Rockets may be 'broken' -- but other teams are rising out West
There's a problem in Houston, all right. There's one in Memphis, too. Maybe even in Dallas. While the top four spots in the Western Conference are practically chiseled in stone, the bottom half is primed for a major shakeup with the potential for familiar names to make surprising exits.
With the All-Star break upon us, the Rockets, West finals participants a season ago, are under .500, out of the playoff mix and fraying from within. It's unclear whether Houston general manager Daryl Morey is taking or placing more calls about Dwight Howard's availability.
Just as the Memphis Grizzlies were starting to play better basketball, center Marc Gasol could be lost for the season with a broken foot, and now the Griz, eyeing another playoff battle with nemesis Los Angeles Clippers, could be goners.
And in Dallas, where the Mavericks have been praised all season for their post-DeAndre Jordan resiliency, suffered a crushing overtime loss at home to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday to fall to just three games over .500. So much talk has centered on nabbing the five-spot, but Dallas sits equally close to fifth place as it does ninth place.
The surprise challengers in this playoff puzzle are those Jazz, who dropped a tough one at New Orleans on Wednesday to snap a seven-game winning streak, their longest since 2010, and the resurgent Portland Trail Blazers, who are 12-3 in their last 15 games, behind All-Star snub Damian Lillard.
Lillard and the Blazers dropkicked Houston on Wednesday to set off interal Rockets fireworks and now occupy the seventh spot, with Utah in eighth.
Dallas, whose only playoff absence since 2000 came the season of Dirk Nowitzki's knee surgery, has a favorable schedule after the All-Star break. But it remains to be seen whether the Mavs can put together a consistent stretch. They haven't won two in a row since early January and are 10-13 since Jan. 1.
It is possible that among Houston, Dallas and Memphis, one or more will not make the playoffs. The Rockets at the moment are easily the most dysfunctional. The Grizzlies, who rely so heavily on their frontcourt, might just be undermanned, while Dallas has yet to show it can beat top teams.
There's also a wild card in all this: Those internally inept Sacramento Kings. Even after this bizarre stretch in which they've lost eight of 10 and were set to fire coach George Karl only not to, the 10th-place Kings are just 4 1/2 games behind the Jazz for the final playoff spot.
With the unbelievable season center DeMarcus Cousins is having, the Kings have the talent to win games. If they can regroup, maybe even man-up in a way we haven't seen the Kings do in ages, they could at least make things interesting down the stretch.
When the NBA resumes late next week, the Golden State Warriors' chase for 73 wins will be front and center, but the bottom half of the West playoff race threatens to get just as interesting.
