Celtics Lose, Face Lakers

Last night the Boston Celtics kicked off their five game road trip by losing to the Denver Nuggets, 97-90.

The shorthanded C's played pretty well in their first game post All-Star Weekend, but fell apart in the final five minutes as the Nuggets went on a 13-6 run to close out the game. Ten of Denver's crunch time points were supplied by Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson, the duo that inflicted most of the damage on the Celtics defense. Each player scored 26 points (no other Nugget had more than 11) and racked up double-digit free throw attempts. They picked up the slack for Andre Iguodala, who bricked all seven of his field goal attempts and looked rusty in his return from a neck strain. Lawson failed to commit a single turnover despite using more than a fifth of his team's possessions. The Nuggets were particularly careful with the ball, turning the ball over just seven times to one of the NBA's best defensive units.

Though the undersized Celtics held their own on the boards (Denver is a so-so rebounding team despite Kenneth Faried averaging nearly ten boards per game), they gave away too many free points at the charity stripe. Celtic defenders were called for 24 fouls, allowing Denver to pile up 36 free throw attempts to Boston's 16. That disparity ended up being the difference last night.

Then again, the Celtics probably would have prevailed if either Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett had done much on offense, but they combined for just 22 points on the evening. Pierce in particular struggled mightily with his shot, missing 12 of 14 field goal attempts before fouling out with ten seconds left in the game. Jason Terry (seven points) and Brandon Bass (six) were also non-factors. Jeff Green rose to the occasion and continued his strong play of late by dropping 20 points 8-of-12 shooting, though he failed to do much else (two rebounds, two assists) in his 33 minutes of action. Nevertheless, Green is making the most of his increased workload and finally looks comfortable in Boston.

The Green hope to rally tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers, who haven't played in nearly a week. Boston crushed LA in their most recent meeting two Thursdays ago 116-95, which means Kobe Bryant will do everything in his power to avenge that humiliating defeat. With the Celtics playing the back-end of a back-to-back, pitted against the fully rested Lakers, expect Bryant and company to play better this time around.

NBA Storylines to Watch

With All-Star Weekend behind us, here are five NBA storylines to keep an eye on in the second half:

Who will get dealt?
The trade deadline is looming (Thursday at 3 pm EST) and trade rumors are swirling. Who's going where, and for whom? Rudy Gay has been the biggest name to switch teams so far, but that could change in the next 48 hours. Some players who could have new homes by the end of the week include Josh Smith, J.J. Redick, Kris Humphries, Paul Millsap, and Monta Ellis. Stay tuned.

Can the Celtics Keep it Up?
Boston entered the All-Star Break on a roll, having won eight of nine despite losing Rajon Rondo, Jared Sullinger and Leandro Barbosa for the remainder of the season during those two weeks. Everyone is stepping up and pitching in, from Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Jason Terry, Jeff Green and Courtney Lee. Everyone knows the C's are heavy on heart and pride, but how will their depleted roster fare over the next two months, when the long season takes its toll on players (especially older ones)? We'll find out soon enough. Ready or not, the Celtics face a challenging travel schedule down the stretch. They kick off the second half with a five-game road trip and play 60 percent of their remaining games away from the TD Garden.

Who's the MVP?
LeBron James or Kevin Durant? Both are having historic seasons--James in terms of overall efficiency and Durant in the art of shooting a basketball. You can't go wrong with either one. While they're not the only ones having MVP-caliber seasons--Chris Paul, James Harden, and Tony Parker are all worthy of consideration-- this is truly a two-horse race headed for a photo finish. Right now it's too close to call, and I don't see either candidate separating himself from the other anytime soon. Expect plenty of heated debate over the next few months, on par with the Mike Trout/Miguel Cabrera arguments that consumed talking heads last fall.

Will the Lakers turn it around?
Not as long as Mike D'Antoni is head coach. With Pau Gasol hurt, Dwight Howard not himself and Steve Nash starting to look his age, the Lakers don't look nearly as good as they did on paper six months ago. Kobe Bryant is doing everything he can to keep the ship from sinking, but it's not going to be enough.

Are the Spurs really the best team in basketball (again)?
Every year Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili get a little older, and every season ends with San Antonio at or near the top of the NBA standings. They're like the New York Yankees of basketball. Even with Ginobili riding the pine more often than not, the ageless Spurs rode strong first halves from Duncan, Parker, Tiago Splitter, and Danny Green to the best record in the NBA. Regular season success notwithstanding, the franchise hasn't won a championship in six years and the window for another title isn't opening any wider.

LeBron Youngest to 20,000

Last night LeBron James of the Miami Heat became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points.

He was 28 years and 17 days old when he took the court in Oakland, needing 18 points to reach the benchmark.  Aggressive from the start, King James didn't wait around. He came out shooting and got his milestone by halftime, helping Miami build a 14-point lead over the Golden State Warriors. With his scoring goal accomplished, James started spreading the ball around and found open teammates. He had already notched his 5,000th career assist in the first half as well (joining Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett as the only active players with 20K points and 5K helpers), but kept passing and finished the game with ten dimes to go along with his 25 points and seven rebounds.  With LBJ facilitating their offense, the Heat built their lead up to 34 points in the third quarter. Miami cruised to a 92-75 blowout from there, allowing Erik Spoelstra to rest his starters in the fourth quarter. With the win, Spo's squad held on to their one game lead over the New York Knicks for first place in the Eastern Conference.

The Heat had struggled on their current roadtrip, losing three games to Indiana, Portland and Utah.  Even so, the shorthanded Warriors, without Andrew Bogut (ankle) and Stephen Curry (knee), never stood a chance. Mark Jackson's squad struggled to get good looks against Miami's defense and shot just 36.3 percent from the floor, including 25 percent from beyond the arc.  It also didn't help that they committed 21 turnovers, ten more than Miami. But it wasn't all bad for Golden State. In his first start of the season, Jarrett Jack filled in for Curry and scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. David Lee and Carl Landry both notched double-doubles. The Warriors get a day off to lick their wounds, only to face another challenging matchup tomorrow night when they square off with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs.

James just set one record, but he still has a long way to go (18,380 points to be exact, more than Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Chris Webber, and Kevin McHale scored in their entire NBA careers) to tie Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record for most career points. He's already more than halfway there, but that's a lot of ground to make up.  To reuse a comparison I made two summers ago, Alex Rodriguez was the youngest player to 500 home runs, well on his way to passing Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds. Now, based on his declining performance and inability to stay healthy, I'm skeptical he'll hit 700 home runs, much less the 800 some once projected him for. To some extent, the same thing is happening to Albert Pujols as well.

It's impossible to predict injuries. LBJ is built like an Abrams tank and never gets hurt, but you could have said the same thing about A-Rod five years ago. Forecasting athletic careers is a dangerous game. A lot can change very quickly. Father Time catches up to everyone eventually, and luck contributes more to athletes' health than we would like to believe. Especially in basketball, where a mistimed jump or awkward landing can spell doom. You're always one play away from a catastrophic career-altering injury. The bottom line is that even the best players break down in their thirties, and who's to say James will still be playing like Michael Jordan ten years from now?

But the real reason I'm not betting on him to break is the scoring drop-off that resulted from his joining forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Despite improving his efficiency--his field goal percentage has improved every year since 2006-2007--his slight slip in shot attempts, especially those from the charity stripe and three-point range, have cut into his scoring numbers. Excluding his rookie year, James averaged 29 points on 21.1 field goal attempts per game-- 4.5 of which were of the three-point variety--and 9.5 free throw attempts per game in his last six seasons with Cleveland. Since taking his talents to South Beach, his scoring has dropped to 26.7 points on 18.7 shots per game. He's getting to the line less often than at any point since his rookie season, and his three point attempts are down 33 percent. There's no denying that James is a much better player and more polished scorer than he was in his early days with the Cavs, but now that he's surrounded by a great supporting cast he simply doesn't need to score as much. My money's on Kevin Durant to break Jabbar's record (assuming Kobe Bryant doesn't get there first) and think James will end up somewhere in the 35,000-36,000 point range.

The Heat wrap up their West Coast swing tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers in a must-see battle of the Big Threes: James, Wade, and Bosh versus Bryant, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard (Pau Gasol will receive limited minutes in his first game back from a concussion). A few months ago this game looked like a preview of the NBA finals, and while the Heat have held up their end of the bargain LA is languishing four games below .500. After firing Mike Brown just five games into the season, the aging Lakers have yet to gel under Mike D'Antoni. They endured a six-game losing streak to begin the new year, but are coming off back-to-back wins against Cleveland and Milwaukee. The Lakers are going to turn it around at some point and get on a roll, but can they do it tonight against the top team in the Eastern Conference?

Tune in to TNT tonight to find out.