OBE Bryant didn’t have the best of returns, losing to the Raptors and the Suns, as the Lakers ended the week with an 11-12 record after narrowly beating the Bobcats 88-85.

The Portland Trailblazers have excelled, racing out to a 21-4 record with wins over the Houston Rockets (16-9), the Philadelphia 76ers and the Detroit Pistons. Dame Lillard and Lamarcus Aldridge continue to produce with Aldridge getting 27 points and Lillard hitting the game-winning shot in their 111-109 OT result in Detroit.

The San Antonio Spurs, tied with OKC Thunder at 19-4, have lost just as many as the Trailblazers, but have played two less, with their bench continually contributing. The core of Tony Parker and Tim Duncan were huge for San Antonio in an impressive 117-110 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, overcoming Kevin Love’s 42 points and 14 rebounds.

After starting the week with an impressive 118-94 win over the Pacers, the earlier mentioned Oklahoma City Thunder maintain their perfect home record this season despite being tested by a strong Orlando Magic fightback on Sunday night. The Thunder almost blew a 16-point lead, but Kevin Durant’s 28 points and nine rebounds and Russell Westbrook’s 20 points, 12 rebounds and six assists ensured that they held on for the 101-98 win to extend their record to 12-0 at home.

The Rockets and the LA Clippers are there and with 16-9 records each. However, the Golden State Warriors fell slightly behind the pace, a game and a half-behind the last spot in the extremely competitive western play-off race. They ended the sports-week with a 13-12 record.

HE Indiana Pacers (20-3)) are the main standouts in a generally poor East this season. The Pacers showed their true championship contender status early in the week in their comeback win over the only other eastern team with a winning record, the Miami Heat (17-6).

The Pacers were trailing at half-time for the 12th time this season and made it 10 wins when in that situation, as Paul George and Jamaican-born centre took over the second-half to turn it into a 90-84 win over their main rivals.

The Heat would recover from that loss, as their ‘big three’ combined for 71 points in a 114-107 win at home to Lebron James’ old franchise the Cleveland Cavaliers (9-14).

The Atlanta Hawks (12-12) are the only other team at .500 after sustaining losses to OKC and New York Knicks this week. They were, however, involved in nailbiter against the Washington Wizards (9-13) as Al Horford hit the buzzer-beating jumper for the 101-99 overtime win.

Finally, considering that they have been and will be without Rajon Rondo until the New Year, the Boston Celtics have been doing well to hang about with their 11-14 record, with Jeff Green leading the charge.

— Yakum Fitz-Henley