Sefko: Mavericks thankful for Tyson Chandler's health as injury bug wreaks havoc on West
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Past the midpoint of the NBA season, the powerful Oklahoma City Thunder hover around .500, still paying the price for a couple of injury-riddled months.
Portland attempts to survive torn thumb ligaments in LaMarcus Aldridge’s non-shooting hand.
San Antonio’s Tony Parker doesn’t look right.
At various locales across the Western Conference, injuries are having a major impact on the standings.
The Mavericks know they dodged a bullet Sunday at New Orleans when center Tyson Chandler’s knee injury turned out to be not serious, even though he had to be helped to the locker room.
It was a bone bruise. Chandler said Monday he was feeling a little better. It was a reminder of how fragile things can be in the NBA.
Injuries make a difference.
“It’s not something you want to deal with,” Chandler said. “I’m just thankful it’s not anything major. It’s something I can play with and pain that I can tolerate.”
Rajon Rondo knows how much injuries can change things. He saw Oklahoma City’s legitimate shot at a championship two years ago ruined when Russell Westbrook went down in the playoffs with a knee injury
“That’s all part of winning the title,” Rondo said. “It’s a little bit of luck. You have to stay healthy. If key guys go down — all it takes is one freak accident or one injury — it can mess up the entire season.”
And it’s not just the possibility of missing the playoffs, which is a concern for the Thunder.
It’s also that they have virtually no chance now of having a home-court advantage in the playoffs, which will make any postseason tougher.
Memphis, which visits American Airlines Center Tuesday night, has been relatively healthy this season and is reaping the benefits.
Last season, the Grizzlies lost Marc Gasol for a long stretch and were fighting just to make the playoffs.
This year, they are rolling with a 31-12 record before Monday’s home game against Orlando and are the No. 2 team in the West behind Golden State.
The Warriors, not coincidentally, have amassed the NBA’s best record despite David Lee and Andrew Bogut missing significant time. But their guard trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala and their depth have carried them.
How important is the home-court advantage in the West?
“Everybody’s going to want Game 7 on their home court,” coach Rick Carlisle said.
That remains an important goal for the Mavericks, although after losing the last two games to slip to 30-15, their focus has to be more short term than big picture at this point.
“If we lock in and play the type of basketball I know we’re capable of, all those things will fall in place — home court, great record throughout the regular season and kind of roll into the playoffs with that momentum,” Chandler said. “If you don’t, then you put yourself in a position where you got to play a tough team on the road and the odds start stacking against you. But for me, it’s more important the type of basketball we’re playing.”
Staying power needed: The Mavericks’ best win of the season, last week in Memphis, came because they showed great persistence and never let their effort lapse.
The rematch at AAC will require nothing less, especially after the way the Mavericks lost the last two games to New Orleans and Chicago.
“We’ve been getting hit badly late in the shot clock,” Carlisle said. “We gave up over 50 points to Chicago in the last eight seconds of the shot clock and we gave up over 40 points to New Orleans in the last eight seconds of the shot clock.
“We’d get some good defensive possessions started, but we have to be able to sustain and we haven’t been doing it. [At Memphis], we fought every possession, every second, throughout the shot clock.”