Eastern Conference

Last season’s beaten finalists, the Orlando Magic, went on an impressive five-game streak to shoot to the top of the East with a record of 11-3. The defeated the Toronto Raptors for the second time on their home court 104-96 to give them top position.

The Atlanta Hawks, who led the East for most of the week lost the lead after a 96-88 loss to the New Orleans Hornets. Their dominance included six consecutive wins prior to the loss.

The Milwaukee Bucks sit comfortably in third position still living of the exuberance of rookie sensation Brandon Jennings. The Boston Celtics are in a patch of inconsistency but are hoping that things are changing for the better after their overtime 107-105 win over the New York Knicks.

The defensive giant Kevin ‘KG’ Garnett scored the buzzer-beating shot, riding the luck of the Irish. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers continue their return to form interestingly at the expense of the absent Shaquille O’Neal. The bench has stepped up impressively for the Cavs.

The Miami Heat suffered three consecutive losses prior to Sunday to push them towards the lower half of the top eight. The Chicago Bulls failed to impress against stronger opposition as they dropped two consecutive games which saw more or less the same story for the Indiana Pacers.

The Detroit Pistons are in their worst slum of the season losing four consecutive games, they seem to be lacking either that all important player or a lot of team chemistry. Since their 3-2 opening the Charlotte Bobcats have failed to win a game while the New Jersey Nets – the undisputed disappointments of the season – moved to 0-13, including games that went down to the wire.

Mavericks highlight the West

Western Conference

The Dallas Mavericks, propelled by five consecutive wins, moved up the rankings and became the best team in the West. The Phoenix Suns lost to the New Orleans Hornets to fall to a record of 10-2. The New Orleans Hornets were struggling without Chris Paul but conquered the two top teams of either conference – the Hawks and the Suns – during their three-win stint to give hope amidst injury.

The Los Angeles Lakers are failing to stamp their dominance on the league as they had already done by this time, last season. The Lakers are looking to go on an extended run backed by their two consecutive wins at present. The Denver Nuggets are right up their behind the Lakers, looking to find their footing after a mixture of wins and losses leaving fans frustrated for consistency.

The Houston Rockets – said to be the most impressive team of the West – are hanging around the top teams while clearly being not as talented as they. Their last 10 games are evenly split between wins and losses, but should get better for games to come.

The Portland Trailblazers are one of the few teams in the West to have double-digit wins and they had an impressive week as well, recording hard-fought wins. The Utah Jazz moved into the top eight for the first time this season backed by the return of point guard Deron Williams and three consecutive wins.

The Oklahoma City Thunder round off the top eight and are among the many teams with only a win streak. The Los Angeles Clippers have stopped their slip with a big win over the Nuggets while the luck of the Sacramento Kings seem to have run dry as they have been hit with three consecutive losses.

NBA PLAYER PROFILE – Kevin Durant

Name: Kevin Durant

Team: Oklahoma City Thunder

Position: Forward/Guard

NBA Statistics: 27.7 (points), 7 (rebounds), 2.8 (assists)

Background: “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” These words are those by which the very talented Kevin Durant live by. He was the second overall draft pick of 2007, behind centre Greg Oden, despite many saying that he should have been the individual to enter the draft as number one.

He declared himself eligible during his freshman year at the University of Texas, a season which saw him claim countless individual awards. During this season he won the Oscar Robertson Trophy, John R Wooden Award in addition to being the first freshman to claim the Associated Press College Player of the Year and Naismith Award.

On October 31st, 2007 he debuted for the Seattle Supersonics scoring 18 points, claiming five rebounds and recording three steals. Roughly two weeks later, he made his first game-winning shot (a three-pointer) to give his team a double overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks.

He recorded career-highs of 42 points and 13 rebounds in a commanding performance to restore hope to the team that had just lost All-Star Ray Allen to the Boston Celtics.

In his first season he failed to make the All-Star roster, but claimed an MVP title nonetheless, leading the sophomores to a 122-116 win over the rookies in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam.

He also set the record for the most points in that challenge recording an impressive 46 points surpassing Amare Stoudamire’s 36 points in 2004. He wears the jersey number 35 to honour his childhood AAU coach, Charles Craig, who died at age 35.