A Race to the Playoff Finish

Recent slumps have all but removed the Lakers and New York Knicks from the playoff picture, paring the field in the race to claim one of the top eight spots in each conference and earn a playoff spot.

In the East, it’s down to a three-way contest among Philadelphia, Orlando and New Jersey for one spot, and the West features Denver, Minnesota and Memphis vying for the final two postseason berths.

A look at where each team stands entering the final three weeks of the regular season:

* Philadelphia. The 76ers will be without Chris Webber for the next week to 10 days after he injured his shoulder in a loss at Phoenix on Wednesday, meaning he’ll probably miss games against Dallas, Boston, Cleveland and Indiana as the 76ers play four of their next five games against playoff teams. The 76ers split the season series with Orlando and are 1-2 against the Nets with one game remaining against them.

* Orlando. Losing 10 of 16 games in March, including a seven-game slide that included a coaching change, knocked the Magic under .500 and made them the favorite to drop completely out of the playoff picture. Orlando’s skid actually dates back to the ill-advised trade that sent Cuttino Mobley to Sacramento on Jan. 10. Based on its record against conference opponents, Orlando would lose a tiebreaker to Philadelphia. The Magic have gone 2-1 against the Nets with one game remaining against them.

* New Jersey. Vince Carter has scored 30 or more points 18 times since being acquired from Toronto, but the Nets have been unable to generate more than a five-game winning streak since he arrived. All of New Jersey’s remaining games are against Eastern Conference opponents, and if the Nets can defeat Orlando Saturday and Philadelphia (April 17), they’ll have the tiebreaker advantage over both teams.

* Denver. George Karl won 22 of his first 28 games after taking over for Jeff Bzdelik, giving him as strong an argument as anyone for Coach of the Year honors. But his job is not finished, and the Nuggets will need to finish strong to keep Karl in the mix for that award. Denver begins a four-game road trip Saturday that includes stops in Memphis and Minneapolis, and has another game against the Grizzlies at home on April 15. Denver is 2-0 against Memphis and 1-2 against Minnesota.

* Minnesota. The Wolves brought a five-game winning streak into Friday night’s game at Phoenix, finally coming together under coach Kevin McHale after making it to the conference finals last season. Minnesota has the easiest remaining schedule of the three contenders for the West’s final spot, playing four of its final six games against poor teams: Utah, Golden State, Atlanta and New Orleans.

* Memphis. The Grizzlies’ success under coach Mike Fratello has been the league’s biggest under-the-radar story of the season, and there are teams at the top of the conference standings (especially Seattle) who want no part of a postseason matchup against one of the NBA’s longest and deepest teams. Three straight losses to New Orleans, Chicago and Seattle have dropped the Grizz back into the pack, and a four-game road trip to Dallas, Houston, Denver and San Antonio still awaits. Memphis has the tiebreaker over Minnesota after going 3-1 against the Wolves.

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Coming out next month is a book by sportswriter Gary Pomerantz taking an inside look at the night in March 1962 when Wilt Chamberlain scored an NBA-record 100 points against the New York Knicks in Hershey, Pa.

One of the book’s humorous asides deals with Philadelphia Warriors owner Eddie Gottlieb, who was one of the NBA’s founding fathers but also was notoriously cheap.

In March 1960, St. Louis Hawks general manager Marty Blake phoned Gottlieb to ask if he could attend a Warriors playoff game against the Celtics. “Marty, we’re sold out. Just bring your own chair,” Gottlieb replied. So Blake did just that; he carried a folding chair into Convention Hall, set it beside the court, then carried it home afterward.

Dave Zinkoff, the Warriors’ (and later the 76ers’) legendary public address announcer, used to drive Gottlieb around town, and even to New York and Hershey. Sometimes, sportswriter Jim Heffernan of The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin went with them. Heffernan finally realized that Gottlieb timed their departures to New York so that they would arrive at Madison Square Garden just after 6 p.m., when the parking meters on the streets no longer needed to be fed.

During Chamberlain’s remarkable 1961-62 season, he averaged 50.4 points and scored in the fifties 30 times, in the sixties 12 times and in the seventies twice.

Another snippet from the book:

Syracuse’s Johnny (Red) Kerr walked into a local bar once after playing Chamberlain. “How many did ya get, Red?” the bartender asked. “Thirty-six,” Kerr replied. “Well, then, set ‘em up,” the bartender exclaimed happily. “My boy got thirty-six!”

Delivering the beer, the bartender asked, “How many did Wilt get?” Sheepishly, Kerr said: “Sixty-two, I think.”

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Argentina, the defending Olympic gold medalist, has a new national team coach. Sergio Hernandez, the skipper of the Argentinian league club Boca Juniors, has been appointed to replace Ruben Magnano, who resigned to take over Varese in the Italian League. Julio Lamas, who coached the national team before Magnano, and Enrique Tolcachier (Magnano’s assistant) were also considered. ... Northwestern point guard T.J. Parker, the brother of Spurs guard Tony Parker, has withdrawn from school and plans to move to San Antonio to train. He started 29 of 31 games, averaging 9.7 points and 2.3 assists. “I got an option I can take, and I just don’t feel like coming back and playing college basketball next year,” Parker told reporters in Illinois. In three seasons at Northwestern, Parker averaged 10 points and 2.8 assists. ... Utah coach Jerry Sloan benched rookie forward Kirk Snyder on Wednesday after he taunted the opposing bench Monday against Houston. Sloan said he likes Snyder’s enthusiasm, but wants it expressed more professionally. “Kirk talks a lot,” Sloan said. “He should just save his talking for when the game’s over.”