The Charlotte Bobcats’ Jason Richardson and the Denver Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 24, through Sunday, March 30. More info here.
J-Rich is playing well but it’s too little, too late for the Bobcats, who need a miracle to make the playoffs and may be having issues with head coach Sam Vincent, who several newspapers recently reported may not be kept around next season.
As for Melo, all recent talk was that they might miss the playoffs, as they were sitting in 9th place in the West for a while, but as of today they’ve jumped up to 7th, but only by virtue of a tie-breaker with the Mavericks and Warriors. I think Denver may stay in there.
Anyway, the Western conference playoff race is awesome. Even if you’re a fan of an East squad, watch the West closely, because that’s where it’s at.

I’m watching the Suns and Nuggets, and several plays in a row now Carmelo Anthony has gotten the ball around the right elbow, with Kenyon Martin around the free throw line. And when Melo got double-teamed, Martin immediately cut to the rim, caught a feed from Melo, and scored.
But now, for a play or two in a row, the Suns aren’t doubling Melo, and backed off of Martin, letting him shoot from just outside the free throw line instead of slashing at the rim, and it’s worked for Phoenix.

The AP reports: Allen Iverson’s 4-for-20 performance hardly mattered thanks to Kenyon Martin, who scored a season-high 30 points, leading the Denver Nuggets past the Warriors in the wild, wild Western Conference playoff race with a 119-112 win Saturday night… So did Carmelo Anthony, who hit 11-of-16 shots for 25 points, and a trio of reserves whose third-quarter play keyed the victory: J.R. Smith (20 points, seven assists), Eduardo Najera (11 points, 7 rebounds) and Linas Kleiza (8 points)… Martin’s biggest bucket was a buzzer beater from the left corner that made it 115-110 with 1:11 remaining, and Baron Davis, who led the Warriors with 28 points, misfired twice on 3-pointers in the final minute. Stephen Jackson added 25 points for Golden State, Monta Ellis had 22 and Andris Biedrins 17 points and 17 rebounds.

The AP reports: “Everybody was excited to see Nene back out there, just to see him back in his uniform, seeing him smile again after the stuff he’s been through,” said Carmelo Anthony, who scored 32 points and keyed the decisive run in the Nuggets’ fourth straight win. Nene had been out since Jan. 11, and it’s been just over a month since he underwent chemotherapy… Anthony also chipped in 10 boards and eight assists, helping Denver overcame a 30-point night by Josh Howard and 19 points and 15 assists from Jason Kidd… Kidd was left unguarded on the left elbow and swished a 3-pointer in the third quarter to give the Mavericks a 79-71 lead. The Nuggets responded with an 18-2 run, with Anthony scoring half of the points.

The AP reports: Allen Iverson had 26 points and seven assists, while Carmelo Anthony finished with 23 points and nine rebounds as the Nuggets used a big second half to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 120-106 on Monday night. “We wanted to end this road trip the right way,” said Marcus Camby, who had 15 rebounds… J.R. Smith led the Nuggets, scoring 25 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, as Denver stretched the lead to as many as 22 in winning its third straight. Smith was 8-of-10 in the period, including seven outside the arc. “Amazing,” said Kenyon Martin, who missed only one of his eight shots while recording 14 points and 10 rebounds… Rudy Gay led Memphis with 30 points, while Hakim Warrick finished with a season-high 29. Mike Miller added 19 and Javaris Crittenton 14.

The AP reports: Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony kept Denver’s offense in high gear, but it was Kenyon Martin’s defense that had coach George Karl talking. Iverson had 36 points, Anthony added 33 and Martin shut down Toronto all-star Chris Bosh late as Denver rallied to beat the Toronto Raptors 109-100 on Sunday afternoon… J.R. Smith scored 14 points and Marcus Camby had 15 rebounds as Denver rallied from a 17-point first-quarter deficit to win for the fifth time in seven games… While he faded in the fourth, Chris Bosh shone through the first three quarters, finishing one assist shy of a triple-double. Bosh had 17 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high nine assists, but Toronto still lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Teams are averaging 99.6 points through games played March 23. Last year to date, teams were averaging 98.7 points. Teams have averaged triple-digit scoring each of the last five weeks. The last time the league had five straight weeks with an average of at least 100 points was the start of the 1995-1996 season.
Phoenix has won seven straight games, the longest active win streak in the NBA. During that stretch, Phoenix has held its opponents to a combined .423 field goal percentage while shooting .557.
On the season, Philadelphia is averaging 96.5 points on .460 shooting. Over the past 22 games (17-5), however, the Sixers are averaging 102.0 points on .483 shooting from the floor.
Denver is averaging 118.6 points during its last 14 games (9-5), which includes a non-overtime franchise record 168 points vs. Seattle March 16. Denver tallied 663 total points in five games (March 14-)21, the highest point total in five straight games since Chicago scored 668 points over a five-game span in 1990.
Houston’s Rick Adelman has 799 coaching victories. He could record win No. 800 vs. his former team when the Rockets host the Sacramento Kings tonight. Adelman coached the Kings to a franchise-record 359 wins (1998-2006). Adelman (799-513, .614), the sixth-winningest active coach (behind Don Nelson, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson and George Karl) is looking to become only the 13th coach in NBA history to win 800 games.
Adelman, who is on pace for his 10th 50-win season as a head coach, oversees a Rockets roster that contains six players with D-League experience, the second-most D-League-laden roster in the league. The six Rockets with D-League experience are: Rafer Alston, Aaron Brooks, Mike Harris, Chuck Hayes, Steve Novak and Loren Woods. The Miami Heat has eight players with D-League experience.
LeBron James became Cleveland’s all-time leading scorer after netting 29 points in Friday’s 90-83 win over Toronto. James, who now has 10,443 points, surpassed the franchise mark held by Brad Daugherty. Daugherty finished his Cavs career with 10,389 points.
- NBA News

X-rays taken in San Antonio this morning revealed a small, non-displaced fracture on the end of Allen Iverson’s right ring finger.
Iverson will continue to play with the injury, which he originally suffered against the Spurs on March 8.
The Nuggets are in San Antonio to play the Spurs tonight at 6:30 p.m. MDT.