WESTERN CONFERENCE

Spurs firing as post-season nears

THE San Antonio Spurs (46-16) lifted themselves up to sharing the best record in the Western Conference with the Oklahoma City Thunder, thanks to an unbeaten run of seven games.

Included in this run was an impressive 111-87 dismantlement of the Miami Heat. In the midst of a poor game from Lebron James, which the Miami man would later blame on the freshly instituted sleeved jerseys, Tim Duncan lead the Spurs with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard also did a terrific job for San Antonio by shackling James.

The Thunder, however, suffered a shocking 114-110 loss against the woeful basement-dwellers LA Lakers to leave one game between themselves and the Texans. Jodie Meeks had a career-game with 42 points.

Meanwhile, the Portland Trailblazers (42-20), who started the season superbly, have found themselves slightly off the pace lately and overtaken in the standings by the likes of the Houston Rockets (43-19) and the LA Clippers (44-20). The Blazers headed into a Sunday match-up with the Rockets after a tight Friday night loss to the Dallas Mavericks (37-26). The Mavericks who currently hold the final play-off position held off Portland 103-98.

The LA Clippers are on quite an unbeaten seven-game run; however, notably thrashing their city rivals the Lakers 142-94. Blake Griffin had 20 points and 11 rebounds to help the Clippers to deliver the worst ever loss taken by a Lakers team.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

BOTH the Indiana Pacers (46-16) and the Miami Heat (43-17) had lost three in a row at the end of the sports-week.

The Heat took a 95-88 loss from the Chicago Bulls (35-28) on Sunday, as the Bulls fought back from 12 points down in the fourth to force overtime and eventually win the game. Joakim Noah led the Bulls with 20 points and 12 rebounds as well as seven assists and five blocks.

The Pacers’ latest loss came against the Houston Rockets who delivered Indiana’s worst loss of the season with a 112-86 result. James Harden had 28 points and three steals and was supported by Dwight Howard’s 15 points and seven rebounds.

The Atlanta Hawks (26-35), who were once third in the conference, find themselves hanging on for dear life in the final play-off position. They had a narrow 109-108 loss to the Clippers on Saturday night as Blake Griffin again led scoring with 27 points.

The Hawks’ Kyle Korver also had his NBA-record 127-game streak with at least one three-pointer end this week.

The Toronto Raptors (34-26), the Washington Wizards (33-29) and even the Brooklyn Nets (30-30) all remain in contention for one of the eight Eastern play-off slots.

One team which doesn’t seem to have a chance at this is the Philadelphia 76ers (15-47) who have lost 16 in a row.