Los Angeles Lakers officially throw in the towel on the 2013-14 NBA season, the New York Knicks bring on an all time great for their front office, the Los Angeles Clippers be rollin’ and much more.
Let’s take a look at this week in the NBA.
Lakers Throw In the Towel
The Lakers organization seems to have finally quit on this season and begun to look forward to next year. This week the team announced that it is officially shutting down its Hall of Fame backcourt of Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash for the remainder of the season.
Kobe had been attempting to come back from a leg fracture that limited him to just six games played this season. Nash played in six of the Lakers' first eight games before sitting out with nerve root irritation in his back.
After almost three months of rehab and recovery, Nash attempted a comeback in early February and even contributing 19 points in a Laker victory against the Sixers, but he was only to play in four more games before returning to the IR list.
The Lakers have little to no incentive to rush back either of their aged superstars this season. Most fans outside of LA know the Lakers have been done for a while now, but on Friday they were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with a 119-85 drubbing at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.
With the playoffs officially out of reach, and Nash and Bryant officially ruled out for the year, the Lakers can now turn their attention to improving their odds of securing a top five pick in this year’s NBA Draft. For a franchise that is not used to this much losing, next season can’t come soon enough for the Lakers and their fans.
Meanwhile, Clippers Are Thriving
Helping LA cope with the demise of the Lakers in 2014 are the ascendant Clippers. The team that for years has played second fiddle in Los Angeles have recently been on a run that their co-tenants at the Staples Center could only dream of this season.
The Clippers are in the midst of a 10-game win streak that has seen the team playing some of its best basketball of the season.
During the streak, the Clippers have not been facing cupcake opponents either. LA has faced and bested the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns during the streak.
Only one game in the last ten pitted the Clippers against a "Leastern" Conference opponent, and that was a 109-108 victory against the Atlanta Hawks. It was the most narrow victory in a streak that has seen the Clips beat their opponents by an average of 12.3 points.
The Clippers success has, unsurprisingly, coincided with the return of All-Star point guard Chris Paul. Since Paul returned from a separated shoulder injury that cause him to miss 18 straight games in January and February, the Clippers have gone 12-3. With their team leader back, the Clippers seem to be putting it all together at the right time.
The Zen Master Heads To the Big Apple
Word broke out this week that Phil Jackson had been contacted by the New York Knicks about the possibility of him coming to work in their front office. As the week progressed, the picture became more clear and now the Knicks have a scheduled a press conference on Tuesday morning for a “major announcement."
It is widely expected that at that press conference the club will announce that Jackson will be signed to a five-year contract to fill the role of team president.
If all goes as the Knicks have planned, Jackson will return to the team that drafted him into the NBA back in 1967. Jackson spent 11 seasons with the Knicks and was a part of the organization’s last championship squad in 1972-73.
Jackson has been away from basketball since retiring from coaching in 2011. Throughout the last few years, rumors have swirled about Jackson’s return to the league. Most of the rumors placed Jackson back in LA with the Lakers in some capacity.
Jackson is undoubtedly taking over a team in transition. Carmelo Anthony has an opportunity to test the free agent market after this season and has previously said the he intends to do so. Additionally, the Knicks will only have six players expected to be under contract after next season.
The Knicks are currently on a six-game winning streak and sit three and a half games out of the final playoff spot in the East.
As team president, Jackson has limited ability to change the team outlook this season, but over the course of his contract he has an opportunity to change the fortunes of a franchise that has struggled mightily for the better part of the last 20 years and set it back on the path to the Finals.
No Surprise: Sixers Still Are God-Awful
The Philadelphia 76ers continue to set new marks for futility. In going 0-4 on the week, the Sixers extended their winless streak to 20 and set a franchise record for consecutive losses.
Aside from the broad stretch of losing, the Sixers have achieved a new NBA record for depth of losing. The Sixers now own the record for the most consecutive losses by five points or more.
The NBA record for consecutive losses was set in 2011 by the Cleveland Cavaliers with 26 L’s in a row. Looking ahead, the Sixers face Indiana, Chicago, New York, Chicago again, San Antonio, Houston and Detroit. Considering the competition on the horizon, the record is in danger of going down.
Paul Pierce Moves Up In All Time Scoring List
This week, Paul Pierce passed Patrick Ewing to move into 18th on the all time scoring list. Pierce stands 283 points removed from Jerry West for 17th place. Kevin Garnett is also climbing the all time scoring list and will pass Alex English for 14th place with his next 10 points.
The Nets are the only team in the league with two top 20 all- ime scorers currently on their roster — the MimI Heat with Ray Allen (#22) and LeBron James (#28) and the Dallas Mavericks with Dirk Nowitzki (#12) and Vince Carter (#27) are the only other teams with two scorers in the top 75.
Heat Get Past Rockets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMcFMYx_BQI
The Rockets lost to the Heat on Sunday, 113-104. For the Rockets, it was their third loss in a row, leaving the Clippers as the last team in the league that has not had a three-game losing streak this season. For the Heat, the win snapped a two-game slide and was redemption after falling to the Rockets on Tuesday.
