Fair weather fan Fran Blinebury writes, In a perfect world, the Mavericks would win it all.

Not because they are the toughest team in the NBA to beat. Just the most fun to watch. There's more to see than in a month's worth of trips to the circus. More up-and-down, more give-and-take, more bang for your inflated buck than anyplace else in commissioner David Stern's sagging empire.

It is not just the fact a 122-110 win over Minnesota on Wednesday gives the Mavs a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five playoff series that gets your attention. It is the way they play, moving at a pace that would make you think the court was made of hot coals, passing and shooting the ball so quickly you might think it was ticking.

They are Nowitzki with 31 points and 15 rebounds, Finley with 28 points, Nash and Nick Van Exel with 17 points each. They are an octopus that seems to have a few extra arms, always another way to reach out and grab you.

Houston yesterday came away with the 15th pick in the NBA draft after the Raptors lost  a tie breaker with the Indiana Pacers who will draft 14th overall.

The Rockets owe the Grizzlies a first-round pick from a deal with which they acquired Steve Francis and have the option to send Memphis either their own pick, a pick within two spots of their own or a pick that falls within the top 15 this season or next.

In other tie breakers Golden State beat out Chicago for the #1 position (pre-lottery), Phoenix beat out Miami for the ninth pick (if neither move up to the top 3), and Charlotte beat out both Orlando and Utah and will now pick 17th before Orlando beat Utah for the 18th selection.  Portland won a tie breaker for the 21st selection and San Antonio beat out the Lakers for the 26th pick.

The lottery will be held on May 19 in New Jersey.

Fran Blinebury, who can't spell Mirsad Turkcan's name either, writes:

You remember Draft Night 1999.

There was Lewis sitting in the back room, a picture of dejection as he fell completely out of the first round.

There were the Rockets, their hands full with three first-round choices, who should have been the ones looking so sad for passing over him again and again.

The kid out of Elsik had made no secret of his desire to play for his hometown team.

But the Rockets took Michael Dickerson. Then Mircad Turkcan. Then Bryce Drew.

Well, as Paul Harvey would say, we know the rest of the story.

On Monday night at the Alamodome, it was all about Lewis as he scored 19 points and grabbed four rebounds as the Sonics evened their first-round series with a 98-90 victory over the Spurs.

The centerpiece of the new-ra Rockets, point guard Steve Francis, is ready to make a long-term commitment to the Rockets, reports Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen.  He said Friday that he is willing to accept an extension if it is for the maximum allowable amount: 7 years, $95 million.

"I would love to," Francis said. "I'm going to sign the contract. There's no debate about me wanting to be here. But at the same time, everybody has to be on the same page. I don't want to have a summer where I'm not connected with the team, because I've seen that happen where guys go home and they're having a debate. I don't even need my agent. I would love to play here."

A year ago, the Rockets hated to see the season end. They longed for a few more games, or even a few more weeks. They wished for chances to make the playoffs, and even failing that, just for a few more nights to play basketball together.

A year later, when the season mercifully ended in Portland on Wednesday, the Rockets were down to seven healthy players and could give thanks largely that a miserable season was finally over.

They had followed the best season ever to end without a playoff berth with the franchise's worst season since 1983. Along the way, they suffered through a 15-game losing streak, humiliating losses to the Bulls, Nuggets and Grizzlies and a never-ending and frequently maddening succession of injuries and illness from the offseason to the season's last game.

Clearly, this season or last was an aberration.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich let himself crave one more win. Desperately, hungrily, he had the Rockets chase the Portland Trail Blazers all night, risking another night of pain, even a spot in the draft, to get just one more win.

The Rockets' junior varsity made their run, but they ended the season with a game that approximated the season. There were a few encouraging but unfulfilling runs, a few more injuries, and another disappointment to replace the hopes the Rockets could not resist.

The Trail Blazers held off the Rockets in the final minutes for a 92-79 victory Wednesday night.

The Rockets completed the season 28-54 for their worst record since the 1982-83 collapse to 14-68. They crawled to the finish, winning just two of 13 games starting with the night they were officially eliminated from the playoff race with a come-from-ahead loss in Utah.

Gary Baines writes about last nights final home game for the Denver Nuggets.

The final score was 101-70.  The Denver Nuggets largest margin of victory for the season.  It's not about the ping-pong balls.

Also included in the article is a coaching timetable.

The Rockets' summer league team was given mop-up duty for the season, but if that was not enough to ensure the Rockets would go down in flames, the few that actually made the trip only occasionally tried.

The Rockets were not just beaten by the Denver Nuggets, they were run over by a "tank," leaving the few Nuggets still in uniform no choice but to accept a 101-70 rout Tuesday before 15,717 at the Pepsi Center.

The Rockets had their third-worst offensive game ever, scoring just four points more than the fewest in franchise history and matching the fewest points ever scored against the Nuggets.

And their offense was the bright spot.

The Denver Nuggets play their last home game of the season against the Houston Rockets.  The Rockets are the leagues most injured team.  They suited up 8 players for their last game.

Denver has won 5 straight games in the confines of the Pepsi Center.

The Nuggets are looking to surpass last years attendance figure of 619,300 tonight.