Wednesday NBA Roundup: Mavs' Resiliency Saving Them in Chaotic West Playoff Race
Dirk Nowitzki, mired in a horrible shooting slump, shot the ball eight times and made just two field goals in the biggest game of the Dallas Mavericks' season.
He also made the defensive play of the game, a strip that dislodged the ball from James Harden's possession as the Houston Rockets' unstoppable foul magnet attacked the rim for what would have been a go-ahead layup with 5.4 seconds left in the game. Thanks to that play, Dallas escaped with a hard-fought 88-86 win.
Dirk? Defense?
Sure, why not?
Nowitzki's game-saving swipe (or obvious foul, if you live in Houston) is emblematic of the all-hands-on-deck attitude that has, somehow, helped Dallas win five straight and move a full two games ahead of the Rockets in the West playoff race. With Chandler Parsons done for the year, Deron Williams missing the Mavs' last seven contests with a groin injury and Nowitzki's shooting slump (he hit just 21 of his 76 shots in the four games preceding the win over Houston), Dallas should have been cooked long ago.
But J.J. Barea, who scored a game-high 27 points, has been on fire. And guys like Justin Anderson, Salah Mejri and the apparently indestructible Wesley Matthews found ways to pick up the slack. As Tim Cato of MavsMoneyBall.com observed, Dallas' resiliency and collective spirit set it apart from the talented but disjointed Rockets:
Score one for the overachievers.
Dallas, in possession of the tiebreaker over Houston, is in good shape. But as head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters earlier this week, things can still change in a hurry: "It's a minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour thing. You're in the fight and every possession going whistle to whistle could be the one that turns it one way or another."
Here's where we stand at the bottom of the crowded West at the moment:
| 5. Memphis Grizzlies | 42-36 | 27 |
| 6. Portland Trail Blazers | 43-37 | 27 |
| 7. Dallas Mavericks | 40-38 | 29 |
| 8. Utah Jazz | 39-39 | 30 |
| 9. Houston Rockets | 38-40 | 31 |
The remaining schedule still tilts things in Houston's favor. The Mavs have the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs left on their slate. And though it's likely at least a couple of those opponents will be coasting, the quality on that list is significantly better than what lies ahead for the Rockets.
They'll get the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings.
| Grizzlies | @DAL, GSW, @LAC, @GSW |
| Trail Blazers | MIN, DEN |
| Mavericks | MEM, @LAC, @UTA, SAS |
| Jazz | LAC, @DEN, DAL, @LAL |
| Rockets | PHX, LAL, @MIN, SAC |
Dallas should have been finished weeks ago, but its stubborn refusal to die means we can't count it out. No matter how daunting the final stretch seems.
Elsewhere, the Portland Trail Blazers' 120-105 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched a playoff berth, sealing the completion of a truly stunning season (even though Portland has two games left). Without four of five starters from last year, the Blazers were supposed to be in the first stages of a rebuild. Now it's officially a postseason participant.
This isn't something that happens often, per Trail Blazers PR:
The Thunder helped the Trail Blazers get there by resting Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and Andre Roberson. It was a shrewd move that could help the Blazers lock down the fifth spot in the West and give OKC a better shot at a first-round matchup with the dead-man-walking Memphis Grizzlies.
Portland may not have needed the help, as its remaining schedule features two softies at home: the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets. Meanwhile, the Grizz face a brutal closing run. With C.J. McCollum pumping in an efficient 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting and Al-Farouq Aminu continuing his three-point surge (nearly 54 percent from deep in his last five games), it's easy to understand why the Thunder decided not to leave things up to fate.
Memphis is a pushover. Portland might be an upset waiting to happen.
With only a week left in the regular season, the picture out West is far from complete. But wins by Dallas and Portland cleared it up a bit.
Oh Yeah, The East
In the interest of equal time, we need to hit the East playoff rundown as well.
In the lower reaches, nothing changed Wednesday, as the Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards all secured victories. Stasis isn't good for the Wizards, though, as they badly needed the Pistons to slip against the Orlando Magic to keep even semi-realistic playoff hopes alive.
But the Pistons narrowly escaped Orlando with a 108-104 victory, nullifying Washington's 121-103 win at home against the Brooklyn Nets. With four to play, Washington trails Detroit by three-and-a-half games.
One more Pistons win, and it's all over for the Wizards. It may just be a matter of time, though, with John Wall's sore right knee sounding serious. He missed his first game of the season against Brooklyn, and J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com got word from the man himself this was no minor issue:
Meanwhile, Indiana downed the LeBron James-less Cleveland Cavaliers by a final of 123-109 to stay a half game up on the Pistons for the No. 7 spot. And in a good sign for the Pacers' playoff prospects against the second-seeded Toronto Raptors, Paul George scored 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting. If he's got it rolling, Indiana will have a shot in the first round—especially if DeMarre Carroll isn't healthy enough to hound him on the perimeter.
Boston Will Have Its Chance
In a snoozy 104-97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, the Boston Celtics didn't look like a team ready to hit the most crucial stretch of its season in stride. Sure, Isaiah Thomas broke loose for 32 points and his requisite handful of highlight flips and floaters in traffic.
But his Celtics had to fight pretty hard to dispatch a woefully depleted Pelicans roster, which matters because the upcoming stretch will require a much more tuned-in effort. Boston will have to be better in home games against the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets next week.
And if it is, the reward could be significant.
Wednesday's win moved Boston into sole possession of the No. 4 seed in the East, a position that would afford it home-court advantage in the first round. Charlotte got 34 points and a career-best seven made triples from Kemba Walker in a 111-97 win over the New York Knicks, and that win kept it within one game of Boston and that fourth seed. Miami is now a half game back.
Critically, the Celtics own the tiebreaker against Charlotte, and a win against the Heat on the final day of the season would get them that one, too. Home cooking should help, as head coach Brad Stevens isn't pleased with his team's look away from familiar environs, per Bleacher Report's Brian Robb:
This middle section of the East—Boston, Miami, Charlotte and the Atlanta Hawks—has been clustered for weeks. An extra game at home in a first-round series could make all the difference, and the Celtics are in total control of their chance to secure that advantage.
After Wednesday's shaky result, whether they're in top form is another question altogether.
Peace Out, Process
Sam Hinkie, Philadelphia 76ers general manager and dreamscaper of a long-term vision too beautiful for this ugly world, resigned Wednesday, according to a team release, via Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today:
"This evening, Sam Hinkie notified the organization that he has elected to step down as President of Basketball Operations and General Manager. While we are disappointed in Sam's decision, we would like to sincerely thank him for his contributions over the past three seasons. There is no question that Sam's work has put us in a very strong position to take advantage of numerous opportunities for an exciting future.
"
With the Sixers reportedly bringing in Bryan Colangelo to join his father, Jerry, in an executive role, Hinkie's power and influence were about to be diluted even further. Per Marc Stein of ESPN.com, Hinkie submitted a a 13-page resignation letter, indicating he wasn't prepared to operate that way.
It'll take months and incalculable blog posts to apportion blame for the way things went with the Sixers since Hinkie's start in 2013. Was he unrealistic in expecting a fanbase and ownership group to stomach years upon years of losing? Maybe. But if ownership hired him knowing how long the plan would take (which it did), well...it's hard to see Hinkie as the failure.
There are lots of lessons here. It's probably true Hinkie could have operated in a way that made players feel more like people and less like assets. And maybe everyone was foolish to think tanking for years on end was ever going to fly.
What we haven't learned, though, is whether Hinkie's plan, carried to its completion, would have worked. If not for rotten lottery luck, the Sixers would have Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. And Hinkie would probably be viewed as a messiah.
I guess the main takeaway is this: Everyone likes to talk about the idea of respecting a process. But the real world demands results.
The Process is dead. Long live The Process.
Follow @gt_hughes on Twitter.
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