National Basketball Association

NBA pre-season highs, lows

Published Oct. 13, 2010 10:12 a.m. ET

foxsports

The NBA pre-season drones on, with almost every team at the halfway point with two weeks remaining until things begin for real. It's a time for good teams to solidify chemistry and rotations, for middling teams to decide what moves might have to be made, and for bottom feeders to live in hope of some minor miracle, if not a blockbuster trade. But no real games have been won or lost yet and hope springs eternal. For now ...

TEAMS IN TRANSITION

Strange times indeed in Toronto and Cleveland, where the Raptors and Cavaliers are trying to find their way after each of their star players bolted for south Florida.

The Cavs have won three of their first four pre-season games in the post-LeBron James era but things are far from settled as new coach Byron Scott balances a small lineup and has yet to settle on a starting small forward, with ex- Raptor Jamario Moon very much in the mix. Ramon Sessions has filled in admirably at the point in the absence of injured Mo Williams but many questions remain for Cleveland.

It's very much the same in Toronto where coach Jay Triano is using the first half of the exhibition schedule to mix and match lineups as the Raptors took a 1-1 record into Tuesday night in Chicago.

And without an offensive anchor - some say albatross - since Chris Bosh's departure, the Raptors are looking at a more motion-based attack that so far has left Andrea Bargnani adrift.

SUPER FRIENDS, MINUS ONE

Every move has been analyzed and chronicled and dissected this way and that as LeBron & Friends begin their presumptive assault on the NBA from Miami.

Dwyane Wade missed his third straight game Tuesday night with hamstring trouble suffered in the first quarter of the first pre-season game. While that's had a minor impact on getting each of the three all-stars acclimated, it's not as if the Heat are being pegged as a lottery team.

James, who vowed in the summer to extract some measure of revenge on those who criticized his "Decision" seems to be downplaying Miami's place in the league as the pre-season unfolds.

"The first day of pre-season training camp, I thought Boston, Orlando and the Lakers would be ahead of us," James told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "They didn't have too many guys to implement into their system. The Lakers had one or two guys, Boston had one or two guys and Orlando had one or two guys. ... We're a little bit behind those teams, but we're ahead of a lot of teams."

CHAMPS ON TOUR

- AND NOT LIKING IT

The Los Angeles Lakers - two-time defending champions and still the team to beat, despite the hoopla over Miami - have had a whirlwind pre-season that included a trip to London and Barcelona.

It may be the price of being so good and so popular but coach Phil Jackson still has to work Kobe Bryant back into action (he's played less than half a game after July knee surgery). Even Pau Gasol, who got to play in his Spanish homeland, seemed a bit put off by the journey.

"This trip has been really hectic and really weary," he moaned in the Los Angeles Times. "(It's) exciting but at the same time, it's not the best scenario for us to get better at this point of the year. Obviously we wouldn't be really ready if we would continue with this kind of pace with events and all that."

Still, when the playoffs roll around, pick against the Lakers at your peril.

ON THE MOVE?

OR ALL TALK,

NO ACTION?

The hysteria around a possible multi-team trade involving Carmelo Anthony has cooled considerably since training camp began, but it's like a wound on the roster that's festering.

The Nuggets, who still don't have Kenyon Martin due to injury and saw Al Harrington go down hurt early in the pre-season, are in a state of flux and the Anthony Distraction isn't helping any.

They remain the team most likely to pull off a blockbuster before the season begins in two weeks, and Anthony knows it.

On the court, it's easy. Off the court? "Confusing. Just dealing with all of it, just hearing it. Once I'm in the gym, I play the way I play ... I'm approaching this season like I would any other season. I'm just getting ready for the next game. I can't worry if I'm going to be here today or tomorrow," Anthony said.

The New Jersey Nets remain the favourite to land the high-scoring Nuggets forward but it's still likely to be a multi-team transaction that gets it done.

NO TIME FOR DISSENT

Among the league's new initiatives this season is a crackdown on open displays of emotion or anger toward officials. Three players were thrown out of Toronto's first pre-season game for getting two technicals each and it's taking some time for players and coaches to adapt to the stricter rules.

Waving a hand in the general direction of an official now results in a technical foul, coaches who incessantly harp about calls will be hit more quickly and it's going to be more costly this year.

The fines for technical fouls have doubled - it's $2,000 now for Nos. 1-5, $3,000 for Nos. 6-10, $4,000 for Nos. 11-15 and $5,000 and a one-game suspension for every other technical starting at No. 16.