Garnett's effort negated in Timberwolves' OT loss

The Sacramento Kings (45-19) squared off against the Minnesota Timberwolves (41-24) last Wednesday night. Okay, so we know that Kevin Garnett can pretty much do it all -- in the month of February he led the Wolves to a 12-1 record with averages of 27.7 ppg, 13.9 rpg, 5.8 apg, and 57 percent shooting from the field. However, critics have always complained that Garnett is too unselfish in crunch time, often not receiving (or demanding) the ball with the game on the line.

With the score deadlocked at 83 with 30 seconds left in the game, the ball passed through the hands of Troy Hudson and Wally Szczerbiak before Kendall Gill bricked a 21-foot jumper. KG never even touched it.

Then, with time running down in regulation and the score still tied, the Kings' Mike Bibby lost control of the ball, which was snatched up by Hudson. With the seconds winding down, Hudson chose to heave up a 30-footer rather than try to hit Garnett streaking towards the hoop. As the buzzer sounded and Hudson's shot came up well short, Garnett stood frozen under the hoop with his arms still out to receive a pass that never came.

He smiled, patted his teammate on the head, and trotted back to the timeout to prepare for overtime. Perhaps this is the moment when Garnett needs to show some anger, get in his teammates' faces, and bark "Gimme the damn ball next time!"

The Kings went on to win 96-95 in OT. Garnett had 27 points and 24 rebounds, all for nothing.

On Thursday, the Philadelphia 76ers (36-26) absolutely shredded the Portland Trailblazers (40-22) in Portland, 88-60. Not only was Allen Iverson sensational with 36 points, but the Sixers played defense reminiscent of the 2001 season when they stormed into the NBA Finals. They were fronting the post, harassing the ballhandlers, double teaming frenetically, diving onto the floor, crashing the boards, and cutting off the passing lanes in one of the most inspired defensive performances this season.

On the floor for the Sixers were the 5'11" Iverson, 6'3" Eric Snow, 6'5" Aaron McKie, 6'10" Derrick Coleman, and 6'9" Brian Skinner, vs. the Blazers' 6'8" Scottie Pippen, 6'4" Derek Anderson, 6'5" Bonzi Wells, 6'11" Rasheed Wallace, and 7'3" Arvydas Sabonis.

These matchups gave Portland a notable height advantage, but the Blazers simply could not score. The team put zero points on the board during a seven minute stretch in the third quarter, scored just 28 second-half points, and shot only 36 percent for the game. The Sixers won the next night at Seattle, as Iverson went off for 40, and they have now won 11 of 13 since the All-Star break, moving them only three games out of first place in the East, as of yesterday afternoon.

But while the Sixers are zooming, the rest of the best in the East are sinking, and sinking fast. The Detroit Pistons (39-23) recently lost seven games in a row, but retained their precarious hold on first place due to February swoons by the Indiana Pacers (38-25) and New Jersey Nets (39-25). Indiana has lost nine of ten games, while the Nets are mired in a 2-7 slump themselves.

The shoddy play of the upper echelon teams in the Eastern Conference has brought back into the focus the East vs. West debate, but unlike Tupac vs. Biggie, the West has a clear advantage here. Only three playoff-bound teams from the east (Philly, the Boston Celtics (36-27), and the New Orleans Hornets (36-28)) have winning records against the Western Conference, while the top ten teams in the West all have plus .500 records against its lesser brothers to the east.