Bye-Bye in Big D

For the second year in a row, the Dallas Mavericks were eliminated in the first round. But unlike a year ago, when Golden State shocked the Mavs, this year it was a quiet 4-1 loss to the resurgent New Orleans Hornets.

The immediate casualty was, as predicted here, Coach Avery Johnson; but GM Donn Nelson may also be feeling the heat.

Just before the trading deadline, the main Western Conference contenders all 'armed up' by acquiring missing pieces: Kyle Korver to the Jazz (12/29/2007), Pau Gausol to the Lakers (2/1/2008), and Shaq Fu to PHX (2/7/2008).

Dallas was the last to 'respond', and had a lot of trouble getting the Jason Kidd deal done; in the end, Kidd was not the piece that Nelson (and others) felt that he would be, and the Mavs now have to rethink their future.

53 weeks ago, the Mavs were coming off an NBA Finals appearance (where they might have won), had the best record in the League (67-15), and were a leading contender for the NBA title. The leading question was whether Mark Cuban could keep a straight face as David Stern was handing him the Lawrence O'Brien trophy.

Today, after a mediocre 51-31 season, with another first round exit and the salary cap a distant memory, the Mavs may be out of options.

Celts Hit the Skids

For more than three months, the Celtics have been the toast of the NBA, racing off to a league-best 41-9 record at the All-Star break.

But since then, the Cs have gone cold, losing their third game in a row last night to a revamped Suns team in a game that reminded at least one observer (commentator Hubie Brown) of a rivalry game from the rough-and-tumble 1980s, rather than the more recent trend of the kinder-and-gentler NBA where every player is "Fav 5s" with everyone else.

Last night's mano-a-mano battle between Kevin Garnett and Amare Stoudemire was reminiscent of Kevin McHale and Kurt Rambis:

But unfortunately for Boston fans, last night it was the Celtic (KG) who was knocked down; Amare went for 28 (don't forget, the Suns only scored 85 as a team) despite absorbing a flagrant foul (from Big Baby Davis) and dishing out a technical (for bumping KG after a vicious spin-dunk):

Despite a tremendous team defensive effort (including holding the Suns, the second-best scoring team in the league, without a field goal for more than one whole quarter), the Cs looked like a AAAA-level opponent playing in the major leagues. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were a combined 5-for-25, and more troubling they were held in check by a Suns that is not known (ex. Shaq) for defense (#25 in opponents' PPG).

GM Danny Aigne elected (so far) to stand pat with a team that is built to win now. Unfortunately, the other NBA title contenders are also looking to win this year, and some of them have gambled more than the Cs have to make it happen.

Arming Up in the West

Although the Celtics remain atop the NBA standings, with a 40-9 record, the Western Conference is still the most likely to produce the eventual league champ.

Three different contenders have made moves in the past 10 days to 'upgrade':

1. Dallas. In a deal that has yet to be finalized, the Mavs were set to ship Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, and Devean George for Jason Kidd and Malik Allen. George has (as of this writing) vetoed the deal based on a provision in his contract, although the bet here is that the teams will find $ome way to get George comfortable with the potential move to New Jer$ey.

Assuming the deal gets done, the Mavs have made a major move in a very competitive conference. The move would be a return to Dallas for Kidd, who was drafted out of Cal by the Mavs management (pre-Mark Cuban), and was Rookie-of-the-Year (along with Grant Hill) before being shipped to Phoenix. Although getting long in the tooth at age 34, he would provide Dallas with a 'true' point guard who might help the Mavs fill the slot that has been empty since 2004-05 when another point guard was shipped from the Big D to Phoenix.

2. PHX. The Suns, meanwhile, rolled the dice a week ago by trading Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for the Big Diesel. At age 35, Shaq has even more miles on the treads than Kidd (or, for that matter, Indiana Jones), but he offers the Suns something that they have not had in years: a low-post presence.

Since 1999, only one team (the 2004 Pistons) have won an NBA title without either O'Neill or Tim Duncan in the middle. The Suns, who have tried to win with a European-style fast-strike offense that has bogged down in the playoffs in each of the past three years. Despite the brilliance of back-to-back MVP Steve Nash, the Suns weren't going to win with this group.

Suns GM Tim Kerr rolled the dice with Shaq, and like Dallas, the "future is now."

3. LA Lakers. The Lakers, having seemingly settled the differences with Kobe Bryant, made their own move by acquiring Pau Gasol for his brother (Marc) and a collection of marginal NBA talent.

P. Gausol is just 27 years old, and has already been named the MVP of the FIBA World Championships (in 2006). Although the move helps the Lakers now, it also makes them contenders for the next few seasons.

The Suns and Mavs, however, can't think about tomorrow. They have to win now.