NBA indiana Pacers

The Atlanta Hawks find themselves at the top of our rankings this week, thanks to a five-game winning streak against some strong competition -- a gritty overtime win over the Blazers and a road win in Boston were both impressive. Now, let's see if they can avoid the top-spot-jinx on Wednesday night, when they'll host Miami in a rematch of last year's first round playoff series. As for the other 29 teams? Read on to see how they stacked up.

Kevin Garnett has a reputation as a villain on the basketball court, at least to those wearing the uniform of the team he's going up against that particular night. While he's sometimes been criticized for taking things too far, It's understandable to a point, because in the heat of the game, it's not exactly to your advantage to play well with others.

But what about off the court?

When there's no game, the cameras aren't rolling, and no one else is around, that's when a person's true self is exposed, good or bad. And this little story about how Garnett treated a couple of the Pacers' rookies over the summer shows that his off-the-court persona might be just as rough as the one we're accustomed to seeing on it.

DENVER -- Five years after the "The Malice at the Palace,'' Ron Artest isn't showing remorse. In fact, one could say he is embracing his infamous place in history.

Artest, a Lakers forward, said in an interview Friday with FanHouse he's making a movie about his life. He said he made sure to touch upon the Nov. 19, 2004 brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills in order to "kind of spice up the movie a little bit.''

In that basketbrawl, Artest, then with Indiana, charged into the stands in the final minute of a game at Detroit after a fight had broken out and a fan had thrown a cup of beer at Artest. The game was called, and there were nine players suspended for a total of 146 games. Artest got the worst penalty, being sat down for the final 73 games of the season.

Thursday marks the fifth-year anniversary, and Artest will play that night at home against Chicago. Artest, who celebrated his 30th birthday Friday, was asked if he's matured and is a different person since the brawl.

"Not really,'' he said before the Lakers were crushed by Denver 105-79 at the Pepsi Center. "I'm the same person.''

Wizards forward Antawn Jamison hasn't been able to help his team on the court after suffering an exhibition schedule shoulder separation. But he's trying to inspire his mates in the locker room. Friday night, that meant the post-game gastronomy in Indianapolis had to suffer.

Washington fell to a rather miserable Indiana team by 16 points. According to the Washington Post's Michael Lee, Jamison gave the business to his teammates in the locker room after the final buzzer. Lee reports that a tray of snacks had been "tossed into a corner, shattered to pieces, with fruit and candy scattered everywhere." Quelle horreur!

ORLANDO -- Danny Granger has all the makings of a great player who may get lost for many years.

Playing for the Indiana Pacers already makes him look like he's standing alone on an island -- waiting to get rescued.

"It doesn't matter how many points you score. If you don't win games, no one really cares,'' Granger told FanHouse Wednesday night before the Pacers played the Orlando Magic. "I've proven I can score. Now I have to prove we can win.''

Granger averaged 25.8 points last season when he won the NBA's Most Improved Player Award, becoming the first player in league history to raise his scoring average by at least five points in three consecutive seasons.

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Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Tuesday, there are 14 days remaining.

For everything the NBA has done to level the playing field -- the draft lottery, the salary cap, the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax -- only a select handful of teams have a legitimate chance to win the championship in any given year.

I know optimism is supposed to reign supreme in October, but here's a harsh dose of reality: in the past 26 years, only seven different organizations have hoisted the Larry O'Brien, and six of those teams have won more than once. In fact, in a league where fluke success is rare and dynasties are the norm, there are 14 teams that have yet to win a title.

Will any of these perennial losers buck their unfortunate losing streaks in the near future? While the Lakers, Spurs and Celtics (winners of nine of the last 11 titles) would disagree, it's a very real possibility.

A waiter at a Hollywood restaurant recently was fired after he wrote on his Twitter page how a notable actress stiffed him on a tip.

It seems the actress, Hung star Jane Adams, claimed she had forgotten her wallet and went to her car and never returned. The tab, about $14, was later paid by her agent. But the payment came with no tip, leading waiter Jon-Barrett Ingels to write, "Not a big deal to me financially, but the principle of the thing was ridiculous.''

Fired.

We've seen this scenario before. Last spring, after Brian Dawkins bolted as a free agent from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Denver Broncos, a Philadelphia stadium worker named Dan Leone wrote on his Facebook page about the Eagles being "retarded'' for letting Dawkins go.

Fired.

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Seven feet, two inches. Two hundred and seventy eight pounds. Only 23 years of age. Size, agility, athleticism, post moves and tremendous upside. Not Greg Oden. Not Andrew Bynum.

His name is Roy Hibbert, and if he finds the right track, lock up your pivots, lock up your wives, lock up your post defense and run for your lives. If he can't, he's doomed to "obligatory tall guy that never panned out" status. It's a thin ledge for the big fella.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Not long ago, the Indiana Pacers were said to have a character problem, what with players such as Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest and Jamaal Tinsley. That issue, we know, has been taken care of.

Now the Pacers have a talent problem. As in, not enough of it.

Bert Smith has been there, done that, so when an NBA replacement official calls him this week to ask for advice, on what to expect from star players and volatile coaches, on what it's really going to be like doing the games, they would be wise to listen closely.

It will range from obstacle course to gauntlet.

Smith was a young, promising official working college basketball games in the Big 12 and Conference USA when the NBA plucked him to be a replacement in 1995 during the last referee union lockout.

He worked 16 games that year, including a Sonics-Pacers game Nov. 18 in Indianapolis when he ejected then Seattle coach George Karl, who kept riding him over a call he didn't like, got a technical foul, then drop kicked the ball into the stands to show his displeasure. Smith tossed him.