{"id":22602,"date":"2017-02-20T07:57:18","date_gmt":"2017-02-20T07:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=22602"},"modified":"2017-02-20T07:57:47","modified_gmt":"2017-02-20T07:57:47","slug":"top-nba-story-lines-watch-star-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/nba\/top-nba-story-lines-watch-star-break.html","title":{"rendered":"Top NBA story lines to watch after All-Star break"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTop NBA story lines to watch after All-Star break<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/h2>\n

\n\tThe NBA’s All-Star break is often misconstrued as the midway point of the season.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt’s not.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTeams have less than 30 games on the schedule, and once Thursday’s trade deadline passes, less than two months of the regular season remain. It’s a hectic dash to the finish as teams try to resolve the unresolved.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWho will be traded this week? New York Knicks All-Star Carmelo Anthony? Chicago Bulls All-Star Jimmy Butler?<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWill the Golden State Warriors win at least 70 games for a second consecutive season? Can the Cleveland Cavaliers hold onto first place in the East? Or can the Boston Celtics, just two games behind the Cavs in the East, overtake them?<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWho will secure the final three seeds in the East? Just 4½ games separate the sixth-place Indiana Pacers from the 11th-place Charlotte Hornets with the Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat sandwiched in between.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the West, it appears seven seeds are locked up, but the eighth seed is undecided. Denver holds a 1½-game lead over the Sacramento Kings, but just 3½ games separate the Nuggets from the 14th-place Minnesota Timberwolves. That’s right, the 14th-place team in the conference is not out of the playoff race. The Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers are in the mix, too.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWe’ve got questions. We’ve got answers to some. To other questions, well, that’s why they play games and make deals.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat’s going to happen this week?<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tYou’re going to hear a lot of trade chatter surrounding Anthony and Butler before the trade deadline expires on Thursday afternoon. But don’t be surprised if both remain with their teams for the rest of the season.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAnthony has to waive his no-trade clause, and he has told management he prefers to stay with the Knicks. His salary and trade kicker (which adds money to his salary if traded) make it difficult for most teams to absorb his salary, especially a contender.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tGALLERY: BEST OF NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for Butler, could he be traded to the Celtics? Yes. But are the Celtics willing to trade at least one of their first-round picks, which are turning out to be even more valuable assets under the new collective-bargaining agreement?<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“Nothing I can do about it,” Butler said about trade discussions. “Control what you can control. Why talk about it? Why worry about it? If you’re here, you’re here. If you’re not, you’re not.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tCan Westbrook join the Big O?<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tEven if Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook doesn’t finish the season averaging a triple-double, the fact that he inspired comparisons to the great Oscar Robertson for so much of this season is evidence enough of how good he has been.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWith 25 games to go and the Thunder firmly in playoff position (32-25), Westbrook is averaging 31.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 10.1 assists. Yet if he’s going to trip up at the end on this front, and perhaps leave Robertson (1961-62) as the only player to have reached this feat, it’s the assists that will likely be his undoing. His pace has dipped since those first few months, from 11.3 assists per game in the first 23 games to 9.4 since<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWill the Cavs hold onto first place?<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tCleveland has a tough stretch ahead. Not only are they without All-Star forward Kevin Love (out six weeks after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Tuesday) and shooting guard J.R. Smith (thumb surgery in late December, out until April), but the Cavs also play 15 of their remaining 27 games on the road, including trips to Boston (twice), Atlanta (twice), Houston, San Antonio and Los Angeles to play the Clippers.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tGALLERY: LEBRON JAMES THROUGH THE YEARS<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Kyle Korver is starting to find his niche in the rotation (63.3% on threes in his past nine games), and they also have All-Stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. As we saw in June, all things are possible with James on the court.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“I feel like, if I'm in the lineup and I'm healthy, I'm feeling good, then we're going to have a chance. That's the way that I feel,” James said.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tEven shorthanded, the Cavs should maintain the top spot in the East.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWill the Warriors win 73 – again?<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIs it mathematically possible for the Warriors to tie their record for regular season wins? Yes, and all it would take is going 26-0 down the stretch while beating these three teams twice along the way: the red-hot Washington Wizards (won 27 of their past 35 games), the second-place San Antonio Spurs (43-13), and the Houston Rockets (40-18).<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBut when this non-existent quest for 73 comes to end, there won’t be an ounce of disappointment in their camp. The Warriors have made it clear from the start that – unlike their 2015-16 season, when it all came crashing down in the Finals loss to Cleveland after they went 73-9 – the regular season records simply wouldn’t matter this time around.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThis, as Warriors forward Draymond Green has said, is a regular season full of tinkering that they hope pays off in the form of another title come June. They want to continue to learn how to maximize new addition Kevin Durant, while also allowing back-to-back MVP Steph Curry to be at his transcendent best alongside Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and all the rest.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tCan LeBron steal a fifth MVP?<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAll season long, the MVP discussion has centered on Westbrook and the Rockets’ James Harden. But James, he of the four MVPs and the chance to become just the fourth player in league history to win at least five, has quietly played his way into serious contention.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt’s not just that he’s averaging 25.9 points, 8.8 assists, and 7.7 rebounds – numbers that only Harden (29.2 points, 11.3 assists, 8.2 rebounds) and Westbrook have come anywhere near. It’s that his Cavs, who suffered blows to starters Smith and Love, are still atop the Eastern Conference mostly because of him. And the 32-year-old James, who is second in the league in minutes per game (37.7), is carrying the kind of hefty load that often inspires voters to reward a player at season’s end.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard (25.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists), the back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year winner, is also still making a strong push.c<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSource:- http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/2017\/02\/19\/nba-all-star-storylines-westbrook-carmelo-cavaliers-warriors\/98135910\/<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

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