Before Lakers, Hawks face slumping Pacers

The Pacers had the league's fourth-worst record before their surge, and the team that finishes in that slot has an 11.9 percent of winning the overall No. 1 pick. After the 7-7 stretch they dropped to eighth in the lottery standings, which would mean a 2.8 percent chance of winning the top pick.

While some Pacers fans might want to see the team dial it down and aim for a high draft pick, coach Jim O'Brien said he has no plans to play his rotation guys less minutes because "tanking" hurts the game.

"We get paid to win," O'Brien said. "I'll play the guys I think give us the best chance of winning. Flat out and simple. There won't be any deviating from that.

"I've never been asked to deviate from that from management. That hurts the integrity of the NBA when you do that."

This is nothing new for the Pacers, who haven't had a top-five draft pick since selecting Rik Smits No. 2 overall in 1988. They won eight of 12 games to end last season and 11 of their last 16 games in 2007-08 and still ended up in the lottery.

The Pacers could slide even further down the lottery list this season as Minnesota, Washington and Detroit all continue to scuffle. New Jersey already is assured of finishing with the league's worst record and the 25 percent chance in the lottery that comes with it.

If they keep up their current pace, the Pacers also could overtake (or is it fall behind?) the Knicks and the Clippers in the lottery race. Not that O'Brien cares.

"The lottery has proved to be such that teams that tank rarely get rewarded," O'Brien said. "Other than the top three picks, it's a crapshoot."

'Big Z' back in Cleveland

Zydrunas Ilgauskas returned the Cavaliers on Tuesday after a free-agent courtship that included the Hawks. Ilgauskas initially was stung by his trade from Cleveland to Washington but eventually told his agent he wanted back in Cleveland.

"If I would have left and the team would have won a championship without me, I don't think I could ever forgive myself," Ilgauskas said.

The Cavaliers can use Ilgauskas, but it's not like they are desperate for him. Even with center Shaquille O'Neal out with injury since Feb. 25 and no other true center on the roster, the Cavs won 11 of 12 games before Ilgauskas' return.

Though it was widely assumed Ilgauskas would re-sign with the Cavaliers, general manager Danny Ferry insisted he wasn't confident Cleveland would get him back after trading him to Washington, which eventually bought out his contract.

"I had no idea how the whole thing would unfold," Ferry said. "There was a chance he'd be available. There was a chance -- all those things because of the situation in Washington. There was no certainty by any means."

The Cavs offered Ilgauskas a contract for next season. Ilgauskas chose to play out this season and possibly seek another contract later.

More Nets misery

The Nets' miserable season took another turn for the worse during an eventful week.

Coach Kiki Vandeweghe left the team to start the week to be with his mother in California. She ultimately died Wednesday morning, hours after he returned to New Jersey.

Then Nets CEO Brett Yormark confronted a fan who was wearing a bag over his head during New Jersey's game against the Heat on Monday. Yormark had a finger-pointing exchange with the fan for 30 to 40 seconds before Yormark walked away; he later issued a statement saying he didn't agree with the way the fan expressed his disappointment but didn't apologize.

The next day, an electronic traffic signal near the area where the Nets' new arena is under construction had its readout changed to "[Bleep] Ratner," a reference to Nets owner Bruce Ratner. The sign stayed that way for about two hours before it was changed.

Information gathered by NBA beat writers was used in this report.