Author: Inside Hoops

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West playoffs are wide open

I’d say the Spurs should still be considered the favorite to come out of the West in the playoffs.

The Hornets have the most wins in the conference, but they’re new to being this good, and when things get turned up in the playoffs their lack of experience, both individually and as a team, could limit them.

The Lakers are winning more than expected, and although they’re armed with Kobe Bryant and loads of fun to watch because they play brilliant team basketball, it’s tough to say they’d beat a healthy Spurs squad when it counts.

The Jazz showed flashes of greatness in the playoffs last year, but it’s tough to say they’re any better this season.

The Suns are a bit underrated. They could be a true force in the post-season, especially since they’ve gotten used to playing with Shaquille O’Neal these past few weeks.

I have a tough time believing in the Rockets as far as a championship goes. Their giant winning streak was awesome, but I’m just not convinced they’ll go more than a round in the postseason.

The Mavericks, like the Suns, also may be slightly underrated. They have just as good a chance to reach the Western conference finals as anyone else.

Assuming that Dallas makes the playoffs and either the Nuggets or Warriors do, both Denver and Golden State are offensive teams that don’t play defense, and that can shock an opponent or two, but you don’t win a championship that way, ever.

Five highest/lowest paid teams, with wins

Sports Illustrated (Ian Thompson) reports: Here are the five most expensive payrolls this season and the anticipated win total for each of those teams — 5. Miami Heat, $75.5 million, 14 wins… 4. Cleveland Cavaliers, $81.5 million, 45 wins… 3. Denver Nuggets $82.7 million, 50 wins… 2. New York Knicks $95.3 million, 22 wins… 1. Dallas Mavericks $105.4 million, 51 wins… Averages: $88.1 million, 36.4 wins.

And, Thompson also reports: Here are the five most expensive payrolls this season and the anticipated win total for each of those teams — 30. Memphis Grizzlies, $53.4 million, 21 wins… 29. Charlotte Bobcats, $54.2 million, 31 wins… 28. Atlanta Hawks, $56.0 million, 38 wins… 27. Orlando Magic, $58.1 million, 51 wins… 26. Golden State Warriors, $59.3 million, 50 wins… Averages: $56.2 million, 38.2 wins.

Apr. 3: Rockets 95, Blazers 86

The Rockets opened up a lead in the second quarter and held on for the win. For Houston, Tracy McGrady (14-of-29) had 35 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Aaron Brooks, Luther Head, Bobby Jackson and Dikembe Mutombo all scored in the low double-digits, and rebounding was spread across the board. It was a true team effort outside of T-Mac’s big point total. Houston was red-hot from outside, nailing 11-of-22 three-pointers. For the Blazers, LaMarcus Aldridge (10-of-20) had 23 points but just 4 rebounds. Jarrett Jack (8-of-15) had 19. Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw (just 5-of-18) and Channing Frye also reached double-digit points. Brandon Roy remains out of action.

Apr. 3: Kings 110, Clippers 98

The AP reports: Kevin Martin hit four 3-pointers while scoring 26 points, and the Sacramento Kings avoided a four-game sweep by the last-place Los Angeles Clippers with a 110-98 victory Thursday night. Francisco Garcia scored 17 points and Mikki Moore added 16 for the Kings, who took a 20-point lead in the third quarter of their fourth victory in five games… Corey Maggette scored 28 points and Elton Brand had 15 points and nine rebounds in his second game back from a 74-game absence for Los Angeles. Injured veterans Chris Kaman, Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas sat out their second straight game for the Clippers, who still beat the SuperSonics on Wednesday night in Brand’s first game of the season after surgery on his Achilles’ tendon. Clippers rookie Nick Fazekas, who played college ball two hours away at Nevada, scored a career-best 18 points.

Apr. 3: Bulls 101, Cavs 98

The AP reports: Ben Gordon made five clutch free throws down the stretch and Larry Hughes scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half against his former team, rallying the Bulls to a 101-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night. The Bulls, with nothing to play for in the season’s final weeks, overcame a 17-point deficit in the second half and snapped a six-game road losing streak… Hughes, traded by the Cavaliers to Chicago at the Feb. 21 deadline, added nine assists and eight rebounds in 45 minutes. Gordon scored 24 points and Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni had 15 each… Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 23 points for the Cavaliers, who are trying to nail down the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Lucky fan can win game-worn Durant jersey

The NBA commercial starring Kevin Durant removing his career worth of jerseys will become reality for one lucky fan on Friday, April 4 after the Sonics take on the Houston Rockets. Fans will have the chance to bid on the Rookie of the Year candidate’s game-worn jersey from Friday, and receive it directly from Durant at the conclusion of the game.

The jersey auction is part of the Sonics’ third annual “Jerseys Off Our Backs” fundraising initiative. Bidding for the Durant jersey will begin at 6 p.m. outside of aisle 118 on the concourse level of KeyArena. The winning bidder will be escorted to the player tunnel following the game and receive Durant’s jersey during a personal meet-and-greet. Durant will also autograph the jersey and be available for a photo with the winner.

All auction proceeds will benefit the Sonics & Storm Foundation’s community outreach initiatives. The “Jerseys Off Our Backs” program was founded during the 2005-06 Sonics season and allows fans to bid on game-worn Sonics jerseys during home games. Last year, the program raised more than $14,000 for the Foundation.

Sonics assign Mouhamed Sene to D-League

The Seattle Sonics announced today that the team has assigned center Mouhamed Sene to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League. This marks Sene’s second assignment to Idaho this season. In 27 games with the Stampede (12/23/07 – 3/13/08), Sene averaged 12.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.

Under the affiliation system with the D-League, NBA teams can assign up to two players who are rookies or in their second season to their D-League affiliate. Players can stay with the D-League team for as long as the team wishes, and be recalled back to the NBA at any time. A player can only be sent to the D-League a maximum of three times during the season.

The Stampede, the D-League affiliate for the Sonics and the Portland Trail Blazers, are coached by Bryan Gates, who worked as an assistant for the Sonics during summer league play in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City last July.

DeShawn Stevenson talks injuries, Gilbert Arenas and more

Here’s what Washington Wizards shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson said to local media today:

DeShawn Stevenson on tomorrow’s game: “I’m going to try to play. I haven’t missed a game, but my ankle is really hurting right now. I got treatment today and it actually didn’t swell up. I’m going to try to play tomorrow but we will have to wait and see.”

Stevenson on injuries: “It seems like whenever we get our whole team back, someone else gets hurt. Antawn (Jamison) got hurt. I got hurt. It is difficult, every time you get your team back something else happens.”

Stevenson on Antawn’s injury: “It would be tough to play without Antawn because he has been our leader all year. He has been the veteran that has played every game. He has been awesome this year. He was an All-Star this year, so I want to see him be able to play all 82 games.”

Stevenson on Gilbert Arenas: “It was wonderful to see him back out there and knocking down his first shots. He had a smile on his face. Yesterday he was really focused so I knew he was coming back.”

Stevenson on Gilbert’s return: “Everybody expects that from him. You just overlook it. For some teams that would probably be a distraction but we just overlook it. When Gil comes on the court he is ready to play so I think that is why nobody really pays attention to it.”

Stevenson on his birthday party: “The party was great. Everybody came. We had a good time dressing up.”

Sonics sign Ronald Dupree to 10-day contract

Sonics General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has signed Ronald Dupree to a 10-day contract.

Dupree has played in nine games for the Tulsa 66ers in the NBA Development League this year, averaging 17.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. The 6-7 forward also appeared in one game with the Detroit Pistons earlier this season.

Dupree has appeared in a total of 150 NBA games over five seasons, averaging 3.7 ppg and 2.2 rpg during that span.

In a related Sonics roster move, the 10-day contract of Eddie Gill expired and he was not re-signed.