Addition by subtraction

The new the theme in the NBA seems to be addition by subtraction. There are litany of teams suddenly starting to succeed minus a superstar player or at least a key cog. The best example is of course the Houston Rockets, who are 9 up and 2 down since the whining prima donna Tracy McGrady called it a season.

The Lakers are 12 and 3 since young center Andrew Bynum went down with an injured knee. People had intially said the Lakers would be limited, and they may be in the playoffs. However, until just very recently Lamar Odom had been stepping up in a huge way, putting numbers all over the stat sheet.

Even slumping Detroit got into the act. Coming off of an eight game losing streak with Allen Iverson in the line-up, the Pistons have gone 4 up and 1 down without him. Addition by subtraction!

Finally, the New Yorks Knicks have been pursuing this them all year long, exiling point guard Stephon Marbury. The Knicks are ten wins ahead of last year's pace. The Celtics have sputtered since adding Marbury who is averaging nearly as many turnovers as assists.