We're at the midpoint of the 2012-2013 NBA season, and while some of the teams expected to compete for the NBA title have been leading the pack (Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs), some teams have surprised us (some rather negatively), and others have risen to possible contender status. Here's some of the latest news.

Boston Celtics - The Celtics have struggled so far this season but expected to be good enough to reach the playoffs. However, word has just arrived that Rajon Rondo injured his knee a couple of nights ago, which was believed to be a day-to-day inuury; however, he experienced some sharp pain in that knee during pre-game shootarounds against Miami earlier today and was taken to the hospital for an MRI, which revealed that he tore his ACL. He is now out for the season, and unless the Celtics make a bold move prior to the trade deadline their playoff hopes are now in serious jepoardy.

Los Angeles Lakers - While the Celtics could at least use Rondo's injuury as an excuse, the Lakers have no such excuse, as they have been playing badly all season long, and they currently are tied for the 10th seed of 15 seeds in the Western Conference, 5-1/2 games behind the 8th seed Houston. While injuries have sidelined some players like Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, the real problem has been chemistry, as the Laker's vaunted players like Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard have not gelled together. More importnatly, Mike D'Antoni's offensive scheme relies on being fast paced, but many of the Laker's key players are aging. In order for the Lakers to make the playoffs, they would need to win their remaining games at about a .600 to .667 pace while hoping for losses from the teams ahead of them.

Chicago Bulls - Without Derrick Rose, no one expected the Bulls to dominate the Eastern Conference during the regular season like they did last year, but they have quietly placed themselves near the top of their division and only a few games behind the Miami Heat for the conference lead. However, they have been inconsistent without Rose, winning no more than three games during any streak, and following up huge wins against the Heat, Celtics, and Knicks with losses to cellar-dwelling teams like the Bobcats and Wizards. The big question is when will Derrick Rose return to the lineup, and will be be as explosive as he was prior to getting hurt? This question will determine whether the Bulls will contend for the NBA title or just be pretenders along the way.

New York Knicks - The Knicks are much improved over last season, and they may actually contend for the NBA title this season. However, they will have to be able to weather the storm against superior defensive teams like the Bulls, who they have not beaten this season.

Brooklyn Nets - The Nets have improved significantly since acquiring key players like Deron Williams and Joe Johnson and moving across the Hudson from New Jersey to Brooklyn, but they have had fits and starts. Specifically, they got off to a huge start only to take a dive during December, which led to the firing of their coach Avery Johnson and the hiring of P.J. Carlesimo. So far P.J. has righted the ship, but are they true contenders or just this season's L.A. Clippers from last year?

Los Angeles Clippers - Speaking of which, the Clippers stormed out of the gate, at one point winning 18 games in a row, but more recently they have lost their last four games. Are they just hitting a midseason wall or did they peak too early? We'll see....

Golden State Warriors - The Warriors have been the real surprise this season, jumping into playoff contention thanks to the torrid play of point guard Stephen Curry and forward David Lee. And they have done much of this without their most noted acquisition Andrew Bogut. Can the Warriors keep up their pace and make the playoffs or will they tail off towards the end of the season?

728huey said:

Boston Celtics - The Celtics have struggled so far this season but expected to be good enough to reach the playoffs. However, word has just arrived that Rajon Rondo injured his knee a couple of nights ago, which was believed to be a day-to-day inuury; however, he experienced some sharp pain in that knee during pre-game shootarounds against Miami earlier today and was taken to the hospital for an MRI, which revealed that he tore his ACL. He is now out for the season, and unless the Celtics make a bold move prior to the trade deadline their playoff hopes are now in serious jepoardy.

KG's got a no-trade clause. I can't believe Doc Rivers left Rondo in the game, although it may have been an RGIII type thing where Rondo's knee was going to "give" at some future point.

Los Angeles Lakers - While the Celtics could at least use Rondo's injuury as an excuse, the Lakers have no such excuse, as they have been playing badly all season long, and they currently are tied for the 10th seed of 15 seeds in the Western Conference, 5-1/2 games behind the 8th seed Houston. While injuries have sidelined some players like Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, the real problem has been chemistry, as the Laker's vaunted players like Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard have not gelled together. More importnatly, Mike D'Antoni's offensive scheme relies on being fast paced, but many of the Laker's key players are aging. In order for the Lakers to make the playoffs, they would need to win their remaining games at about a .600 to .667 pace while hoping for losses from the teams ahead of them.

This is the 2013-14 preseason for the Lakers, that's the most reasonable view fans like me can have. Their only hope for this year is a 1st-round upset of OKC. They've got the Grammys Road Trip coming up, and after watching my first game of the season, Howard doesn't look healthy at all.

So, for me, projecting the rest of the season is largely academic. The real question will come after the season: D'Antoni (who never should have been hired in the first place) or Howard (who may not want to be there under any circumstance).

namepeace said:

728huey said:

Boston Celtics - The Celtics have struggled so far this season but expected to be good enough to reach the playoffs. However, word has just arrived that Rajon Rondo injured his knee a couple of nights ago, which was believed to be a day-to-day inuury; however, he experienced some sharp pain in that knee during pre-game shootarounds against Miami earlier today and was taken to the hospital for an MRI, which revealed that he tore his ACL. He is now out for the season, and unless the Celtics make a bold move prior to the trade deadline their playoff hopes are now in serious jepoardy.

KG's got a no-trade clause. I can't believe Doc Rivers left Rondo in the game, although it may have been an RGIII type thing where Rondo's knee was going to "give" at some future point.

I'm not saying the Celtics would even consider trading KG; what I'm saying is they may look to unload Jason Terry, Jeff Green, or Brandon Bass for a veteran point guard. He wouldn't have to be at the level of Rondo, Derrick Rose, or Russell Westbrook (actually more like Kirk Hinrich), but I'm not sure who they could get at this point. Maybe they could get Nate Robinson from the Bulls if Derrick Rose comes back healthy, as the Bulls would have three point guards on the roster plus rookie Marcus Teague, but I'm not sure who else is available on other teams and what they would ask for in return.

[Edited 1/28/13 16:50pm]

Knicks ain't contending for shit if they keep relying on threes and continue this 'matador defense'.

uPtoWnNY said:

Knicks ain't contending for shit if they keep relying on threes and continue this 'matador defense'.

You sound like Walt Frazier

Celtics being done,they may go into rebuilding mode,I wonder if Spurs could get KG in a trade,but probally not,because of the Duncan-KG-Mothers Day fiasco.KG said this to Duncan on Mothers Day,knowing his mother was dead.

Chris Bosh says he's a hall of fame player,but Im thinking more like porno hall of fame.

Heat are favorite because

Lebron James is still by far the best player on the planet.

728huey said:

namepeace said:

I'm not saying the Celtics would even consider trading KG; what I'm saying is they may look to unload Jason Terry, Jeff Green, or Brandon Bass for a veteran point guard. He wouldn't have to be at the level of Rondo, Derrick Rose, or Russell Westbrook (actually more like Kirk Hinrich), but I'm not sure who they could get at this point. Maybe they could get Nate Robinson from the Bulls if Derrick Rose comes back healthy, as the Bulls would have three point guards on the roster plus rookie Marcus Teague, but I'm not sure who else is available on other teams and what they would ask for in return.

Reasonable moves, but . . .

Jeff Green has a (relatively) bad ticker.

Terry was just acquired in 12; Brandon Bass in 11. Unless they have expiring contracts, they can't get much back for them, much less a veteran PG.

Kryto-Nate? Well, he's more of a 2, and the C's shed him already.

But they may want to consider the unthinkable -- dealing with their Enemy.

Lakers PG Jeff Blake is available and could come cheap.

The Bulls are pretenders with Rose.

Graycap23 said:

The Bulls are pretenders with Rose.

I keep wanting to think that they can contend but there's something there that's missing.

LeBron, perhaps.

Heat-Spurs Finals- Miami repeats

Thunder are gonna miss Harden in the playoffs.

it could very well be "Spurs vs City Thunder" and "Miami vs Knicks"

without dismissing the Bulls (glad to see them back in the real game), the Nets, and the (not so) surprising Clippers

if the Lakers reach the play-offs it will be a remarkable feat indeed

iaminparties said:

Celtics being done,they may go into rebuilding mode,I wonder if Spurs could get KG in a trade,but probally not,because of the Duncan-KG-Mothers Day fiasco.KG said this to Duncan on Mothers Day,knowing his mother was dead.

If this was true he's a bigger piece of shit than i give him credit for.

What an ass this guy is.

I'm afraid to say anything.

Rudy Gay is about to get traded to Toronto. Memphis is a serious contender - WTF are they thinking?

phunkdaddy said:

iaminparties said:

Celtics being done,they may go into rebuilding mode,I wonder if Spurs could get KG in a trade,but probally not,because of the Duncan-KG-Mothers Day fiasco.KG said this to Duncan on Mothers Day,knowing his mother was dead.

If this was true he's a bigger piece of shit than i give him credit for.

What an ass this guy is.

Yeah that's real cold. No wonder people say Kevin's a dick.

uPtoWnNY said:

Rudy Gay is about to get traded to Toronto. Memphis is a serious contender - WTF are they thinking?

Good news for me!

Oh, but.. uhh... that sucks for Memphis.

Timmy84 said:

phunkdaddy said:

If this was true he's a bigger piece of shit than i give him credit for.

What an ass this guy is.

Yeah that's real cold. No wonder people say Kevin's a dick.

He is a dick. He talks shit from the second he walks on the court until the second he walks off it. Some people write it off as his "motivation", but he's crossed those unseen lines of respect enough times that I stopped caring a long time ago. He's a dick.

I knew when KG played with the Timberwolves he was a little chippy at times

whenever he went against Tim Duncan but i didn't notice him being

a full throttle asshole until he got to Boston.

uPtoWnNY said:

Rudy Gay is about to get traded to Toronto. Memphis is a serious contender - WTF are they thinking?

That they made their best playoff run ever without him.

Cerebus said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah that's real cold. No wonder people say Kevin's a dick.

He is a dick. He talks shit from the second he walks on the court until the second he walks off it. Some people write it off as his "motivation", but he's crossed those unseen lines of respect enough times that I stopped caring a long time ago. He's a dick.

True... motivation my ass.

Good 5-0 homestand by the Knicks, beating the teams they should beat. Now they play the Wizards and T'Wolves on the road, then the Clippers at home on Sunday. 31-15 so far - nice. And I have to give Amar'e credit - he's rounding into form.

Knicks better NOT trade Iman Shumpert to Phoenix for Jared Dudley. Why trade our best perimeter defender???

I'm listening to Stephen A. right now, and he's going off. I liked Jeremy Lin (who's having a solid year) and hated to see him go, but I understand why the Knicks did it. This proposed trade makes ZERO sense. Knicks are always doing this shit.