Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images
"Mr. President, my Wizards may be bad, but we shall deal your Bulls' playoff hopes a blow on April 2."
2. One on One ... To Five
Five questions with Wolves rookie guard Jonny Flynn:
Q: Obviously your team is starting over, but how do you evaluate this first season individually?
A: I put a lot of pressure on myself to try to bring the best out of my teammates. As a point guard I like to judge myself by winning and when I judge myself like that the year isn't going too well.
Q: That seems a little harsh, doesn't it, considering you're running the triangle offense for the first time?
A: It's tough. It's like learning a foreign language. You sit in class and you think you've got it and then there's one verb you left out or something and you pronounce it the wrong way. It's definitely difficult. It's new to all of us, but definitely tough for me because I have to make sure everybody's on the same page.
Q: What kind of grasp do you have on the triangle at this point?
A: I would say I'm at a C right now. ... It's really tough doing something your whole life and then switching. It's been a humbling experience. But I think I'm making strides. There's so many different wrinkles [in the offense]. I don't think we've really even scratched the surface.
Q: I would think the fact that you had to learn a new offense on the fly would make you prouder of what you've achieved in your first season.
A: I think so. I don't think any other rookie is in a position like this. You look at a lot of the top rookies and they have a tremendous amount of freedom. They can go out and really almost do whatever they want. But Kurt [Rambis] is really teaching me the game of basketball. He's teaching me how to play in a system. And if you look at all the great point guards in this league, they know how to run a system and they can play pick-and-roll basketball. I already know how to play pick-and-roll basketball. Now I'm learning how to run a system.
Q: Who would get your Rookie of the Year vote and how disappointed are you that you're not getting much consideration?
A: Tyreke Evans. Has to be [Rookie of the Year]. He's averaging 20 points a game in the NBA as a rookie. ... I don't think I'm doing as much as all the rookies that are mentioned [for Rookie of the Year]. I'm just looking forward to getting better with time.
3. Western Conference
One addendum to the Jonny Flynn chat in Box 2: Flynn admits that he hasn't been closely tracking Ricky Rubio's work with Spanish giants Barcelona this season.
The last time they spoke? Draft night.
Flynn, though, insists that he has never approached his bosses to ask for more insight into why the Wolves drafted point guards with the No. 5 and No. 6 picks in the 2009 draft.
"I was just happy to be picked that high in the draft," Flynn said.
Some numbers of note in the West this week:
61.5: Kobe Bryant is shooting 61.5 percent from the field (8-for-13) in the final 24 seconds of one-possession games this season. In the preceding seven seasons, Bryant shot just 28.4 percent from the field (19-for-67) in those situations.
26: C.J. Miles' 26 points in 19 minutes in a 24-point rout Tuesday night at Chicago marked the first time Utah had a player with at least 25 points in less than 20 minutes of playing time since Darrell Griffith on Jan. 23, 1987. Utah's 132 points in the victory were the most in regulation for the road team in Chicago since the Lakers beat the Bulls 133-118 on Jan. 20, 1986.
4: Marcus Thornton is already up to second in Hornets history with four games off the bench with at least 25 points -- all of them since Feb. 23. The franchise record, though, isn't quite within reach for the rookie guard; Dell Curry scored 25 points or more as a Hornets reserve 28 times.
1: Shawn Marion's 29-point, 14-rebound performance in Dallas' victory at Minnesota on Monday was the first 20-point game this season for Marion, who has been asked to focus more on individual D by his new team since joining the Mavericks in the offseason.
266: The 266 combined points in New Orleans' 135-131 victory over Golden State accounted for the highest point total in a regulation game this season, and the Warriors became the first team in 2009-10 to score at least 130 points and lose. In the 1990-91 season, there were 13 regulation-length games in which the losing team scored 130 points or more. In the 19 seasons since, there have been only 11 such games.
Important clarification: Bulls alumni Jay Williams and Marcus Fizer were the highest draft picks to play in the D-League before Memphis' Hasheem Thabeet. Portland's Martell Webster, meanwhile, was the highest draft pick assigned to a D-League club by his NBA team before Thabeet.
Drafted No. 2 overall by Chicago in 2002, Williams made a brief comeback attempt with the Austin Toros in 2006-07 after a motorcycle accident ended his NBA career.
Drafted No. 4 overall by Chicago in 2000 and last seen in the NBA during the 2005-06 season with New Orleans, Fizer also had a stint with the Austin Toros in '05-06.
Webster, drafted No. 6 overall by the Blazers in 2005, was sent to the now-defunct Fort Worth Flyers for eight games as a rookie.
Thabeet was recalled this week by the Grizzlies after averaging 13.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.2 blocks and 31.3 minutes in six games with the Dakota Wizards.
4. Alternative Listening
Do the Clippers have any chance of convincing LeBron James to give L.A.'s other team legit consideration this summer? What if the Clips let LeBron choose his own coach and general manager? Marc Stein joins NBA on ESPN Radio studio host Marc Kestecher to discuss.
To hear the interview, click here. 
5. Eastern Conference
The Bulls were determined to land no less than a first-round pick when they parted with Tyrus Thomas before last month's trade deadline. Yet you have to wonder if Chicago is already wishing it could have a do-over on the Thomas deal it struck with Charlotte.
Chicago, remember, could have sent Thomas to the Knicks for Al Harrington and a second-round pick. That deal would have given them a decent future trade asset -- since second-rounders have some value, too -- as well as the productive Harrington, who would undoubtedly be helping the Bulls cope better with the injury absences of Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.
But the Bulls, after advanced talks with the Knicks on a Harrington deal, instead elected to send Thomas to Charlotte for Flip Murray, Acie Law and a lottery-protected 2012 first-rounder. Which I suspect they'll come to regret unless the pick they're getting from Charlotte helps them sweeten a subsequent trade.
Although losing Noah and Deng has mostly crushed the Bulls defensively, they've also been a bottom-five team in offensive efficiency all season and could certainly use Harrington's scoring ability in the race to snag a playoff spot before this summer's free-agent bonanza.
And that was Chicago's goal. The Bulls have maintained all along that -- while creating maximum salary-cap space for the summer was their primary 2009-10 focus -- their aim is making a second successive trip to the playoffs. If that's indeed the target, Harrington would have been an ideal midseason pickup, given that he's playing on an expiring contract himself at just over $10 million. He could have helped address Chicago's scoring issues without infringing on its offseason intentions.
Harrington ranks third in the league this season with 17 games off the bench with 20 points or more, second only to Atlanta's Jamal Crawford (26) and Sacramento's Carl Landry (18).
Some numbers of note in the East this week:
2: Of the 21 teams to play Cleveland and Boston in back-to-back games since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined the Celtics for the 2007-08 season, only this season's Bucks and last season's Lakers have won both games. L.A. completed the sweep on the road last season; Milwaukee beat the LeBron James-less Cavaliers and the Celts at home.
50: For the first time in franchise history, Cleveland was the season's first team to reach 50 wins. The first team to win 50 games in each of the past two seasons (Celtics in 2008, Lakers in 2009) won the championship.
1: With 25 points in Tuesday's win over Philadelphia, Indiana's Dahntay Jones was the game's high scorer in a victory for the first time in his 387-game NBA career.
27: Before his 27 points Wednesday night in a win over the Clippers, Miami's Dwyane Wade had averaged only 18.6 points in his previous nine games on the second night of a back-to-back.
40: Before turning 40 last week, Cavs coach Mike Brown registered 259 career victories. That's the most for any coach before the age of 40 since Billy Cunningham's 344. Cunningham, though, coached only two more seasons after his 40th birthday and finished with a lifetime mark of 454-196 and a gaudy winning percentage of .698 in eight seasons, all with Philly.
The six-week delay between Michael Redd's most recent knee injury in January and the operation Redd underwent March 2, according to one source close to the situation, was merely to solicit a few extra medical opinions after the former Team USA sharpshooter suffered a major injury for the second successive season.
After the additional research, Redd and the Bucks scheduled the surgery with Chicago Bulls team doctor Brian Cole, who performed Redd's surgery in March 2009 as well.
Redd appeared in only 33 games last season and underwent surgery on his left knee on March 3, 2009. He played in only 18 games this season, averaing 11.9 points and missing 16 games thanks to a patella tendon strain in that knee before suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a torn medial collateral ligament when he drove into the lane against the Lakers on Jan. 10 in L.A.
The Bucks have successfully filled the Redd void with their trade with Chicago for John Salmons and the earlier signing of Jerry Stackhouse, but Redd will be back next season, on Milwaukee's payroll if not back on the floor. The lefty -- who naturally remains one of our faves with that inimitably quick release -- will obviously exercise his player option for $18.3 million next season.
6. Marc's Quote
"I've heard it. I've never agreed with it. That's on you guys."
Mavericks guard Jason Kidd, reflecting Wednesday night -- after a come-from-behind victory over the Devin Harris-led New Jersey Nets -- on the criticism he and the Mavs received throughout last season because Harris, now 27, was the centerpiece of a trade package Dallas surrendered to acquire Kidd at the 2008 trade deadline.
It's now a near-nightly occurrence for reporters to stop by Kidd's locker and personally withdraw those sentiments, with the 36-year-old in the midst of a renaissance that has fueled the Mavericks' 13-game win streak.
In 13 games since the All-Star break, excluding the March 3 home win over Minnesota he was allowed to skip for rest reasons, Kidd is averaging 13.6 points, 9.9 assists, 7.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 38 minutes per game.
Kidd, who turns 37 on March 23, is also shooting a career-best 42.1 percent on 3-pointers, continuing to capitalize on the sort of open looks from long range that he had never experienced in his career until he hooked up with Dirk Nowitzki.
"You guys said I couldn't shoot, you said that I'm too old," Kidd continued after Wednesday's win. "It's nothing new in that aspect of always hearing a doubt. I just keep trying to do what I've done for however many years I've been doing it. I can just be me. I can't change me. I can only work on becoming a better person, a better player and a better shooter. Right now, it's all paying off."
7. No Kobe Stoppers
Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty ImagesKobe's crunch-time shooting is better than ever. Just ask the Raptors. Or see Box 3.
8. The 1,000 Club
You've probably already heard that the Celtics, after signing Michael Finley, are just the third team in NBA history to field at least four players who have played in at least 1,000 regular-season games: Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, Ray Allen and Finley.
You might even remember reading something about it in Monday's edition of ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings.
You can surely do the math, too. Barring major health improvement for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce over the next five weeks, Boston is clearly counting on the game to slow way down in the playoffs -- even more than usual -- to have any shot at advancing beyond the first round.
The creaky Celts will otherwise be prone to the sort of torture we're seeing regularly inflicted by youth and athleticism, most recently Wednesday night when the 2008 champs were thumped at home by Memphis by 20.
Two historical footnotes regarding the Celts' sage-filled roster:
1. The only other two teams to have Boston's, uh, experience are the 2000-01 Toronto Raptors (Kevin Willis, Charles Oakley, Mark Jackson and Tyrone Corbin) and the 1997-98 Houston Rockets (Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Kevin Willis and Eddie Johnson).
2. Shaquille O'Neal's thumb injury has cost him the top spot on the list of most games played by active players. Dallas' Jason Kidd passed the Cavs' center when he helped the Mavericks to a 96-87 victory over his old friends from New Jersey on Wednesday night.
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