SIXERS RETAKE ATLANTIC

 

(Image taken from NBA.com)

 

A rough start to a West coast road trip has lost the New Jersey Nets the lead of the Atlantic division, defeats in Golden State(100-97), Sacremento(114-95) and Phoenix(91-82). Two further wins brought them back to a 7-7 record but it's the Sixers who've taken over the division on an 8-7 record thanks to a 107-83 home win over the Blazers.

Lover down in the division, it's still, Boston, New York then Toronto with the Raptors having picked up their first win of the season at home to Miami, with Chris Bosch running the show that night though the Canadian side are now on a five game losing streak at 1-14.

Heading down to the South East division, the Heat are still running the show on an 8-6 record. However it's been the Magic that have caught fire recently to complete a Florida 1-2, beating the Wizards(91-83), Blazers(104-89), Heat(80-77) and finishing off with a win in Boston(87-83), though they still only have a 7-7 record. The Wizards iffy recent form has sunk them into third though with Charlotte in fourth and the Hawks still bottom despite wins over Boston and Indiana.

The Eastern Conference(and the League as a whole) is still being led by the Pistons despite an 120-114 ovetime loss to the Wizards recently. The Central division is proving the strongest in the League stiill with all five teams having winning records.

The Spurs are still running the show out West with an 11-3 record putting them hot on the Pistons' heels for the lead of the League overall, recent wins for Tim Duncan and crew including a beating of the still ailing Lakers 90-84. At the other end of the South West division, Tracy McGrady's comeback from injury resulted in a 100-85 win for Houston over the Hawks, given that the Rockets certainly shouldn't be at the bottom of their division, maybe it's time for a winning streak from them.

The Clippers and Lakers are still defying basketball logic in the Pacific division while a more interesting surge is happening in the Northwest Division with the Jazz starting to get back to business relativly speaking, one win over the Bucks at home(100-80) and in Seattle(93-87) moving them from fifth to third though they still have the T-Wolves and Nuggets in the way there.

Overall - the 05-06 season looks like it's settled into a rough pattern but there do seem to be a lot of sleeping giants hanging around. This season is nowhere near over.

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