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

The Month of February saw a lot of things take place. Some good, some bad and some very ugly. Starting with the good, the Cavs got back on track after a subpar first month of the new year and they added some impactful players for their title run in a month and a half and their leader received a major honor. South Florida’s team after a rough start puts themselves in position to make it to the postseason, couple of playoff teams made some huge acquisitions at the trade deadline to improve their chances in the postseason and in Hollywood, one of the best to ever play is back. On the flip, we have a true title contender dealing with some adversity for the first time this season. The back-to-back Atlantic Division champs have slid and are down their lead guard, while their division rival saw their best player suffer another setback. Then there are the boys of the “Big Apple,” who are again in the headlines for not just their abysmal play on the court, but what took place in the stands earlier in the month. Here is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in the NBA in February.

The Good

Cavs Back on Track; James Receives Historic Honor and Has Two New Teammates

The Cleveland Cavaliers went 7-8 in January and their leader LeBron James did not hesitate in saying that the team needed some help if they wanted to repeat as champions in June. Fast forward one month later, not only did the defending champs gets themselves right, they leader received a major honor and two huge additions were added for the Cavs assault on another Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The defending champion Cavs (41-18) finished the month going 9-3, which included two four-game winning streak from Feb. 1 to Feb. 9 and from Feb. 11 to Feb. 25.

In the first four-game winning streak, the Cavs beat the Washington Wizards (36-23) in perhaps the best game of the 2016-17 NBA season so far 140-135 in overtime on Feb. 6, which ended the Wizards 17-game home-winning streak and seven-game winning streak overall.

In a nip and tuck contest that featured 15 ties and 16 lead changes, James, who had 32 points and a career-high 17 assists on the night hit a fade away three-pointer off the glass as he was falling out of bounds in the closing seconds of the game that nodded the score up at 120 and sent the game into an extra stanza.

“LeBron made a heck of a shot that you probably make one in a million tries,” Wizards All-Star lead guard John Wall, who had 22 points and 12 assists on the evening said after the game.

That shot though would not have happened if it were not for the long football inbounds pass from All-Star Kevin Love, who had 39 points on the evening along with 12 rebounds that James managed to catch and take the game-tying three that he as mentioned made.

The game also showed Love’s mental toughness because when he was at the charity stripe in the third quarter, a small section of spectators sang, “Bron wants Melo,” which referred to a report from The New York Daily News that cited an unidentified source that said James was pushing the Cavs to acquire his good friend in perennial All-Star Carmelo Anthony from the Knicks, even if it means trading away Love.

“It’s trash,” James’ response to the story, he added, “And the guy who wrote it is trash, too, for writing that.”  

What made this win even more special for the Cavs is that they finished the job without James on the floor for all but 47 seconds into the five-minute overtime period because he fouled out.

That is when fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving took over, scoring 11 of his 23 points in OT, which included a tiebreaking triple with 3:35 left in overtime that put the Cavs ahead for good.

The Cavs did play the Knicks twice in February and beat them both times 111-104 on Feb. 4 on ABC, in a game that the defending champs, who led by as many as 27. James, who had 32 points and 10 assists on the night became the youngest player in NBA history to score 28,000 points and Love had a double-double of 23 points and 16 boards. The Cavs won for the third time in as many chances and garnered their 10^th straight win against the Knicks 119-104 on TNT on Feb. 23. James had his sixth triple-double on the season and the 48 of his career with 18 points, 13 boards and 15 assists in the Cavs first game following the All-Star break.

Along with their stellar record last month, the Cavs added much needed depth to the roster for the stretch run in signing veteran guard Deron Williams, who was waived by the Dallas Mavericks late last month. He averaged 12.8 points and 6.7 assists in those 41 games with the Mavericks.

The Cavs also late in the week added center Andrew Bogut, who was waived by the Philadelphia 76ers after being dealt to them at the trade deadline a week from yesterday.

The Cavs not only added to veteran guys, they also added battled tested pros who have been through the postseason wars in their decade-plus time in the NBA.

In Williams, the Cavs have a guard who will be able to lower the heavy minutes Irving has been playing this season as well as he can play off the ball when the two are on the court together and they add a guy who has 72 playoff games under his belt, which includes Conference Finals experience where he was the starting lead guard for the Jazz when they lost to the Spurs in five games. He has averaged 18.5 points and 8.2 assists in those 72 postseason contests and is 39.3 percent three-point shooter as well.

The Cavs are very familiar with what Bogut can bring to the table because they saw it two seasons in The Finals when he and the Golden State Warriors defeated them 4-2 and won the title. They saw Bogut’s ability to defend the paint, direct traffic at the defensive end and his ability to be an excellent passer at the high post.

Those two new additions along with Derrick Williams, Kyle Korver, Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye give the Cavs the kind of second unit that can go toe-to-toe with any other bench unit in the league.

They will get plenty of opportunity to know each other because Love is currently on the shelf after having knee surgery in the middle of this month and guard J.R. Smith has been sidelined since Dec. 21, 2016 following surgery on his thumb.

The Cavs hope to have both Smith and Love back later next month for the postseason run for a second straight title.   

The good news for the Cavs is they still have James in the lineup and with him and the new additions to the Cavs, they should be in no danger of losing the No. 1 Seed in the East.

Earlier in the month of February James, who has won NBA Rookie of the Year honors back in 2004; won three NBA Finals MVP Awards and has been named regular season MVP four times in his career, received the prestigious NAACP Jackie Robinson Sports Award, prior to the Cavaliers contest versus the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 1, Cavs victory 125-97.

The award James received was an honor presented to individuals in sports for achievement and contributions in pursuit of social justice, civil rights, and community involvement.

“I’m not connected with those guys. I’m not connected with Jackie Robinson, or Muhammad Ali or Jim Brown and Bill Russell or those guys,” James said after the game to ESPN’s J.A. Adande about his latest award he received.

“I’m just a bi-product of what they stood for and in a time where they played their sports, where they couldn’t really go places that they really would like to go to with their teammates or people was telling them they shouldn’t speak out about things that they felt comfortable speaking out about because in those times it just wasn’t accepted as an African American. I can sit here today and play the game that I love. I can talk to you and we can have whites, blacks, minorities, Hispanics, everybody watching and be a part of our beautiful game because of certain people that paved the way.”

What James meant by that statement is that Mr. Robinson, Ali, Brown and Russell to name a few played their sport back in a time when minorities and Caucasians could not do simple things like drink from the same water fountain. Go to the same school and learn or play basketball in the park.

It is because of what these great athletes did in taking a stand that the freedoms we have today are because of the stance they took.

It was a nice way to kick off Black History Month for the nation and the NBA and Northeast Ohio fans hope the new additions and the Cavs great month of February will carry over the next six weeks of the regular season and into the postseason, with it all ending in a second consecutive title.

Postseason Waves Being Made in South Beach

In the middle of last month, the Miami Heat were 11-30 and staring at a very long close to the season, which many predicted at the start. Since their 116-108 loss at the Milwaukee Bucks, things took a major turn for the better and the team has gone from a Lottery team this season to one that is right back in the playoff race.

Since that defeat at the Bucks on Jan. 13, the Heat (28-33) have gone 17-3, which included a 13-game winning streak from Jan. 17 to Feb. 11. In the month of February, the Heat went 9-3 and are now within one game of the Detroit Pistons (29-32), who they defeated 116-103 back on Jan. 28 for the No. 8 and final playoff spot in the East.

One major reason the Heat have been able to have this unexpected turnaround in their season has been their offensive production coinciding with their defensive production.

In the first 41 games of the season, the Heat were averaging 98.3 points per game on 33.8 percent from three-point range and their point differential was a -4.5. In the first 12 games of their 13-game winning streak, the third longest in franchise history, the Heat averaged 109.4 points per contest on 42.7 from three-point range and they had a differential of +10.6.

While they have beaten the cupcakes of the NBA during their 13-game winning streak like the Brooklyn Nets (10-49) three times they have beaten some of the best in the league. This streak for the Heat began back on Jan. 17 with a 109-103 win over the high-powered Houston Rockets, who are the No. 3 Seed in the West at 43-19. The Heat also beat the Rockets on their home floor 117-109 on Feb. 15.

They have beaten the East’s No. 5 Seed the Atlanta Hawks twice 116-93 on Feb. 1 and 108-90 on Feb. 24.

The question that is probably being asked is how are the Heat doing this? That is a fair question to ask. They are doing this in the shadow of saying goodbye to their best player in franchise history in Dwyane Wade who left back in the off-season for the Chicago Bulls in free agency and that during the season, the Heat lost two key players to season ending injuries in second-year forwards Justise Winslow and Josh McRoberts and they were without second-year guard Josh Richardson.

What has happened is that head coach Erik Spoelstra is that opportunity opened up for the likes of Tyler Johnson, Wayne Ellington, Rodney McGruder to play and contribute and that the likes of Dion Waiters, Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside stepped their games up to high levels.

Coming into this season, Waiters was a highly talented player where his play did not always match the skills that made him a high draft pick by the Cavs when they took him No. 4 overall back in 2012. Early in the season, Waiters was showing that basketball became very important to him and he was playing solidly, but a groin injury shelved him for 20 games and the team struggled winning just five of those contests.

When he returned to the lineup, Waiters was better than ever and the team was the beneficiary of that solid play the last two months.

In January, Waiters averaged 16.6 points per contest on 41.0 percent from three-point range. In February, he averaged 18.4 points, 5.9 assists on 46.7 percent overall from the field and 43.2 percent from three-point range.

In the Heat’s previously mentioned victory on Feb. 1 versus the Hawks, Waiters had 20 points and seven boards. In the Feb. 15 victory at the Rockets, Waiters nearly had a triple-double of 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists going 8 for 17 from the field, including 4 for 9 from three-point range. He had 14 points and 10 assists at the Hawks nine days later and had 22 points on 8 for 15 shooting in the Heat’s 113-95 win versus the up and down Indiana Pacers.

When the Heat acquired Dragic from the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline two years ago, they thought they had their starting lead guard for years to come and re-signed him to a huge deal when he became a free agent that summer. This season was going to be a major test, especially with Wade gone. So far, he has played at a high level, particularly during this string of wins.

He is averaging 20.2 points per game this season, just one tick under his career-high that he averaged during the 2013-14 campaign when he was with the Suns.

In the Heat’s 115-113 win at the Minnesota Timberwolves (25-36) on Feb. 6, Dragic scored 33 points with nine assists on 13 for 17 shooting, making a career-high seven three-pointers in nine tries helping the Heat win their 11^th straight game.

“The rim looks huge, you know?” Dragic, who made his first seven triple attempts said after the game. “It’s just the first four three-pointers was really easy. There was no contest, and a credit to my teammates, they were finding me on the open shots.  

In the victory versus the Hawks to open the month, Dragic had 27 points, five boards and five assists on 8 for 13 from the field, including 4 for 5 from distance. He had 21 points in the victory at the Rockets as well as 21 points in the win versus the Pacers.

With the loss of Wade and Bosh, the center of attention, literally and physically was Whiteside for the Heat and for much of this season was the only consistent performer for the Heat. While individually he was living up to the huge contract he got in the off-season, the team was not winning a lot of games and his numbers were dipping. When the Heat started winning, Whiteside’s production went back up like it was to start the season.

In February, he averaged 17.7 points, 14.2 boards and 2.3 blocks on 59.6 percent from the field. After registering 18 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks in the victory versus the Hawks at the start of February, Whiteside had 30 points, 20 boards and three blocks in the Heat’s 125-102 victory versus the Philadelphia 76ers (22-38) three nights later.

“We’re not thinking about the win streak,” Whiteside said about the team’s 10^th win in a row after the game. “We’re a whole different team than we were a month ago. Guys are healthy. Guys are playing together. We’re a whole different team.

In the Heat’s win at the Rockets, Whiteside had 23 points, 14 boards and five blocks. After a poor performance of just two points, 10 boards, one block and two steals in 25 minutes at the Hawks, Whiteside came back with 22 points and 17 boards in the Heat’s previously mentioned win versus the Pacers. 

Earlier this week, the Heat had an advertisement for season-ticket holders to renew during the broadcast of their 96-89 loss FOX Sports Sun Sports on Monday was a telling sign for this season and going forward.

It featured team president Pat Riley saying, “I think the most important thing you all have invested in here is the word ‘culture.’ A culture is an organization that is characterized by shared values. When the players come here, they come to win.”

There are a lot of teams that when they are 11-30 would give up on the season and look to the draft lottery to improve themselves for next year and years to come. Not the Miami Heat from where they started this season and find themselves right on the heels of the Pistons for that No. 8 spot in the East.

“They built a team that over the last decade has won three championships. Has been to five Finals,” Jorge Sedano said on Tuesday’s edition of ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump.” “They were an attractive destination before they had won championships just because it’s Miami.”

Sedano also said though that for this team to get back to the top of the NBA mountain like they were, the Heat need star players and by them making this run will hinder them of getting into this season’s Draft Lottery if they make the playoffs and them finding that star in a very deep draft class this June.

With all of that being said though, there is a culture of winning in South Florida and we all need to remember, the Heat put themselves in position to get LeBron James and Bosh in free agency to join Wade and we saw what happened.

This run by the Heat of 17 wins in their last 20 games has shown the greatness of Spoelstra as a coach that unlike most places that are trying to build a culture of winning the Heat have a culture of winning and that will help long term and if they do not make the playoffs and are in the draft lottery, the player they bring in, will be coming into a situation with expectations and will be developed to meet those expectations.

Trade Deadline Additions Paying Dividends   

Last week was the trade deadline and it is around this time where teams that are on the edge of being a contender or improve their respective team to be better come postseason time make a move. That was the case for the Southeast Division leading Washington Wizards, the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder and they pulled the trigger on finding some more depth.

For the Wizards (36-23), they had one of the lowest productive benches in “The Association” this season and at the trade deadline found that much needed scorer and sharp shooter in Bojan Bogdanovic, who they acquired from the Nets on Feb. 23 along with forward Chris McCullough in exchange for forward Andrew Nicholson, guard Marcus Thornton and a 2017 first-round pick. They also claimed off waivers guard Brandon Jennings, who was waived by the Knicks.

For the Oklahoma City Thunder (35-26), they added some serious depth to their bench with the acquisitions of forwards Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson and a 2018 second-round pick from the Chicago Bulls (31-30) in exchange for forward Joffrey Lauvergne and guards Anthony Morrow and Cameron Payne. The also added some championship experience in signing guard Norris Cole.

The Houston Rockets (41-18) already have the likely 2017 Sixth Man of the Year in guard Eric Gordon and at the trade deadline acquired perhaps the person who was in contention with him for that award in Lou Williams from the Lakers in exchange for a 2017 first-round pick and guard Corey Brewer.

Right out of the gate with the Rockets in their 129-99 win at the New Orleans Pelicans on Feb. 23, Williams had 27 points off the bench in his debut, going 9 for 16 overall, including 7 for 11 from three-point range. He followed that up with a 17-point performance in the team’s 142-130 win versus the Timberwolves and then had 28 points on 8 for 15 shooting, including 5 for 10 from distance in the 117-108 loss versus the Pacers Monday night on TNT.

For the Rockets, they not only acquired another shooter, but Williams is a player who can create his own offense and can do it at the drop of a hat and come playoff time that will be very crucial for the Rockets as their best player and leading candidate for MVP in James Harden is going to have a whole lot of attention paid to him by the opponent.

After Kevin Durant left the Thunder in free agency over the summer to go to the defending Western Conference champion Warriors, it was believed that the team would take a major step backwards and not even make it back to the playoffs. Thanks to the incredible season by the other leading candidate for MVP in Russell Westbrook and his league leading 30 triple-doubles, the Thunder are right now the No. 7 Seed in the West and stand just one game out of the No. 6 Seed in the West behind the Memphis Grizzlies (36-25).

The additions of McDermott and Gibson give the Thunder a knock down shooter in McDermott and a bruising low post offensive threat as well as a defender who can hold his own in the paint and can guard on the perimeter in defensive switches.

What this also allows more depth behind the likes of Victor Oladipo, who has been a great compliment to Westbrook in the backcourt, Enes Kanter, Steven Adams, Andre Roberson, Jerami Grant, rookie Domantas Sabonis and Alex Abrines.

So far in a Thunder uniform, McDermott has been up and down with averages of 8.8 points and 4.5 boards on just 40.0 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point range. Gibson has been solid in his four games with the Thunder with a 10.0 points and 4.5 average in 25.3 minutes.

For the Wizards, the strength of their team is the starting quintet of guards John Wall and Bradley Beal, forwards Markieff Morris and Otto Porter, Jr and center Marcin Gortat. What the team was lacking is a reserve who can come into the game and strike a match offensively.

That is what they finally got in the acquisition of Bogdanovic, who after scoring just two points in his debut in for the Wizards in their 120-112 loss at the Sixers, had 15 points on 3 for 6 from three-point range, but the Wizards lost 102-92 versus the Utah Jazz (37-24) on Sunday afternoon. Two days later, the Yugoslavian native had 16 points hitting three more triples in the Wizards 112-108 win versus the defending Western Conference Champion Warriors, snapping a two-game losing streak.

“(Our front office) did a good job of putting us in position to get a guy like Bojan, it solidifies our scoring off our bench, and then obviously, we picked up Brandon Jennings, he’s also going to help us,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said earlier this week.

For the Wizards, Thunder, and Rockets, they were borderline contenders in their respective conferences, particularly the Wizards, who are trying to win their first division crown since their championship season when they were the Bullets in 1978-79 when they defeated the then Seattle Supersonics 4-1. All three have put themselves in postition to make some noise in the playoffs, which large less than seven weeks away. The trade deadline additions have them in the conversation of seriously making their voices heard in the postseason. How quickly they mesh together will determine if that will come to fruition.

“Magic’s” Back in L.A.

NBA fans in the 1980s were introduced to “Showtime,” which was led by Earvin “Magic” Johnson. He, Bryon Scott, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper, and head coach Pat Riley led the Lakers to five titles in nine Finals appearances. The Los Angeles Lakers of today can only dream of being able to duplicate that feet as the last three years have seen just 27, 21 and 17 wins respectably and will go a fourth straight season of not making the playoffs, the longest drought in franchise history. While over the past two seasons talented players have been drafted by the organization, the direction of the team in the front office needed to be dealt with and it was in February.

On Feb. 2, “Magic” Johnson was hired as advisor to Owner and Governor of the Lakers Jeanie Buss, the daughter of the late owner of the team Dr. Jim Buss.

Just seven days into his new position, Mr. Johnson said he wants to “call the shots” and that “some decisions have to be made” about the franchise.

Decisions were made as we fast forward to Feb. 21 when Mr. Johnson was hired as the new President of Basketball Operations. Buss said in an Access Spectrum Sportsnet Exclusive interview two weeks back.

Jim Buss, Jeanie’s brother and the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and longtime Lakers’ general manager and a former Laker player Mitch Kupchak were relieved of their duties. Taking the place of Kupchak will be long time sports agent Rob Pelinka.   

“The Purple and Gold standard really dictated that the status quo wasn’t acceptable,” Mrs. Buss said in an Access Spectrum Sportsnet Exclusive interview two weeks back. “To go from 25 wins, to 21 wins, to 17 wins, to watch it erred like that, it wasn’t Laker basketball. It wasn’t what this organization stands for and so it was time for a change.”

This change was a many would think was difficult. Why? Because it was a sister firing her brother. Someone who came up with her in the organization alongside their mentioned dad Jim. Jeanie said that the decision was so hard that she waited too long to make.

The decision has now been made and now it is Johnson who will now be leading the Lakers hopefully back to the same standard in the front office as he did on the floor. He mentioned in that exclusive interview alongside Jeanie that he is all in.

“If it was any other situation, I probably would’ve not left my businesses aside. Left my business to concentrate fully 150 percent on Laker business,” Johnson said in that exclusive interview.

“Because of her [Jeanie] leadership and I know she wants to win so bad that I decided ‘Hey. I want to work side-by-side her and then we have a lot of nice young pieces on these team and we have to develop these young pieces.”

Those young pieces Mr. Johnson was referring to include second-year forwards Julius Randle and Larry Nance, Jr.; second-year guard D’Angelo Russell; rookie forward Branon Ingram and third-year guard Jordan Clarkson.

Mr. Johnson also mentioned that he loves the head coach steering this Laker ship on the floor is first-year head coach and former Laker Luke Walton, who was a part of the Lakers last title teams in 2009 and 2010.

What this comes down to is the fact that Mrs. Buss came to the realization that the Lakers were not going to turn the corner and begin the road back of becoming a title contender again if she did not take this challenge head on and redirecting it in another direction.

That resulted in Mr. Johnson going from an advisor to President and Pelinka, who will bring a fresh perspective from the eyes of an agent in terms of dealing with players.

Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report said to Vince Cellini during a taping of NBATV’s “Gametime,” said that Mr. Johnson wants to be as a GM the type of person he was in his 13-year playing career. A point guard who can move the ball around to whoever has expertise in a certain area that can be an aide to him and help the Lakers.

“He wants to be the guy,” Ding said, but he also noted that Mr. Johnson wants to gather opinions from others and not make the decision on his own.

Like the decision to acquire Corey Brewer and a 2017 first-round pick from the Rockets for Lou Williams, he had the help of a gentleman named Rob West helping him in that decision of making the trade.

To put into perspective the kind of challenge that is in front of the Lakers, their last playoff win was on May 18, 2012, a 99-96 win versus the Oklahoma City Thunder in the West Semifinals.

Getting back to prominence though will not be an easy task for the “Purple and Gold” squad, when you consider the fact that in years past, the Lakers could have their pick of the litter in free agency.

That is not the case anymore and those home runs in in the draft and free agency did not wok under Jim Buss and Kupchack, which is why Mr. Johnson has said that taking the patient approach to where when that day does come when they can get that marquee free agent in for a meeting, the Lakers will be in a place to make that pitch and hopefully seal the deal.

The Bad

Warriors lose Durant

For much of this season, the defending Western Conference champions the Golden State Warriors have had things go their way for much of this season. They sit atop the West at 50-11 and not having lost back-to-back games. The road back to The Finals though got a little tougher after Tuesday night.

The Warriors not only lost at the Wizards 112-108 on Tuesday night, but they All-Star Kevin Durant just 1:03 into the contest hyperextended his left knee when teammate ZaZa Pachulia fell into him after he was pushed by Wizards center Marcin Gortat.

The Warriors leading scorer (25.3), rebounder (8.2) and shot blocker (1.6) exited the contest with zero points, ending his streak of 562 games in the regular-season scoring at least 10 points.

In an MRI the next day, it was revealed that Durant has a Grade 2 medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain and a tibia bone bruise in his left and he will be re-evaluated in four weeks.

It was first thought that Durant would be out for the remainder of the season, but he will be back hopefully by playoff time in April.

“The good news is he’s in position where we think he will fully recover long term,” Warriors GM Bob Myers said to the East Bay Times on Wednesday. “In the short term, we’ll have to see how his body does. There was a moment where there was a potential for a different diagnosis, but that didn’t last too long.”

A lot of the Durant’s teammates and his head coach were very concerned about him and if he would be back this season.

“I’m always concerned about any injury, because you never know how bad it’s going to be,” Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr said after the game on Tuesday. “So we’ll just wait and see and keep our fingers crossed.”

“Just really hoping that it was a bone bruise,” Warriors’ forward Draymond Green, who had 14 points and 14 assists said after the game.  

The loss of Durant could not have come at a tougher time for the Warriors, who are currently on a five-game road trip on the East coast and after a home game versus the Boston Celtics (39-22) this Wednesday on ESPN, they will be back on the road two night later at the Timberwolves and next Saturday at the San Antonio Spurs (46-13) on ABC.

“We have a different roster and we haven’t been without [Durant] but one game this year,” Curry said after the loss on Tuesday night. “So it will be an adjustment.”

Struggling Raptors Lose Floor General

Over the course of an NBA season, you will encounter some highs and lows. It is the nature of the game sometimes. The only time it can be a concern is when it goes on for more than a few games. That is what has happened for the Raptors and now they are without their lead guard.

Since the start of 2017, the Raptors have gone 14-15, including a 6-6 February and are now without starting lead guard Kyle Lowry, who underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his right wrist earlier this week. He is expected to be on the shelf for the next four-to-five weeks.

The hope is that Lowry, who is averaging career-highs of 22.9 points per contest this season on a career-highs of 46.3 percent from the field and 41.7 from three-point range to go along with 6.9 assists, which leads the Raptors and 4.7 boards.

The good news if there is any in this tough situation for the Raptors is that they have a solid replacement to run the show with Lowry down in Cory Joseph, who has scored 11, 14 and six points in the final three games of February that he has started and the Raptors won all three games.

On the season, Joseph, a former member of the Spurs is averaging 8.7 points, 2.6 boards and 2.8 assists in 23.3 minutes per game.

What this also means that the inexperienced Delon Wright will be the backup and that will be a challenge that the Raptors must overcome.

Also, the Raptors added some depth to the roster last month with the acquisition of forward Serge Ibaka from the Raptors and forward P.J. Tucker from the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline in exchange for forward Jared Sullinger and two second-round picks.

The Raptors finished the month 3-0 without Lowry, which includes a big come from behind win 92-91 on Monday night at the Knicks, thanks to a game-winning turnaround jumper with 1.9 second remaining by All-Star DeMar DeRozan, who had 37 points on the night.

After the game, DeRozan was talking with reporters he and Lowry had a jovial moment where DeRozan was wishing him luck on his surgery.

A reporter asked if this performance was the most satisfying, Lowry answered the question for him by saying “No because I was not out there with him.”

That joking banter showed that the Raptors will be fine and will their share of games with Lowry on the shelf.  

The Raptors right now are the No. 4 Seed in the East, but are just 1 ½ games ahead of the Hawks, who occupy the No. 5 Seed and if the playoffs began today the Raptors would have home court in the opening round of the series. The problem with that is if they get past the opening round and they are No. 4, they would meet up with the Cavs in the Semis, who they lost to in the Conference Finals 4-2.

On top of that, the chances of Raptors repeating as Atlantic Division champs for the fourth straight season are very low as they trail the Celtics by three games. If the Raptors happen to catch up with the Raptors they would win the division because they won three of the four meetings this season and would ensure they would not meet the Cavs until the Conference Finals. The problem is if that happens, they would face off against the Chicago Bulls in the opening round and they have lost to the boys from the “Windy City” 11 consecutive times, including both meetings this season.

Also, the Raptors last season in their march to the Conference Finals were taken to the limit, going seven games with the Pacers in the opening round and seven games in the Semis against the Heat.

There is no guarantee the Raptors make it to the Conference Finals, which begs the question how will Lowry perform once he comes back, especially since he shot just 39.7 percent and just 30.4 from three-point territory in the postseason in 2016.  

The Ugly

More Problems In “Big Apple”

The difference between the good teams in the NBA are ones who are able to take care of their business on the court and never allow issues that might be going on with the team leak. That has been a major issue with the New York Knicks in 2016-17. It seems like since December they are trying to put out one firestorm after another whether it is team president Phil Jackson expressing via twitter his feelings about Carmelo Anthony to how the team is performing on the court. You would think that things could not get any worse. News flash, it has gotten worse and it was on full display at Madison Square Garden (MSG) as well for those who watched on national television to see.

On Wednesday night, Feb. 8 the Knicks lost versus the Los Angeles Clippers 119-115 on ESPN, Knicks’ legend Charles Oakley was hauled off by MSG security after the former Knick shoved one of the security guards.

This all occurred not too far from Knicks owner James Dolan, whose Oakley has been very critical of in recent years of how he has turned the Knicks basically into a joke of a team. Far from the perennial playoff team that they were in the 1990s when Oakley was a part of the team from 1990-00.

To bring how stunning this incident was, tennis legend John McEnroe was also in the vicinity when this all took place and for someone who was known for having a temper when he played on tennis, he was even stunned to see Oakley in this situation.

Actor and comedian Chris Rock was seen wandering around a hallway in MSG saying, “What the hell happened?”

It all ended with Oakley being escorted out by security and he was then later arrested and charged with three counts of assault.

There is a back story to all of this as mentioned earlier. Oakley has been critical of the Dolan and how he has run the Knicks over the past few years, which he has taken major offense to.

So much so that Dolan has effectively shut Oakley out, not even including him in the organization’s big anniversary celebration in honor of the team’s 70^th season of existence in the NBA. Oakley has even said that no one even wants him anywhere in MSG.

What makes these even harder is that Oakley is one of the most beloved Knicks of all-time. He played with a sense of urgency, energy, grit, and toughness for years when he wore the colors of orange, white and blue.

Oakley said of the situation later that evening, “I sat down, tried to have a good time. Next thing I know I was asked to leave the building. I asked, why?”

“And he said, you have to leave because someone ordered you to leave. If somebody walking up on you, you have to protect yourself in all matters. I’ve been in situations like that before. I’ve been jumped before. So, my mind I was see, seven, eight, nine, ten guys walking up on you, you have to brace yourself and be ready for the challenge and that’s all my thinking.”

The Knicks issued their statement about what they feel took place on social media @NY_KnicksPR, “Charles Oakley came to the game tonight and behaved in a highly inappropriate and completely abusive manner. He was a great Knick and we hope he gets some help soon.”

This situation really brings into focus the bigger issue of what is really going on in the “Big Apple.” The Knicks are losing and the fans are just disgusted by it and so are some former Knicks like Oakley who are not shy of expressing their thoughts and Dolan cannot handle it.

As far as Oakley being a little off his rocker, he made several appearances on ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump” during the NBA Finals and as host Rachel Nichols pointed out on the Feb. 9 edition, Oakley showed zero signs that he was unstable as he did when she covered him during his playing days.

“I had so much fun being around Oakley back then and sure it was cool that he was so tough, but the thing about him you really love with how true he was to the game and the people who played it,” Nichols said.

“I said last night the Knicks could go 0-82 and it wouldn’t lose them as many fans as if they pressed charges against Charles Oakley and while we all know it is not okay to start physically shoving anyone, it’s also not okay to try to wipe away the contributions Oakley made to New York basketball. He is not the enemy and in a season full of mistakes over at MSG, turning him into one might be the Knicks biggest mistake of all.”

With that being said, the Knicks made another bad Public Relations move when they fired the senior vice president of security Frank Benedetto of MSG just 48 hours our after the Oakley incident and as for Oakley, he has been officially banned from MSG, which was reported by Michael Kay, host of “The Michael Kay Show,” on Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network.

While Oakley is remorseful about what happened, he feels that he did nothing wrong and has gotten support for his stand from Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James, who walked around Chesapeake Energy Arena when his team faced the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 9 chanting Oakley for president, but called him to personally lend his support. The people of NYC are Oakley’s side as well. So much so that when the New York Rangers of the NHL hosted the Nashville Predators on Feb. 9, the fans were cheering for Oakley.

Getting back to the vice president of security at MSG, he used to work for the secret service and protected the 44^th President of the U.S. Barack Obama.

To put a bow on this crazy situation, the Knicks first game after the All-Star break one week ago, yesterday was a loss versus the Cavs 119-104 and Oakley was there in attendance at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH, his hometown, and he sat next to Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert in the front row adjacent to the home team’s bench.

“It’s always great to see him,” James said. “He’s like an uncle of mine.”  

As far as on the court, the Knicks find themselves four games back of the No. 8 and final playoff spot, held by the Pistons right now. The Knicks on top of that need to pass four teams that are in front of them, which consist of the Charlotte Hornets (26-35), the Bucks and the Heat with 21 games left in the season.

Earlier this season, the Knicks were 14-10 and the wheels have fallen completely off since then. They have been in the headlines more for how they have treated their star player in Anthony and how they treated Oakley who was a key reason the Knicks were a championship contenders in the middle of the 1990s and early 2000s. That is not the case anymore and from the way things are going, things are not going to get better anytime soon.

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 2/2/17 6 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Vince Cellini, Dennis Scott, and Greg Anthony; 2/9/17 2 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Vince Cellini, Steve Smith, and Billy King; 2/9/17 3:30 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump,” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Ramona Shelburne, Chauncey Billups, and Tracy McGrady; 2/10/17 3:30 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Brian Windhorst and Tracy McGrady; 2/12/17 1 a.m. edition NBATV’s “Gametime,” presented by State Farm with Kristen Ledlow, Dennis Scott and Mike Fratello; 2/23/17 1 p.m. “NBA Trade Deadline Show,” on NBATV with Matt Winer, Stu Jackson, Sekou Smith and David Aldridge; 2/21/17 11 p.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Vince Cellini and Greg Anthony; 2/28/17 3:30 p.m. of ESPN “NBA: The Jump,” with Rachel Nichols, Jorge Sedano and Stephen Jackson;   3/2/17 10:30 p.m. Oklahoma City Thunder versus the Portland Trail Blazers on TNT with Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and Lewis Johnson; www.espn.com/nba/teams/standings/schedules; www.nba.com/games; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_NBA_playoffs; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Washington_Wizards_seasons; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Toronto_Raptors_seasons;  http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers#Season-by-season_records and http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanie_Buss.