The San Antonio Spurs evened up the Western Conference Semifinal at two games each yesterday, beating New Orleans by a solid 20-point margin. Despite the Hornets putting up some pretty admirable numbers—and Chris Paul putting up some more than admirable plays—the Spurs are finally beginning to look like the familiar reigning champs of the NBA.

They’re patient, precise, methodical . . . and mundane.

Now, before all the Spurs faithful start feeding me hate mail with a shovel, please realize that I’m not trashing San Antonio.

The Spurs are scary good. Nobody in their right mind would say otherwise and games three and four are proof of that.

Yesterday’s game gave us everything we’ve come to expect from San Antonio; efficient and blazingly fast ball movement around the perimeter routinely ending with open looks, huge numbers by Ginobli, Duncan, and Parker, brutal defense, etc., etc.

But more than anything the Spurs have managed to tap back in to their extensive playoff experience, find their stride, and maintain the status quo like a quadruple-championship team should.

They’re stomping out the youth movement in Chris Paul and New Orleans with faceless efficiency.

And this, one could argue, is the true power behind San Antonio’s dominance in the NBA. The Spurs are modest to a fault about their talent. They suck the fun out of the opposition like a vampire going straight for the jocular (Yeah, I know it’s a terrible pun. Couldn’t resist).

Hornets coach Byron Scott left his optimism in the locker room for Sunday’s post game press conference. “They’re just kicking our butts right now”, Scott said.

And it’s true. The Spurs literally did whatever they wanted to New Orleans yesterday, but the demoralizing thing is that the Spurs hardly even seem to notice. It’s business as usual for them, and business has been good since Thursday.

Yet the fact still remains that watching one of the most dominant basketball teams in recent history win in the playoffs doesn’t seem to get people as excited as it used to, and that goes double for the finals.

When San Antonio won their second NBA title in 2003, the TV ratings were the lowest of any NBA final in history—until 2007. Last year’s San Antonio/Cleveland final came and went like a ship in the night, turning in record-low ratings.

The series heads back to the Big Easy tomorrow for game five, where the Hornets will try and throw a roadblock in San Antonio’s way to winning a series after starting in an 0-2 hole; a rarity in the NBA.

It’s also going to be a last gasp scenario for Chris Paul and company. There’s no reason to believe the Spurs are going to falter now, but there’s only one hurdle left for San Antonio if they want to punch their ticket and move on.

If they can pick up a third win on the road it will be a nail in the Hornets’ postseason. The smart money says we’ll end up with a Lakers/Spurs series, which should be a razzle-dazzle ratings bonanza.

And I think we all know why.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff

The Suns’ general manager Steve Kerr is denying that head coach Steve D’Antoni’s career is about to go supernova. Paul Coro, who covers the Suns for the Arizona Republic, spoke to Kerr about the subject. According to Coro, “Mike D’Antoni is still their coach and he’s done a great job the last four years.”

But like a significant other telling you nothing is wrong before going incommunicado, signs of D’Antoni’s unemployment are looming like Shaquille O’Neal’s shadow.

I know job openings in the NBA are as common as seeing Jack Nicholson at the Staples Center, but D’Antoni and the Suns would be wise to stick it out one more year.

Today, Steve Kerr announced that D’Antoni has permission from the Suns to talk with other teams about head coaching positions.

I know Suns fans are still pretty hot after San Antonio crushed Phoenix’s championship dreams in the first round of the playoffs last month, and that’s fine. If I were a Suns’ fan I’d want heads to roll as well, and letting D’Antoni take the fall makes perfect sense.

But patience is a virtue, and if there’s a time for D’Antoni to hang his hat in a new arena, it’s not this year—it’s next year.

Here’s why. If D’Antoni leaves, it will be due to his frictional relationship with the Suns’ front office. He doesn’t see eye to eye with the guys wearing the suits, but he’s just fine with the guys wearing the jerseys. So it isn’t really his coaching ability that’s being judged, but rather his philosophy.

It’s hard for any coach to operate under those circumstances efficiently, especially when the business side of your franchise bets the farm on late season trade so unexpected and initially idiotic that it takes everyone in the NBA’s world an entire week to pick their jaws up from the floor.

Now, was the Suns’ season a failure? You bet it was, but it’s really nothing compared to the abyss the Mavericks fell into this year. Adding a player/floor general with a wealth of experience like Jason Kidd should be a seamless transition, even if it is late in the season.

But adding a behemoth like Shaq at the last minute to a team built for speed, like the Suns, that’s like putting a $40 million dollar roadblock in front of a Ferrari. That said, I don’t think anyone on the team laments the addition of Shaq.

Towards the end of the season I was close to sold on the sheer genius of a trade like that, but making such a drastic adjustment (and Shaq is as drastic as they come) takes more time to steep than most would like to admit.

And now the Suns are threatening to break their stride once again with the threat of D’Antoni’s departure—huge mistake.

Which do you think would be easier: having the luxury of entire season to integrate Shaq into a Suns team that’s getting grey anyway, or scraping everything you’ve done in favor of a new coach that’s only going to get a year out of this current roster?

I guarantee you that the Suns’ roster is going to look drastically different come the 2009-2010 season, and it definitely should by then. But for D’Antoni to leave now would only reinforce a sense of desperation we’ve been seeing since Shaq got to Phoenix.

There are plenty of things Phoenix can do before next season, but only one thing they can’t.

Panic.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff

It seems that “change”, one of this years most famous verbs, isn’t limiting itself strictly to politics. Calls for change have managed to find their way to basketball commissioner David Stern’s ears in reference to the NBA playoffs.

Born largely out of the stark disparity between the Eastern and Western conferences, commissioner Stern announced that certain changes to the NBA’s playoff system would be considered in the coming months.

“Although I think it’s unlikely anything will happen,” Stern told the media, “I think we’re going to explore it fully.” That might be what Stern told reporters, but here’s what was really going through the commissioner’s head. “Alright, alright, fine! If I look into it, will that shut you up?”

Does the NBA have room for improvement when it comes to the playoffs? Maybe a little, but everything that’s wrong with the playoffs can be collectively dismissed with one blanket statement: Nobody’s perfect. Deal with it.

As was mentioned earlier, the steadily increasing calls for change in the playoffs are largely driven by complaints.

The West is overwhelmingly more talented than the East, and this is where most of the complaints are coming from. The West has so many good teams while the East barely has a handful, so the argument is that the playoffs don’t give us the best possible matches.

For example, Golden State didn’t make the playoffs this year despite their 48-win season. The same is true of Portland’s 41-wins. Yet in the East, Philadelphia and Atlanta got in with 40 and 37 wins respectively.

This disparity in talent has led some to believe the NBA playoffs should include the top 16 teams regardless of conference. That’s a great plan if you’re the Golden State Warriors, but to everyone else it should sound like pity.

If this is about being fair to the best 16 teams by eliminating conferences in the post season, then you have to eliminate them in the regular season as well. Now we’re talking about a heck of a lot more than changing the playoffs. Now we’re looking changing the NBA itself.

No conferences equal no conference schedules, and no conference schedules means that each team has to play an equal number of games. There are 30 teams in the NBA, so if every team were to play each other three times, that’s an 87 game season. If the NBA wants to keep its four-game series philosophy, that’s 116 games.

Good luck taking that one to the Players Association.

The simple fact is, you can’t make everyone happy. If you listen closely, you’ll notice that the only people complaining about this aren’t in the playoffs right now. I’m no athlete, and I’m no basketball guru, but I have a piece of advice for all those teams who feel slighted over not making the playoffs.

Win more games next year.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff

Now that we’ve scratched the surface of this year’s NBA playoffs, there’s plenty to talk about. Who’ll get the MVP? Who’ll get the DPOY? Who’ll get Rookie of the year? Most likely it’s going to be (in order) Kobe, Kevin Garnett, and Kevin Durant.

But there’s a much juicier and engaging question hovering over all of our heads, the answer to which could cook a goose or three after this season: Which team, and what player, has the most on the line this year?

There are plenty of teams and players to consider with this question, but there’s really only one answer.

First there’s Dallas and Jason Kidd, whose homecoming to the Mavs was a direct result of Gasol’s arrival in L.A. and Shaq’s subsequent escape from Miami to Phoenix.

Let’s be honest here, Dallas really doesn’t have anything on the line because no one (except for Dallas owner Mark Cuban) really expected this move to end up in a championship, did they?

Sure, morale in Dallas was high after Kidd showed up, and it’s the full circle/feel good fairytale of the year, but simply dumping Jason Kidd on the roster in a Western Conference that’s as flooded with talent as China is with pollutants isn’t going to make much difference.

What about the Lakers? Again, not much on the line for L.A. either. Los Angeles arguably made the smartest acquisition with Pau Gasol in recent memory, plus they got him for a song.

During the preseason it seemed like Kobe wanted to be traded as badly as the NFL’s Chad Johnson, but I’m sure he (and owner Jerry Buss) barely remember that anymore. Now the Lakers have a deep, talented roster, and Bynum isn’t even a factor yet.

Even if Kobe and his Lakers don’t end up winning it all this year (most likely at the hands of Boston) how big of a deal is it, really? They’ll be back.

The only team that HAS to win or face the music, and I think we all know this, is Phoenix.

The Suns’ league-shocking $40 million move to land Shaq just in time for the playoffs was a lot of things, and “desperate” is certainly one of them. Phoenix went all-in on one player, and they’re the only team that did.

Even though they’ve been capable for a while, the Suns have never won a championship. Shaq has four. Swooping in and winning titles is Shaq’s style. He had three straight in L.A., then he Showed up to Miami, promised a title for the Heat, and got one. Love him or hate him, he’s a dominant player.

This year, things could get even better for Shaq. The media blitz he’ll enjoy if he wins a fifth championship in Phoenix (after showing up essentially at the last minute), will be so thick that you might not be able to see his rings.

If not, there’s only going to be one question for the Suns . . .

$40 million?

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.

After crushing the Lakers 104-92 last Sunday for their 22nd straight win, the Houston Rockets will try and extend their streak to 23 when they host Boston tonight at Toyota Center.

I’m not sure how some thickheaded critics can still think Houston is a fluke after everything the Rockets have done so far, but they’ll have to come around sooner or later.

The Rockets are sitting on the second longest winning streak in the history of professional basketball (not even Jordan’s 1995-96 Bulls won 22 straight), they’re first place in the West, and they had to beat the Lakers to get there.

But for Houston’s naysayers, not all of those victories count. The critics will even go so far as to say the wins aren’t legitimate.

Not legitimate? That doesn’t even make sense.

Maybe it’s because the Rockets are doing so well that people feel the need to pick them apart. Maybe that’s why some are quick to point out that Houston beat New Orleans because David West was out, or Dallas because Dirk Nowitzki was out, or the Lakers because Pau Gasol was out.

That kind of serpentine logic is convenient at best. If the major factor in Houston’s wins over L.A., Dallas, and New Orleans is who’s injured and who isn’t, the fact that Houston beat those teams without Yao Ming trumps everything.

If anything, the Rockets without Yao and the Lakers without Gasol was an even match. Both of those teams have key players on the bench. The only difference is that Houston adjusted and the Lakers didn’t. That, my friends, equals a legitimate win for Houston. Anyone who disagrees is making excuses.

The fact remains that only one other team, the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers, have more consecutive wins than Houston (33). So if the Rockets have been taking a cakewalk for their last 22 games, why haven’t more teams pulled this off before?

And here’s the kicker: Boston’s Ray Allen will miss tonight’s game against the Rockets with a bruised heel, so if Houston manages to beat the Celtics tonight, I’m sure people will use that as an excuse to write Houston off again.

But if the Rockets continue to get less respect than Rodney Dangerfield, the last person who seems to mind is Houston’s Shane Battier, who was all over Kobe Bryant defensively last Sunday.

“I want people to think I’m as slow and un-athletic as possible. Every time I step on that floor, I want people to think I don’t belong in the NBA,” Battier recently told the press. “I think that gives me an advantage. Trust me, I’m not physically imposing, and I will still say I’m slow and un-athletic. So that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

It’s the old “Brer Rabbit and the Briar Patch” maneuver. And so far, it’s working.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.

The Boston Celtics’ impending acquisition of Sam Cassell, unlike the Jason Kidd trade to Dallas, is something we can all be certain of. The former Los Angeles Clippers point guard cleared his waivers yesterday evening, and it looks like he’ll be wearing green any minute now—literally.

Team spokesman Jeff Twill told the press that, “We anticipate him being a member of the Celtics. He is not a member of the Celtics until he signs, which will not be until he gets into town sometime [Tuesday].” Boston’s last minute Cassell-grab has some people saying “Big flippin’ deal” and “Why bother?” But the real question isn’t “Why bother?” It’s “Why not?”

The bottom line is the Celtics have nothing to lose by picking up Cassell. Now, if people out there want to argue that Boston doesn’t have much to gain by it either, I won’t argue. They might be right, but even if they are, the addition of Cassell isn’t going to tank the Celtics. It’s not going to break the bank, either.

The biggest reason Boston is doing this (and subsequently why it’s such a great move) has little to do with Cassell and everything to do with Boston point guard Rajon Rondo—Rondo’s legs specifically.

People forget that we aren’t going to see a whole lot of Cassell after he gets to Boston. Some people assume that because Cassell has two championship rings and plenty of experience that he’s going to lead the Celtics to the finals, but Cassell isn’t going to “lead” the Celtics anywhere. Boston has plenty of leadership already.

The 38-year old point guard is being signed as a back up to Rondo, and that’s pretty much it. Taking a few minutes per game off of Rondo at this point in the season when fresh legs are so important is a very smart move, and if you’ve got to do it, why not give the job to Cassell?

He’s more than capable of helping out. In 38 games, Cassell averaged 12.8 points, 4.7 assists. This year, Rondo is averaging 10.6 points per game and 5.1 assists. I’m not hinting that Cassell is comparable to Rondo, but if you look at the averages, having Cassell on the floor to give Rondo a breather is a fine choice.

Cassell can still shoot, he’s still a good ball handler, he’s still a good passer, and he’s a smart addition to the Celtics bench.

The only thing Boston is going to have to be careful about is his attitude. Here’s how ESPN.com described Cassell’s departure from L.A. “Cassell was virtually begging to be let go by the Clippers, who owed him $6.1 million this season in the final year of his contract, and be signed by the Celtics.”

Cassell got what he wanted, but it’s also important to view the situation from the Clippers’ angle as well. Essentially, the Los Angeles Clippers paid Cassell $6.1 million to go away, so I wonder if “begging” is an understatement.

The case can be made that Cassell is an oxymoronic blend of old age and immaturity, but then again, maybe one reason why Cassell was so bent on wearing Celtic green has to do with his desire to play with his old teammate Kevin Garnett on a squad that’s a serious threat to the rest of the league.

As it stand now, Boston coach Doc Rivers has plenty of optimism. “He’s a proven player,” Rivers told the Boston Globe. “He can still really play.” The best part, if Cassell flops, is the Celtics didn’t really lose anything except money. That’s no big deal.

In the NBA, money grows on trees.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff

The Lakers don’t have a lot of problems. Not yet anyway. Now that the trade deadline has flatlined, the Lakers are the early and popular pick as this year’s champions. The evidence is there, and you’ll get no argument from me.

At the beginning of the season, it looked like L.A. might be without Kobe. Now, after Gasol, the only thing Kobe & Co. might be without is a loss. The Lakers are good—scary good. In fact, they might be too good for their own good.

Here’s the good news: L.A. has positioned itself to be serious contenders for this year and many to come. Here’s the bad news: they might have to let some people go after next season to keep it that way, and the people they’d let go are all pretty valuable because (here’s more good news) that’s all they’ve got.

What a great problem to have, eh?

When I say “people”, I really only mean one person. Lamar Odom. You see, the most appealing facet of L.A.’s recent nip and tuck is that their players are relatively young.

Kobe is 29, Odom is 28, Gasol is 27, Andrew Bynum is 20 and Farmar is 21. The oldest player on L.A.’s roster is Derek Fisher at 33, and he puts up about 12 points per game. Of course, you don’t get a roster like that without spending some money, and that’s really where the problem is.

The Lakers’ risk was worth it when you consider how easily they got Gasol, but it wasn’t cheap, so Kudos to owner Jerry Buss for doing it anyway. Gasol’s contract has three additional years and $49 million still left on it.

They’re paying their stars a mint, so the Lakers will have to weather a huge luxury tax hit, and because contract extensions are due this summer for Andrew Bynum, Ronny Turiaf, Sasha Vujacic, and Trevor Ariza, their total team salary and luxury tax payment will increase even more.

The Lakers HAVE to sign these guys, too. If they let them go, L.A. won’t have enough in the coffers to bring in any rookies.

What does this have to do with Lamar Odom? His contract expires after next season. By then, Jerry Buss will have to worry about the luxury tax. Also by then, Odom’s salary will be around $14 million.

If the Lakers haven’t won a championship (or two) by the end of next season, it’ll certainly be time to let Odom walk. Then again, it might be time to let him walk even if they have a championship. Odom has turned out to be a great contributor after Gasol’s arrival, but $14 million is a lot of lettuce.

At the end of 2008-2009, cutting Odom loose in favor of a younger (and cheaper) Trevor Ariza should probably happen. Plus, Ariza might be able to do Odom’s job better than Odom by then. Luke Walton and Vladimir Radmanovic can play Odom’s position too, but are any of these guys better than Odom right now?

No, but right now isn’t the issue. Buss said he’d pay the bill, so L.A. might as well enjoy the meal before he gets the check.

The Lakers are just getting started. It might be an expensive future, but at least they didn’t mortgage it like Dallas or make an ill-advised, mid-life-crisis-inspired trade like Phoenix. And if the Lakers end up with a title between now and the end of next season . . .

It’s worth every penny.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.

If only our economy were as easily stimulated as the NBA’s trading game. Call it the “Pau Gasol Panic Effect”. The very second Gasol set foot in the Staples Center, phones started ringing and wallets started opening. Like the sky was falling in the Western Conference.

It’s the reason why Shaq landed in Phoenix. Sure, O’Neal wanted out of Miami anyway, but you can’t tell me he would have ended up in Phoenix if Gasol hadn’t gone to L.A. And now, the next link in the chain reaction brings Jason Kidd back to the Dallas Mavericks—for better or worse.

Right now, Jason Kidd is in Texas signing the papers on his move from Jersey to Dallas. The news hit the wire not even 30 minutes ago.

This thing has been in the works forever and a day. Now that it’s finally over, it looks like a carbon copy of the Shaq-to-Phoenix move in both shock value and apparent lunacy.

Jason Kidd is unhappy with the Nets just like Shaq in Miami. Kidd also wanted to leave the Nets a lot more than anyone else needs him to arrive. Again, just like Shaq. Offensively, Shaq’s numbers are the lowest they’ve ever been yet Phoenix didn’t seem to mind. Jason Kidd is putting up the worst field goal percentage of his career at 36.6 percent, but his past speaks louder than his present.

Overall, Kidd is a great player, but he hasn’t been a great player recently—and in the East, no less. If his turnovers are a problem there, and they are a problem, how much promise is there for Kidd when he gets back to the insanely talented Western Conference?

On the other hand, I think most people would agree that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is no pushover. I’m sure he’s spent plenty of time weighing his options, and there are some positives to the Kidd deal.

Kidd is a natural leader on the floor, he’s great on the glass, and he’s still a great passer—especially in transition. Unfortunately the Mavs don’t run a whole lot; a blemish dulled by Kidd teaming up with Josh Howard, Jason Terry and reigning MVP Dirk Nowitzki. That’s an impressive lineup by any standard.

But since the Mavs are giving the Nets 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, center DeSagana Diop, swingman Trenton Hassell, guard Maurice Ager, Keith Van Horn, first-round picks this June and in 2010 plus $3 million in cash, Dallas had better end up with an impressive core.

Even so, adjustments must be made by Mavs coach Avery Johnson to favor Kidd’s style of play, and he needs make them quickly.

If the Mavs think this deal can get them an NBA title, the clock is already ticking. Fans in Dallas might not mind a mortgaged future for a quick championship, but the pressure is a lot higher.

If you pay a fortune for something, it had better not break.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff

Even though he’s been awful this season, I’m starting to feel a little guilty for making fun of Shaq and his trade to the Suns. No matter how insane some people think that trade is, I wouldn’t go so far as to say the Suns have committed post-season suicide.

Shaq is definitely going to have some playoff impact for Phoenix. Just what kind of impact remains to be seen, but there will be an impact. If I were a die-hard Suns fan, I’d be a little nervous. But if you’re a fan of the NBA, this trade is exciting for one reason. Lakers vs. Suns.

Last year, Shaq got pretty mouthy about Lakers coach Phil Jackson, calling him “Benedict Arnold.” Jackson is doing what he can to stay out of the fray, but when a reporter for the Los Angeles Times asked Jackson what Shaq’s biggest role will be in Phoenix, he said, “Taking the ball out of bounds and waiting for the other team to get back.”

Jackson also echoed what so many writers agreed upon right after Shaq left Miami. “There’s diminishing returns for a guy who’s 7-foot-1, 300-whatever,” he said. “When you have multiple problems in your legs, feet, knees, hips, that’s the stability that holds up the frame.”

The thing is, coach Jackson is right.

This season, Shaq’s scoring average has fallen to 14 points per game. His 7.8 per game rebound average is mediocre. He hasn’t averaged more than 10 rebounds per game since 2005, and his average playing time—28.5 minutes per game—has been drastically cut because of his constant struggle with fouls and injury.

But at the end of the day, he’s still Shaq. He might be getting long in the tooth, but he’s not useless. He also wasn’t happy in Miami anymore, and his relationship with Pat Riley is rumored as strained. There’s no proof of that because Riley denies it, but several Florida newspapers, like the Palm Beach Post, did confirm that it was Shaq’s idea to get out of Miami.

Smells like discontent to me, and morale has a lot to do with performance.

So now we get to see what Shaq can bring to the court when he’s happy. Assuming he’s healthy after the All-Star break, the best game of season will be on Feb. 20 in Phoenix. That’s the last regular-season meeting between the Suns and Lakers, and it’ll give us Shaq vs. Kobe.

And that’s the best thing about Shaq coming back to the Western Conference. Lakers vs. Suns is now the NBA’s best rivalry. Way back in November, during the home opener in Phoenix when the Lakers beat the Suns 119-98, Suns coach Mike D’Antoni flew off the handle when Lakers coach Phil Jackson called a timeout, right after the Suns called one, with 4:55 to play and Phoenix trailing 111-78.

After that game, coach D’Antoni said, “I thought he disrespected our players. But he likes to play the mind games and that’s fine. He might want to try to do it in playoff time when we bust them every year.”

If Lakers center Andrew Bynum can get over his knee problems, a Lakers vs. Suns series would be an instant classic. The fans in Phoenix might think they’ve been gypped, but I’ll enjoy every minute of Shaq vs. Kobe.

And the Western Conference finals.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff

NBA All-Star Weekend is closing in, and there’s nothing shocking about this year’s picks. The fans might have issues, but people kick and scream about All-Star selections every year. That’s not shocking either.

The NBA has 544 players but the All-Star Game has 24 slots, so we all know that math has plenty to do with figuring out who gets the love and who gets the snub on February 17. I only have one or two misgivings with this year’s roster, but the biggest one is in the East.

It’s easy to beat most of the teams in the East, so ASG selections are even easier. Here’s the roster: Jason Kidd, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Caron Butler, Richard Hamilton, Antawn Jamison, Joe Johnson, and Paul Pierce.

My biggest problem, and I’m sorry for this, is Dwyane Wade. Wade’s defense hasn’t been as good as we all know it can be, he’s just not himself, and the Heat doesn’t even know who they are anymore.

Wade told ESPN the Magazine that he “knows what his body can handle.” I’m sure he does. But his confidence doesn’t seem to help the fact that he’s clearly laboring on the court, and a full recovery from last May’s knee and shoulder surgeries is still a long way off.

We all know All-Star Weekend is for theatrics and showboating, and that’s just fine, but if Wade tweaks something while trying to three-peat in the skills challenge . . .

Do Wade’s injuries or his comparatively lackluster performance this year give us enough reason to think he doesn’t deserve a spot? Of course not. You’d be out of your bean to think Wade doesn’t belong on the roster. I’m not saying he doesn’t belong. I’m saying he should play it safe.

Wade is arguably the best shooting guard in the East. So if, hypothetically of course, Wade sat out, who else is worthy of starting here? The next best shooting guard in the East is . . . who?

Well, here’s an answer for you. It doesn’t really matter because the All-Star Game isn’t a serious competition. But since we’re on the subject, I don’t think Ray Allen is doing anything this weekend. It’s not unheard of for a clearly dominant team to send three players to an ASG, and I shouldn’t have to tell you how good the Celtics are this year.

In fact, it doesn’t even have to be a shooting guard. If there were a hole in the roster left by Wade, how about sending Toronto’s Jose Calderon as a back up and moving some players around? In Calderon’s 20 games as a starter, he’s averaging 13.5 points, 9.9 assists, and shooting 50.0 percent from the field.

Hey, it’s the All-Star Game, why not? It’s a party. Let him play.

Of course, all this is theoretical. The reality is that Dwayne Wade will be there for tip-off (assuming he doesn’t get the flu again), and I’m sure he’ll play as well as he’s able. He just better be cautious.

If Miami stinks now, is there even a word to describe how they’d be without him?

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff