HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Sage Advice From The Lakers: The L.A. Lakers have traded their share of barbs towards the Miami HEAT. Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson dubbed the NBA, as the "No Boys Allowed" league, after hearing of tears in the HEAT locker room.

The Lakers come into tonight matchup against the Miami HEAT sporting an eight-game winning streak and a re-focused commitment to defense that has returned the Lakers to where they want to be - a half-game behind Dallas for second place in the West.

The Lakers are the most tested team in the NBA these days, so it’s no wonder that their thoughts on the HEAT and their struggles ring the truest of any voice on the subject.

"It takes a little adjusting, I guess," Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant said to Howard Beck of The New York Times. "I don’t know, I’m still trying to kill people."

"I think the difference between us," Bryant said, "is that we all know what our roles are. Everything’s cemented for us. I think for them, they’re still trying to figure that out, so it makes it a little tougher."

"They don’t know how each other are going to respond to it," Bryant said. "I’ve been around Pau for years — I know how he’s going to respond in certain situations. I know how Ron’s going to respond. I know how Lamar’s going to respond. So we know each other extremely well, so we know how to support each other in those situations."

Lakers point guard Derek Fisher points to his team’s belief in each other as a core reason the Lakers have not fractured under adversity and a lot of time together.

"Faith is remaining certain in the face of doubt," Fisher said. "You’re not sure how it’s going to end. But you’re constantly of the belief that it will end the way you want it to, and the way you always believed would end — and that’s on top."

"It’s taken years for us to develop the abilities to face whatever storms come our way and just push right through it," Fisher said.

Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson also believes the negativity surrounding the HEAT adds to the struggle the team faces.

"I’ve always said that one of the reasons why the Bulls were very successful and the Lakers also is they engendered good feelings," Jackson said. "People were rooting for them and wanted to see them be successful. And I think from what I’ve heard, this team feels like they’re being looked at to lose."

"Nationally, if that’s the case, it’s a burden to carry."

The Lakers and HEAT get underway in Miami at 7:00pm EST.

How Good Are The Spurs? The San Antonio Spurs got 23 points from point guard Tony Parker last night, which powered the Spurs to a 111-104 won over the Detroit Pistons. Beating the Pistons these days is not a memorable task, but the win, San Antonio’s 52nd win of the season cemented the team’s 14th consecutive playoff appearance.

While the Spurs are the best team in the NBA by a huge margin, they are not the only team to have clinched a playoff berth. Boston, who lost to the Clippers last night 108-103 in Boston, also locked in a playoff berth and the Chicago Bulls - who crushed the Charlotte Bobcats 101-84 last night – also sealed up a playoff bid.

On the season the San Antonio Spurs have lost just three games in San Antonio giving them the best home record in the league. The Spurs are 22-9 on the road, which is one game behind Dallas for the best road record in the league. The Spurs are 31-7 in Conference play, which is also tops in the league. The Spurs are also beating teams by an average of 6.8 points per game which tops the league as well.

The Spurs are the sixth-best team offensively scoring 103.6 points per game. The Spurs have five players averaging double figures in scoring, with rookie Gary Neal a few points back from being the sixth player, with his 9.5 point per game average.

The Spurs also have five players shooting better than 40% from three-point range, including two players shooting better than 50% from deep (Matt Bonner at 52.4% and Steve Novak at 50% exactly). Factor in George Hill’s 39.9% from three and that’s the best three-point shooting team in the league with 40.1% on the season.

The Spurs have 18 games left on their regular season schedule and will face 12 teams with a record above .500 and play 14 Western Conference teams.

If the playoffs started today, the Spurs would host the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round.

Riley Won’t Bite: HEAT president Pat Riley has been scouting the conference tournaments in college basketball namely the Big East Tournament in New York.

When asked to comment about his struggling HEAT team, Riley dismissed the media reports of a rift with his head coach Erik Spoelstra. He laughed off the notion there was a problem at all.

"Hey, look, tough times are good times for me. But don’t make me go there today," Riley said to Brendan Prunty of The Star-Ledger. "You know what’s going to happen if I do that? In New York, if I didn’t create a crisis with the Knicks, the crisis was created for us. In Miami, it needs me to help it along just by opening my mouth."

"Write it off. Write it off," Riley said of the questions surrounding his team. "It’s the media being neurotic. It’s their need to make a story, create a story, and make that story come true. And that ain’t going to happen. Write it off. We’re just in a tough time right now, we’ll get through it."

"I know they’ll get it," Riley said confidently. "Everyone has to overreact to things right now. We’re going through some tough times and we will get through it. It’s like anything else, like I always say, the playoffs will tell. Everything else now is just rhetoric. And we’re getting ready for that time. And I don’t really care what position we play from."

Sources near the HEAT say Riley has zero interest in coaching again, and even if urged by HEAT owner Mickey Arison Riley has told those around him he is done coaching in the NBA.

The HEAT play host to the red-hot L.A. Lakers tonight at 7:00pm EST, then face five potential playoff teams hosting Memphis on Saturday, San Antonio in Miami on Monday, the Oklahoma City Thunder in Miami on Wednesday, and a quick trip to Atlanta on Friday before wrapping up with Denver on Saturday the 19th in Miami.

The HEAT have lost five straight coming into tonight’s game.

Celtics Pleased With Carlos: Sometimes the waiver wire can be a place to find a missing piece or a hidden gem. Sometimes it can be the dented can bin that doesn’t pan out.

In the NBA you sometimes have to take a leap of faith, and that’s exactly what the Boston Celtics did when they signed Carlos Arroyo after his release in Miami two weeks ago.

Arroyo logged his first meaningful minutes as a Celtic last night and looked good enough in the process to earn some praise from Celtics’ head coach Doc Rivers and All-Star teammate Paul Pierce.

"I’ve been very anxious since I signed with the team to get on the floor with the guys and get a feel for what we’re trying to do," Arroyo said to Monique Walker of The Boston Globe. "I’m glad that first game is out of the way."

Arroyo logged 15 minutes, four points, two assists, three rebounds, and a turnover.

{AUTHOR_BOX}"I thought Arroyo was phenomenal," Rivers said. "He ran our club. When he came down and called a play that we hadn’t put in for him, but he knew the team ran it, I thought, ‘Man, this guy — he’s pretty good.’ You know, everybody else knew it on the floor and he called it and you know, I was shocked that he knew it. It was great. So there were some good things there."

The Celtics traded away backup point guard Nate Robinson at the trade deadline and were thin at the guard spot, so adding a veteran guard like Arroyo fits with how the Celtics play.

"He’s a savvy point guard that’s been around the block a few times and has a lot of experience," Pierce said. "As a point guard, you’re automatically thrust into a leadership role because you’re out there calling plays and you’re out there at the top with the ball. He’s been on a number of playoff teams where he’s been in that position.

"So it was good for him to come in, even on a couple of days of practice, and really come play with a lot of confidence and play the point guard like he’s been there before. That’s going to be big for us as he continues to learn the system and do the things that we do."

The Celtics have a reasonable stretch of games coming up as they head to Philadelphia for a Friday matchup with the 76ers, before hosting a home game versus the Bucks. The Nets, Pacers and Rockets round out their next five games.

The Celtics are 1½ games up on Chicago for first place in the East.

More Twitter:  HOOPSWORLD has launched a new Twitter module where we will be releasing more breaking news and insider-type information via Twitter. Make sure you are following all of our guys to insure you are getting the very latest from our team: @stevekylerNBA, @AlexKennedyNBA, @jfleminghoops, @TheRocketGuy, @EricPincus, @joelbrigham, @alexraskin82, @stephenlitel, @TommyBeer and @YannisHW.

NBA Chats: There are three NBA Chats today starting with HOOPSWORLD rookie Stephen Brotherston at 12pm EST. Stephen covers the Toronto Raptors and the Eastern Conference for HOOPSWORLD. Senior NBA Writer Joel Brigham will host his weekly NBA chat at 4:30pm EST. HOOPSWORLD rookie Lang Greene will host his NBA chat tonight at 8pm EST. Lang covers the Atlanta Hawks and the Eastern Conference. Get your questions in early. You can always find the next NBA chat here: Upcoming NBA Chats.