Eastern Conference

AFTER a few shaky spells the Boston Celtics look like the team of old, going on an impressive seven-game winning streak with the most recent being a 105-87 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Orlando Magic are still leading the pack though tied with the Celtics for the best record of the East. They are currently on a fivegame winning streak.

The New Jersey Nets claimed the title as the worst-starting team in the history of the NBA with a record of 0-18 after losing to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, but managed to bring their win-less humiliation to a halt with a 97-91 win over the Charlotte Bobcats.

The streak only lasted for a game, however, as the Nets lost their next match to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to impress in their ascension as they crushed Brandon Jennings and company en route to four successive victories.

In a highly defensive encounter, the Atlanta Hawks surged past the Dallas Mavericks 80-75 to bring their record to 14-6 and 6-4 from their last 10.

The Miami Heat suffered a tough week losing their last two games, the second of which came against the Los Angeles Lakers as last season’s league MVP Kobe Bryant hit the game-winning three-point shot with 0.4 seconds to go in the game. Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors have moved up into title contention thanks to a two-game winning streak.

The Philadelphia 76ers are in a bad spell, losing nine consecutive games before the beginning of this week, a record which gives them a lot of work to do if they are to make a bid for the conference play-offs.

The Milwaukee Bucks have failed to capitalise on their string start to the season and are now 3-7 from their last 10 giving them an overall record of 9-10.

Lakers, simply amazing!

Western Conference

THE Los Angeles Lakers are a team on a mission and they are being commandingly led by superstar Kobe Bryant. His buzzer-beating shot against the Miami Heat handed the Lakers their eighthh consecutive victory spanning the past two weeks.

The Dallas Mavericks have slipped off the pace a bit following a twogame losing streak highlighting a poor offensive display by Dirk and company. The Phoenix Suns suffered back-to-back losses away against Eastern Conference teams; losing to the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers but maintained their 100 per cent home record defeating the Sacramento Kings on their return to the West.

Kevin Durant and the rest of the Oklahoma City franchise are out of the top eight for the first time in over three weeks.

A par 5-5 from their last 10, coupled with the resurgence of the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets, have ensured that the Thunder have to get back to the drawing board. The Jazz lifted their league record to 11-8 following a good week of form while the Rockets are just a game behind with a record of 11-9.

The San Antonio Spurs after going 4-0 during the past two weeks have returned to losing ways on a twogame skid. Chris Paul has returned to the starting line-up of the New Orleans Hornets and grabbed 15 assists in his first game back. Now only time will tell if they have enough to move up towards a playoff contention spot.

The Los Angeles Clippers still coping without Blake Griffin won their most recent encounter in an attempt to bring joy to their fans.

NBA Player Profile – ALLEN Iverson 

Name: Allen Iverson Team: Philadelphia 76ers Position: Point Guard/Shooting Guard NBA Statistics: 27 (points), 6.2 (assists), 3.7(rebounds)

Background: When speaking of ‘little’ men who dominate on the hard court of a basketball arena one of the first names that will come to mind is Allen Iverson (AI). At only six feet, he is significantly shorter than most players in the league, but his prowess on the attacking end can in no way be considered diminutive.

Allen Iverson has won the NBA scoring title for most points in a season on four different occasions and is so dominant on the offensive end that his 27.0 career points average is the fifth best in NBA history.

AI entered the league in 1996 as the Number One draft pick of the Philadelphia 76ers and from the get-go it was clear that his contributions to the franchise and to the league were going to be phenomenal. In his rookie season he led the 76ers in points and assists, in addition to the rest of the league en route to being named NBA Rookie of the Year. In the 2000-2001 season, he put in an all-star performance to lead the 76ers to the NBA Finals where they lost to the Lakers. In that same season AI led the 76ers to an Eastern Conference best 56-26 league record, won the league MVP Award as well as the NBA All-Star MVP.

Now here is some information you may not have been aware of: Allen Iverson played football in high school as a quarterback leading Bethel High School to the state championship less than five years before joining the NBA.