Lakers, Cavs take over as Celtics slide
January 11th 2009 05:39
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers both have identical 29-6 records leading their respective conferences and are in the way of each other for the top spot in the NBA standings.
With the Boston Celtics experiencing difficulty in recovering from their unbelievable slump, the Lakers and Cavs have successfully seized the opportunity and took over.
After their 116-105 loss to the New Orleans Hornets at, the Lakers bounced back with two straight wins against the Golden State Warriors (114-106) and the Indiana Pacers (121-119) to keep their sizable separation over the rest of the field in the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have just came out of a 98-83 win over the troubled Celtics taking advantage of their homecourt and the current stagnation of their opponent therefore securing their hold of the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
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In other developments in the Eastern Conference, Southeast Division leader Orlando Magic also managed to overtake the slipping Celtics for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference with a half-game lead by defeating division rival Atlanta Hawks in back-to-back meetings at home and away. They won at the Phillips Arena 106-102 and manhandled the Hawks at the AmWay Arena 121-87.
The Magic (29-8) has probably cemented their claim to be their division's best by beating their closest pursuer in the division in the Hawks (22-13) in two games in a row. It would still remain to be seen though if they can take their game to the next level and prominently compete with the Cavs and Celtics for the top spot in the East. As of this moment, they are right in the thick of it.
_____________________________ ____________
When talking about the Western Conference, the first team that comes to mind are the mighty Lakers. It's not that really hard to overlook those other teams that are fighting it out right behind them.
The most notable of the other West teams as of now are the San Antonio Spurs who are at 24-11 and they are 5 games away from the Lakers. The Spurs have won their last 4 games and has only lost once in their last 10.
Talk about teams that are easy to overlook, the Spurs epitomize such a team. Even when they were winning championships every other year, they were labeled by some fans as boring, plain and bland in their style of play yet effective and very successful.
Most never noticed it but San Antonio has slowly but surely resurfaced among the teams in the winning column after starting sluggishly dealing with injuries to key players like Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and even Fabricio Oberto.
But knowing the type of system implemented by coach Greg Popovich and the wealth of experience of its veteran leader in Tim Duncan, they were able to weather the storm winning enough games to keep their heads above water despite the absences of Ginobili and Parker. Off-season acquisition Roger Mason and rookie George Hill were also key players in that stretch stepping up their games admirably filling in the roles of their two injured stars.
The Spurs are quietly building winning streaks with only a loss or two in between taking advantage of the light schedule and is currently catching the league off guard in having a pretty good leverage to compete well in the Western Conference despite the Lakers are running away with the top spot.
With their line-up back in full health and with their level of play rising with considerable consistency, the Spurs just might sneak up on the Lakers very soon for a very interesting challenge.
Photos by AP
With the Boston Celtics experiencing difficulty in recovering from their unbelievable slump, the Lakers and Cavs have successfully seized the opportunity and took over.
Kobe Bryant pulls up against Clippers' defenders
After their 116-105 loss to the New Orleans Hornets at, the Lakers bounced back with two straight wins against the Golden State Warriors (114-106) and the Indiana Pacers (121-119) to keep their sizable separation over the rest of the field in the Western Conference.
Lebron James and the Cavaliers just left the Celtics biting their dust
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have just came out of a 98-83 win over the troubled Celtics taking advantage of their homecourt and the current stagnation of their opponent therefore securing their hold of the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
_____________________________ ___________
In other developments in the Eastern Conference, Southeast Division leader Orlando Magic also managed to overtake the slipping Celtics for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference with a half-game lead by defeating division rival Atlanta Hawks in back-to-back meetings at home and away. They won at the Phillips Arena 106-102 and manhandled the Hawks at the AmWay Arena 121-87.
The Magic did the Hawks in and moved past the Celtics
The Magic (29-8) has probably cemented their claim to be their division's best by beating their closest pursuer in the division in the Hawks (22-13) in two games in a row. It would still remain to be seen though if they can take their game to the next level and prominently compete with the Cavs and Celtics for the top spot in the East. As of this moment, they are right in the thick of it.
_____________________________ ____________
When talking about the Western Conference, the first team that comes to mind are the mighty Lakers. It's not that really hard to overlook those other teams that are fighting it out right behind them.
The most notable of the other West teams as of now are the San Antonio Spurs who are at 24-11 and they are 5 games away from the Lakers. The Spurs have won their last 4 games and has only lost once in their last 10.
Everyone had better notice because Tim Duncan and the Spurs are making their move
Talk about teams that are easy to overlook, the Spurs epitomize such a team. Even when they were winning championships every other year, they were labeled by some fans as boring, plain and bland in their style of play yet effective and very successful.
Most never noticed it but San Antonio has slowly but surely resurfaced among the teams in the winning column after starting sluggishly dealing with injuries to key players like Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and even Fabricio Oberto.
But knowing the type of system implemented by coach Greg Popovich and the wealth of experience of its veteran leader in Tim Duncan, they were able to weather the storm winning enough games to keep their heads above water despite the absences of Ginobili and Parker. Off-season acquisition Roger Mason and rookie George Hill were also key players in that stretch stepping up their games admirably filling in the roles of their two injured stars.
The Spurs are quietly building winning streaks with only a loss or two in between taking advantage of the light schedule and is currently catching the league off guard in having a pretty good leverage to compete well in the Western Conference despite the Lakers are running away with the top spot.
With their line-up back in full health and with their level of play rising with considerable consistency, the Spurs just might sneak up on the Lakers very soon for a very interesting challenge.
Photos by AP
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