Mike Bianchi, a writer for the Orlando Sentinel, has an interesting proposal to add some excitement to the first round of the NBA playoffs.

He wants to make it like the NCAA tournament for the bottom 16 NBA teams.

Here's how it would work: Instead of eight teams from each conference, only seven teams get playoff berths.

The eighth and final spot would be an at-large bid, which would go to the team that won a single-elimination play-in after the regular season.

"It would be exciting," Orlando Magic coach Brian Hill admitted.

By dangling a playoff carrot in front of fans from every NBA market, you'd be maintaining their interest throughout the regular season and giving them hope that their team might make a miracle run through the postseason.

And the beauty of it, according to Bianchi, is that it's not really hard to implement. All you're really doing is adding an extra week to the end of the season — a week of well-deserved rest for the automatic playoff qualifiers. Meanwhile, the eight other teams in each conference are put in one-and-dones fight to the finish . . .

The Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Clippers seemingly are in a lose-win situation.

Lose a grip on the No. 5 seed and win a date against the Denver Nuggets.

Sure sounds better than the alternative: a likely first-round playoff matchup against, probably, the Dallas Mavericks.

To their credit, the Grizzlies and Clippers have shown no sign of trying to finish sixth in the Western Conference, and they have not publicly proclaimed their desire to face the No. 3 Nuggets.

Denver forward Reggie Evans commends them for showing restraint.

"All that, 'we want this team, we want that team,' that's childish," Evans told the Rocky Mountain News. "That's childish to me. Take the dice and roll. Don't ask for something you might regret."

At 44-35, the Nuggets have the sixth-best record in the West, but their Northwest Division title guarantees a No. 3 seed.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, have the second-best record in the West to the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

Based on the records, the Nuggets would seem to be the preferred first-round opponent for Memphis or Los Angeles — both currently would have home-court advantage against the Nuggets — but Evans is quick to point out the Seattle SuperSonics were seen as a vulnerable No. 3 seed last year

With Evans providing a key role defensively and on the boards, the SuperSonics beat the Sacramento Kings in five games before falling to the Spurs in six in the Western Conference semifinals . . .

One of Phil Jackson's goals upon returning to the Lakers was finding ways for Kobe Bryant to have a better season than he did in 2004-05.

Chalk up another success for Jackson.

Bryant is a leading MVP candidate, about to win his first scoring title, and enjoying the game much more than he did last season.

"He's reclaimed his position as the best guard in the NBA," Jackson said. "He hasn't been injured, last year he had injuries. This year has been more about scoring."

Scoring is obviously Bryant's biggest strength. Highlighted by his 81-point game in January, he went into the last weekend of the season averaging a career-high 35.1 points, which would be the NBA's best mark since Michael Jordan scored 37.1 per game in 1986-87 . . .

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Miami is among the teams that has kept the full complement of 15 players around this season, investing money into another year of development for the likes of little-used but talented youngsters Dorell Wright and Earl Barron.

Now, with the NBA limiting rosters to 13 players for the postseason, the Heat will be without two of the guys that they've kept around as options all year.

And coach Pat Riley is wondering why the rules should be any different now.

"All year long we do 15 players, and they should do 15 in the playoffs," Riley said. "I don't understand the thinking at all behind it. We're the ones that have sort of dedicated ourselves in investing the money in three extra players and having them there, and we should be rewarded for that." . . .

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