Week of:
3/6/11 - 3/12/11
1-San Antonia Spurs (54-12) Greg Popovich remains one of the NBA’s best coaches, changing his line ups around to fit in to keep things fresh. Spurs forward DeJuan Blair (8.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg) was scooped from the starting lineup.
2- Los Angeles Lakers (47-20); Phil Jackson and his mind games continue, with egging on other players, coaches, even owners. Does it work? Maybe, maybe not, but the Lakers are winning and playing excellent ball lately. The Lakers have been 9-1 since the All-Star break, getting in gear for the playoffs is obvious.
3- Chicago Bulls (47-18); The Bulls are back as one of the NBA’s best. Couple decades ago, the Bulls had this feeling and now they are feeling it again.
4- Boston Celtics (46-17); Adding Carlos Arroyo to the lineup was a chancy move. He will give some rest for Rondo. He just better get the plays down solid enough before the postseason starts.
5- Dallas Mavericks (47-19); Mavs could do with work on their game inside the paint; still lacking size was proven against the Lakers. They better figure it out or it could be another great season flop for Dallas.
6- Denver Nuggets (39-27); 3 weeks after losing Melo and Billups to the Knicks, the Nuggets have gotten stronger than when they had them.
7- Oklahoma City Thunder (41-23); Russell Westbrook’s (22.3 ppg, 8.5 apg) play has been tremendous, as he became only the 4th player with 4,000 points, 1,500 assists and 1,000 rebounds in first 3 seasons. K-Perk is getting some practice in; they hope to get him ready for their playoff run.
8- Miami Heat (45-21); The Heat are trying to pick up the shattered pieces that were strewn about lately, after their dreadful streak. But, they are still loaded with talent and are still a top tier team, Mike Bibby (career 15.3 ppg, 38% 3pt FG) has been playing well, and accepting his role.
9- Orlando Magic (41-25); Orlando is running low on guards, losing SG J.J. Redick (10.1 ppg) recently. They need for them to get healthy ASAP.
10- New Orleans Hornets (39-29); Chris Paul coming back after his concussion has the Hornets feeling positive, unfortunate for a team that is likely going to be playing elsewhere very soon. With the possibility of moving the Hornets to San Jose is quite probable.
Big Baller of the Week (BBW)
Dwayne Wade (SG, Miami Heat) 27 points per game, 5 rebounds per game, 6 assists per game, a breathtaking 2.25 blocks per game, also pilfering 2 balls a night as well, along with shooting 49% for the week. His Miami Heat only went 2-2; but the ultra talented guard had a monstrous week, including his best performance of the week in a 118-85 flattening of the Memphis Grizzlies, scoring 28, while also ripping down 5 boards, dishing 9 to his teammates, shooting 9-15 from the field, adding 5 swats on the defensive end along with 3 steals, yes, it was truly an astonishing game for D-Wade.
Top performers of the week
Scoring; Monta Ellis (SG, Golden St. Warriors); 39 points in a 123-120 win versus the Orlando Magic.
Rebounding; Kevin Love (PF, Minnesota Timberwolves); 21 rebounds in a 101-75 victory versus the Indiana Pacers.
Assists; Chris Paul (PG, New Orleans Hornets); 15 dimes in a 115-103 win versus the Sacramento Kings.
Steals; Mike Conley, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Paul, Jeff Teague, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute; 5 steals in each of their respective games during the week.
Blocks; Brendan Haywood (C, Dallas Mavericks); 6 blocks in his 104-103 loss versus the Memphis Grizzlies.
X-factor- tri bomber of the week
Jason Richardson; (SG, Orlando Magic) the smooth shooting scorer shot remarkable all week as he buried an absurd 64% of his 3 point attempts he put up in the week, dropping the trey ball from all over throughout the week, including going 7-11 vs the Golden St Warriors in a 123-120 loss, as he netted 30.
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