Last season, the Portland Trail Blazers were 9-17 in the Central and Eastern time zones. In trying to figure out how to improve on it, they started working with Dr. Charles Czeisler, who specializes in helping athletes keep their internal clocks in sync, especially Olympians. To attempt to avoid issues with coming east, the Blazers now basically live on Pacific time no matter where they are.

That has meant having practices at 10 p.m. when on East Coast trips, leaving town later than usual so sleep cycles aren't disturbed and sometimes skipping morning shootarounds. Perhaps it is working - heading into Saturday night's game in Charlotte, the Blazers are 9-3 in the East this season.

"I think it has done wonders for our team," Blazers guard Brandon Roy told the Oregonian. "I know the guys are a lot more rested. Before, we would be like, 'All right, coach wants us up, so we are up,' but everybody was just trying to fight through it."