Clichés aside, the NBA season is not a marathon. Teams like the 1971-72 Lakers and the 1995-96 Bulls made it look like a 400-meter heat. Most years, it's more of a 5K: a field mixed with elites in logo attire and weekend warriors wearing baseball caps backward, where those in good-enough shape can run hard from wire to wire knowing the finish line is never beyond the wall they'll hit in higher-endurance races.
The first recognition of progress in a 5K is the one-mile sign, and that's where we are this week. As the participants pass by, there are some noteworthy surprises in this field.
Most of us enter 5Ks to finish, and maybe lose a few pounds in the process. Winning is not on our radar. First place is pre-ordained to the long-limbed, sleek runners in tight spandex, like the Lakers and Celtics. They stretch and prance about on the front lawn near the sponsor tents, conducting mock starts while the rest of us sit under the elm tree waiting for our 27 minutes of hell in the blistering sun.
This past offseason, though, Los Angeles and Boston have been challenged by Oklahoma City and Miami. However, both the Thunder and Heat hit the start looking like they lied their way to the front by declaring bogus time estimates. When race organizers comp elites a front spot, it's so they won't have to weave through the midriff. They aren't supposed to get trampled by the pack. Nonetheless, the Thunder lost four of their first nine and the Heat eight of their first 17, much to the delight of curbside NBA onlookers. Winning streaks of five for OKC and eight-plus for Miami have helped both get back in the race at 17-8, but there's still a long way to the front of the pack.
That's where the 20-3 San Antonio Spurs find themselves, as the ageless Tim Duncan and diva-free Tony Parker wave off the attendants serving Dixie cupfuls of water and press on. They have to; their lead is only a game over the Dallas Mavericks in what is shaping up to be the best division in basketball. So much so that the New Orleans Hornets, the NBA's early frontrunners at 8-0, have dropped back to third after losing 8 of their last 11. The Hornets have gone off the shoulder and are bent over with hands on knees, puking on their track shoes. The good news is that nobody in New Orleans is watching, as the growing deficit in owner George Shinn's checkbook has dwarfed the growing deficit in the Southwest Division standings.
But no team has the NBA doing double-takes more than the New York Knicks. They are the antithesis of the Hornets, starting out 3-8 before ripping off 13 wins in their last 14 games. The most recent came on Sunday when they outlasted the Denver Nuggets, 129-125, at Madison Square Garden, extending their current winning streak to eight.
Not coincidentally, center Amar'e Stoudemire's consecutive 30-point scoring streak has also reached eight. Despite sitting out four minutes of Sunday's fourth quarter after picking up his fifth foul, Stoudemire turned in a 24-point second half. Ten of those came in the final six minutes of the game when he hit five of six shots after the Nuggets had gone on an 18-8 run to take a one-point lead while he was on the bench.
The Knicks currently hold the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and will be the team nobody wants to face in April. Although New Yorkers will argue it's not all Stoudemire, he is at the heart of the matter. His lane presence has opened the floor for other Knick shooters, and his own shooting touch has stretched interior defenses and made them vulnerable to penetration.
If this were the finish line rather than the one-mile mark, Stoudemire would be the proverbial slam-dunk for MVP, but he isn't the only Knick due for some hardware. At this point, Head Coach Mike D'Antoni deserves Coach of the Year, and President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh Executive of the Year.
Walsh's stamp is all over this Knicks roster, starting with his offseason signing of free agent point guard Raymond Felton. The ex-Bobcat is averaging 18.3 points and 8.4 assists per game, both career highs. Joining him in the backcourt is June's second-round draft pick Landry Fields, who has had six double-doubles in his first 24 NBA games and captured Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors in November.
At forward, 6'9" former Italian League star Danilo Gallinari, whose selection by Walsh with the sixth pick in the 2008 draft brought out the worst in Knicks fans, has had a solid start, averaging 15.3 points and 4.7 rebounds. Rounding out the front court, 6'8" Wilson Chandler is the only Isiah Thomas holdover in the starting lineup, but that's fine with D'Antoni; the fourth-year Knick has averaged 20 points over the current eight-game winning streak.
The scariest part of the Knicks lineup may well be that Walsh's offseason dealings have given the Knicks room to add another max player, and Carmelo Anthony has been vocal about his desire to head east.
The one knock on the Knicks this year has been their play against the NBA's crème. Going into Sunday, New York was only 2-4 against teams with winning records. The win over Denver starts what D'Antoni refers to as "the next part of the schedule," when the Knicks face seven playoff-caliber teams in an eight-game stretch through New Year's Eve.
They continue by hosting the 19-4 Celtics on Wednesday in what will be the first meaningful game between these old nemeses since the Knicks' decisive Game 5 victory in an Eastern Conference first round playoff series more than 20 years ago. But those closer to this rivalry will direct you to the Willis Reed days of the early 1970s to find the passion that will rock MSG this week.
A win against the C's may only gain them one step on the frontrunners, but it will send Boston a message that the Atlantic Division, long a foregone conclusion, is still in contention. If anything, the guys in spandex will get a little scare from the guys wearing backward baseball caps.
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