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      Sacramento 2/5/10 - Steve Nash may have been two days before his 36th birthday, but he played like a man 10 years younger. Leading a Phoenix team that has ripped off five straight wins - the last four on a Western Conference road swing - Nash & Suns power forward Amar’e Stoudemire combined to dominate the Kings Friday night. For Sacramento, who have lost 17 of their last 19 games, a 114-102 loss coming at home was especially bitter.

NBA lore says after the ‘03-’04 season, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban found himself at a crossroads. Wishing to build a championship contender around Dirk Nowitzki, Cuban knew he had to spend carefully. Faced with point guard Steve Nash simultaneously entering free agency & celebrating his 30th birthday, Cuban made a fateful decision & allowed himself to be outbid by the Phoenix Suns. Dallas made it to the NBA Finals two seasons later, losing to the Miami Heat, and haven’t been back since. Phoenix paired Nash with coach Mike D’Antoni & they pioneered a light-speed offensive attack that revolutionized the NBA - but has never produced a championship.

In six years since Dallas Nash has come to resemble a fine wine, getting better with age. He’s even won League MVP honors twice, rare for a player of his position. Against Sacramento, he held true to form, putting up a near triple-double - 23 points, 8 rebounds, & 10 assists. Stoudemire certainly benefited from Nash’s double-digit dimes, rocking the rim for 30 points & snatching 9 rebounds to boot. The Suns really heated things up in the third, responding to flickering signs of life from the Kings. ”We came out and we were aggressive,” Stoudemire said. ”We had a couple of big plays there to get our momentum back and we just took off from there.”

The King’s season has cooled recently after an early hot start. Probable rookie of the year Tyreke Evans managed only 13 points & four assists, down from his usual averages of 20.5 & 5.0 per game. Sacramento’s Donte Greene had the big night, setting a new career high with 31 points. However, fans in Arco Arena were not impressed, by that or by 17 points from another Kings rookie, Omri Casspi. They booed the team off the floor at a timeout in the third period, the Suns leading by 29.

For Phoenix, these four roads wins left them hopeful on chances to compete in the hyper-fierce Western Conference. While Nash remains ageless and Stoudemire remains in a Suns uniform - he’s a free agent this summer & a hot name in trade talks - you can’t count them out. Sacramento though, has a tougher row to hoe. For years, Kings ownership has lobbied the city’s leadership for a new arena, with winning buzz generated earlier in the year helping the cause. However, prospects on a new court for the Kings have faded along with the team, especially given recession ravaged California’s financial situation.

New York City 2-4-10 - Comes a time every season to sort winners from losers, maybes from realities, & ghost of a chances from not a snowball’s chances in Hell.
By this point, a discerning eye can regard several teams as winners contending for the ultimate prize: NBA championship glory.  These teams are the strivers & when any two meet head to head on a given night there is competitive fire lit that warms a fan’s heart.

As well at this point cynical sorts regard several teams as losers contending for a less noble yet still meaningful prize: draft lottery gold.  When any two meet head to head on a given night, it is a reminder of an oft-ignored aspect of this “game” of basketball.  That it is a multi-billion dollar business with a futures market all it’s own, with the worst teams getting the best shot at top picks.  In this futures market, losses are investments, towards the year’s college or international sensation that could remake the franchise.

Since you can’t just straight tank your season in a naked attempt to garner a top pick, cellar dwelling teams slog it out for wins they’d rather not have.  This is the strange in-between place where the Washington & New York found each other Wednesday night, the Knicks ultimately prevailing 107-85.

At the outset of this season, Washington hoped their squad would challenge the best of the East & go deep into the playoffs.  However, a rocky transition under new coach Flip Saunders hamstrung efforts even before Gilbert Arenas screwed the pooch during an orgy of bad judgment.  With team teardown imminent, they look to the future & hope this year was all a bad dream.  Sixteen victories to their credit, perhaps 30 by season’s end, will give them a chance for a top ten, maybe top five pick.  Against the Knicks, even their captain, ever-reliable Antawn Jamison only managed 11 points, while Nick Young led the Wiz with 15 points.
To their credit, the Knicks have done a passable job cementing over the Chernobyl-type radiation left from the Isiah Thomas era, having brought in a gifted coach (Mike D’Antoni) and trading/buying out/waiting out/wading through numerous bad contracts under the guidance of GM Donnie Walsh.  With highly rated center David Lee a future All-Star & a packed piggy bank for this summer’s free agent bonanza, (LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, & many others all available) New York is well situated.  Lee put in 22 points against Washington, and guard Nate Robinson led all scorers with 23.

The difficult thing to predict is what these teams will look like at season’s end.  As the trade deadline nears, both will probably trade pieces to free up salary cap space.  Washington especially will strip itself of talent in a fire sale, to garner a few more losses & avoid paying any luxury tax during their rebuilding process.  New York, having been in rebuild mode for the past few seasons, probably wants to get back to winning & taking advantage of the huge fan base the City provides it.  Both organizations will be active in free agency, though the Wiz still has the lingering issue of Gilbert Arenas’s contract to resolve.