Western Conference

The Oklahoma City Thunder have raced to the top of the conference thanks to an eight-game winning streak. With a record of 17-4 to close the week, only the San Antonio Spurs who hold a similar record could argue on being the best team across both conferences. The Spurs’ winning streak as at Sunday stood as four.

The Los Angeles Clippers also closed the week on a good run of form, winning six consecutive games, the last of which was a comfortable 102-83 win over the Toronto Raptors. The Golden State Warriors and the Utah Jazz both ended the week with three-game win streaks, showing signs of maturity in the two squads.

Their city rivals, the Lakers, cannot boast of much after losing their last two games to close the week with a record of 9-12. The only highlight of the week for the franchise was the ‘Black Mamba’ Kobe Bryant who became the fifth (and youngest) player to amass 30,000 points in the league, joining a very elite class of players.

Another high-profiled team that closed the week on a bad run were the Houston Rockets who also lost their last two. With a 9-10 record, the team that started brightly with the likes of James Harden and Jeremy Lin is now struggling to keep up with the conference’s leading pack. The Phoenix Suns have plummeted from any hopes of a play-off appearance as their losing streak swelled to seven consecutive. Losing players of the calibre of Steve Nash and Grant Hill seems to be having more of an effect as the season wears on, as the team lacks that ‘game changer’ which most play-off teams possess.

Knicks on top

Eastern Conference

The New York Knicks are the sole leaders of the conference thanks to a 15-5 record. Playing without many-times All-Star Carmelo Anthony, the team experienced a period of success and failure, but will count the positives more as the success included topping the defending Miami Heat on their home turf. Raymond Felton proved to be the hero of that game with an all-round performance of points and assists and ultimately helped the Knicks to stand as the only team with a perfect home record. On Melo’s return, he scored 34 points to help the Knicks to a 112-106 win over the Denver Nuggets.

The Brooklyn Nets, who emerged as a contender for the title of ‘best team in New York’ have fallen off the pace in recent times, enduring a four-game losing stretch. Their last defeat came at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks 97-88. The Indiana Pacers who were beat 104-93 by the Thunder slipped to 10-11 as that defeat extended their losing streak to two.

The Atlanta Hawks and the Chicago Bulls are both on the rise following three-game winning streaks. The Hawks’ record stands at 12-5 while the Bulls -who are still without Derrick Rose- have a record of 11-8.

Caption: Oklahoma City Thunder’s Nick Collison dunks over Indiana Pacers forward Gerald Green during their match on Sunday. The Thunder won 104-93.