Worst Remaining Schedule: Los Angeles Lakers.
Why: They're on the road for 10 of their remaining 16 games in the West and must scrape through seven more back-to-backs, most in the league. Starting in mid-March, L.A. plays 12 of 15 away in one stretch. Then in April the Lakers see the Mavericks twice, plus Sacramento and Portland once. All of which backs up our longstanding claim that L.A. won't get any higher than sixth.

Keep Your Eye On: Golden State Warriors.
Why: The Warriors, this year's "We'd Be In The Playoffs If We Were An East Team" outfit, have a chance to prove it with nine games left against the East. Catch is, seven of those East games are roadies. March won't be easy, either, with 15 games in 25 days, but Phoenix and Houston have their own rough stretches between now and April 16. So make that three teams jockeying for No. 8.

Mashburn representing himself better than ever
Perhaps it's time to put Jamal Mashburn's name on the list for Team USA consideration. A 6-foot-8 swingman who can score but also handle the ball well enough to run a team wouldn't be a bad addition for a squad that has to face all those lanky, versatile Europeans.

	Jamal Mashburn's effort has looked Olympian this season.

Look at what Mashburn's doing in New Orleans, as the new initiator of the Hornets' offense. Three games before the All-Star break, with Baron Davis out injured, the Hornets went to a big lineup that called for George Lynch to start in place of Davis' original replacement, Robert Pack. The new alignment also required David Wesley to guard opposing point guards, with Mashburn asked to dominate the ball offensively.

Result? New Orleans is 10-4 since the switch and 14-0 on the rebounding scoreboard, overpowering the opposition with a brawny starting unit that also includes Jamaal Magloire and P.J. Brown.

It's obviously another slam against the East, as the lampooning gets loud again, that the Hornets can rejoin the race for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round after losing an All-Star caliber point guard. What you can't do is bash Mash, whatever the conference. Especially when you remember what happened to Mashburn at the end of last season, when vertigo took him out of the Hornets' playoff opener against Orlando and kept him out.

Indiana's O'Neal addresses Artest and no rest
Criticized more than once for not being hard enough on Ron Artest, the Indiana Pacers took a proactive step last week. Coach Isiah Thomas held Artest out of Wednesday's game at Boston after Artest smashed a picture of himself following Tuesday's home loss to Washington, instead of waiting for Thursday's pre-arranged meeting at the league office to address the latest chaos.

Artest had been summoned to New York for a lecture from NBA officials after smashing a camera at Madison Square Garden and clashing with Miami coach Pat Riley. The Pacers have vigorously defended their defensive ace all season, but they took their own action this time hoping that Artest would spot the difference and take note of the message behind it.

	The Pacers are talking some sense into Ron Artest.

"We've said what we've had to say," All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal said when asked if he or other Pacers players were moved to speak to Artest. "Hopefully, it sets in because he's a big part of what we do. We need him to be focused every day, because this is the crucial part of our year."

It hasn't helped that Artest has also been plagued by a sore elbow, contributing to his 30 percent shooting from the floor since the All-Star break before a 17-point showing Friday in his return to the lineup in a win over Milwaukee. Artest isn't alone there, though. O'Neal and Brad Miller have also been restricted in practice recently by the usual soreness that accrues as the season progresses, impacting their sharpness.

"I've been going for two straight years, at almost 40 minutes a game," said O'Neal, a member of USA Basketball's Goodwill Games team in the summer of 2001 before representing his country again last summer at the World Championships. "My body has been hurting a little. But at this point of the season you can't really use that as an excuse."

Miller had 29 points and 12 rebounds against the Bucks after managing just 18 points total in the final three losses of Indiana's recent six-game skid. O'Neal went for 31 points and 13 boards in the 71-69 loss at Boston sans Artest.

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