"George Karl brought up an interesting point on your question topic, Shawn. Indeed, Afflalo is not back to his level from last year. In the past five games, he's averaged 7.0 points. Karl said that he felt Afflalo, who missed most of camp because of contract negotiations, was "taking little steps" until he pulled a hamstring at Washington in late January. But Karl then pointed out Afflalo's workout regimen. Now, Afflalo is famous for working hard and Karl agreed that his shooting guard indeed does.

But, as Karl explained, "He was getting better and more comfortable (before the injury) with how we were using him, where we were using him. People think it's easy to fit in and get a comfort zone. But I kid Arron all the time, I say, 'You sat on your butt for nine months.' Some of these guys, because of the lockout -- and Arron had the free agency -- he probably wasn't going up and down the court because he didn't want to get hurt. I call them Club Med workouts."