Eastern Conference — MARIO Chalmers has had a series of above-par games culminating with a 34-point game including 10 three-pointers in a 128-99 win for the Heat against the Kings.

Chalmers’ performance has led some to ask the cheeky question as to whether the Heat have a ‘Big Four’ rather than ‘Big Three’. Miami now have a record of 24-11 at the top of the conference with their closest challengers being the Knicks.

Carmelo Anthony continued his stellar form in this campaign as he averages almost 30-points a game. He most recently came up with a big second quarter as he helped the Knicks break a season-high three-game losing streak with a 100-87 win against the New Orleans Hornets.

Atlanta were tied with the Brooklyn Nets for the fifth position as the Hawks slipped to losing five in their last six games with a 93-83 defeat to a Washington Wizards spurred on by John Wall’s return.

The Boston Celtics culminated a five-game streak at the end of the week with their earlier mentioned win against Houston to find themselves in the final play-off position. The bench has been stepping up throughout the campaign to give support to Boston’s ‘Big Three’ and the Celtic look a better team for it.

The Bulls have been trying to hold themselves up until Derrick Rose’s return with a stellar home record and picking up wins all over the place.

Chicago triumphed over the Knicks for the third time this season beating the 108-101, but then went down to the Suns 97-81. They have the best road record, but also have the worst home record leaving them with a 20-15 standing.

With talks of the MVP award heightening, it seems to be a East vs West duo with some championing Chris Paul, who has inspired the Clippers this season and others supporting Carmelo Anthony, who has kept the Knicks consistent.

Clippers lose home streak

Western Conference — THE Orlando Magic broke a 13-game winning streak for the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on Saturday with a 104-101 win.

This was after the Chris Paul had again guided the Clippers with 19 points and 16 assists to beat the Mavericks 99-93 on Wednesday to extend the streak to 13 games. The Magic, however, after trailing for basically the entire match too the lead as JJ Reddick hit from beyond the arc with 42 seconds left on the clock.

Aaron Afflalo had his season-high 30 points as the Magic, in beating the high-flying LA outfit snapped a 10-game losing streak. The Clippers now have a record of 28-9.

Speaking of LA outfits, the Los Angeles Lakers have a losing streak of their own going, the latest of which was delivered by conference-leaders the OKC Thunder. The Lakers, missing Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard for the meantime, are now three places outside the playoff spots as Kevin Durant score 42 and Russell Westbrook had a double-double in Oklahoma’s 116-101 victory.

The Rockets, meanwhile, find themselves in danger of losing a play-off spot as they are on a three-game losing streak after going down to the Celtics and the 76ers this week.

The Rockets were simply mediocre against the Celtics as Paul Pierce scored 23-points including three 3-pointers to help the Celtics to a 103-91 win. Especially after losing to the 76ers, Houston now run the risk of losing their play-off berth to the Utah Jazz who most recently beat the Detroit Pistons 90-87.

Top teams like the Thunder, Clippers and Spurs are sitting pretty atop the conference, however, the question that many are starting to ask is whether they can deal with the Eastern Conference heavyweights like the Knicks and especially Miami Heat.

— Yakum Fitz-Henley