The dominance has been almost laughable. The Western Conference has so controlled the Eastern Conference since 1999, cries for re-seeding the playoffs regardless of conference  have permeated national conference calls between the media and commissioner David Stern for years.

 

Not only have the San Antonio Spurs (four) and Los Angeles Lakers won seven of the past nine NBA titles, but the West has won better than 60 percent of the inter-conference games over the previous eight years.

 

Slowly, things appear to be changing - they hope. The move of Rasheed Wallace from Portland to Detroit (through Atlanta) was vital to the Pistons winning the title in 2004. Shaquille O'Neal was sent packing by the Lakers to Miami, and that set up the Heat to win the 2006 NBA Championship. And this season, it's even more pronounced.

 

The two best teams in the East as we pass the quarter mark of the NBA season have been fortified by three players that left their Western Conference teams and suddenly the winning percentage between the two conferences is tightening.

The Boston Celtics added both Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen with the result being the best start in the NBA at 19-2. The second best record in the East is in Orlando, where center Dwight Howard has become the dominant post figure in the conference, but he has benefited greatly from the signing of free agent sharpshooter Rashard Lewis from Seattle.

 

It has been so significant that following Saturday night's games, the West advantage of the East was only 69-64, a .519 winning percentage. The Southeast Division actually has a 23-21 record over the West, with the Midwest 24-25, and the 17-23 Atlantic Division drags down the rest of the conference just a bit. Granted, excluding the scary bad Timberwolves (0-9 against the East), the record changes dramatically. Still, the effect is obvious, with Garnett and Howard clearly the top two league MVP candidates at this point.

 

The Celtics have been unbeatable at home, equaling their franchise record start of 12-0 set in 1984-85, by not only the strength of Garnett, Allen and incumbent star Paul Pierce, but the rapid growth of second-year point guard Rajon Rando, free agent James Posey and rookie Glen "Big Baby" Davis. After obliterating the Bucks by 22 on Friday night with Allen nursing one of his vulnerable ankles, raised their mark of omnipotence to double-figure win in 16 of their 19 wins for coach Doc Rivers. They won their ninth in a row Sunday, the longest streak they've had in 14 years.

 

The Magic are more erratic, despite Howard posting his third, 30-point, 20-rebound game of the season and a league-high 21st double-double Saturday night, they lost to the woeful Memphis Grizzlies. It was their third home loss in a row, dropping to 5-5 despite a NBA-best 12-3 record on the road. They've lost four of five, it has sprouted fears that this is a rerun of last season when they got off to a great start only to fail miserably and struggling to even reach the playoffs. The main difference this season is not only the addition of Lewis, but that Stan Van Gundy replaced Brian Hill as coach, so they should sustain.

 

The Pistons are still controlling the Central Division with third best record in East, having won nine of 11. But there seems to be a kind of fade going on there. Is it the aging of Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess and Chauncey Billups? Despite the poise and experience of having been in five consecutive Eastern Conference finals, there is this sense that they just don't have the energy to make it through the season and play well all the way through. As slim and tireless as they appear, Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince appear to run out of gas, too. The evidence is in the struggles the past two seasons with Cleveland, and despite some roster changes, It's hard to take them as seriously as we did a couple of years ago.

 

We're still trying to figure out the defending Atlantic Division champion Raptors. They've struggled with injuries to All-Star Chris Bosh, last year's surprise Jorge Garbajosa could be out for the season with leg surgery, and they lost T.J. Ford to another frightening fall last week that fortunately wasn't as serious as appeared. Even Andrea Bargnani, last year's top overall pick, is suffering from the sophomore blues. Still, they are right there, which translates to kudos for their resident tough guy, coach Sam Mitchell, and the magnificent role-playing from Jose Calderon and Jason Kapono.

 

The surprise of the East for though, has to be the Washington Wizards, entering the week with the fifth best record despite losing star Gilbert Arenas to knee surgery after eight games. Ironically, they were 3-5 and they've been 10-5 since he went down. Credit fellow All-Stars Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, but they've won four in a row entering the week and the latest big-time contributor has been shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson.

 

The Wolves have been banished from coach Eddie Jordan's doorstep.

Perhaps most confounding has been the erratic play of the Indiana Pacers, although that's the way they've been now for the past 3

There are plenty of memorable moments for every coach, year-in and year-out. Sometimes, there are so many, it's tough to pick one. But there isn't any doubt in the mind of Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni when it comes to last season.

It was the kind of scenario that spoiled the outcome of the season and precipitated elimination from the Western Conference finals for the second year in a row, this time by the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs.

Suns point guard Steve Nash had just gotten hip-checked into the scorer's table by San Antonio's Robert Horry, inflaming everyone on the Suns, with Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw jumping up from the bench. They were coaxed back by the coaches. But according to the NBA front office, they'd already gone too far, so they were suspended for the next game and the Suns never recovered. Consequently, the Spurs won the series and their third NBA title in five years.

 

"I think they are definitely the favorites (again). I think they will be the favorites until somebody else proves otherwise," D'Antoni said. "The most memorable moment was when we got off the bench. It probably was one of the last (moments). I don't think we'll build on it. I think we'll just try to sit down next time. I think it kind of defined our season."

 

The sarcasm is palpable, but so is his respect for the Spurs. With the terrific trio of Tim Duncan, 2007 Finals MVP Tony Parker and the incomparable Manu Ginobili, they have a great core that is used to winning, and great role players support everything they do. It's why they exploded out of the blocks with a 17-3 start.

 

Still, they have yet to win back-to-back titles, and they haven't dominated as much as sustained. But who's going to knock them off? The Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets all have great talent bases, and figure to give the Spurs everything they can handle as the season progresses. And yet, with the Spurs racing out to a lead in the West, the perception remains they have the least warts of all the teams.

 

Is it feasible for any of these other clubs to knock them off, or will they have to beat themselves? Now that both Duncan and Parker are hobbled with bad ankles the past week, and Ginobili finally cooled off - we'll get a better feel.

 

"Until someone beats them out, you have to consider them as the favorites," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, whose club lost to them in five games in the conference finals. "Their team is intact and it will be a very difficult thing to beat them. Obviously Duncan is getting a little bit older, but he has such a command of what's going on out there with his team. The players they have around, Ginobili and guys like that, just make their team extremely difficult to beat."

 

The Jazz looked strong last year and the beginning of this season again with Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams leading the way, but they have fallen flat with a five-game losing streak  They tend to struggle shooting from the perimeter, and losing Derek Fisher hurt them a lot in that manner, along with his leadership.

 

The Mavericks looked to be the team to beat last year having won the West in 2006, and followed that up with the best record in the 2006-07 regular season, only to fall flat in the first round of the playoffs to eighth-seeded Golden State. The Mavs appear to be suffering from at least a hangover, if not quite a growing chemistry problem despite the talent brought to the table by Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard as the two leaders.

 

The Nuggets have lots of special parts, with Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin, for starters. The problem is they blow very hot and very cold invariably in prolonged streaks. At the moment, they've got a two-game lead over the Jazz in the Northwest Division, but that has the makings of a battle all season.

 

The Suns added the mature, all-around skills of Grant Hill in a great addition, but they dealt Kurt Thomas and brought in Brian Skinner instead - that's a dropoff inside, and Stoudemire has very little help in the post. Nash remains superlative and Shawn Marion is an All-Star talent at forward, but can they run their way to a West title? There are times when the Warriors trio of Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson and Monta Ellis run that speedball attack more effectively, although not as consistently, which is why the Warriors are more of a disruptive force than a serious challenger in the West.

 

Perhaps the most confusing crew to watch would be the Houston Rockets, now coached by Rick Adelman. With Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, they may have the best inside/outside combination in the game. They added another tough big in Luis Scola to join Shane Battier up front. But their four point guards - Rafer Alston, Mike James, Luther Head and Steve Francis -- are wild enough to drive everyone to distraction, with tough rookie point guard Aaron Brooks farmed out to the D-League while waiting for the other four to sort themselves out. They just seem to lack the continuity to be contenders other than being an interesting group.

 

Fitting into the same category are the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Hornets.  With Kobe Bryant still among the top three players in the game, along with talented but injury-prone Lamar Odom and gifted young center Andrew Bynum, they are dangerous for brief periods of time. But they're not deep enough to reach the conference finals. The Hornets -- with exciting young point guard Chris Paul, rapidly emerging center Tyson Chandler, the still-great shooting of Peja Stojakovic on those rare occasions when he's healthy and the underrated David West -- are a very good team. Then again, they still lack the experience to be serious playoff performers.

 

The Memphis Grizzlies are in a perpetual state of transition, with their third coach over the past 12 months - this one Marc Iavaroni. The talent around Pau Gasol and Mike Miller is still too young to be taken seriously. The Portland Trail Blazers could have been a factor if rookie center Greg Oden hadn't been lost for the season with microfracture knee surgery, but youth will preclude them doing anything but having streaks and slumps.

 

Fraught with injuries, the Sacramento Kings are better than they've played, but most of the discussion surrounds the trade value of Mike Bibby and Ron Artest as opposed to where this team can go this season. And as long as the Los Angeles Clippers are counting on the battered and aging Sam Cassell to lead their team with Elton Brand still sidelined after an Achilles' tear, they're bound for the lottery again.

 

Seattle will struggle to win 30 games, with rookie Kevin Durant the only source of interest other than the future home of the franchise, while Minnesota is even worse, with Al Jefferson the only Wolves property of merit in the organization.

 

So as we consider the possibilities, it still figures to come down to the Spurs and Suns ... or Mavs or Jazz or Nuggets, or maybe somebody else will crop up. Could this be the year Yao and McGrady finally get out of the first round and dominate?

 

It's probably too early to tell. We're nearly one-third of the way through the season, with injuries and deals still waiting to impact every one of these teams. But if the Spurs are healthy in the spring, it may not matter anyway.

 

Shots from the perimeter

 

• Just when we thought the Pistons were starting to get it together, they lost to the Rockets 80-77, which under normal circumstances wouldn't be a big deal. But when you consider the Rockets won the game despite making just 6-of-22 free throws (including a 1-for-15 start), you have to wonder exactly what the Pistons were doing Wednesday night.

 

• For all the myriad injuries to Chris Bosh, the surgery to the ankle and leg that has rendered Jorge Garbajosa out for possibly the season and Andrea Bargnani suffering a classic sophomore slump - not to mention the scary fall to T.J. Ford that has him out for a week - the Toronto Raptors have the fourth-best record in the East. Is that a compliment to coach Sam Mitchell or an indictment of the conference? Let's settle for both.

 

• Actually, the Washington Wizards fit into the same category. Struggling from the outset of the season, then losing Gilbert Arenas to knee surgery, the pressure was on coach Eddie Jordan and the rest of the team to prevent a complete collapse. Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison raised their level of play and Thursday night, DeShawn Stevenson had a season-high 26 points as the Wiz went into Miami and pounded the Heat. Now they're nipping right on the heels of the Raptors in this bizarre race in the East that promises not to be settled until April.

 

• And while we're on the topic of the not-so-hot Heat, they now have a 2-7 home record - second worst in the NBA. And at 6-16, with having yet to comfortably get Shaquille O'Neal consistently in the offense, there are some fatal flaws on this team that may be so significant that not even Dwyane Wade can pull them out of their funk to be playoff-ready. It's hard to fathom that they won't make it to the postseason, but even since Wade rejoined the team after rehabbing from offseason knee and shoulder surgery, they haven't shown even a hint of the play that was anticipated. They were 1-5 without him and are 5-10 with him. They are in dire need of a point guard, with the operative question being: What do they have talent-wise to offer for someone who can actually make a difference?

 

• Interesting that commissioner David Stern elected not to take any action against the New York Knicks or president Isiah Thomas in the wake of former Knicks employee Anucha Browne-Sanders' $11.6 million settlement from the sexual harassment/wrongful dismissal case after the Knicks were found guilty. Do you think Stern would have let it go had it been a player convicted of sexual harassment?  I don't, and can't quite figure out why he's stayed at arm's length in such a high-profile problem.

 

• Not surprisingly, Kevin Garnett leads the All-Star balloting in the first count, and why wouldn't he? He has had better statistical seasons, and others are having better seasons in numbers than he has right now. But putting him on the Boston Celtics with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen erases any doubt that Danny Ainge actually knows what he's doing as president of the Celtics. He already has the Executive of the Year award locked up, and it's hard to fathom anyone else winning the Most Valuable Player award unless he and the Celtics go south for the winter. Generally speaking, the guy who starts off as the hot candidate and doesn't fade will win the award. LeBron James is the second highest vote-getter, just ahead of Orlando's Dwight Howard. Dwyane Wade and Jason Kidd fill out the top five in the East. The top five in the West are Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady, Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming.

A lot of people may have given up on the Portland Trail Blazers once the news of top overall draft choice Greg Oden's season-ending microfracture knee surgery. But you can be certain that was never an option for coach Nate McMillan and the rest of the team.

And we seem to be learning more about their resolve on a nightly basis. On Wednesday night, the red-hot Golden State Warriors, in the middle of a 12-3 run (the best in 32 years), found out just how tough the Blazers are in a 105-95 Portland win. All of a sudden, the young Blazers have won five in a row and moved to within two games of .500. Led by their superb sophomore duo of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, and the rapidly improving Travis Outlaw, the Blazers are proving they want to make a difference in the Western Conference this season.

The odds of them making the playoffs aren't particularly encouraging, but it is already apparent they won't care until they are eliminated, and that may be much later than anyone could have imagined. Then again, nobody thought much about Joel Przybilla standing in for Oden and producing the 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks as he did Wednesday against the Warriors. More to the point is they are built in McMillan's image. They play fast, they play tough and they won't roll over for anybody. They aren't ready yet to be serious players in the West, but they're coming along. If you don't believe it, ask the Warriors.

 

Shots from the perimeter

Abracadabra, the magic seems to be seeping out of Orlando. After a 14-3 start with the NBA world hailing Dwight Howard as the Most Valuable Player before the season was even a quarter of the way through, the Magic have lost four of six. They got off to such a fast start with Howard and maximum free agent signing Rashard Lewis dominating. Lewis averaged 21.2 points and shot .514 from the field in the first 12 games when they were 10-2. Then came the scouting reports, and since then he's averaged 17.0 points and shot .367 as they've struggled to 6-5. Now that the league has adjusted, can they adjust to the league?

With the Magic drop off, it's allowed the Celtics to just run away and hide. After knocking off the Kings Wednesday night, they raised their record to an NBA-best 18-2, including 11-0 at home - one game shy of their club record of 12-0 set during the 1984-85 season. And for the first time, the story really didn't surround Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen or Paul Pierce. It was "Big Baby" Glen Davis with 16 points and 9 rebounds, starting his first game because Kendrick Perkins injured his right big toe in a bizarre accident when his bed broke at home. The result was taking a good long look at another weapon coach Doc Rivers can develop as the season progresses. How dominant have they been? Well, 15 of those 18 wins have been by double digits.

Allen Iverson told the world he wants to opt out of his contract next summer with the Denver Nuggets and sign an extension to stay in Denver and play until he's 40. Wednesday night, at the age of 32, he showed once again why the Nuggets have to consider anything he asks. Iverson had 22 points and 11 assists in a big six-point win over New Orleans for their third win in a row and fifth in six games to solidify their hold on first place in the Northwest Division. With Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby continuing to put up big numbers and Kenyon Martin progressing rapidly in his comeback from knee surgery, the Nuggets are showing signs of gaining consistency for coach George Karl.  And with point guard Chucky Atkins ready to finally start practicing with the groin injury that has kept him out all season finally healing, they're beginning to look like a serious challenger in the West.

The good news for the Toronto Raptors -- that the frightening fall point guard T.J. Ford took Tuesday night against Atlanta didn't cause any damage -- didn't hurt their plight Wednesday night. With Jose Calderon as one of the backup point guards in the game and Chris Bosh getting healthier, they embarrassed the Dallas Mavericks 92-76. That drops the Mavs to 5-7 over the past 12 games after a 9-2 start. And as they struggle to settle on a point guard, consider the slide of Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs have split their past eight games. In three of those games, Dirk has averaged 31 points - they won two of those. In the other five, he has averaged just 14.8 and shot 38 percent from the field. Something is wrong in Big D and unless they shake out of it in a hurry, changes are inevitable - and soon.

Nobody is coming to the games, and really nobody is talking about the Sixers at all, unless it's about the availability of point guard Andre Miller with new general manager and president Ed Stefanski. Nevertheless, they won their fourth game in a row, and the dominant figure was also the most confounding figure on this team - center Samuel Dalembert, who came within one block of a triple-double. Count 18 points, 11 rebounds and 9 blocks in their 98-94 win over the woeful Timberwolves.

The good thing for the rest of the league about the Knicks failing so dramatically in Madison Square Garden is it translates into a great opportunity for a coming-out party. Wednesday night, it was super-rook Kevin Durant's turn. He was magnificent down the stretch again to give the Seattle SuperSonics a 117-112 win and finished with 30 points. He's scored at least 30 points three of the past seven games, as the young and struggling Sonics have pieced together a 4-3 run, which is significant for a team that was 2-13 before this began. Even a little success removes some of the heat from Durant and coach P.J. Carlesimo.

And lastly, on the flip side of the Blazers are the Utah Jazz. They suffered a tough five-point loss at Phoenix Wednesday night, and now have tossed five in a row. Suddenly, the exceptional combination of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams isn't anywhere near enough to win against the top teams ... at least not yet. This team is too talented and Jerry Sloan too exceptional a coach for them not to straighten out. A loss at Phoenix is hardly embarrassing, but something isn't clicking right now and at the moment, it's difficult to decipher. In fact, you can throw the Jazz, the Mavs and the Houston Rockets into the same pot right now and ask the same questions.

Or, maybe all three are just overrated.

This is all very confusing.

We have gone through nearly a decade of shooting guards charading as point guards in the NBA, and now it seems the teams that have natural point guards need to move them and the teams on the cusp of competing for a title want them.

What's a general manager to do?

They've all seen what happened in Phoenix when coach Mike D'Antoni got a hold of Steve Nash late in his career and turned him into an MVP/Hall of Fame-caliber player. Now that's not to say it's going to happen to somebody else, but it also reflects what can happen to an instinctive, passing playmaker when he gets into the right system. It raises the play of everybody else.

And that is at the heart of why a group of teams led by the past two losers in the NBA Finals - the Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers - are in the market for a new point guard. You can throw the Houston Rockets into that mix, and perhaps the Denver Nuggets as well considering Chucky Atkins still hasn't played this season due to a groin strain. The Mavericks need somebody because coach Avery Johnson, a natural point guard himself, has had enough of Devin Harris and Jason Terry unable to run the floor consistently or properly. It's not their fault. It's not in their hearts.

It's even worse in Houston, where coach Rick Adelman allegedly has four point guards - Rafer Alston, Mike James, Luther Head and Steve Francis. None of them runs an offense for anyone but themselves. They just don't know how. The Miami Heat are looking for someone to remove the ballhandling burden from Dwyane Wade so he can run freely without the ball and the Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to do the same for LeBron James. And the Denver Nuggets apparently can't count on Chucky Atkins (groin injury) at all, and he's not all that dependable in the first place.

So where are they to turn if they're on the brink of success? Well, the list isn't extensive, but it certainly is solid.

As seems to be the case every 4-5 years, the passive-aggressive personality of Jason Kidd causes this future Hall of Famer to be halfway out the door.  It happened in Dallas where he was drafted, then in Phoenix and now in New Jersey. The problem is Nets owner Bruce Ratner reportedly wants to keep him, but when the 34-year-old Kidd's request for an extension past his 37th birthday was rejected, he began rumors that he wanted to play with James in Cleveland, similar to last year with Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. Heck, there's even a buzz that he wouldn't mind returning to Dallas if they'd have him. It all depends on whether or not Nets president Rod Thorn can talk Ratner into blowing up the roster. After all, New Jersey's not going anywhere with the high-priced trio of Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson - so why not see what he can get in return to build around a decent (if very young) crop of players.

But Kidd isn't the only point guard that could make a difference. The Philadelphia 76ers are going nowhere with tough veteran Andre Miller. The Sacramento Kings have looked good since acquiring Beno Udrih, so when expensive Mike Bibby (who was shopped last season) gets back soon from the torn ligament in his left thumb, count on Kings president Geoff Petrie being ready to deal Bibby to Miami or Cleveland.

And lastly, there is the case of Luke Ridnour, a lottery pick in 2003 by the Seattle Sonics who is a natural distributor with a feathery jump shot. Suns scouts believed him to be a comparable yet better prospect than Nash coming out of college. But after Ridnour helped drive the Sonics to Game 6 of the conference finals against the eventual champion Spurs in 2005, coach Nate McMillan left for Portland to start a run of four coaches in four seasons, moving Ridnour in and out of the lineup to his present decomposed state. But at 26, he's still young and is a perfect candidate to flourish somewhere else.

Perhaps none of those guys will be traded, but it certainly won't be from a lack of effort by the potential suitors. A team still can't win unless there is somebody making the right decisions consistently with the ball. And even then ... there is no guarantee.

Just look at the Nets Tuesday night, for example. Kidd had a skinny triple-double (11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds), and they lost at home to the Clippers for the first time in nearly 10 years. The Nets have lost eight of nine at home, and the point keeps coming back -- why pay those guys all that money if they can't win now? Get Kidd and perhaps one of the other guys out of there while they still have good value. 

• After missing six games with a sprained finger - all losses for the Cavaliers - LeBron James returned to the lineup Tuesday night and the Cavs rolled to a 13-point win over the Pacers. James had 17 points in less than 23 minutes, as the Cavs jumped the Pacers 37-16 in the opening quarter. But the interesting numbers in the game came from Larry Hughes, with 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting - clearly his most prolific game as a Cavalier since signing a $60 million contract three years ago.  With Anderson Varejao now in the fold - but threatening to leave in a couple of years -- there is little doubt general manager Danny Ferry has to be thinking deal before the trade deadline. And figuring out a deal for Kidd, Bibby, Miller or Ridnour makes far too much sense not to happen.
• While we're on the topic of successful returns from injury, Dwyane Wade has made it crystal clear he's back. And it's full throttle. He got progressively better as what began as a disastrous six-game road trip for the Heat (with four losses) ended on the upswing with wins at Los Angeles against the Clippers, then the big upset at Phoenix Monday night. Wade averaged 33 points and 8.8 assists in the final three games of the trip - including a tough loss at Golden State. Don't forget it's way too early to rule these guys out presuming Wade stays healthy and Shaquille O'Neal gets involved. Then again, the Heat are snooping around for a deal themselves, it's just difficult to fathom what they have to offer another team in the way of value for the high-quality player they're seeking.
• Kenyon Martin continues his road to recovering from a second microfracture surgery on the other knee this time, with the Denver Nuggets forward the gaudy stat-stuffer in Saturday's win over Sacramento - contributing 20 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks and 3 steals in 38 minutes. Was it a breakthrough game for K-Mart, proving he's still got All-Star capability? Well, it was for that one night and verifies what we already knew -- this guy is as intense a competitor as anybody in the game. Sure, he's overpaid with a maximum contract in the literal sense. But he's laying it all out on the floor every night, so perhaps a maximum-effort guy really is worthy of a maximum contract, even if he is constantly fighting back from injuries.

Jamaal Tinsley needs some heavy-duty counseling from former NBA point guard John Lucas, who went through everything over-indulged athletes experience away from the game and was so intrigued by the circumstances, he went through it again and again. Lucas used to say he just kept floating down that river in Egypt ... better known as Da Nile. But it all came to light one summer day when he thought he was on his way to a road trip as the point guard for the Rockets six weeks after the season had ended.

So he put on his sports jacket and tie, his game shorts, socks and sneakers.

"Can you imagine what I looked like dressed like that," Lucas said. "I was stopped by a transvestite and she told me that I had some issues that needed to be cleaned up."

That's not to say Tinsley needs a transvestite to put him on the straight and narrow, but you would think with all the issues he's had in his life, that he'd realize nothing good can happen in downtown Indianapolis between 3 and 4 in the morning.

But once again, Tinsley is under the klieg lights and the Indiana Pacers are helpless but to hope he's learned his lesson. You see, around 3:40 a.m. Sunday, Tinsley and his friends (while rolling in his Rolls Royce, Mercedes and Dodge Charger) were getting taunted by some not-so-nice guys at a club outside downtown Indy. They opted to leave the scene and go to a downtown hotel, presuming it would be safer.

Who'd have thought they'd be wrong? Shots were fired by both groups, excluding Tinsley. His brother James Tinsley did, however, and Pacers equipment manager Joey Qatato was shot in both elbow by one of the bad guys.

Of course Tinsley feels horrible about Qatato and is contrite about making the same stupid mistake, "again." Worse is, Pacers coach Jim O'Brien says he won't be punished and wasn't doing anything wrong because the other guys caused the fracas.

Theoretically, O'Brien is right.

Realistically, that's ludicrous.

Of course Tinsley has every right to be in any public area. This is a free country, which is why the thugs have every right to be out too. And that explains why he was wrong ... potentially dead wrong. This is his third major incident in 14 months at a club in the middle of the night. He has been suspended, fined, indicted. He's not a stupid kid. He'll be 30 in February. He's a street-wise millionaire and a major target for jealous punks who play with guns the same way we used to play with Frisbees - and in this case it was a .223 assault rifle. Those weapons can hurt, as Qatato's now badly battered elbows can attest.

What we're left with is trying to figure out what Tinsley doesn't understand about the ills of 3:40 a.m. when alcohol, drugs and guns are involved. There is a culture clash of jealousy going on that has those who didn't make it off the street getting even angrier about those who did make it - especially when they see them flaunting their riches - say, like a Rolls, Mercedes and a Charger.

So let me spell it out for you Jamaal: Beware of your new friends, and be wary of the old ones. If you still don't get it, head down to Houston and check in with Lucas. He'll give it to you straight. If you want to party in the middle of the night, it's probably not too much of a stretch to presume that you've got a home that would be do just fine for late-night parties. Invite whomever you want. But maybe, just maybe, you could send just about everybody home by say, uh, 1 or 2 on a school night?