WESTERN CONFERENCE

Thunder’s first loss at home

HE OKC Thunder (22-5) suffered their first setback at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City as they went down to the travelling Toronto Raptors 104-98. Kyle Lowry had 22 points and nine assists, breaking the strong OKC team who were coming off a nine-game win streak and an impressive 113-100 win over the San Antonio Spurs (21-6).

The Spurs trail both OKC and the Portland Trailblazers (23-5) after losing to the former team as well as the LA Clippers (20.9) 115-92. The role-players continue to be the best of any team in the league however as they showed in the absence of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili against the Golden State Warriors (15-13). Marco Belinelli had 28 points and Tiago Splitter had the game-winning tip-in with 2.1 seconds to go.

The aforementioned Clippers currently have the longest streak in the West and NBA, after OKC’s was broken, with five. They almost lost it against the Minnesota Timberwolves, when Kevin Love dropped 45 points and 19 rebounds, however, the difference was that LA’s team kept their heads in the clutch with five players scoring 18 or more, led by Blake Griffin’s 32. The Clippers came through 120-116 in overtime.

Houston Rockets found themselves victims of a stellar team in losing to the Indiana Pacers 114-81. They, however, rebounded, pun intended, in Detroit as Dwight Howard put up 35 points and 19 rebounds in the 114-97 win over the Pistons (13-16). Phoenix, Dallas and Denver hold the other three play-off positions in the capricious NBA season standings, with the Lakers (13-14) and Golden State just behind.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Hawks establishing themselves as third best

THE Atlanta Hawks (15-12) are the only team other than the big two of Indiana and Miami, with a winning record in the East. They have won three in a row, consisting of a 114-100 win over the Lakers, a 124-107 win over the Sacramento Kings before closing the week by blowing out the Utah Jazz 118-85. Lou Williams had 25 points while Paul Millsap had a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Miami have pulled to within 1.5 games behind the pacesetters Indiana (22-5) with a four-game winning streak. This included a recovery from their earlier loss to the Pacers with a 97-94 win on Wednesday. Dwyane Wade had his first 30-point game of the season, scoring 32 to complement the injury-returning Lebron James’ nine rebounds and seven assists. The Heat followed this up by scoring their season-high in a 122-103 victory.

The Pacers, however, got back to the winning business with their aforementioned win in Houston as well as a 106-79 triumph over the Boston Celtics (12-17). The Toronto Raptors (11-14) and the Washington Wizards (12-13) are the next closest teams.