Eastern Conference

BOSTON Celtics are peaking at the right time and have climbed to fourth place in the conference thanks to a five-game winning streak. Their most recent victory was a 91-72 victory over title-chasers Miami Heat.

Rajon Rondo recorded his fifth triple-double of the season as the Celtics led from the ‘get go’ and heaped pressure unto the Heat, who have won just 10 games of 18 played since the beginning of March.

The New York Knicks have experienced a roller coaster season, but it goes without saying that the biggest impact they’ve had was with Jeremy Lin running the show.

Unfortunately, just as the Minnesota Timberwolves-Ricky Rubio situation, they’ll have to do without the services of their star point guard as Lin will undertake a surgery that is expected to rule him out of the rest of the 2011-2012 season.

That aside the Knicks closed the week with a 27-26 record and are still looking to clinch the final play-off spot.

Despite a 14-point hammering from the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, the Chicago Bulls still hold the league’s best record with 42-12. They were playing their 10th consecutive game without Derrick Rose and I showed against a more talented OKC line-up. The Heat have the best home record of the league, but their poor run of form on the road presents serious woes for their title-contending abilities.

The Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks both closed the week with defeats just as the Orlando Magic who lost two-in-a-row to close March with a disappointing 5-5 record from their last 10.

The Charlotte bobcats became the first team to the eliminated from play-off contention on the back of a seven-game losing streak and an overall 7-43 record. The Bobcats are the only team yet to register double digits in the win column.

Utah slipping from post-season

Western Conference

THE Utah Jazz were on an impressive run that saw them surge into play-off contention, but just as the Phoenix Suns, they have slipped in form and are now in danger of missing out. A three-game losing streak has seen them slip to a 27-26 record, not far off the Denver Nuggets with 28-24.

Holding a similar 28-24 record as at Saturday were the Houston Rockets, who have a recent 6-4 record from their last 10.

Point-guard Goran Dragic had 25 points and seven assists in a 98-89 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies last Friday. The Grizzlies bounced back the following night with a 99-95 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks to improve their record to 28-22.

The Oklahoma City Thunder with the win over the Bulls extended their winning streak to six with a 40-12 record. The win was so convincing that pundits have tipped them as the team to beat in the quest for the NBA championship.

The San Antonio Spurs hold the best run of the league with seven consecutive wins. Their record of the last 10 has been 9-1 and a 36-14 overall and their ‘old crew’ of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker continue to produce.

The battle between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers for third place has intensified as a result of the latter’s five-game unbeaten stretch. The records are 32-20 and 31-21 respectively and with the play-offs just around the corner the battle for a higher seeding is of prime consideration.