Fool's Gold

So the Big Story in the Association is a 7-point home win for the Suns, now 4-6 in the Shaq Era, over the rampaging Spurs. The loss was the Spurs second in a row after an 11-game winning streak, and was notable for Shaq's 14 points, 16 boards and downright hustle, including a dive into the stands that killed a family of four. The win did much to boost the Suns' playoff chances, pushing them back into contention for the 6 seed, which is going to be critical in the West, since the 7 and 8 seeds are going to have to deal with the Lakers or Spurs in the first round.

So all's right in Suns Land? Not really, no. They still needed a 14-2 burst at the close to get the win, don't have any kind of bench anymore (only 8 Suns played, and Gordon Giricek's 6 minutes really don't count that much), and it's not like you can count on the Spurs to shoot under 35% from the floor very often. Grant Hill's not going to go 9 for 13 from the floor too often, and when you outshoot the Spurs by 10+ percentage points and outrebound them by 8 at home... you really shouldn't need a huge fourth quarter to win.

Meanwhile in Milwaukee, the Little Team That Does (your Philadelphia 76ers) won its 12th out of its last 15 with a 22-point road win. The team shot 60% from the floor, with rookie Thaddeus Young leading seven players in double figures, with 22.

More importantly, it's getting them closer to a 6 seed, which would get them Orlando in the first round, rather than Detroit or Boston... and also gives them a 4-game lead over the 9 seed (currently, New Jersey). If Young and Dalembert (18 and 10 today, compared to Andrew Bogut's 1 and 2 -- yikes) want crush people up front, and Miller and Iggy want to be one of the best backcourts in the East... well, they still can't win because of the bad free throw and three-point shooting. Or can they?

Oh, and a word about the bottom edge of the East -- and that word is Putrid. Six out of the bottom seven are on long-term losing streaks, and if you add them up, it's 22 games and counting for the Nets, Bulls, Pacers, Bucks, Knicks and Heat. If this keeps up, the Bobcats (the only team not stinking up the joint right now) could put a scare into the Hawks, but meanwhile in the West, the Nuggets are out of the running. In the East, they'd be the 4 seed -- and a heck of a lot more intriguing than watching the Hawks get swept. Having a few teams at the top of the conference not stink ain't enough, people. (Of course, the NBA is too busy estorting arenas and fixing the Draft to make sure that tanking teams get bad picks to, um, fix the freaking unspeakably broken playoff system. But I digress.)