"Despite coming into the Garden 0-8 on the road recently, the Bucks were oddly confident. They had watched a tape of the Knicks' home setback to the Suns and were happy to see them employing the same defensive principles assistant Mike Woodson used as head coach of the Hawks.

"They switch on just about every play, and it creates a lot of favorable mismatches for opponents," a member of the Bucks disclosed before his team broke the schneid with a 100-86 win Jan. 20. "Check out how many times Tyson Chandler wound up having to guard Steve Nash."

If the answer is Baron Davis, what is the question? Column contributor Sam Lefkowitz ominously offers some personal perspective on Baron's precarious disk condition: "Four of mine are herniated in my lumbar spine, the result of a minimal fall. The slightest tweak, wrong move, sleeping on the wrong side, hitting a pothole while in a car, and I'm out of action for weeks. One blind side pick and he's done."