Eastern Conference

IN last week’s edition we informed you that the Orlando Magic became the second team to book a place in the play-offs after the Cleveland Cavaliers. Well, since then, the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks have joined them in the quest for Eastern Conference supremacy and, ultimately, NBA glory.

The Cavs still lead the conference by a considerable margin and look set to record the most wins in the league for the second consecutive season. The dominance of the Milwaukee Bucks in recent weeks seems to have come to an end as they closed the week on a two-game slump. This has not affected their play-off dreams, however, as they are still comfortably poised to finish in the top eight. The Charlotte Bobcats continue to give new owner Michael Jordan a lot to smile about as they closed the week on a three-game winning streak. The Miami Heat are cruising into top gear at the right time after four consecutive wins. They have moved to a season record of 39-34, a win above the Bobcats.

The Toronto Raptors are not helping themselves in their quest to claim the last play-off spot after losing two straight games. The Chicago Bulls, in their attempt to pip them, won their most recent game against the New Jersey Nets.

The Nets recorded a win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, ensuring that they did not end as the worst team in NBA history.

Still all alone

While the teams in the East are securing their play-off spots in quick succession, the West is doing the total opposite as the Los Angeles Lakers are still the only team sure of a play-off spot. The Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets are beginning to look ordinary and their results in recent times have done little for their confidence as they barely managed to close last week on a winning note. Despite mostly playing teams out of play-off contention, all three teams have only managed six wins from their most recent 10. They all look to be fighting for places between second and fourth but the Phoenix Suns are making a late push that could cause those places to be reshuffled and a team removed.

Over the past two weeks the Suns have put together their most impressive winning streak of six games, recording victories of 20 or more points with great ease. The “Cinderella” team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, continues to show themselves as a force to be reckoned with after holding the Los Angeles Lakers to a mere 75 points mid-week. This was one of two victories they secured to close the week on a fine note. Pulling away from the pack in eighth place are the Portland Trailblazers, who tallied back-to-back wins to end the week and virtually secure a play-off spot. This was made possible as the New Orleans Hornets were eliminated from play-off contention within the week.

Despite the return of Chris Paul, the Hornets have not managed to reserve their fate and were finally put out of their misery.

Showing true superiority over the East, the top eight teams of the West are virtually secure of play-off spots and all closed last week on winning notes.