With 10 days left in the NBA regular season, it's time we recognized the Hornets for what they've been all season - the most consistently effective team in the Western Conference.

Their 12-point win over the Warriors Sunday afternoon told us everything we need to know. MVP candidate Chris Paul had the fourth triple-double of his career -- 16 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, plus 5 steals -- and hit a 3-pointer with just less than eight minutes left that broke a tie and allowed the Hornets to end the game with an 18-6 run.

To better reflect what Paul was about Sunday (and the entire season for that matter), consider that he fired an airball that turned into an assist and a lob pass that actually went through the hoop. Consequently, the 54-22 Hornets have equaled the most wins in franchise history, have a two-game lead in the loss column over the Spurs and the Lakers for the top seed in the conference, and their 17-10 mark against the other eight playoff contenders in the West is also the high-water mark in the West. The 54 wins also mark the most ever for coach Byron Scott, now in his eighth season overall as a head coach and fourth with the Hornets. He never won that many coaching the Nets to the NBA Finals twice.

Most impressively is they've been hanging with the big boys all season. Aside from a 2-4 stretch in late February, they haven't wavered. Even that was predictable, considering the toll Paul and forward David West took from their first NBA All-Star appearances (not to mention their added responsibilities with New Orleans as the host city). Besides, they've bounced back even stronger since then, with a 15-3 burst, including the last four in a row and 11 consecutive wins at home. And speaking of at home, they've sold out 10 of their last 15 games (11 for the season), so the energy from the team has managed to ignite the hurricane ravaged Big Easy.

So why is there so much reticence to buy into the Hornets as legit contenders to win the West?

It begins with inexperience. Paul is a virtual lock to be first team All-NBA, a byproduct of leading the league in assists and steals, and has led the Hornets all season. But he's in just his third season and has no playoff experience. Neither does West, the 6-9, 240-pound power forward in his fifth season. Nonetheless, he too put on a typical show Sunday with 25 points and nine rebounds, making his last nine shots from the field. He's equally effective inside and outside. They are outstanding players individually and together, with a limitless potential together. Center Tyson Chandler, averaging 11.8 points and 11.9 rebounds while leading the NBA in offensive rebounds per game, has come a long way the past two years but has no starts among his 12 playoff appearances.

The other two starters - Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson - have experience. Stojakovic had 59 postseason games from 1999-2006, 57 of which were in Sacramento when he was an All-Star. Peterson played in 19 playoff games in three different years for Toronto. Peterson, though, remains an average starter at best, capable of running the floor and decent streaks of outside shooting. More intriguing is Stojakovic, who seems to have revived his game at the age of 30 despite four consecutive years of a declining scoring average.

His role with the Hornets is a perfect fit. He averages 16.2 points, leads the league by making 93 percent of his free throws and is second in 3-point accuracy at .455. Sunday he had what appeared to be an easy 25 points - spotting up around the perimeter with Paul or West finding him wide open.

The biggest question is their depth, or at least it was until Sunday, when they outscored the Warriors reserves 26-5. Guard Jannero Pargo scored 15 points during a six-minute span in the second quarter for the Hornets and has experienced 18 playoff games in his career. Bonzi Wells provides them a strong post-up scorer from the wing and is also very effective anywhere on the baseline. The mercurial Wells has also had some big postseason numbers in 36 career games. But they really haven't gotten any serious contributions in the power positions to help Chandler and overall, they are tied for last with the Charlotte Bobcats in offensive bench productivity.

They sorely need recently resigned Chris Andersen to support Chandler where Hilton Armstrong and Melvin Ely have not. But Andersen has been back for only five games following a two-year hiatus for failing to adhere to the NBA substance abuse policy, and is a far cry from being prepared for the physical and mental intensity for this point of the season and the playoffs.

So where does that leave the Hornets? They still sit atop the West, and despite four of the final six games on the road, they've got the best shot of anybody to retain the top seed when the playoffs begin.

But with so little playoff experience and really being only seven deep is a problem whether they play the Nuggets or Warriors as it appears it would be in the first round. Ultimately, if Paul fails to win the MVP award, which is far more likely to go to Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett, he'll have to be the de facto postseason MVP for the Hornets to be just as competitive in the playoffs.

The game becomes much more physical and with the brute force of the West, it is doubtful Chandler will be capable of keeping up his stats and staying out of foul trouble. And yet, with so many run-and-gun teams, it may not be as much of a factor for the Hornets as some would lead you to believe.

Actually, it may just be another excuse not to make them one of the favorites. Then again, the only group that has to believe is the Hornets themselves. And considering the first 76 games ... that may very well be enough.

 

 

When the defending Eastern Conference champs pulled the trigger just moments before the NBA trade deadline six weeks ago, it was hard to figure which way they were headed.

Watching the Cleveland Cavaliers always is, if only because LeBron James has so much impact on the team and every game, it's hard to tell whether they're coming or going. But after blowing a 17-point lead at home to the Bulls with 15 minutes left Thursday night (losing by three), suffice to say they're going.

Sure, they'll hold on to the fourth spot in the East, but most of that is because the Sixers didn't find out they were pretty good until too late in the season, and the Wizards and Raptors have been too beaten up to establish any continuity.

The Cavs have been a mess all season for myriad reasons, but at least they have James to haul the garbage.

It began before the season started with Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao holding out and dropping just enough doses of cyanide into the team chemistry to prevent any sort of flow. And when they finally woke up and signed their contracts, predictably, they both got hurt.

Then after Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden and Ira Newble were dealt, with newbies Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West dressed in their finest duds and watching because all the physicals hadn't been passed in the three-team deal, they somehow managed to beat the Washington Wizards with only eight players. Two of those players were late call-ups from the D-League never to be heard from again.

That was Feb. 22, and until Thursday night they hadn't had their full compliment of players. Whether it was Daniel Gibson's ankle, the aching back of Zydrunas Ilgauskas or, more recently, similar back problems for Wallace, something had always been awry.

After watching Gibson's wide open 3-point attempt at the buzzer miss badly, obviously something still is. By the end of the game, James' back had become an issue too - his 0-for-5 shooting in the fourth quarter and 1-for-2 free throws after 32 points in the first three quarters telling that tale.

But the most reflective moment of the game came in the final three minutes when Wallace went up for an uncontested dunk and the rim became an insurmountable obstacle. It was embarrassing. It had everything to do with why the Cavs had just one field goal the final seven minutes of the game and converted just 6-of-23 in the fourth quarter after shooting better than 53 percent left in the first three quarters.

You know that little idiot light on your car that tells you the gas tank is almost empty?

It looks like it might be on for the once fierce Ben Wallace ... and maybe the Cavs.

Coach Mike Brown desperately clung to what he believes will be his rotation come playoff time, eschewing the more effective Damon Jones and Devin Brown for the obviously struggling Gibson and still uncomfortable Szczerbiak.

And for the umpteenth time, please, puhleez don't play Wallace and Varejao together for more than a flashing minute. Just go small instead. One of them with Ilgauskas is fine. As a duo they look as unpolished as a couple of overgrown high school football players on the basketball court just for the sake of knocking people around. Besides, they certainly didn't keep the Bulls from shooting 63 percent in the second half.

With two weeks left until the playoffs begin, the Cavs will draw the Wizards, Sixers or Raptors, have homecourt advantage and be eminently capable of beating any of them provided James is healthy. He proved that last year. But that was a team that had already established its own chemistry and pecking order - they were predicated on defense, staying close and allowing James to win games.

This year's version has no idea. Sure, they won at Charlotte on Wednesday night despite James fouling out with just less than four minutes left in the game.  It did end their six-game road losing streak, and to be fair, the game and the travel certainly took its toll down the stretch Thursday. Even the most ardent of Cavs fans - if they're honest - know that it really wasn't any different than many other losses this season.

They are 10-10 since that first game with Wallace, Szczerbiak and West, and showing no signs of gaining any consistency on either end of the floor. They still haven't shown any ability to run an offense down the stretch of a game other than the proverbial "Get out of the way and let LeBron do it."

On one hand, they have lost five games on a last-second shot. On the other, they have won more games coming from behind in the fourth quarter than anyone in the league. James is just such an amazing talent, maybe Brown figures he's better off just staying out of his way as a coach down the stretch of games. Nonetheless, the Celtics, Magic and even the aging Pistons, whom the Cavs upset last year to win the East, are all better than they were at this time last year.

The Cavs are not. Right now, they are James and 11 guys who look like they are concerned about crossing a busy intersection. And with just six games left, they'd better figure it out fast. The light is about to change again.

In what was evidently a strange convergence of energy from the sports gods, four injured All-Stars returned to their respective teams Wednesday with just two weeks left before the the NBA playoffs begin.

Isn't this why we love professional sports?

• A funny thing happened just hours after Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said it looked like it would require more time before Dirk Nowitzki would return from the left ankle and knee injury he suffered on March 23 in a loss to the Spurs ... he started. Nowitzki scored 18 points in 27 minutes during the huge 111-86 win over the Warriors, moving the Mavs alone into seventh place in the West. The Mavs were 2-3 since the injury, but now have a two-game lead and the tie-breaker over the ninth-place Warriors and a one-game lead over the eighth-place Nuggets, who also have the tie-breaker with the sliding W's.

• Nobody has known what to think about Gilbert Arenas, who has been talking for six weeks that he would return from November surgery on his left knee, but Wednesday night was it for Agent Zero. He came off the bench to score 17 points in 19 minutes for the Wizards in a bizarre, 110-109 loss to the Bucks during which teammates Antawn Jamison (sprained right shoulder) and DeShaun Stevenson (sprained right ankle) were helped off the floor after a scramble for the ball with 6.3 seconds left. The result dripped with irony, not only because it was Arenas' return, but both Caron Butler (strained hamstring) and Antonio Daniels (sprained wrist) returned after missing a game with injuries as well ... so much for the full compliment of players that coach Eddie Jordan was expecting.

• Everything returned to normal for the Lakers when Pau Gasol made his first appearance since suffering an ankle sprain on March 14. He played 32 minutes, contributing 10 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds in the 104-91 win over the Blazers - a huge lift considering the Lakers were 5-5 since he got hurt. They remain just 1.5 games out of the top seed in the West, and have the third seed with first place in the Pacific Division, a game ahead of the Suns.

• And in perhaps the biggest surprise of all, Clippers forward Elton Brand entered the game midway through the first quarter against Seattle, playing for the first time since suffering a torn Achilles tendon in the summer. Predictably rusty, Brand scored 13 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Clippers came from behind to run away from the Sonics, 102-84, to end an eight-game road losing streak.

Brand's move was typical of a quality guy not only showing that he wanted to play when he was ready, but also that he's worth every penny to someone as a player and a leader if he does opt out of his contract this summer.

But the biggest boon certainly is the return of Nowitzki and what this game did for the Mavs and Warriors in divergent circumstances. Left for dead by so many critics, this was the second win in a row for the Mavs, and certainly the commentary by Johnson earlier in the day about Nowitzki's status came at the expense of his mentor in gamesmanship - Warriors coach Don Nelson. The Mavs, who still have to travel this weekend to play the Suns and Lakers, suddenly are loaded with momentum after beating their first over-.500 team since acquiring Jason Kidd 22 games ago. They were 0-10 before Wednesday night, but Nowitzki's return further girded this group - as Kidd had 17 assists compared to just 10 for the Warriors as a team in the game.

That statistic was reflective of how the Warriors have come apart of late. They've lost three of their last four and five of eight to slide out of what looked like a strong seventh place. Not only do they lose the tie-breakers to the Mavs and Nuggets, but they've lost two in a row for the first time since the Jan. 2-4, and only the second time since an 0-6 start with captain Stephen Jackson suspended. Furthermore, after 37 consecutives games of 100 points or more as the highest scoring team in the league, they had just 86 against the Mavs after managing only 92 in a 24-point loss to the Spurs Tuesday. Jackson, not coincidentally, was 1-for-11 with 2 points against the Mavs and 2-for-12 with a pair of 3-pointers against the Spurs. Eight points in two games won't do for Captain Jack, averaging 20.4 for the season.

Where they go from here, with a game at Memphis Friday and the road trip ending at New Orleans on Sunday, is anybody's guess. They do finish the season with four of their last five games at home with a game at Phoenix in between, so this thing could turn again depending on the Mavs and Nuggets. Of the four home games, the Nuggets are the only winning team, with the Clippers, Kings and Sonics the other three.

The Wizards' position in the East is just as shaky - although they are far from falling out of the playoffs in the less competitive conference. However, the loss dropped them from the fifth seed pushing the Cavaliers for home court into a three-way tie for fifth with the Raptors and Sixers - three games ahead of the eighth-place Hawks - and light years (OK, seven games) ahead of the Nets and Pacers. The status of Jamison and Stevenson is huge moving forward - not only for the remaining seven games but for the playoffs.

As for the Lakers, they're still waiting for 20-year-old starting center Andrew Bynum to return from the knee injury that has sidelined him Jan. 13. They are hopeful over the next few days, and obviously they'd love for him to play at least a handful of games before the playoffs.

Nobody figured this first Wednesday in April would be so significant, so you never know.

 

There are a lot of reasons why Kevin Garnett should be recognized as the league's best defensive player this season. Maybe he'll get the nod and maybe he won't. The case on why he should isn't difficult to make, though, as we trace the history of the award and other possible candidates. History tends to dictate the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year is a shot-blocker first and foremost. Since the award - voted on by the media - began in 1983 with Milwaukee Bucks uber-defender Sidney Moncrief winning the first two years, 16 of the next 23 winners were shot-blockers - including Marcus Camby last year.

That's not to say the shot-blocker, who's virtually always an exceptional rebounder as well, doesn't deserve the award. It's just easier to distinguish the cause and effect, recognizing that it isn't just that particular stat that makes the difference, but the intimidation factor as well. When you have guys like Camby, four-time winner Dikembe Mutombo and multiple winners such as Hakeem Olajuwon and Alonzo Mourning patrolling the paint, it does allow the rest of the team to play tougher on the ball because he's back there as a fierce last line of defense.

The same can be said for on-the-ball pressure, with Hornets point guard Chris Paul leading the league in steals, although that rarely predicates the award-winner.

It would make it easy to tab Camby again considering he's leading the league blocks again and is right up there in rebounds. Young Magic center Dwight Howard will garner a lot of votes, too, since he's leading everyone in rebounding and is near the top of the league in blocks.

The Lakers' Kobe Bryant, a fierce one-on-one defender will get his share of votes because he's so talented and popular overall. Generally speaking, it's difficult to single out individual defenders. Over the years, other than Moncrief, the awards have gone to great one-on-one defenders such as Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Dennis Rodman and Ron Artest. There are those who believe the Spurs' Bruce Bowen has deserved it for years but can't get the necessary votes because there is a perceived notion of dirty play on his part.

This year, we're going a different direction, giving the nod to a team-defense guy who is making everyone around him better: the Celtics' Garnett. That's not to say Garnett hasn't been acknowledged as a great defender before. He was voted first-team All-Defense six years in a row by the coaches until slipping to second team the past two seasons. KG has never been voted the top defender by the media and this time around he should.

Ironically, his overall individual defensive statistics - 1.3 blocks, 1.4 steals and 9.4 rebounds - are below average over the breadth of his career. But the spidery arms, great hands, superior defensive knowledge and instincts of the 6-11, 240-pound Garnett have made the Celtics the best defensive team in the league this season. His help defense has given everybody else on the team more confidence and enhanced the team's overall defensive IQ.

Heck, Celtics center Kendrick Perkins has more blocks than Garnett. But KG's presence has given the young starter the freedom and confidence to come from the weak side and becoming an increasingly effective shot-blocker.

It's hard to say how the rest of the voters will go in this instance. Camby will get a lot of votes again, so will Howard considering how much he and the Magic have risen in the NBA consciousness this season. And certainly neither would be the wrong choice.

Nonetheless, the reason Garnett deserves this is the same reason he will attract a lot of votes for Most Valuable Player too - he does so much to make the other players better with his consistent presence - his overall impact is incalculable.

To be sure, coach Doc Rivers and his staff deserve a lot of credit for transforming this team on the defensive end into a powerhouse that is leading the league in field-goal defense and defensive scoring average But none of it would have been possible without the towering president of "The Big Ticket," in the middle of the fray to control things.

That's why in my book, Garnett stands alone as the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year.

Without the deepest bench to support him, somehow Eddie Jordan has kept the Washington Wizards going all season, and even flirting with the home court in the first round.

Sure, they were on the verge of setting a franchise record Monday night at Utah when Jerry Sloan mercifully called off the dogs in the 42-point destruction of the Wizards. But along with Gilbert Arenas missing his 65th straight game, Caron Butler was sidelined with a strained left hamstring and Antonio Daniels sat out due to a sprained left wrist. So really, the 2-3 swing West doesn't look so bad, with the possibility of all three playing Wednesday night at home against the languishing Milwaukee Bucks.

Looking up, the Wiz is just three games behind the erratic Cavaliers.

Looking down, they are tied for fifth with the Raptors and just a game ahead of the red-hot Sixers.

Nonetheless, with little but mouth coming from Arenas all season, and Butler struggling since very early February with hip problems and now the hamstring, Jordan's coaching job has to be considered one of the best in the East. Antawn Jamison has been special all season, playing in all 74 games, averaging 21.5 points and 10.2 rebounds, while Brendan Haywood and DeShaun Stevenson have been solid while averaging in double figures. In the process, Jordan has also developed a decent bench with youngsters Andray Blatche, Roger Mason, Darius Songaila and Nick Young.

In the stretch run and looking forward to the playoffs, the Wizards could be very dangerous if they somehow get healthy. It's impossible to distinguish between fact and fiction coming from Arenas' mouth - even the latest about how he'll take a pay cut this summer in his new contract so Jamison can get what he deserves - so we don't know if he's going to play Wednesday, or not at all this season.

Either way, Jordan deserves praise for how well they've played in what could have had this team struggling to make it at the bottom of the playoff chart.

 

And before we let go of the Jazz, what is it with them? In the last two weeks they have lost at Minnesota, at the Lakers, at New Jersey and at Chicago. They did look impressive winning at Boston, but it's tough to take them as serious contenders to win the West considering they are 16-22 on the road. They have yet to put any consistent play together away from the friendly confines of the Great Salt Lake, where they have set a franchise record with a glittering 33-4 record already.

 

Switching back to the East, the Hawks won their fourth in a row and have a three-game lead in the loss column over the Nets and Pacers in their quest to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999. The next four games will be huge, with the Raptors coming in, followed by a home-and-home series with the Sixers, and a trip to Indy. Joe Johnson has averaged 23.4 points as the Hawks have won eight of 10 to strengthen their grip on the eighth seed. The jobs of coach Mike Woodson and general manager Billy Knight are hanging in the balance even if they do make the playoffs, with ownership still in a state of disarray. But at least the fans finally have something to wrap their arms around now that Knight finally figured out they needed a point guard when he dealt for Mike Bibby.

 

The Pacers know they may have to sweep their final eight games to make the playoffs, but there was a reason to get excited Monday night. Jermaine O'Neal played for the first time since Jan. 16 during their 20-point win over the Heat, and responded with 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a block in 18 minutes. O'Neal missed 33 games with a bone bruise on his left knee and few expected him to play anymore this season. Wonder why? Well, he'd certainly like to help the team make the playoffs, but also wants to prove he can play. The Pacers would love that too, particularly if he can garner interest and unload that $20 million-a-year contract. Wouldn't Larry Bird love to have that offer of Richard Jefferson and Nenad Krstic from the Nets, again?

 

We'll know a lot more about the Mavericks very soon, but you can't write them off yet. They busted that three-way tie for seventh in the West last night with a win over the Clippers, while the Nuggets were blowing a big lead at Phoenix with a second-half collapse. So the Mavs (46-28) now lead the Warriors (45-28) by a half game, with the Nuggets (45-29) falling to ninth, a half game out of eighth and a full game out of seventh. The Mavs play host to the Warriors and the Nuggets play host to the Suns tonight, with the Mavericks playing at the Lakers and Suns over the weekend. The Mavs are now 11-0 against sub-.500 teams with Jason Kidd and 0-10 against teams with a winning record. Tonight will be a great one. Dirk Nowitzki has begun jogging on that balky knee and ankle, but for him to return this weekend could cause him to miss the rest of the season. It will be interesting.

 

Now that commissioner David Stern has the Board of Governors fawning all over Oklahoma City too, you have to wonder what Seattle is going to do with its lawsuit to hold the Sonics for two more years. Do they squeeze more money out of owner Clay Bennett and let him go next season to have the rest of the dough to pay the $300 million to double the footprint of KeyArena, and wait for another team? Perhaps it's not a coincidence that the news broke last week that Chicago-based owner Michael Heisley's Memphis partners with the Grizzlies saw their share drop from 30 percent to 5.8 percent and lost the right of first refusal to match any offer for the team. Could Seattle have a dark year, then regain a team in the fall of 2009? Evidently, $350 million to Heisley, plus the $105 million to buy out the lease might put the Grizzlies in Seattle. Or, it could cost a lot less if the Hornets are ready to move from New Orleans in 2009. It would certainly help with the Western Conference schedule and travel to put one of those teams in Seattle for the Northwest Division and the Oklahoma team in the Southwest Division.