Phil to Balance Health and Home-Court?

[DC4]

LOS ANGELES -- Phil Jackson could be facing a tough choice: home or health.

From the first jump ball of the season the Lakers have made a point of going after the best record in the league, which would assure them of home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They were missing that and internal fortitude in the playoffs, and while there's no formula for toughness, at least they have a chance to guarantee that a long NBA Finals series would start and finish in Staples Center.

Now Jackson appears to be leery of wearing out of his players in the pursuit of a goal that's ultimately secondary to the championship itself.

"We're going to push hard," Jackson said. "But if things look like we need more rest than we do wins, I'll have to figure that out. Because we're playing Pau [Gasol] a lot of minutes and [Derek Fisher] and Kobe [Bryant]."

Gasol's minutes jumped from 36 per game in January to 40 per game in February, the first month after Andrew Bynum went down with a right knee injury. While Bryant's minutes have actually decreased over the past six weeks, he's putting in more work while he's on the court. He took almost 21 shots per game in about 38 minutes a night in December and January. Since then he's taking over 24 shots per game in about 36 minutes.

One gamble Jackson could make is to count on Boston to win the Eastern Conference no matter where the Celtics are seeded. That's the play the Celtics are making, being extra careful to bring Kevin Garnett back from injury even if it costs them the top spot in the East, confident they can come through the conference on the road if need be.

The Celtics have lost six of their past 10 games and fallen 4.5 games behind East-leading Cleveland. The Lakers are four games ahead of the Celtics in the loss column, so there's a little cushion to give them home-court advantage in an NBA Finals matchup if those two teams meet.

Personally Right Now, I would go for the Health of the team honestly

 

[RipCity32]

I'd go with health, Cleveland probably won't make the Finals anyways so they will be straight.