THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT: Curie High School in Chicago, which boasts Kansas recruit Cliff Alexander, went 24-1 this season en route to the city championship and was ranked second in the nation by 
USA Today, forfeited all of its wins when it was learned it used seven – seven! – academically ineligible players. As a scholastic coach who oversees mandatory tutoring sessions for his players, this one really bothers me.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Chicago Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy Jr., after playing 47:51 in Tuesday’s win at Atlanta: “I appreciate (coach Tom Thibodeau) giving me that nine-second breather at the end of the half. That made a big difference.”
TANKAPALOOZA!: The only team yet to win since the All-Star break is the Pelicans, who are 11 games out of the final playoff spot in the West but just three games away from the bottom five, which would allow them to keep their first-round pick. They took a huge step toward that goal this week when Jrue Holiday was ruled out for the season, joining Ryan Anderson on the sidelines. The next steps should be a second opinion on the shoulder injury to All-Star Anthony Davis and increased minutes at small forward for in-season signee Luke Babbitt. If that doesn’t work, expect to see Austin Rivers starting at point guard.
LINE OF THE WEEK: James Harden, Houston at Sacramento, Feb. 25: 31 minutes, 11-20 FGs, 6-9 3-pointers, 15-16 FTs, two rebounds, eight assists, three steals, five turnovers, 43 points in a 129-103 win. yes, we noticed Goran Dragic and Trevor Ariza had career-high 40-point games. However, Harden established a season high despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter. After Dwight Howard exited with 4 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter, Harden scored Houston’s last 18 points of the period.
LINE OF THE WEAK: Eric Gordon, New Orleans at LA Clippers, March 1: 32 minutes, 1-13 FGs, 0-3 3-pointers, 0-0 FTs, four rebounds, four assists, one steal, three turnovers, two points in a 108-76 loss. Gordon was also an unfathomable minus-45 while he was on the court, giving him the nod over Knicks rookie Tim Hardaway’s 2-of-15 
and minus-35 at Miami on Thursday.
TRILLION WATCH: There was some excellent lack of effort this week. Pistons rookie Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made it four trillions in five games with a 2 trillion Monday vs. Golden State. Celtics center Joel Anthony had a 2 trillion Monday at Utah and a 3 trillion Saturday vs. Indiana. Cavaliers rookie Sergey Karasev dropped a 4 trillion Friday vs. Utah. But this week’s top disappearing act goes to Heat forward Rashard Lewis, who moved into the top five this season with a 7 trillion in Thursday’s nationally televised rout of New York.
GAME OF THE WEEK: Miami at Houston, March 4. The first meeting this season between the legitimate championship contenders is NBA TV’s “Fan Night” game and starts a busy week of national exposure for both teams. The Heat visit San Antonio on Thursday on TNT and host Chicago on Sunday on ABC. The Rockets host Indiana on Friday on ESPN and entertain Portland on Sunday.
GAME OF THE WEAK: Utah at Milwaukee, March 3. The Jazz’s six-game East Coast road trip is a Tankapalooza tour and also includes a stop in Philadelphia on Saturday. The Bucks, who have yet to win consecutive games this season, also impact the top of the draft lottery by hosting Sacramento on Wednesday and visiting New Orleans on Friday.
TWO MINUTES: Kyle Korver’s overall 3-pointer streak is up to 127 games. He also has made at least two threes in 11 straight games, shooting a blistering .567 (34-of-60) during that stretch. The hot streak has allowed Korver to overtake Anthony Morrow and Marco Belinelli atop the league lead in 3-point percentage at .484 and vault him into second in adjusted field-goal percentage at .642, ahead of LeBron James and trailing only dunk machine DeAndre Jordan. … Pelicans swingman Tyreke Evans arrived 30 minutes late for Friday’s game at Phoenix because he was stuck in an elevator at the team’s hotel. “Next time I come to Phoenix,” he said, “I will take the steps.” … In Wednesday’s 103-83 loss at Chicago, no Golden State starter scored in double figures. … It’s quite possible that both Pau Gasol and Mike D’Antoni will be somewhere other than Los Angeles next season. But one of them is definitely gone after this week’s public urination battle. After a 20-point loss to Indiana in which recent acquisitions Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks combined to take 29 of the team’s 90 shots, Gasol said, “I don’t think there’s a lot of discipline right now.” D’Antoni wanted Gasol to keep his gripes in house, adding, “I have no idea what he’s talking about.” There’s no denying that D’Antoni’s offense has marginalized Gasol’s role over the last 
two seasons, creating a public rift between coach and player. Jordan Farmar, who like Gasol (and unlike D’Antoni) was a part of the Lakers’ consecutive titles in 2009-10, seemed to be a voice of reason. “We want to have a chance to win every night,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to go out there and lose by 20, guys just going for their numbers and stuff. Let’s just play good basketball. Let’s play through our best player (Gasol) and figure it out from there.” … Maybe someone can explain to me how Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who has collected 15 technical fouls and cheap-shotted Rockets guard Aaron Brooks on Tuesday, has shown increased maturity this season when compared to his first three seasons, when he averaged 14.3 technicals and cheap-shotted Vince Carter, O.J. Mayo and Mike Dunleavy. Looks like the same guy to me. … The Spurs had 34 assists on 44 baskets in Wednesday’s 120-110 win over Detroit. Without Tony Parker. … The Sixers have lost a franchise record-tying 12 straight home games and 14 in a row overall. With 10 players on the current roster 24 or younger, Philadelphia is the youngest team in NBA history. The roster also has 10 players with less than 100 games of NBA experience. Asked if he wonders when if the Sixers will win another game, first-year coach Brett Brown said, “All the time.” … When the Jazz start Richard Jefferson, Marvin Williams, Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward and rookie Trey Burke, they are 17-11. When they start any other lineup, they are 3-33. … The Pistons are 2-43 in their last 45 road games against West teams, winning at Sacramento on March 14, 2012 and Nov. 15, 2013 while losing everywhere else. Detroit still visits Minnesota, Denver, Phoenix, the Clippers, Utah and Oklahoma City this season. … The Clippers are 3-0 vs. the Rockets this season, and in Wednesday’s win, Doc Rivers decided not to double-team Dwight Howard. “I felt for our bigs at times, but we just told them, ‘You’re on an island. Good luck. Have fun.’ But we decided we were going to stay out with their 3-point shooting and try to take that away. Even when I was at Marquette, I knew that two is less than three.”
Trivia Answer: Amar’e Stoudemire with Phoenix (44-38) in 2002-03. … Happy 67th Birthday, Willie Wise. … Maybe LeBron James is The Yellow King.
Chris Bernucca is the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Monday during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.
Ferry didn’t sign anybody because he’s tanking. Obviously. He’s a natural born loser, but his inaction this time isn’t because he thinks his roster is great.
Suns have already exceeded expectations whether to make playoffs or not. If they make playoffs, they are good for a couple of rounds max. Great opportunity for developing young players, but no trophy in sight. If they miss playoffs, they get higher pick.
Gasol-for-rent is less valuable than Indiana’s late pick. He is too old, often injured, doesn’t fit Suns pace & indicated he wasn’t willing to re-sign with Suns after this season. He might also disrupt Suns chemistry & eat into younger talents’ playing time. Rookie-scale contracts are valuable commodity under the CBA – for hiring cheap talent or as trade bait for superstar. Worth a lot more than Gasol.
Bernard, thanks for reading but disagree. You still get Gasol’s cap slot, so chasing free agents is unaffected. And the Suns have played their way out of a top five or top six pick; their own pick will be in the 13-17 range, with three other picks in the teens or lower. Do you want four more Archie Goodwins or Kendall Marshalls? I really believe the worst thing that can happen to the Suns this season is that they just miss the playoffs. Now they may get in, and that experience is invaluable. But Gasol would have helped in that regard. As Val Kilmer said in Heat, “It’s worth the stretch.”
I’m thinking that maybe Lakers should be considered losers for not trying harder to either get rid of Gasol or Kaman and Hill at the trade deadline. Now LAL could win a few games (especially if Kobe returns) and get as high as the 8th or 9th pick, besides still being a Luxury Tax team. Lakers were thought to be demanding a quality 2nd round pick in addition to getting another team absorb the salaries of Kaman or Hill.
Lakers could have been on pace to get the best odds for the #2 pick (before Sixers decided to give Bucks a challenge for the worst record).
I agree Jerry, but I was trying not to factor in the trading deadline. was just going off post deadline moves.