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Free NBA Picks- (covers.com). bad back sidlines mcgrady. Any basketball fans dreaming of a showdown between Houston Rocket’s guard Tracy McGrady and Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant won’t get their wish Tuesday. Back spasms will keep T-Mac out of Houston’s lineup when they host Bryant and the Lakers as a 3-point favorite tonight at the Toyota Center. “He`s still stiff and sore,” Rockets head trainer Keith Jones told the Houston Chronicle. “We`re treating him with heat and with a vacuum decompression unit that we got for him over the summer. He`s also taking anti-inflammatories.” McGrady’s back stiffened up at the end of the Rockets’ 114-109 win over the Washington Wizards Saturday. This will be the first game McGrady, Houston’s second-leading scorer, has missed this season. But the bad back kept him out of 33 games last season. The Rockets were 6-27 straight up and 12-20-1 without him in the lineup for those games.

NBA PLAYOFFS- (covers.com): artest still set to play despite injury.

NBA PLAYOFFS- (associated press): Injuries force Wiz to use reserves.

They`ve combined for 12 points and eight rebounds in 2006-07. Now, coach Eddie Jordan faces the possibility of having Booth and Lang carry the workload at center this week after a series of injuries to the other Wizards who play the position. Starting center Etan Thomas (sprained left ankle) and top reserve Brendan Haywood (bruised left thigh) both missed practice Monday after getting hurt in a 114-109 loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday night. Thomas was listed as doubtful for games Wednesday against Denver and Friday against Miami. Haywood was listed as day-to-day, though he didn`t sound optimistic. Still got a lot of swelling in there, so hopefully it`ll be gone by Wednesday. If it`s gone, I`ll play. If not, I`ll have to sit it out, Haywood said.

If Haywood and Thomas are sidelined, Booth would start, Jordan said. This is my eighth year now, and I`ve never seen a year where a guy didn`t get an opportunity if he was healthy, the 6-foot-11 Booth said. So this is my chance, and I`ll try to do something with it. The team`s problems in the pivot began during training camp, when free-agent signing Darius Songaila was sidelined with a bad back. He had surgery in November and has yet to appear in a Wizards uniform. Then, key reserve Michael Ruffin, relied on for defense and rebounding, went down last month with a right foot injury that`s taken longer than expected to heal. Jordan said Monday that Ruffin could be out another week. Does the coach recall having this many players at one position injured at the same time? Not that I can remember, Jordan said, adding: We formed a roster that could absorb some of this. Thomas and Haywood are combining to average 12.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 39.9 minutes. Spectacular numbers? Perhaps not, but enough to get by because Washington (9-11) relies on Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler for scoring. While Booth has made three starts over the past three seasons - Washington went 2-0 in January when he made consecutive starts in place of Haywood - the 6-10 Lang didn`t appear in an NBA game at all from when he was drafted by the Hornets in 2003 until a 54-second appearance against Atlanta on Nov. 28. He`s dropped about 30 pounds since the start of training camp, down to 290, and now could get a chance to play for more extended stretches. I`m happy, man. I worked hard this summer, in training camp, so now`s my opportunity to show what I`ve got, Lang said. I`ve got to be patient, go out there and work hard, until Etan and Brendan come back.

NBA PLAYOFFS- (associated press): nba power rankings as of 12/12/06. 1. (11-7-1) 0.450 -10.75 Phoenix Amare Stoudemire is shooting 64.2-percent from the floor this season, and doing so while averaging more than nine shots per game. How good does that make Steve Nash? 2. (12-9-0) 0.553 -10.50 San Antonio The Spurs have lost three of their last four on the highway, the most recent coming on Sunday night in La La Land. The only win during that stretch came at Charlotte. 3. (12-8-0) 0.461 -10.00 Dallas The under is 10-2 in the Mavericks' last 12 games, and as far as Avery Johnson is concerned that means all is going well in Big D right now. 4. (11-9-0) 0.580 -9.75 Utah Utah lost the only game it's played since last Monday, and furthermore has lost each of its last three road games. Could this be the start of something bad? 5. (11-8-1) 0.614 -9.00 L.A. Lakers At 14-6 the Lakers have certainly been a pleasant suprise this season, however I suggest you proceed with caution as 15 of those first 20 games were played at Staples. 6. (9-11-0) 0.383 -8.00 Houston The Rockets wrapped up a 3-1 SU and ATS week by thumping the Wizards, in Washington, and continue to stifle all opposing offenses by holding them to 41.2-percent from the floor. 7. (12-8-0) 0.446 -7.50 Detroit After dropping two straight games the Pistons quickly jumped back on the winning wagon, and did so with tough road wins at Dallas and Orlando. They also accomplished the feat on back-to-back nights. 8. (10-12-0) 0.383 -7.25 Orlando Orlando has lost two of three games with the only win coming against the lowly Sixers. Is the early-season magic starting to run out for this Orlando team? 9. (9-10-1) 0.358 -5.00 Chicago The Bulls win streak hit seven straight before falling at home to a red hot Timberwolves team. Next up they'll catch a couple more hot teams in the Pacers and Sonics. 10. (13-6-0) 0.869 -5.00 Minnesota A four-game SU and ATS winning run combined with rumors of Iverson coming to town have people in Minnesota breathing new-life into this perennial under-achiever. 11. (7-12-0) 0.630 -4.50 L.A. Clippers The Clippers are a good team, however if they could win on the road with any type of consistency they'd be borderline great. 12. (11-7-0) 0.428 -4.00 Denver The Nuggets went just 1-2 SU and ATS since our last rankings, but a trip through the Ea (8-11-0) 0.299 -3.90 Cleveland Lebron James can not do it alone in Cleveland. If you don't believe me, just ask Larry Hughes. 14. (13-9-0) 0.542 -3.00 Indiana The Pacers have dropped four in a row on the road, and I wouldn't expect much different until this team finds a consistent scorer. 15. (13-8-0) 0.804 -3.00 Golden State How can one team look so good for stretch, and so bad for another? Furthermore, how can they follow this same trend year in and out? 16. (9-10-0) 0.573 -2.90 Miami There's good news in Miami, or at least for bettors. No the Heat aren't winning, but the wide-spread word of their struggles has been reason for a 6-1 ATS run. Faders beware! 17. (9-11-0) 0.422 -2.25 Washington Not only did Washington finally record a road victory, but they did it twice in back-to-back games. That said, I should mention it was only New York and Philadelphia that they beat. 18. (11-9-1) 0.934 -2.00 Seattle The Sonics must have caught a tail wind because they've now won three straight games. Unfortunately for them they now hit the road for a five-game stint. 19. (9-10-0) 0.771 -1.50 Sacramento Sure the Kings lost five in a row before finally putting one on Atlanta, but prior to passing judgement please consider that the Mavs, Spurs, Magic, Suns, and Heat were the opponents. 20. (8-10-1) 0.415 -1.25 New Orleans A 1-7, 1-6-1 ATS skid has Hornets backers, not to mention myself wondering what the heck happened. 21. (9-11-0) 0.469 0.50 Milwaukee The Bucks can shoot with the best of them, however a lack of defensive effort continues to be their demise. The over is 7-2 in their last nine games and shows no signs of slowing. 22. (9-13-0) 0.591 0.75 Portland Just when I was ready to write off the Blazers they go and win two of four to start their road trip. That includes an overtime loss, and a win in Toronto without Randolph. 23. (6-12-1) 0.394 1.00 New Jersey I won't argue if you tell me that the Nets aren't very good, however somebody thinks they should be as is proved by a 6-12-1 ATS season record. 24. (11-9-0) 0.623 1.15 Toronto It's no secret that the Raptors go as Chris Bosh goes, and right now he's going to the bench to rest a sore knee. Need I say more? 25. (10-9-0) 0.413 1.25 Atlanta The Hawks tipped their five-game road trip by winning two of the first three games, but quickly returned to earth when a trip to Sactown proved too much to handle. 26. (10-10-0) 0.413 1.75 Memphis Memphis used to be able to win the low-scoring games, but not anymore. That's bad news considering they score just 93.2 per contest. 27. (10-12-0) 0.339 3.00 New York The Knicks have been, and still are a mess of a franchise. In fact, the only thing that could make matters worse in New York would be to add Iverson to the mix. 28. (6-14-0) 0.637 3.00 Charlotte This team has too much young talent not to be good one day. I'm just not sure when that day might come, if ever. 29. (7-12-0) 0.267 4.00 Boston The Celtics managed to avoid being banished to the basment this week, but really have nobody to thank for it but the Sixers. 30. (10-9-0) 0.391 4.50 Philadelphia So tell me if Iverson leaves, who is going to score again?

NBA PLAYOFFS- (covers.com): ats records as of 12/12/2006. 1 MIN 2 GS 3 PHO 4 SA 5 DEN 6 UTA 7 DET 8 IND 9 LAL 10 DAL

NBA PLAYOFFS- (espn.com): suns streak reaches 11. A little defense is about all the Phoenix Suns need to win basketball games these days. The NBA's top-scoring team played one very good quarter of defense and that was more than enough to coast to its 11th straight victory, a 103-89 victory over the Orlando Magic. Elias Says

The Suns held the Magic to 27.8 percent shooting and forced seven turnovers in the third period while outscoring Orlando 30-14 to break open a close game. "Offensively, we were just OK, but I thought the third quarter was the best defense we ever played and that's kind of shocking," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. Amare Stoudemire scored a season-high 30 points for Phoenix. Shawn Marion had 19 points and Steve Nash added 18 points and 15 assists. "Potentially, we can always play great defense," Stoudemire said. "Orlando did a great job of hanging with us for awhile, but we put them away when we started playing defense in that third quarter." Stoudemire had three blocks and eight rebounds to go with his 30 points, but he had plenty of help. All five Phoenix starters scored in double figures. The Suns outscored the Magic 20-3 in the first eight minutes of the third quarter to break open what had been a close game. The Magic missed eight straight shots and turned the ball over five times during that stretch. Stoudemire had 10 points in the quarter and the Suns pushed the lead to 21 points before settling for a 85-67 lead at the end of the period. The closest the Magic got in the final quarter was 94-83 on a 3-pointer by Travis Diener with 5:41 to play. Marion answered with a dunk and Boris Diaw's 3-pointer gave the Suns plenty of cushion for the final three minutes. "They're good, really good and a lot better defensively than people expect," said Magic guard Grant Hill, who had 14 points. "We played poorly in the second half, but they had a lot to do with that. They were very active defensively and had us confused." That was especially true of Magic center Dwight Howard, who got in early foul trouble and played only 19 minutes before fouling out. Howard scored four points and had three rebounds, both season lows. Magic coach Brian Hill was even more frustrated, picking up a technical for vehemently arguing the fifth foul called on Howard. "I didn't think it was a two-way street," Hill said. "I thought [Howard] was getting beat on pretty good at one end and every time he touched somebody at the other end, the whistle blew." Backup Trevor Ariza had a season-high 19 points and seven rebounds for Orlando. The Magic bench outscored the Suns reserves 52-13. The Suns got off their typical fast start, scoring 55 points and shooting 56.1 percent in the first half, but the Magic stayed right with them. Darko Milicic replaced Howard and scored 10 points. Keyon Dooling also had 10. A 3-pointer by Jameer Nelson pulled the Magic even at 53-53 with 42 seconds left in the first half. Marion hit two free throws with 0.8 seconds left to give the Suns a 55-53 halftime edge