No. 1: Thomas driven to lead Celtics to No. 1 seed — Two numbers are on the Boston Celtics’ mind as tonight’s game with the Phoenix Suns (7:30 ET, NBA LEAGUE PASS) nears — 10 and one. The 10 signifies how many games are left in the Celtics’ season and the one is how many games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers they are for No. 1 in the Eastern Conference. Reaching the pinnacle of the standings is a goal for All-Star Isaiah Thomas and his crew, writes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald:
“(Expletive), I’m watching,” Isaiah Thomas said after yesterday’s practice. “Other guys might say (they’re not). Hey, I’m watching. I watched the end of the Cleveland game last night. I saw that they lost. But, I mean, we’re not chasing it. We’re just trying to control our own destiny, control where we are right now, and if we happen to somehow get the No. 1 seed, that would be great. But if not, hopefully we can just keep the No. 2 seed.”
The Celtics are even with the Cavaliers in the win column, but they’ve played two more games and have 26 defeats to Cleveland’s 24. But the C’s also have a more favorable schedule down the stretch in terms of opponent quality and home/road breakdown.
The value of getting the top seed would really only come into play if the Celts meet Cleveland in the East finals, and, no matter who gets the extra home game, the C’s would be a decided underdog in that series.
But achieving No. 1 is still something worthwhile to Thomas.
“I think that’s the ultimate goal, to be the best seed you possibly can, whatever that is,” he said. “We have a chance at No. 1 with being a game behind them, but at the same time we’ve just got to control what we can and worry about the things we can control and not worry about if Cleveland wins or loses. We’ve got to worry about just keeping where we are at least.”
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Where two years ago the Celtics were merely first-round fodder for Cleveland, last season they finished in a four-way tie for third in the East and wound up in the fifth position after it was all sorted. They subsequently lost to Atlanta in six games, probably hindered more by key injuries than homecourt disadvantage.
Getting a better fix on seeding would be helpful to the Celts, but as of now coach Brad Stevens has no plans to alter the rotation for purposes of rest.
“I’ve said all along we’ve gotten a lot of minutes managed by injury,” the coach said. “We’ve lost a lot of games to injury, and that’s in a weird, ironic sort of way been helpful, because those guys have already missed some games and they won’t have the wear and tear of 82 games on them necessarily.
“But I think that just as important to look at as managing the minutes is making sure they’re playing enough and making sure that they are playing together enough. So if there is a fine line, we’ll walk it, but our intention right now, based on what we’ve already been through with injuries, is to play everybody. And as we get into the final week, we’ll start to evaluate everything else.
“We don’t have a back-to-back over the next week or two, so when that hits, maybe that changes your mind a little bit. But for now we’re full speed ahead. We’re going to play everybody.”
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No. 2: Make-or-break road trip awaits Pelicans — The thinking was when the New Orleans Pelicans traded for DeMarcus Cousins that a playoff berth was more or less a formality. That hasn’t held true, though, as the Pelicans are 7-7 since the deal (but have won five of their last six games). A three-game road trip that starts tonight in Houston (8 ET, NBA LEAGUE PASS) could decide New Orleans’ playoff hopes. William Guillory of The Times-Picayune has more:
The Pelicans (30-41) head into their three-game road trip four games back of the eighth and final playoff seed in the Western Conference, and forward Anthony Davis said the team has one focus heading into the crucial stretch:
“Win games,” he said. “Their team’s not going to change, our team’s not going to change. We’ve just got to go out there and win. That’s all it comes down to, there’s no rocket science to it.”
After Friday’s tilt against the Rockets, New Orleans takes a trip to play the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, followed by a contest at the Utah Jazz on Monday on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Pelicans have won five of their past six games to stay afloat in the postseason race, but they still have three teams to overtake (Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers and the Nuggets) in order to get the No. 8 seed.
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“I think we know. It’s pretty obvious, really,” said Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry. “We’ve got a three-game trip that’s very important. At worst, we’ve got to go 2-1, and one of those, we’ve got to find a way to beat Denver–that’s who we’re chasing.”
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Cousins has never reached the playoffs during his seven-year career and he said making it to the postseason for the first time with his new team will provide some added inspiration down the stretch.
“It’s motivation for me. We’re not far away, but we’ve got to play some of the basketball of the year right now,” said Cousins. “We’re well aware of that. So, we’ve got to leave it all out there right now. Every game matters, no nights off.”
The Pelicans had one of the worst offenses in the league when Cousins initially arrived in New Orleans, but as he’s figured out how to incorporate his game into Gentry’s up-tempo style, New Orleans is playing some of its best basketball of the season.
Since Mar. 11, New Orleans is No. 7 in the NBA in offensive rating (110.9) and No. 5 in defensive rating (102.3).
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“As each game went by, I feel like the chemistry between me and (Davis) and everybody else on the floor was continuing to get better,” said Cousins. “I think it’s going to continue to do that. The hardest part about all this is we had to do it on the fly, that in itself is a lot more difficult than people realize.”
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No. 3: Pacers’ Turner trying to get offense on track — Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner remains one of the more promising big man prospects in the NBA. Yet at times of late, his scoring touch hasn’t been around and overall may have taken a bit of a step back on the court this season. Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star tries to get to the bottom of what’s ailing Turner’s game:
Offensively, Turner is mired in his worst stretch of the season, averaging just 8.7 points the past 10 games.
He scored just seven points on 3-of-7 shooting in Wednesday’s 109-100 loss against the Boston Celtics. It was the seventh time in the past 10 games he has failed to reach double digits. He had only failed to do so six times in his first 60 games.
Turner said that while the wear and tear of the season have taken their toll — lately, he’s been dealing with a jammed finger — he’s not sure it fully explains his sudden dip in scoring. Instead, he attributes it to a shift in responsibility.
“I’m distributing the ball a lot more,” said Turner, who has nearly doubled his assists per game (1.2 to 2.3) the past 10 games, while his 8.8 shots per game, a drop of 2.4. “It’s what the offense has called for — feeding the hot hands. (Paul George) and Jeff (Teague) have been hot, so I’m getting it to them.”
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“His reads have been to get the ball to the weak side where we have an advantage as opposed to shooting every shot when it comes to him,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said Thursday. “It’s growth involved in that, and we’re seeing that from him, which is really, really important. Once he gets that feel for rotating to the weak side … all of a sudden, teams get fearful of the pass, and they’ll start leaving him open. And that’s the reward when teams respect your ability to make good decisions.”
For Turner, though, the process is “frustrating.”
“I’ve always been a scorer,” said Turner, who turns 21 on Friday. “It’s what I like to do. But if the offense doesn’t call for me to do that, then I can’t complain.”
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No. 4: No love lost between Barnes, Kings — Veteran forward Matt Barnes opted to sign with one of the first NBA teams he ever played for, the Sacramento Kings, last summer. Barnes didn’t last long in Sacramento, thought, getting waived by the team in late February and a few weeks, was signed by the Golden State Warriors. As the Warriors host the Kings tonight (10:30 ET, NBA LEAGUE PASS), Barnes tells the San Francisco Chronicle’s Connor Letourneau he’s more than ready for his old team:
Three weeks into his second stint with the Warriors, Matt Barnes has already established himself as one of the team’s more candid players. Asked after practice Thursday about facing Sacramento, which released him last month, Barnes didn’t hold back.
“I’m trying to kill them,” said Barnes, whose Warriors host the Kings at 7:30 p.m. Friday. “Plain and simple. Things didn’t go well there.”
Barnes, who graduated from Del Campo High School in the Sacramento suburb of Fair Oaks, signed a two-year deal with his hometown Kings in July. In 22 games with Sacramento, he averaged 7.6 points and 5.5 rebounds. The Kings waived him Feb. 20 to create the necessary roster room to complete their DeMarcus Cousins trade with New Orleans.
At the time, general manager Vlade Divac said the decision was made for “culture” reasons. Barnes had been arrested two months earlier for allegedly assaulting a woman in a Manhattan nightclub.
“It was frustrating because being back home and really taking pride in trying to put that team back on the map, and then just in a day’s time you’re no longer a part of the organization,” Barnes told the Sacramento Bee. “It was kind of a rude awakening.”
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SOME RANDOM HEADLINES: Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic is driven to finish this season strong … Charles Barkley has an interesting goal he’d like to accomplish … Spain’s roster for FIBA Eurobasket this summer will be fully stocked with the best NBA players from the country … Washington Wizards big man Jason Smith promises to dance on the air if the team gets to 50 wins …
