Contender

When Caron Butler went down with a knee injury it looked like any chance Dallas had of winning a championship this season went down with him.

But they went out and signed Peja Stojakovic this week.

Stojakovic is a better fit for Dallas than Butler and should keep Dallas right on track to contend for a title.

Having Dirk Nowitzki and Peja Stojakovic on the same team is almost like cheating it is so unfair. And to think that a team with all that Dallas has isn't the favorite to win it all is mind blowing.

These are truly the glory days of the NBA.

Have you ever seen someone lose an entire game by himself?

Monta Ellis came about as close as you can come in a team sport last night against Charlotte.

With Golden State leading 98-90 with 1:30 to play Ellis failed to box out Gerald Henderson on three straight possessions.

Henderson's offensive rebounds resulted in a Gerald Wallace three-pointer, a Kwame Brown layup and a missed put-back by Henderson himself.

On the next possession, Ellis was called for a foul on a Stephen Jackson three-point attempt, costing his team three more points.

To top it off, Ellis missed a free throw with 15.9 seconds remaining which allowed Jackson to send the game into overtime when he banked in a three with .6 seconds left.

After the game, Golden State was wondering how they lost.

It's simple: They failed to execute the fundamentals.


THE BIG BAG OF CHIPS

Tim Duncan knows a thing or two about the fundamentals.

He'll be attempting to win his fifth championship this season, and you can put me squarely in the camp which says he's not going to be able to pull it off.

This isn't a knock on Duncan.

Tim Duncan is all of that and two bags of chips, but San Antonio is playing with fire by going into the playoffs with only one shot-blocker on the roster.

Duncan is blocking shots at a rate he hasn't achieved in years, 2 in 29.4 minutes. No other Spur averages more than .5.

Suppose Duncan gets two quick fouls in a Game 7 against Los Angeles or is in foul trouble the entire game.

It would completely destroy any hope San Antonio has of winning a title.

San Antonio should most definitely be in the market for another big man like Samuel Dalembert to help Tim Duncan make a run through the playoffs.

On the positive side for San Antonio, it is an odd-numbered year.


ROOKIES

Never count on a NBA coach to help you with your prediction.

Seeing how these guys operate, it's easy to understand how Phil Jackson has run circles around them for the past 20 years.

Most coaches in the NBA can't even identify the best players on their own team and put together a solid rotation, so how they think they are going to compete with a basketball genius is beyond me.

Some extremely talented rookies have barely gotten off the bench this year and have had their growth and development blockaded by coaches who for one reason or another refuse to play them.

Others cracked rotations weeks or months later than they should have.

Those who have played and gotten decent minutes are starting to show what they are made of, at least in some cases.

Evan Turner, DeMarcus Cousins, Greg Monroe, Paul George and Trevor Booker are all starting to show they belong.

Look out for the Rookie Challenge during All-Star Weekend. It may be the only chance you get to see some of these guys play.


THANKS FOR NOTHING

Jonny Flynn had his best game in his return from off-season hip surgery against the Clippers on January 19.

He had more assists and steals (and turnovers, but who's counting?) than he'd had all season and for the first time started to look like the player Minnesota drafted in 2009.

And what thanks did he get?

For the next two days he had to read how terrible he is. Michael Rand kicked off the bash-fest on Thursday, and Anthony Maggio and Patrick Donnelly put it into high gear on Friday.

Flynn played the first month of his comeback at about 80-85 percent and was not sharp from having missed all of training camp and the start of the season.

It's hard enough to compete in the NBA when you are 100 percent and on top of your game, so it's not very productive or useful to evaluate someone as he recovers from an injury.

Just ask Dirk Nowitzki.

He didn't have surgery or miss training camp or the start of the season, but look at how difficult it has been for him to regain his form after missing about three weeks with a knee injury.

And he's not the only one.

Kevin Garnett, David Lee and others have missed time this season and didn't exactly pick up where they left off when they returned.

Getting into the paint off the dribble is a major part of Flynn's game and is what will help turn Minnesota around when he finally gets healthy.

According to Hoopdata, Jonny Flynn attempted a shot at the rim every 7.8 minutes he played last season. Through the first 17 games of his comeback this season he averaged a shot at the rim every 41 minutes he played.

And 31.4 percent of Flynn's shot attempts came at the rim last season compared to 8 percent this season.

On the court, you can see that he's just not all the way back yet even though has gotten much better in recent games.

You'll know that Jonny Flynn is fully recovered when you see him driving into the paint to find open teammates and do things like this.

Note: Hoopdata keeps tracking all games, but the numbers used to calculate Flynn's shots at the rim this season are through his first 17 games only. The game against Los Angeles was his 18th.

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The Cavalry

Imagine starting out on a long and challenging journey and realizing shortly after you left that you weren't going to make it.

You've gone too far to turn back but not nearly far enough to reach your destination. You're running out of food and supplies and know that the end is near.

It is just a matter of time.

As you lie there waiting for the end to arrive and wondering how you got yourself into this awful situation, you hear something in the distance.

Weak and barely alive, you look up just long enough to see men on horseback coming to your rescue. They arrive and give you the food, supplies and the manpower you need to survive trip.

It would be quite a relief.

Although all of the teams which have suffered through injuries this season aren't in a situation as desperate as this, some are.

And fortunately, the cavalry has either arrived or is on the way.


CARLOS BOOZER

Carlos Boozer missed the first month of the season with a broken hand.

Chicago suffered two blowout losses to Orlando and Boston as he worked himself into the lineup but has won four in a row since, with impressive wins over Oklahoma City and the Lakers.

Chicago should only get better as Boozer, Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose play more games together.

They currently sit at fourth place in the East.


ANDREW BYNUM

Los Angeles started the season strongly, but slowly, the absence of Andrew Bynum is starting to catch up to them.

Bynum practiced fully this week for the first time and appears to be on track to return next week.

It doesn't take many words to describe the impact his return will have on the team. We've all been watching Los Angeles during championship runs over the past three seasons and know how important he is to the team.


MARIO CHALMERS

Miami has been on a roll since Mario Chalmers (ankle) made his way back into the rotation.

He still looks to be limping at times, but his impact cannot be denied.

Miami's offense has a much better flow to it thanks to his contagious passing, which makes the team highly-entertaining now and fun to watch.

82games.com has one of the greatest advanced statistics of all time. It breaks down turnovers by type and focuses in on what it calls the "Assist/Bad Pass" ratio.

This helps identify the most accurate passers by eliminating all other turnovers from consideration and only looking at the turnovers a player makes while passing the basketball.

As of the time of this post, Chalmers averages 10 assists for every passing turnover he makes.

Compare that to Chris Paul (7.7), Deron Williams (6) and Steve Nash (5.1).


BARON DAVIS AND CHRIS KAMAN

This is a team which simply can't catch a break.

After waiting nearly a month for Baron Davis and Chris Kaman to return and racking up the worst record in the association in the process, both players returned in early December.

And what happened?

It turns out Kaman's ankle wasn't quite ready yet, and Davis started struggling with a hamstring problem, a different injury than the knee which kept him out for so long.

Davis has continued to play, but Kaman will be out for at least three more weeks.

The cavalry may not arrive in time to save the Clippers this season.


JONNY FLYNN AND MARTELL WEBSTER

The only team which has suffered more with injuries than the Clippers is the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It got so bad for them that at one point they were down five players (Jonny Flynn, Luke Ridnour, Martell Webster, Nikola Pekovic, Wayne Ellington) in a game at Charlotte, a game which they almost won.

Flynn (hip) and Webster have both been cleared to play their first games this season, and Pekovic returned last week to solidify the big man rotation.

Flynn has been rehabbing by playing a few games in the development league while Kurt Rambis is waiting to get Webster some good practice time before putting him back in the lineup.

Flynn and Webster are both major, impact players for Minnesota.

Webster had an outstanding preseason and had Minnesota looking like one of the most improved teams in the league before he had to have back surgery and miss the start of the season.

And Jonny Flynn is one of the most gifted, young point guards in the NBA.

David Kahn may not have made the right decision in drafting him ahead of Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings, but he certainly didn't make the wrong one either.

Minnesota looks to be on their way back.


EKPE UDOH AND DAVID LEE

Golden State has lost six games in a row, but all were against playoff teams from last year and some of the best teams in the NBA so far this season.

The team had gotten so razor thin up front that Vladimir Radmanovic started a few games at power forward.

David Lee returned from his elbow injury seven games ago, and Ekpe Udoh made his season debut last night against Miami. Louis Amundson returned recently as well to help shore up the depth at power forward.

Acie Law was a nice addition and will help fill the void while Stephen Curry recovers from his ankle injury and help when Curry comes back.

The schedule starts to lighten up a bit, and Golden State could finish the season in a good way assuming they can remain healthy and assuming Keith Smart utilizes all of the talent he has on this roster.

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