In the dog days of summer, every NBA team is filled with championship dreams.
OK, that's a crock of Jerome James-flavored gumbo. Most teams are well aware that the only gold at the end of an NBA season's rainbow is named Jose. And I'm not talking about just the Clippers or Kings here. I'm also talking about the Hawks and Sixers and Hornets and Jazz. There are only a handful of teams that are genuinely in the hunt. And most champions will tell you it takes a precious combination of talent, obscenely hard work, and lots and lots of luck to cash in the ticket to immortality. Some teams expect to contend for a championship. Rarely does any team expect to win a championship, if it's not currently holding the ring (or waiting for it to arrive in the mail).
The San Antonio Spurs, of course, are a pretty rare team. And they have been for the last decade. And much of their success is due to their equally rare head coach.
Five Things takes a look at five things to watch out for in marquee games with playoff implications.
We've got a trifecta of Game 3's on Friday. We've got an Eastern Powerhouse trying to prolong its relevance, and the new Eastern Order trying to showcase how dominant it really is. We have a scrappy underdog showing you that to overlook them leads to your own peril. And we have a physically and emotionally wounded star-crossed titan battling the basketball equivalent of a populist movement.
So what should you be paying attention to this evening? 5 Things has you covered. Let's talk about Cleveland-Detroit, Orlando-Philadelphia, and Portland-Houston.
Is there a series in the 2009 Playoffs -- outside of Lakers v. FearMongers Jazz, that seems less likely to end in an upset? Because I'm pretty sure the answer is "no." (See our predictions, if you don't believe me.) I'll justify the other sweeps like this: Detroit is still Detroit, Boston doesn't have Kevin Garnett and we're all to scared to pick against Dwyane Wade. Of course, a certain post-powered, caped-crusader is the same reason that I'm not even contemplating a Philadelphia win, so maybe it evens out.
After the fifth and deciding game against the Magic last week, I spotted a box of Rebound fx in Ratliff's locker. I asked about it, and he proudly explained it's a supplement you mix with water -- you can buy it in bulk or portable 1 oz. packages that you pour into a water bottle. Not a lot of athletes this side of Tiger Woods have their own sports drink, so I had to ask him some more questions.
As he explained, soon after he as traded to Atlanta in 2002, he was introduced to Dr. Joel Wallach, whose company, Youngevity, created vitamin and mineral supplements. After averaging 45 missed games a season from 1999-2000 through 2001-02, Dr. Wallach helped him get back on the court. "I learned that I was mineral deficient, and that's why my body was breaking down so much. And once I started getting into minerals, taking the calcium and doing that program, then my body got back together."
Theo Ratliff: "He's a phenomenal talent -- his athleticism, his size, but he's still young. He's going to continue to get better and continue to get better and he'll probably be at the status of those guys later on in his career. But right now he's still raw as far as what he's able to do on the floor offensively and things like that. So he's a load down there because he's so powerful and able to jump and dunk and different things of that nature, but at the same time, he knows he has a long ways to go as far as continuing to work and seeing things out there on the floor."
Notes from a trip to the NBA Playoffs. When I entered Orlando's locker room before tonight's game, Rashard Lewis and J.J. Redick were watching a couple of ESPN analysts on TV talking about Game 1. The talking heads mentioned Lewis' 553 three-point attempts this year, a figure that shocked Redick.
"Did you lead the league in attempts?" asked Redick.
"No, I was somewhere in the top five," Lewis repiled.
He's selling himself short: he was second only to Jason Richardson (599). In fact, the Magic set an NBA record by making at least five threes in every regular season game this year, and then extended that streak in all five games of the first round only to make just a single shot from long distance in Game 1 against the Pistons. I asked Lewis if we can expect to see more three pointers the rest of the series, as well as whether his back-and-forth with Theo Ratliff might start another rap feud like the LeBron/Jay-Z vs. DeShawn/Soulja Boy.
Matt Watson: JJ was just talking about the number of threes that you guys usually put up. Is that something that you guys want to get back to this game?
Rashard Lewis: It's helped us have the successful season that we've had because Dwight demands so much attention down low he's going to draw double teams and we got to knock down open shots in order to open it up for him.
During the Pistons' Game 1 victory over Orlando, you may recall a play where Rashard Lewis wrapped up Theo Ratliff under the basket, causing Jason Maxiell to come over and have some words with Lewis. Well, Theo wanted to make sure everyone knows that he can take care of himself, and also took the opportunity to get in some digs at the Magic since, you know, no one's asked him a question in about 10 years:
"There's no sense in guys coming to my rescue," Ratliff said Sunday. "I mean, that was Rashard Lewis. He's a 3 man."
"Dwight is an imposing player, but we've played against some of the Hall of Famers so it's not really something we worry about," Ratliff said.
"They're a finesse team," Ratliff said. "They're a 3-point shooting team."
Not surprisingly, the Magic players didn't take too kindly to someone whose corpse played a whopping 12 minutes the entire game lighting them up like that. So of course, Lewis and Jameer Nelson had some words for Theo as well.
You can have a lot of energy in five minutes a game," Lewis said. "What's he played? 15 games? Tell him to come out and guard me."
"Who? Who?" [Jameer] Nelson asked mockingly when Ratliff's comments were repeated by reporters. "I'm getting sick and tired of people calling us soft."
Don't get me wrong, I like trash talk in the playoffs as much as the next guy. But it's very Celtics-like to have your scrubs talking trash when they don't contribute nearly what the team's superstars do on the floor, and all it's going to do is make things harder on your teammates who do get the bulk of the minutes. We saw what can happen when a role player mouths off to the opposing team's star. I'm sure the Pistons would prefer that Ratliff doesn't provide any similar motivation to the Magic.
Dwight Howard may be the most dominant big man in the game, but the Pistons had a plan to contain him last night, holding him to just 12 points and eight boards as Detroit routed the Magic 91-72. Flip Saunders talked about Detroit's strategy after the game. "You're not going to stop him. Tonight's game is not going to happen very often," said Saunders. "But the big thing is we try to send a lot of bodies at him. And we wanted to keep a fresh body on him all the time."
Jason Maxiell started out on Howard, but Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess and Theo Ratliff all took regular shifts banging with him. The steady stream of physical play took its toll on the Magic, who responded late in the game with chippy play on both ends of the court. That's not usually Orlando's style, but it's something Detroit relished. "Well, you can't rough up the game with us," said Rip Hamilton. "We've been doing this for years, and that's the way we want to play. So they tried, but you know, we enjoy it, we like it."
Things almost boiled over in the fourth when Rashard Lewis wrapped up Theo Ratliff under Detroit's basket. Ratliff shook off the contact, but Lewis drew a technical, as well as an earful from Maxiell. "I wanted to make sure my teammate's okay," he said after the game. "We're all family here, so I let it be known [if they] try to get physical, it's not going to be that easy for them and we're going to fire it back at them."
When asked if the rough play affected the Pistons, Maxiell laughed. "Oh no, not at all," he said. "We're a rough team ourselves. We're going to do the roughing."
Three title contenders today (well okay, maybe just two) made additions to their rosters to try to make one last tweak before the playoffs begin. Here's a quick recap of today's signings.
Suns sign Gordan Giricek: With the Suns down to just three decent long range shooters in Nash, Bell, and Barbosa, Giricek's career average of 46% from downtown in 24 career postseason games is what makes him an attractive addition. Something's not right though if this is Giricek's fifth team in six seasons (which it is), so we'll see what happens.
Pistons sign Theo Ratliff: As summed up beautifully on the Pistons' website, the team essentially traded Primoz Brezec and Flip Murray for Juan Dixon and Theo Ratliff. Both new players are considered to be substantial upgrades from their predecessors, but the Pistons are so deep that additions like these are more of an insurance policy than they are an attempt to shake up the roster. Fun fact about Ratliff: he's more famous for who he's been traded for (Jerry Stackhouse, Dikembe Mutombo, Rasheed Wallace, and Kevin Garnett) in his career than for what he's contributed on the court.
Celtics sign Cassell: After much drama and speculation, the Celtics finally inked Sam Cassell to back up Rajon Rondo at the point guard spot. Disappointingly, Cassell is unlikely to play in tomorrow's huge game against the Pistons, as Doc Rivers was quoted as saying he's "in no hurry" to get him into the lineup. Conveniently, it'll also be a nice excuse for Boston and a morale booster for the playoffs that they weren't quite at full strength if they end up losing the game to Detroit.
Well, it looks like it's official: Kevin Garnett will wear Celtic green next year, teaming up with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to form one of the most potent (and definitely the most expensive) trio of players in the entire league. From the Boston Herald:
Garnett is expected to arrive in Boston this afternoon for a physical.
Garnett has agreed to a three-year extension with the Celtics beyond the two remaining on his contract, guaranteeing that he will be a Celtic for the next five years.
That's pretty much the same package everyone was talking about yesterday, except that there are now two first-round picks instead of just one headed to Minnesota. It's far too early to say who actually won this trade (especially considering four of the five players Minnesota received are 24 years or younger) but we do know one thing for sure: Boston's depth took a huge hit.
FanHouse previews the 
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