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THE WEEK IN PREVIEW
MONDAY Boston chases what seemed unfathomable a few days ago -- a three-game win streak -- by playing host to lowly Orlando. Cleveland, meanwhile, shares an opportunity with the Celtics to move into a tie for eighth in the East in its trip to lowly Chicago. Memphis at San Antonio would have been Game O' The Night if Tim Duncan were healthy enough to play, but Duncan's absence transfers that status to Detroit at Utah.
TUESDAY L.A. Clippers at Sacramento marks the long-awaited return of Chris Webber, in game No. 59 of the Kings' season. New Jersey at Denver is another standout, provided Jason Kidd is healthy enough to go, and L.A. Lakers at Hawks will also be worth a look, if only for the novelty of seeing a filled-up Philips Arena. Toronto at Miami is another tussle involving hopefuls at the bottom of the East playoff ladder, and Seattle at Dallas is available for folks who would rather not see a stitch of defense. Indiana at Golden State, meanwhile, brings the Pacers face-to-face with two Warriors who had Indy at least somewhat interested before the trading deadline. That would be center Erick Dampier, who is already talking about defecting to the (easier) East next season.
WEDNESDAY The best and biggest matchups come from Texas: Shaquille O'Neal vs. Yao Ming in Lakers at Rockets ... and Ray Allen vs. Bruce Bowen in Sonics at Spurs. It'll be fun to see which showdown is the testiest -- Yao outnumbered Shaq in their most recent matchup (29-24 in points, 11-9 on rebounds) and Allen recently accused Bowen of playing "sissy basketball" as opposed to hounding defense. Then again, we probably should amend the above statement to say that the evening's best and biggest matchups involve teams from Texas, because Dallas at Minnesota is another doozy. As always, that one offers up a Dirk Nowitzki vs. Kevin Garnett tussle, along with two of the deeper and more diverse rosters in the league.
THURSDAY It's one of those Thursdays when you wish all three games had some nationally televised run. The TNT doubleheader sends Sacramento to Philadelphia, followed by the return of Rasheed Wallace to Portland in Pistons at Blazers. Excluded from that coverage is Milwaukee at Miami, a game with playoff implications and yet another test for the Bucks.
FRIDAY ESPN's doubleheader opens with Dallas at San Antonio, as a killer week for the Mavs continues. New Jersey at Golden State is ESPN's late game, with Kidd's availability to play in his hometown again depending on the state of his knees. On the satellite: Houston at Minnesota is another good Midwest Division offering, while New York at Toronto and Cleveland at New Orleans serve as the East pairings with games that most impact the playoff race.
WEEKEND Saturday sends Sacramento to Miami, Milwaukee to Cleveland and Detroit to Denver as a prelude to a mega Sunday. That's when ABC presents a doubleheader: Dallas at Houston to complete the Mavs' busy week, followed by Nets at Lakers in a rematch of L.A.'s rout at Continental Airlines Arena a week earlier. ESPN also kicks in another bonus Sunday game with Boston at Minnesota.

	Will an injury hurt Tim Duncan's chances at a third straight MVP?

Since it's been ages since our last meaningful Bron vs. 'Melo debate, or a deep TD vs. KG discussion, let's start the new month right.

Let's throw out a couple rhetorical questions on topics that have been unjustly ignored for so long:

Question No. 1: If LeBron James ends up taking the Cleveland Cavaliers to the playoffs now, and Carmelo Anthony can't take the Denver Nuggets to the playoffs, what do you think that does to the Rookie of the Year voting?

Question No. 2: If Tim Duncan misses significantly more than five games with his knee/thigh/whatever-it-is injury, besides clinching Minnesota's first division title, won't that clinch the MVP trophy for Kevin Garnett?

These, remember, are rhetorical questions. For those of you out there who get so wrapped up in ESPN.com's NBA Power Rankings that you don't read anything else, rhetorical means those questions answer themselves. Got it?

Oh, yeah. The rankings. Sacramento is back to No. 1 after beating the Lakers in L.A. without three of its top six players, with the Spurs sliding to No. 4 in the wake of Duncan's second injury scare of the season ... after he also played for Team USA in the summer.

Programming note: Only six more editions of the Power Rankings remain this season, so enjoy them while they last.

Dallas Mavericks. With the hated Cowboys purportedly pursuing a trade for Keyshawn Johnson, and with a killer schedule looming in March, the gutty little Mavs had to keep winning to make sure the town is still theirs. Duncan's injury took the gloss off Thursday's victory over San Antonio, but there's no denying that the Mavericks -- unlike last season when they started so well, then struggled -- have made the second half of the season their better half. Now to see if they can keep it up by winning road games like they did the last few seasons.

	Bryant

Kobe Bryant. Andrei Kirilenko gave Kobe a good run by averaging 25.0 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in a 3-0 week for the Utah Jazz, but it's impossible to ignore the way Bryant has been playing since the All-Star Game. To go with a triple-double in Saturday's win at Washington, Bryant also scored 40 points against Phoenix and posted two 35-point games. In eight games since Shaquille O'Neal edged him for All-Star MVP honors, Bryant is averaging 30.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.3 assists.

I generally enjoy your work and find it to be insightful, thought-provoking and accurate. But your recent dig about 25 teams being eliminated from World Series contention heading into the season is flat-out absurd. I'd venture a guess that you'd have included the Marlins and Angels in the 25 "eliminated" teams the previous two years. Teams with smart management teams that employ their resources wisely can overcome the financial obstacles created by the lack of a salary cap. In fact, I think in any given year there are fewer serious contenders for the NBA crown than there are for the World Series.
Pat O'Brien
Ann Arbor, Mich.

STEIN: Thanks for the kind words, Pat, but I couldn't disagree more. There is no Team To Beat in the NBA today. Five teams could legitimately win the West. Three could legitimately win the East. The championship is totally up for grabs. I grew up watching the Angels first-hand and anyone else who has can tell you what an absolute freak of nature that was. That was the makegood for decades of misfortune, and you saw the Angels promptly return to their usual form last season. The Marlins? I guess if something happens twice it's less freakish, but you are citing some of the biggest flukes in the annals of baseball. There is nothing you can say to convince me that more baseball teams have legitimate championship hopes today -- on March 1 -- than there are NBA teams with a shot at winning a championship in June. Baseball needs a salary cap as much as my favorite sport (as a fan). England's Premiership needs one, too, because it's not healthy for any sport when the Yankees or Trafford Rovers can just keep outspending everyone until they win it all.

	Divac

"I can't jump, but I can assist."
— Sacramento's Vlade Divac, with a line we liked so much we had to run it twice. Divac is referring to his 9.7-assist average over the past 10 games.

Saturday, Feb. 28, Denver at San Antonio
Player	Min	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	Off	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Pts
Kevin Willis	14	8-9	0-0	1-1	2	5	0	1	1	0	5	17

On a night of two triple-doubles -- Kobe's and Kirk Hinrich's for Chicago -- we couldn't ignore the good work of the oldest player in the league. Willis, who turned 41 in September, filled in admirably for the absent Duncan (and the retired Admiral David Robinson) in San Antonio's rout of Denver.

26,710

In the wake of the Academy Awards, we pay tribute to the highest NBA point total ever recorded by a guy named Oscar. The second-best Big O I've ever seen, next to my brother.

1

That's how many free throws New Jersey made at Minnesota in Wednesday's loss, which was also historic because it was the first loss of Lawrence Frank's coaching career. Only two other teams in NBA history managed to sink only one free throw in a single game: Toronto went 1-for-3 on Jan. 9, 1996 against Charlotte, and New Orleans (New Orleans Jazz in those days) went 1-for-5 against Houston on Nov. 19, 1977. Bonus minutia: On the same night New Jersey was limited to a solitary free throw in Minny, Golden State's Speedy Claxton was making 16 free throws against Memphis to become just the fourth player in league history standing less than 6 feet to make at least 16 free throws in a game. Michael Adams did it four times, and the others played in the 1940s: Ernie Calverley and Kenny Sailors, both for Providence.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Also, click here to send a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.