Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers doesn't spend much time these days perusing the NBA's Eastern Conference standings.
At least the upper portion of the standings.
"I rarely look at where we are as far as the top four," Rivers said during the Celtics' visit to the Bradley Center last week. "We're three or four, whatever -- that will play itself out. But I do look at the teams (we might play in the first round of the playoffs). I do focus on that.
"Starting about now, you start watching all the teams that are in the five, six, seven, eight spots because you can play one of those teams. But I never look at the top four. That's going to be (determined by) how we play."
The Celtics have not been playing well of late and have plenty of wrinkles to iron out as the Eastern standings take shape.
Rivers does not hesitate to answer "health" when asked what the team's top priority is for the stretch run. Injuries, Rivers said, have led to a continuity issue the Celtics have been dealing with this season.
Add in some bad home-court losses, looking to get Ray Allen some shots, and trying to get Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to improve their level of play, and it's easy to see the Celtics have plenty on their to-do list in the final weeks of the season.
First and foremost, though, Rivers says he'd like to see the team get healthy. Garnett has battled a right-knee injury and Pierce has had a variety of aches and pains.
"Health is the No. 1 priority for us," said Rivers. "And then, the second is continuity. We haven't had a great year as far as having the team together. We really haven't. When our starting lineup is intact, our record is as good as anybody's in the NBA.
"But we haven't had that and more importantly, we haven't had it enough in practice. Even when that lineup was playing, there were a lot of practices where we couldn't practice. We've missed a half season of practices as far as I'm concerned due to injuries. So we're having shoot-arounds now where we're trying to get more floor time because we need it."
Rivers said the team had virtually no opportunity to practice in March, which was why he played newcomer Michael Finley for almost 8 minutes against the Bucks last week.
"We're sitting there as a staff looking at our schedule and when we could get him in (practice) and there is none," said Rivers. "So I said, 'Let's just throw him on the floor and we'll slowly try and figure it out.' "
Trying to establish some home-court advantage for the playoffs has become a serious issue for the Celtics. In recent home games, they lost to Cleveland by 20, lost to lowly New Jersey, beat Washington by three and lost by 20 to Memphis in a game that Rivers called his team "awful."
The Celtics got booed by the locals during the Memphis game, and the TD Banknorth Garden was pretty much cleared by game's end.
What's the answer at home?
"I wish I could figure it out," said Rivers. "I could probably sell it and do well."
Said Allen, "I think we played our best basketball starting the season off and we haven't gotten back to that level. We've been fighting to get back there."
Yes, the Celtics have plenty to straighten out before the playoffs, but they still have time to do so. If they don't, it could be short playoff run for the Green.
"We talk about what we want to do," said Rivers. "But we've got to show it at some point."
Star wars
Orlando center Dwight Howard said that over all-star weekend he gave Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose some advice on how to drive the lane and not get hurt.
Rose received a wrist injury when he was knocked down by Howard on a drive down the lane in a game last week. Earlier this season, Rose received a hip injury when Howard sent him tumbling on a similar play. Howard said he advised Rose to jump off both feet instead of one.
"I talked to him during the all-star break and told him, 'If you come down the lane, always come on two feet,' " said Howard, who became friends with Rose when the two played for USA Basketball last summer in China. "That way you'll be on balance. If you come off one, all it takes is somebody's body to hit you the wrong way and you're going to fall."
Chauncey's 2 cents
Denver guard Chauncey Billups said the decline of the Pistons in Detroit is "sad."
Billups contends that Pistons management, when trading him to Denver in 2008, did not think Billups would do as well as he has in Denver or that the Pistons would plummet as badly as they have since then.
"When I was there we embodied the city of Detroit," said Billups. "Tough and rugged, so the city got behind us. We hung our hats on stopping teams and offense just kind of happened. You just don't see that same commitment. You don't see that desire with the team that they have right now."
Driving the bus
New York Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh denies he accompanied the team on its current five-game trip to evaluate the coaching staff. Instead, he says he is traveling to evaluate players.
Coach Mike D'Antoni has been under fire for the Knicks' performance the past two seasons even though the team was built mainly to clear salary-cap space for this summer's free agency. D'Antoni added that there will be no changes among his assistants either.
"We're not throwing anybody under the bus," he said. "That's not going to happen."
He was exhausted
No one benefited more from the Phoenix Suns' light schedule last week -- five days without playing a game -- more than point guard Steve Nash . In late January, he strained his abdomen, which led to some back problems. His back continued to bother him into February, especially during a hectic time when he made an appearance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and then joined in on all-star weekend in Dallas the next morning.
Nash said he is now trying to "retrain my muscles to move in the proper sequence."
"I usually have a period of time each season where everything has caught up to me and I kind of need to start over," said the 36-year-old Nash.
Send no flowers
It had appeared the San Antonio Spurs were finally getting their act together, winning four straight games, including a couple on the road. But then disaster hit as point guard Tony Parker suffered a broken bone in his right hand.
It's uncertain when Parker will return, but the hope is he will be able to play a couple games at the end of the regular season.
Several of the Spurs used the word "devastating" to describe the impact of Parker's injury; not that much sympathy has been offered from opposing teams.
"I'm not saying we were turning the corner," said Manu Ginobili, who has started in place of Parker. "But if we had a chance, it was with the whole team healthy."
Fast breaks
Celtics center Kendrick Perkins on Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut after last week's game: "I think he's the toughest matchup I've had all season." . . .
Garnett on Bogut: "He had a good game, but he doesn't scare us." . . .
Rivers on Bogut: "He's become a dominant center." . . .
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy thinks Howard should repeat as defensive player of the year because he can "impact virtually every play" on that end of the floor. . . .
Cleveland coach Mike Brown on why he couldn't look at Anthony Parker's finger after he dislocated it: "It gave me the heebie-jeebies." . . .
The Knicks have clinched a franchise-record ninth straight losing season. . . .
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Down the lane
THIS WEEK IN THE NBA
Charlotte and Chicago, both jousting for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, will be logging some miles. The Bobcats play at Orlando and Indiana and then, after returning home to face Oklahoma City, get back on the road to play Atlanta and Miami. Charlotte's Gerald Wallace, the last original Bobcat, called out his teammates when the team was struggling recently and the Bobcats have started winning again. "I'm the only one who's been here all six years," he said. "I've been through the hard times here. To put ourselves in a great position and then to let it all go to hell and call it a summer, that would have been wrong. It's my job to keep this team focused." The Bulls are on the road at Memphis and Dallas, and then return to the United Center to play the Cavaliers before going to Philadelphia. Speaking of miles, New Orleans will play five road games this week -- at Phoenix, Los Angeles (Clippers), Golden State, Denver and Utah. Dallas, on the other hand, has a light week, with only home games against Chicago and Boston. The Lakers will go up against the three worst teams in the West, playing at Golden State and Sacramento before hosting Minnesota. Phoenix continues a seven-game home stand against the Hornets, Minnesota and Utah.
GAME OF THE WEEK
The Celtics may have a 108-88 beat-down they suffered at home to the Cavaliers 2 1/2 weeks ago on their minds when they play at Cleveland on Sunday afternoon.
BUCKS WEEK
After putting the lid on their four-game home stand Sunday afternoon against the Pacers, the Bucks will head out to play their final Western road games at the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento and Denver. The Bucks are 3-9 on the road against the West, compared to 4-11 last season.
QUOTE
"I'm good in Oklahoma City. I love it here. I like going outside and seeing the neighbors and they say, 'Hello.' They make me cookies and give me Skittles. There are cities you may not get that." -- Kevin Durant, who said last week that he would sign a maximum contract this summer if the Thunder offered him one.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
How good is Jason Kidd playing for Dallas? Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle provided some insight when he rested Kidd for a recent game against Minnesota and Carlisle was asked if he was confident that backups J.J. Barea and Roddy Beaubois could hold down the fort for one night. "When you've got a guy playing in a different stratosphere, anybody playing behind him is going to seem like they are not playing at the same level," said Carlisle. "The truth is nobody is at that level right now. He's playing at as high of a level as anybody in this league at the point position." Closing in on his 37th birthday, Kidd ranks fifth in the league in assists (9.4), leads full-time guards in rebounding (5.5) and has been at the controls of the hottest team since the all-star break. "He's going full speed and he's 36," said Mavericks veteran forward Eduardo Najera. "I see this old man going and getting after it and playing harder than me. That's my motivation."
NUMBERS GAME
Hornets rookie point guard Darren Collison has averaged 20.8 points and 9.9 assists since taking over for the injured Chris Paul five weeks ago.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich used his 21st different starting lineup when he started Manu Ginobili in place of the injured Tony Parker last week.
The Nets (0-2), Clippers (0-2) and Knicks (2-3) are the only teams with losing records in games in which they led by 15 points or more in the first quarter. The rest of the league is 66-7 in such games.
Charlotte's Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson both made 10 of 11 free throws in a victory over Philadelphia, marking the first time in franchise history that two Bobcats scored at least 10 points from the foul line in the same game.
Utah has had assists on 68 percent of its field goals, the highest percentage in the league. The league average is 56 percent.
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