been in a position to achieve NBA history had they not pulled out a gritty 109-105 win versus the Atlanta Hawks (45-32) in overtime six days earlier.

Everything was stacked against them on that night. Curry sat out because of a sore left ankle. The Warriors shot just 39.8 percent and went just 12 for 36 from three-point range.

What helped them on this night was the fact that they out-rebounded the Hawks 62-50, including 18-7 on the offensive glass. They recorded 11 steals; outscored the Hawks 18-14 in fast break points and 52-36 in the paint and scored 18 points off of 17 Hawks turnovers.

Draymond Green, who had 15 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists and four steals hit an off-balance three-pointer at the end of the 24-second shot clock with nearly 40 seconds left in overtime to give the Warriors some breathing room and eventually the win.

“It’s just a desperation heave,” Green said after the game. “It’s just one of those things; sometimes the ball just bounces your way, and that one fell for me, unlike a lot of the other ones.”

Four days later, the Warriors were still hot from long distance going 18 for 40 in garnering a 128-112 win versus the Portland Trail Blazers (41-37) four days later, their third straight win. Both teams combined to hit an NBA record 37 three-pointers in 76 attempts.

Thompson and Curry were dominant once again scoring 37 and 34 points respectably, marking the sixth time this season that the “Splash Brothers” combined to score 30 points or more each. The Warriors improved to 6-0 when that occurs. Curry was 7 for 14 from long distance while Thompson was 8 for 11. Green was the only other Warrior in double-figures with 17 points and he nearly missed garnering another triple-double with 13 rebounds and seven assists to go along with two steals.

The Warriors garnered their seventh win in a row with a 130-112 win at the Dallas Mavericks (39-38) on Mar. 18 and Thompson and Curry scored over 30 points each for the seventh time this season. The Warriors also won their 30^th game on the road of the season.

Thompson had 39 points going 14 for 22 from the field and hitting 10 for 15 from long distance and grabbing six boards. This was the third game of Thompson’s young career that he has made 10 triples or more, two shy of Curry who has done it on five occasions.

Curry, who became the fastest player to reach 1,000 three-pointers made in a career at 369 games surpassing Thompson had his ninth of 10 double-doubles this season with 31 points, 10 boards and nearly had his third triple-double of the season with nine rebounds.

“The Splash Brothers” had some help in the scoring column from their teammates as Harrison Barnes had 20 points, Green had 15 points and eight assists and Marreese Speights had 13 points off the bench.

The Warriors came back down to Earth on Mar. 19 falling at the San Antonio Spurs (64-12) 87-79, ending their seven-game winning streak and falling to the Spurs for the 33^rd straight time in the regular season on their home court.

To put that into perspective, the Warriors have not won at the Spurs since Feb. 14, 1997. The No. 1 song at that time was “Unbreak My Heart,” by Grammy-Award singer Toni Braxton.

The 79 points scored by the Warriors was a season-low, as they shot just 37.8 percent from the field; hit 9 for 36 from three-point range; were out-rebounded 59-43 and 14-7 on the offensive glass and Curry and Thompson went 1 for 12 and 1 for 7 from three-point range scoring 14 and 15 points on 4 for 18 and 7 for 20 shooting respectably.

Not having Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli and Andre Iguodala in the lineup because of injury did not help the cause of the defending champs.

“All the odds were stacked against us. Ninth game in 14 days. Back-to-back obviously. Tough game last night. Down three important rotation guys and we hung in there right until the end,” Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr said after the loss.

“Spurs played great. They deserved to win, but I’m really proud of the way we fought tonight. It was awesome.”

It was the last loss of the month for the Warriors as they closed out their short three-game road trip with a gritty 109-104 win at the Minnesota Timberwolves (25-52) 48 hours later, as they improved to 7-0 following a loss this season and became just the third team in NBA history to go 70 games into a season without suffering two straight setbacks.

In their first home game since a 125-107 win versus the New Orleans Pelicans (29-47) on Mar. 14, they defeated their Pacific Division and arch rivals the Los Angeles Clippers (48-28) 114-98 on Mar. 23. The Warriors won their fourth in as many chances against the boys from Hollywood and garnered their seventh win in their last eight chances versus the Clippers. It was also the defending champs 12 win in 13 chances against the Top six teams in the league this season.

They followed that up with wins versus the Mavericks 128-120 two night later, hitting 21 for 45 from long distance and set a new NBA record for three-pointers made in a season with 938, breaking the 933 triples made by the Houston Rockets last season.

Thompson had his second 40-pt. performance against the Mavs this season as he led the way with 40 points going 13 for 25 from the field, including 7 for 12 from long range. Curry was great as well with 33 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals. He was 9 for 18 from the field, including 5 for 12 from three-point range and 10 for 11 from the free throw line. Green had 19 points, 10 assists, seven boards, two blocks and two steals. Barnes had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Two night later, Thompson scored 40 points again, hitting seven more threes as the Warriors won again 117-105 versus the Philadelphia 76ers (9-68). Curry had a quite 20 points, eight assists and four steals.

Green, who this past Wednesday became the first player in league history to post 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists, 100 steals and 100 blocks put up his franchise record 12^th triple-double of the season with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to go along with three blocks. Speights against his former team had 17 points off and seven rebounds off the bench and Barnes had 10 points.

The Warriors tied their franchise mark for wins with a 102-94 win versus the Washington Wizards (37-40) on TNT this past Tuesday and rallied in overtime this past Wednesday night to garner a 103-96 win at the Utah Jazz (38-38) to set a new franchise record for victories.

With seven games remaining in the regular season, the Warriors are on the verge of not only setting the mark for the most regular season wins, but are one win shy of tying the Bulls. With all of that being said, the most important thing for them is gearing up for a run at the title.

Home Setting Spurs

As I mentioned before in a previous post, the Warriors have been the talk of the league to this point of the season and they have earned that right. Not too far behind them though have been the Spurs (64-12), who have been on a record setting pace themselves and have done it on their terms.

Their 97-81 win versus the Detroit Pistons (41-36) on Mar. 2 marked the 19^th consecutive season that the five-time World Champs qualified for the postseason, tying them with the Boston Celtics for the fourth most in NBA history. The Utah Jazz are in third place making the playoffs for 20 straight seasons from 1983-2003. Behind them are the Portland Trail Blazers with 21 straight invites to the postseason from 1982-2003 and No. 1 are the Philadelphia 76ers, who made the playoffs 22 straight seasons from 1949-1971.

The Spurs made more history as their 118-110 victory versus the Trail Blazers gave them a winning record against all the 29 other teams in the NBA in their history. The Los Angeles Lakers have a winning record against 27 of the 29 teams. In third are the Boston Celtics 26/29; fourth are the Phoenix Suns 24/29 and in fifth are the Bulls 23/29.

Unlike the Warriors who have seemed to embrace making history, it is not that important to the Spurs.

“It’s not about that,” LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 23 points and 10 boards said after the game. “This is my first year here, but even for me it’s not about that. I think we have a bigger picture in mind.”

That really was on full display 13 days ago against the Warriors, who they beat for the 33^rd straight time at home 87-79, avenging their 120-90 loss at the Warriors back on Jan. 25.

Aldridge was great with 26 points on 11 for 25 shooting and 13 rebounds. It was a complete 180 degree effort that he had from the first meeting when he had just five points and three boards on 2 for 9 shooting in the aforementioned first meeting.

His fellow front court mate in fellow All-Star and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard was great as well with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

To put this victory and the evolution of the Spurs into focus, future Hall of Famer and two-time MVP Tim Duncan came off the bench for just the third time in his career in 1,383 career games to that point. He finished with just one point and two boards as Boris Diaw started in his place at center and he finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

According to head coach Gregg Popovich, he wanted a more agile lineup to deal with the Warriors and it worked.

How much so? Curry and Thompson never really got going and combined to score just four points in the final stanza.

“There both great shooters. I thought that Tony [Parker], Kawhi, D.G. [Danny Green], they all played great tonight,” Aldridge said to NBA on ESPN/ABC’s Lisa Salters after the game.

For the Spurs it is all about getting better and peaking at the right time. It is also about being able to learn from disappointment and never forgetting that feeling.

That was certainly the case after their 91-88 setback at the Charlotte Hornets (43-31) on Mar. 21.

The Spurs led 28-7 after the first quarter and led 51-36 at intermission, but were outscored 55-37 in the second half and Jeremy Lin scored 15 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Hornets.

This was the first loss in Spurs history when leading by at least 20 points after the first quarter. They had been 22-0 prior.

The Spurs bounced back in a major way with a dominant 112-88 win versus the Miami Heat (44-32) two days later and followed that up with a 110-104 win versus the Memphis Grizzlies (41-36).

Following a 111-92 loss at the surging Oklahoma City Thunder (53-24) where they were outscored 63-48 in the second half, the Spurs bounced back with a 101-87 win at the Grizzlies this past Monday night and 100-92 win versus the Pelicans, which set a new NBA record for home victories to start a season at 38-0 surpassing the World Champion Bulls record of 37-0 in 1995-96.

There is a pretty good chance that the Spurs will set a franchise record for wins in the regular season. There is a great chance they along with the Warriors could go undefeated at home this season. They might even win 70 games themselves if they do not lose a game next month.

For the Spurs and Popovich though, it is all about winning another championship. It is why you have seen him rest the likes of Duncan, Parker, Manu Ginobili, Danny Green and some of the other players. It is about being ready for the grind of the playoffs and being as ready to go as possible.

Rock “N” Rolling Westbrook and Thunder

In the early stages of the unofficial second half of the season, things were not right for the Oklahoma City Thunder (53-24) on the court, they lost eight out of 12 games. Prior to their tilt versus the Pelicans back on Feb. 11, assistant coach Monty Williams’ wife Ingrid was involved in a car crash earlier that week and passed away 48 hours later. A moment of silence was held before the aforementioned contest that the Thunder won 121-95. On top of that, assistant coach Maurice Cheeks has been shelved because of hip surgery. The team back on the court had two very painful losses at the Clippers 103-98 on Mar. 2 when they blew a 22-point lead and at the Spurs 93-85 on Mar. 12 on ABC, where for the 12^th time this season lost a game where they had a lead in the 4^th quarter. Since that loss, things have turned around for the Thunder and leading the way has been the All-Star dynamic duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

In the month of March, Durant, who is third in the NBA in scoring at 28.0 per contest has averaged 28.4 points to go along with nine rebounds and 6.5 assists on 50.7 shooting from the floor. He has garnered seven double-doubles and on eight occasions has come close to garnering a few triple-doubles. To bring how great Durant has been into even more clearer focus, his 31-point effort in the Thunder’s 119-117 win versus the Clippers to close out March marked the 60^th time he has scored 20 points or more in a game, the fourth-longest streak since the NBA/ABA merger. That streak has increased to 61 straight. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant did it 63 times back in 2005-06 and Michael Jordan had streaks of scoring 20 points or more 69 times back in 1990-91 and 72 times in 1987-88.

Westbrook has been on a role himself in the month of March with seven triple-doubles and 16 on the season. That 16^th came in the Thunder’s 119-100 win at the Toronto Raptors (51-25) this past Monday night where Westbrook garnered 26 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

His seventh triple of last month tied him with Jordan for the most in a month with seven that the current owner of the Hornets set back in April of 1989 and the 16 that he has totaled for the season not only leads the league, but is tied with former Denver Nuggets guard Fat Lever, who had that exact number back in the 1986-87 season. The leader in triple-doubles for a season in the last 30 years is Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson who had 17 in the 1988-89 season. His best of the triple-doubles came in Mar. 9 120-108 win versus the Clippers where Westbrook had 25 points, a career-high 20 assists and 11 rebounds. Not only was it the first triple-double of at least 25 points, 20 assists and 10 boards since “Magic” Johnson did it for the Lakers back in 1988, it was also the first triple-double of at least 20 points and 20 assists since former NBA point guard Rod Strickland did it for the Washington Wizards back in 1998.

The victory in Toronto marked the eight straight win, a season-high and the longest since Jan. 2014 for head coach Billy Donovan’s team, which during that streak averaged 17.2 points per contest; had a point differential of +17.2 and shot 51.1 percent from the field.

“Guys are making shots. We’re getting into the paint. We’re driving and kicking. We’re trusting the pass. Guys are scoring well… We’re going to need that for the rest of the season,” Durant who had 34 points, eight boards and eight assists said to FOX Sports Oklahoma’s Nick Gallo after the game.

The streak ended 24 hours later at the Pistons 88-82 as the Thunder stat Durant and Serge Ibaka to rest and the Thunder struggled shooting just 37.8 percent from the field; going just 6 for 21 from three-point range; handing out just 16 assists and registering 19 turnovers, which ended up in 24 Piston points and the Thunder had just nine points in the third quarter as they fell to 6-8 on the back end of back-to-backs.

The team bounced back with the aforementioned victory versus the Clippers this past Thursday night. As mentioned Durant had 31 points. Westbrook had his 50^th double-double of the season with 26 points, 11 assists to go along with eight boards. Ibaka also returned to the lineup to score 16 points and nine boards. Starting center Steven Adams had 13 points and six boards and Enes Kanter had 11 points off the bench.

By winning the season series over the Clippers 3-1, the Thunder have all but locked up the No. 3 Seed in the West. They are peaking at the right time and their play of late has put on notice that they can be a serious player in the postseason. Durant and Westbrook have to bring it and they must get contributions consistently from Ibaka, Kanter, Dion Waiters, Randy Foye, Cameron Payne and Andre Roberson if they are going to be a threat.

Raptors Make More Team History

They have won four Atlantic Division titles, including back-to-back these last two seasons. They have made the playoffs seven times and will make it eight and three straight appearances for the second time in franchise history. They have increased their win total in each of the last five seasons under head coach Dwane Casey. There was just one thing missing from the organizations resume. They took care of that this past Wednesday night.

The Raptors 105-97 win versus the Hawks this past Wednesday night gave them their 50^th victory of this season, which not only set a new franchise record and clinched the season series 3-0 versus the Hawks this season, but made them the final franchise in the league to reach 50 victories in a season.

All-Star DeMar DeRozan led the way with 26 points, five boards and six assists. Center Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and nine rebounds. Fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry, who played despite an injured elbow, which led to a 4 for 19 effort from the field finished with 17 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. Terrence Ross had 13 points off the bench Norman Powell had 10 points.

“It’s a great accomplishment. The first team in Raptors history to win 50 games. I was telling all the guys, this whole group of guys is going to go down in the record books for that and we’re going to continue to build on it going into the postseason and try to continue to get better,” DeRozan who was here when the Raptors won just 22 games said after the game.

The Raptors hope to make some more history in about two weeks from now by reaching the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2001, when they lost to the Sixers in the East Semifinals 4-3.

The Race for the No. 3 Seed in East

While the fight for the No. 1 Seed between the Cleveland Cavaliers (54-22) has been a major topic of discussion in the East for the most part, the fight for the No. 3 Seed has been just as heated between four teams separated between a half a game and one full game.

The No. 3 Seed is currently occupied by the Heat , who went 10-5 in the month of March; are 14-6 since the All-Star break and since the edition of Joe Johnson, who was waived by the struggling Brooklyn Nets (21-56) at the end of February, the Heat have gone 11-5. Johnson averaged 12.7 points on 51.0 percent from the field and 45.1 percent from long distance.

Since Johnson has come on board, the Heat are averaging 109.8 points per contest, which is not bad for a team that was offensively challenged at times this season.

Two other players who have emerged for the Heat last month have been center Hassan Whiteside, who averaged 18.5 points, 12.8 boards and 3.3 blocks and rookie guard Josh Richardson, who averaged 12.0 points on 53.2 percent from the field and 58.9 percent from three-point range.

Whiteside tied his career-high with 26 points to go along with 12 boards and five blocks in the Heat’s 108-97 win on March 25 versus the Magic. He established a new career high with 27 points along with eight rebounds in the Heat’s 110-99 win versus the Nets. All-Star Dwyane Wade led the way with 30 points and nine assists, which was his first 30-point, nine assist performance since March 2013. Richardson, who started in place of Goran Dragic at lead guard, who was out because of the flu had 16 points and fellow rookie Justise Winslow had 13 points off the bench.

Right on the heels of the Heat are the Hornets who are tied record wise with the Heat at 44-31.

Back on Jan. 20, the Hornets were 19-23 and the playoffs seemed like just a dream. Their 25-8 mark since has not only have them on the verge of making the playoffs, but winning the Southeast Division for the first time since the franchise, which was formerly known as the Bobcats came back to Charlotte.

To put the Hornets turnaround into better perspective, they have gone 21-6 since the start of February. Only the Spurs and Warriors have had better records since that point.

At the center of the turnaround has been lead guard Kemba Walker, who has averaged 22.5, 22.4 and 22.5 points per contest the last three months; swingman Nicolas Batum, who averaged 18.5 points, 6.3 boards, 6.7 assists on 46.8 percent from the field and 39.6 from three-point range and Marvin Williams 14.8, 13.6 points, 7.2, 6.0 boards and shot 51.0 and 47.8 percent from the field and 46.3 and 42.7 from three-point range the last two months.

The Hornets have also got major contributions from Jeremy Lin, Courtney Lee, who they acquired at the trade deadline back in February, Cody Zeller, Jeremy Lamb and rookie Frank Kaminsky III.

In the month of March where the Hornets went 13-3, they managed to score 100 points or more 13 times, going 12-1. In the three games they did not hit the century mark, they went 1-2, but that one win came against the might Spurs on Mar. 21 91-88.

After scoring just seven points in the opening stanza, the Hornets outscored the Spurs in every quarter the rest of the way and came back from 20-point deficit thanks to the play of Lin, who had 15 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter bringing those watching back to his run of “Linsanity” back in New York in 2011-12.

“We just turned it up,” Lin who was 11 for 18 from the field, including 4 for 4 from three-point range said after the victory. “We just played hard. I’m so thankful to God because I’ve been struggling so much. We lost one the other night [that] we felt like we shouldn’t have lost, so to come out here and get this win is a huge boost for us.”

Another big boost to the Hornets has been the return of center Al Jefferson, who missed 34 games earlier this season because of injury and suspension. The Hornets are just 15-19 in the games he has missed.

After a shaky February, where he scored in double figures twice in 10 games in February, he scored in double figures nine times in 16 contest. His best performance was when he had his second double-double since his return of 21 points and 10 boards on 10 for 16 from the field as the Hornets won at the Heat 109-106 on Mar. 17.

Right on the Hornets heels in the both the division and the conference are the No. 5 Seeded Hawks (45-32), who are percentage points behind the Hornets.

After an up and down season, the boys from the ATL kicked it into gear last month going 12-4 with three of those four losses coming at the hands of the Raptors and Warriors.

One particular player that has been a major factor in the team’s turnaround has been Tim Hardaway, Jr. While his averages of 8.9 points off the bench may not seem like much, his shooting of 45.7 from the floor and 42.6 from three-point territory is miles from where he was earlier in the season. On top of that his effort at the defensive end is a complete 180 from the start of the season, which had him in Hawks’ head coach Mike Budenholzer’s doghouse.

Hardaway put in a season-high of 21 points to go along with seven boards and four assists off the bench in helping the Hawks to a 116-98 win versus the Denver Nuggets (32-45) back on Mar. 17.

Hardaway, Jr.’s emergence has given the Hawks another scorer to go alongside Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague, Al Horford, Kent Bazemore and Kyle Korver, who month by month has shot the ball much better especially from long range. The 12-year pro out of Creighton shot 46.7 percent from the field and 45.5 from three-point range last month, while averaging 9.6 points per contest.

Two of the Hawks best games in the month of March came at the Pistons who they beat 118-114 on Mar. 16 and 112-95 10 days later.

In the first meeting, the Hawks held their own against the Pistons on the glass 56-56; at the foul line going 28 for 34, while the Pistons went 28 for 39; in the Paint being outscored by just two ) 44-42 and they had 10 steals and turned 13 Piston turnovers into 18 points. They were 12 for 34 from three-point range and held the Pistons to just 8 for 25.

Teague led the way with 22 points and nine assists going 12 for 13 from the charity stripe. His understudy Dennis Schroder had 18 points, seven assists and two steals off the bench. The Hawks front line each had a double-double as Horford had 21 points and 11 rebounds; Millsap had 13 points and 10 boards to go along with four steals and Bazemore had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

In the Mar. 26 meeting, the Hawks held the Pistons to 38.6 percent shooting and to just 7 for 29 from long range. Despite getting out-rebounded 64-51, including 14-5 on the offensive glass, the Hawks had 34 assists to the Pistons 25; a 20-4 advantage in fast break points and again kept it close in the paint outscoring the Pistons 38-36 and committing just four turnovers.

Millsap led eight Hawks in double-figures with 23 points with nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and four blocks. Bazemore had 17 points, Horford had 13 points, Teague had a double-double of 12 points and 12 assists and Korver scored 12 as well. Forward Kris Humphries had 11 points and five boards off the bench and Schroder had 11 points and seven assists off the pine as well. Forward Mike Scott also had 10 points and five boards off the bench.

Last season, the Hawks were head and shoulders above the rest of the East and made it all the way to the Conference Finals, where they were taken to the cleaners by the Cavs, who swept them 4-0. Things were not looking great for them as this season went on, but now they are in the thick of things and are in prime position to win the Southeast for a second straight season and have home court advantage in the First Round of the playoffs.

The Bad

Davis Shelved For Remainder of Season

In his four seasons since becoming the No. 1 overall pick by the Pelicans back in June 2012, All-Star Anthony Davis (24.3 ppg-7^th NBA, 10.3 rpg-T-8^th NBA, 2.1 bpg-4^th NBA) has yet to play a full 82-game schedule and it will not happen this season.

The Hornets announced back on Mar. 24 that the All-Star forward/center will be shut down for the remainder of the season because of significant injuries to his left knee and shoulder.

He had successful surgery on that left knee and is expected to be back on the court in three-to-four months. The shoulder which has been bothering Davis for a couple of years will not require surgery and according to a report from Dr. Neal ElAttrache, posterior labral tears typically do not predictably cause instability  in as high a percentage of players as anterior labral tears do. He went on to say that Davis’ shoulder stability is strong enough to where his shoulder will get better with rest and rehabilitation.

The expectation is that Davis should be back on the court of the start of next season, which will hopefully be a better one for head coach Alvin Gentry, who has had to deal with a rash of injuries to the likes of Ryan Anderson, Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Quincy Pondexter and Eric Gordon.

Struggling C’s

After a 9-4 February that had the Boston Celtics (45-32) in the thicket of having home court in the opening round of this year’s playoffs, a 7-7 March has them in the No. 6 spot in the East.

Their troubles began in the middle of March with four straight setbacks from Mar. 11 to Mar. 19 and five losses in their last six games where they had fell to the heavyweights of the league like the Cavs (120-103 on Mar. 5); the Thunder (130-109 on Mar. 16 on ESPN) and at the Raptors (105-91 on Mar. 18).

They did manage to get themselves off the matt with a four-game winning streak from Mar. 20 to Mar. 26, all be it one of those wins was a rematch versus the Raptors (91-79 on Mar. 23). The first two were versus the Sixers (120-105 on Mar. 20), followed by versus the Magic (107-96 on Mar. 21). The back end of the winning streak came at the start of a five-game West Coast trip at the struggling Phoenix Suns (20-56), who they barely escaped with a 102-99 win.

Two straight losses at the Clippers (114-90 this past Monday) and at the Trail Blazers (116-109 this past Thursday) followed.

The one consistent them for the Celtics in March was the play of All-Star lead guard Isaiah Thomas, who scored 20 points or more in 14 straight games, tying Hall of Famer and three-time champion Larry Bird.

If the Celtics are going to get back on track, they must play better at the defensive end, which has been the calling card of head coach Brad Stevens’s team going back to last season.

Baring the unthinkable, the Celtics will make the playoffs for a second straight season, which was unthinkable to many and they still have a small chance to moving up and getting home court in the opening round of the playoffs.

Fading Playoff Hopes in “Big D”

Coming into March, the Mavericks (39-38) put themselves in a position to make the playoffs for the 15^th time in 16 seasons under the guidance of owner Mark Cuban. Those dreams were put in major jeopardy thanks to some tough losses last month.

After a 121-108 victory versus the Magic on Mar. 1, the Mavericks went into a downfall with five straight defeats from Mar. 3 to Mar. 12. They lost 10 of 12 games as the month March was closing. It is one thing to have setbacks against the Clippers (109-90 on Mar. 7), at the Cavaliers (99-98 on Mar. 16) and at the Trail Blazers (109-103 on Mar. 23), but sustaining two losses came courtesy of the Sacramento Kings (30-46) (104-101 on Mar. 3 and 133-111 on Mar. 27) and one at the Nuggets (116-114 in overtime) cannot happen if you want to make the postseason.

To make matters worse, the Mavs lost forward Chandler Parsons for the rest of the season following arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Not only are they losing their third leading scorer at 13.7 points and their fourth leading rebounder at 4.7 per game, but the team is losing their best three-point shooter at 41.4 percent.

This will put more pressure on future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki to carry the load and it will also put more pressure on the likes of Wesley Matthews, David Lee, Deron Williams, ZaZa Pachulia and Raymond Felton to be more productive at the offensive end.

Williams has been missing in action the last five games because of an abdomen issue.

The Mavs salvaged the month with two straight wins at the Nuggets this past Monday night 97-88 and versus the New York Knicks (31-46) 91-89 this past Wednesday, which has them back above the playoff line.

Currently the Mavs are in the No. 7 Spot in the West and have the same record as the Jazz at 38-38 and are one game ahead of the Rockets (38-39).

The Mavs are 1-1 against the Jazz and Rockets and if the Mavs want to make the postseason party, they will have to put their Apr. 6 and Apr. 11 tilts against them in the win column.

The Ugly

More Turmoil In L.A.

Beside the fans both at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA and in nearly every arena having the chance to say goodbye to future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, this has been a very rough season for the 16-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers (15-60). It got a lot worse last week.

Before their contest at the Jazz last week, a tape surfaced of Lakers veteran guard Nick Young telling rookie D’Angelo Russell on how many women he has been with behind the back of his fiancé Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, who he asked to marry him this past June.

When the video which is believed to have come via a Twitter account of a celebrity gossip site surfaced, Russell faced backlash from his teammates, fans, anyone and everyone that got the news.

It effected the team in a major way that Monday night at the Jazz, where they sustained a 123-75 loss.

The 48-point defeat matched the worst loss in the storied history of the Lakers’ franchise. The team also suffered a 48 point loss (142-94) versus the Los Angeles Clippers back on Mar. 16, 2014. The 48-point defeat was also the worst loss of Bryant’s career, who had just five point on 1 for 11 shooting in his final appearance

The Jazz shot 51.7 percent from the field; went 17 for 32 from three-point range; out-rebounded the Lakers 62-51; dished out 26 assists to the Lakers 11 and outscored them in the paint 40-22.

Second-year starting guard for the Jazz Rodney Hood had 30 points going 11 for 13 from the field, including 8 for 9 from three-point range. He had all of his points in the first half, which made him the first player since Durant in 2014 to half a 30-point first half and zero points in the second half. A big reason for that is Bryant guarded Hood in the second stanza, which says a lot about how bad the Lakers were on this evening. If left head coach and three-time champion with the Lakers back in the “Showtime” 1980s Bryon Scott speechless after the game.

“I didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything,” Scott said after the game to reporters. “I hope they do a little soul searching and just think about what happened tonight and I think about how we just didn’t come ready to play and how we didn’t come to compete. Sometimes it just comes down to having some personal pride and just going out there and try to do your very best and I don’t think we did that.”

The loss also brought Scott record to 452-641, which brings him to 189 games under the .500 mark, the most games in NBA history. To make matters worse, Scott set this record on his birthday.

Getting back to Russell, he and Young met with the media before their home title versus the Heat last Wednesday night about the leaked conversation.

“I feel as sick as possible,” the No. 2 overall pick in this past June’s draft said after the Lakers 102-100 win. “I can’t really show my face anywhere without people hating me right now… I try to handle it the right way and remember why I’m here, which is to play basketball.”

Young talked to the media in a separate conference that was held shortly before Russell’s. He did not take any questions, but did address where the situation stands.

“I think it’s best that me and D’Angelo handle the situation we have in a private manner outside the media,” he said. “I think it’s something we really do need to sit down and talk about. That’s about it. What happened is what happened. We’ve got to work on it.”

At least on the court the Lakers tried to put the situation in their rearview mirror as they defeated the Heat 102-100 in overtime, thanks to the game-winner by Julius Randle, who finished with his 33^rd double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

When Randle hit the game-winner and was greeted by his teammates on the court, Russell tried to jump on his teammate’s back to congratulate him and Randle shrugged him away.

From the opening tip to the end of the game, Russell who had 16 points on the evening was booed by the Staples Center faithful.

The two things that Russell has in his favor right now is that he is 20 years old and that he is a lottery pick. He has time to put this behind him and because he is an important part of the future of the Lakers, meaning he will not be traded this offseason.

Going forward though, he has no room for era. He has to regain the trust of the team and the organization. Finishing this season out strong will help and growing up and understanding that every move you make is being watched.

“There’s been a bad vibe, but we’re human. So everybody has two cents to say. We’ve just got to clear the air, I guess,” Russell said. “At this point, the damage is done. Best you can do is own up to it.”

Information, statistics and quotations are courtesy of www.espn.go.com/nba/standings/statistics/teams; 3/31/16 espn.com article “”D’Angelo Russell Apologizes For Nick Young Video Fiasco,” by Baxter Holmes and Marc Stein; en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers; en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_Spurs; en.m.wikpedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Raptors; 3/3/16 1 a.m. edition of “NBA Tonight” on ESPN 2 with Cassidy Hubbarth and Brad Daugherty; 3/7/16 10:30 p.m. contest Orlando Magic versus Golden State Warriors on Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area with Bob Fitzgerald, Jim Barnett and Ros Gold-Onwude; 3/12/16 2 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” presented by KIA Motors with Matt Winer, Mike Fratello and Steve Smith; 3/13/16 1:30 a.m. “NBA Tonight” on ESPN 2 with Cassidy Hubbarth and Amin Elhassan; 3/18/16 2:30 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” presented by KIA Motors with Kristen Ledlow, Brian Shaw and Sekou Smith; 3/19/16 2 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” presented by State Farm with Rick Kamla, Dennis Scott, Mike Dunleavy, Sr.; appearance by Vince Cellini, Brian Shaw and Jeff Hornacek; 3/19/16 11 p.m. “NBA Tonight” on ESPN 2 with Cassidy Hubbarth, Jorge Sedano and Tom Haberstroh; 3/20/16 8 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” presented by State Farm with Rick Kamla, Jeff Hornacek and Mike Dunleavy, Sr.; 3/23/16 1 a.m. “NBA Tonight” on ESPN 2 with Cassidy Hubbarth and Bruce Bowen; 3/26/17 2 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” with Rick Kamla, Dennis Scott and Mike Dunleavy, Sr.; 3/27/11 1 a.m. “NBA Tonight” on ESPN 2 with Doug Kezirian and Antonio Davis; 3/27/16 2 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” presented by KIA Motors with Matt Winer, Brevin Knight and Mike Dunleavy, Sr.; 3/28/16 1 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” with Vince Cellini, Brevin Knight and Rick Fox; 3/28/16 9 p.m. contest Los Angeles Lakers at Utah Jazz on Time Warner Cable Sportsnet with Bill Macdonald, Stu Lantz and Mike Trudell; 3/28/16 11:30 p.m. “Access Sportsnet: Lakers” presented by Southern California Nissan Dealers with Chris McGee, Robert Horry and James Worthy;  McGee 3/29/16 1 a.m. “NBA Tonight” on ESPN 2 with Cassidy Hubbarth and Tim Legler; 3/29/16 6 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” presented by KIA Motors with Matt Winer, Dennis Scott and Antawn Jamison; 3/29/16 3:30 p.m. of ESPN’s “The Jump” with Rachel Nichols, Stephen Jackson and Amin Elhassan; 3/30/16 1 a.m. “NBA Tonight” on ESPN 2 with Cassidy Hubbarth; 3/31/16 2 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” presented by KIA Motors with Vince Cellini, Dennis Scott and Isiah Thomas.