Rockets, Raptors sit atop their conferences
Golden State and Cleveland are used to looking down at the rest of the NBA, though it’s Houston and Toronto enjoying that view at the All-Star break.
The Rockets and Raptors are the conference leaders and will try to keep rolling as play resumes. Houston had won 10 straight before the break to edge past the Warriors, and Toronto was two games up in the East after seven consecutive wins.
So, are the Raptors the best team in the East?
“I don’t know. The record says we are, but for me to sit here and say we are the best team — we have confidence, but I’m not going to sit here and say we are the best team,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. “Right now, we’re No. 1. The numbers say that.”
Houston coach Mike D’Antoni says the Rockets like being in the Warriors’ spot but don’t talk about them — for now.
“Nobody’s ready for that yet,” he said. “So as we go forward we’ll see what we got, but yeah, we would love to be the No. 1 team without a doubt.”
Playoff change unlikely: While Commissioner Adam Silver discussed the idea of revamping the playoff format during his All-Star Saturday news conference, the reality is the NBA isn’t near any kind of change.
A glance at the current standings explains why.
While having the best 16 teams in the league in the playoffs would be nice, Silver worries about the extra travel that could be created if teams were playing someone outside their conference. And if they were seeded 1 to 16 based on their records at the All-Star break, No. 4 Boston and No. 13 Portland would have to play a coast-to-coast series in the first round.
“We are just concerned about the overall travel that we would have in the top 16 teams,” Silver said.
No. 5 Cleveland against No. 12 Denver also would create some difficult travel, though Minnesota against Milwaukee in a 7-10 series would be quite convenient.
World Cup qualifying: The NBA isn’t the only basketball that returns this week.
The second window of qualifying for the 2019 Basketball World Cup is being held through Monday. Teams in the Americas, Europe, Asian and Africa will each play two games over the weekend.
The U.S. plays both its games at Santa Cruz, Calif., home of the Golden State Warriors’ NBA G League affiliate. The Americans will host Cuba on Friday and Puerto Rico on Monday.
FIBA’s new qualifying format began with countries playing their first two games in November. The Americans, using G League players under coach Jeff Van Gundy because NBA ones aren’t available during the season, are 2-0 after victories over Puerto Rico and Mexico.
The next window runs from the end of June into early July.