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NBA notes, streaks, trends and observations

NBA Midwest division player and team notes. Updated Mar. 19, 2004.

Dallas Mavericks

COACHING TENURE: Don Nelson is in his seventh season as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Only three coaches have been with their teams longer: Jerry Sloan (Utah; 16th season), Flip Saunders (Minnesota; 9th season), Gregg Popovich (San Antonio; 8th season). Nelson is tied with Dick Motta for the most consecutive seasons coaching the Mavericks. Motta coached the Mavericks for their first seven seasons (1980-81 through 1986-87) and returned for two more (1994-95 and 1996-96 seasons).

HOME SWEET HOME: Dallas is currently 29-5 at the American Airlines Center and 13-20 on the road. In fact, they are averaging 107.3 points a game in 34 home games (3647 total points) and 100.2 ppg in 33 road contests (3305 total). The Mavericks are also shooting 46.7% from the floor at home while connecting on just 43.0% on the road. Last season, Dallas started the season 12-0 at home and did not lose at the AAC until 12/20/02 vs. Utah Dallas won 10 in a row at home to start the season and nine in a row at home from 1/31 through 3/8. Dallas has not lost back-to-back games at home since the early part of the 2001-02 season.

Denver Nuggets

LOSING THE CLOSE ONES: With Denver’s 104-100 loss to the Celtics on 3/17, six of the Nuggets’ last 10 losses have been by four points or less. Overall, Denver is 4-10 this year in games decided by four points or less, and has lost six straight in those games. Denver also has not been holding its leads, as they have led in the second half in six of its last 10 losses, and have led or been tied in the fourth quarter in five of the last 10 losses.

TURNING THIS THING AROUND: With 36 wins, the Nuggets now have improved their win total from the previous season by 19 games. That is currently the third biggest turnaround in NBA history for a team that had won less than 20 games the previous season (since all teams went to an 82-game schedule in 1976). Dallas had the biggest turnaround, 23 games, followed by Boston, 21 games. In all those cases, the teams had two different coaches from the first year to the next, while Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik has been able to contribute to his team’s turnaround.

Houston Rockets

With 16 regular season games remaining, the Rockets will play 11 of them on the road.

Yao Ming ranks fifth in the NBA with an efficiency rating per 48-minutes of 30.99, trailing only Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal and Elton Brand.

Memphis Grizzlies

POSEY STRIKES AGAIN: Most Improved Player of the Year candidate James Posey showed once again why he is so valuable to the Grizzlies on Mar. 16 vs. Philadelphia. Guarding Allen Iverson for much of the game, Posey held Iverson to only 10 points. He did his best job in the second half, when Iverson went scoreless on 0-7 shooting. Iverson also committed five turnovers in the game. Posey has clamped down on opponents’ best scorers thoughout the season.

HOME SWEET HOME: A key to the Grizzlies breakout success this season has been their ability to turn the Pyramid arena into one of the toughest places for NBA teams to play on the road. Memphis currently has the fifth-best home record in the league with a 25-8 mark for a 75.8% winning percentage. Only the Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, and Indiana Pacers have better home records so far this season. The Grizzlies have already surpassed the team record for home wins (21 wins set last season), and will set a new record for winning percentage by season’s end. The previous best 20-21 for a 48.8% winning percentage set last season.

Minnesota Timberwolves

THE STOPPER: Timberwolves swingman Trenton Hassell helped limit Kobe Bryant to 6-for-20 shooting in last Friday's win over the Lakers, continuing his string of solid defensive outings.

THE IDES OF MARCH: Minnesota is off to a 3-4 start in March, halting its first two-game losing streak since November by winning at Seattle on Mar. 9. Over the past four seasons (beginning with 2000-01), the Wolves have compiled a 24-28 record (.462) in March, compared to 170-91 (.651) in all other months. Minnesota has won 11+ games in three consecutive months.

CRUNCH TIME: The Mar. 7 loss to Boston dropped Minnesota to 6-6 in one-possession games this season. In Flip Saunders' eight full seasons as head coach, the Wolves have compiled the NBA's 2nd-best winning percentage when the final margin is three points or less, going 59-34 (.634). The Dec. 5 win at Sacramento boosted Minnesota to 25-14 (.641) in overtime outings in that span, the 3rd-best percentage in the league.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are one of only six teams in the NBA with a winning road record this season and currently stand at 20-16 on the road. Winning away from San Antonio is nothing new for this team. Since Tim Duncan entered the league the Spurs have had a winning road record each season. This is the longest current streak of consecutive seasons with a winning road record. The closest teams to this mark are Dallas, Philadelphia and Sacramento with three consecutive winning seasons away from home. Of these three teams, only Sacramento has a winning record besides the Spurs this season. With one more road win the Spurs will clinch their seventh consecutive season with a winning road record.

In nine of the last ten games the Spurs have been without their MVP, Tim Duncan, while he is recovering from irritation of the left patellofemoral joint. The rest of the team has stepped up their game and responded, winning five of the nine games, five of which were against playoff bound teams. Prior to this injury the Spurs were 7-11 without Duncan and have improved that mark to 12-15. Rasho Nesterovic has helped fill the void on offense, scoring 13.6 ppg, and plugged up the hole on defense grabbing 11.1 rpg and blocking 3.22 shots a game. Nesterovic also picked up for Duncan in recording double-doubles, having recorded a double-double in six straight games and a total of seven of the nine games Duncan has been out. That marks the first time since the 2000-01 season that a player other than Duncan has recorded five or more consecutive double-doubles. David Robinson was the last to accomplish the feat, from 2/23/01-3/3/01. Nesterovic hasn’t been alone in filling the hole. Parker, Rose and Turkoglu have each stepped up their game as well to help make up for not having Duncan on the floor.

Utah Jazz

THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT A FREE-THROW: The Jazz connected on 23 straight free throws against the Raptors Wednesday night and finished the night 25-28…The Jazz hold the NBA’s all-time record for free-throws made in one game with 39 (at Portland 12/7/82)…earlier this season the Sonics connected on 30 straight free throws at the Delta Center on 2/24…Through Wednesday’s game the Jazz are shooting just .746 from the free-throw line, 19th in the league.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A TRADE MAKES: Since joining the Jazz Gordan Giricek has tallied a career high 33 points (3/12/04 @Phoenix), led the Jazz in scoring four out of 11 games and is averaging 14.0 points per game…The Jazz are 2-2 with Giricek in the starting lineup and are 8-3 overall since February 19…While with Orlando this season Giricek averaged 10.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 29.9 minutes per game…

RACE FOR THE PLAYOFFS: Utah currently holds the ninth spot in the Western Conference and are sitting 1.5 games behind the Nuggets…The Trail Blazers are right on the heals of the Jazz with the same record however the Jazz currently hold the tie-breaker with a better record against Western Conference teams.