Streak-busters: Bobcats snap losing streak. Nuggets snap Clippers win streak at 17. Award winners for December.

The year 2013 has arrived, a brand new year, and streaks came to an end this week across the association. Here are the highlights from Week 10 in the NBA.

Bobcats snap losing streak in Chicago.

Photo ©NBA/Bobcats.com

For the team who had the roughest year in 2012, they ended the year on a high note. As the Charlotte Bobcats snap their 18-game losing streak with a 91-81 victory against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. The Bobcats with the win, surpass their win total from last season where they finished 7-59 making history as the worst winning percentage in NBA history.

Sophomore guard Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with a great all-around game, 18 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks on 6-13 shooting from the field, Gerald Henderson scored 16 points, while Ramon Sessions and Ben Gordon came off the bench and scored 15 points each. Bismack Biyombo grabbed 11 rebounds.

Luol Deng led the Bulls with a double-double 20 points and 12 rebounds with 4 assists and 3 steals. Carlos Boozer also finished with a double-double 19 points and 14 rebounds. Rip Hamilton scored 11 points.

Bobcats head coach Mike Dunlap has been preaching patience to all the people who are on watch with the team. Who knows in 2013, maybe the Bobcats will make some noise in the East.

Nuggets snap Clippers 17 game win streak.

Photo ©NBA/Nuggets.com

A losing streak came to an end out East, while in the West, a winning streak came to an end, as the Denver Nuggets snap the 17 game winning streak the Los Angeles Clippers held, as well as getting a measure of revenge from their Christmas Day defeat in Los Angeles as they take a 92-78 victory at the Pepsi Center.

Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Kenneth Faried finished with a double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds. Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller each scored 12 points, Miller also dished out 12 assists, while Igouldala dished 8 assists. JaVale McGee off the bench added 11 points and 7 rebounds including his first career 3 pointer. Corey Brewer scored 10 points.

Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe led the Clippers with 12 points each. Griffin added 9 rebounds. DeAndre Jordan finished with a double-double 11 points and 11 rebounds with 3 blocks. Chris Paul added 10 points and 6 assists. Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes each scored 9 points.

The Clippers are now in second place in the Western Conference behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. With a tight race in the West, who knows who will coach in the NBA All-Star Game in Houston for the West? 

Meanwhile in Week 9, Monta Ellis becomes the second Milwaukee Bucks player after Brandon Jennings and the sixth player to receive the Eastern Conference Player of the Week Award this season. While Greivis Vasquez of the New Orleans Hornets becomes the eighth receipient of the Western Conference Player of the Week Award.

LeBron James of the Miami Heat wins his second straight Eastern Conference Player of the Month Award for the month of December, while Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers won the Western Conference Player of the Month in December.

Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers wins his second straight Western Conference Rookie of the Month in December, while Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards won the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in December.

Vinny Del Negro of the Los Angeles Clippers wins the Western Conference Coach of the Month after leading the Clippers to a perfect December (16-0). While Larry Drew of the Atlanta Hawks won in the Eastern Conference after leading the Hawks to a 10-5 record in December and see them competing in the Top 3 of the Eastern Conference.

Now, here are the standings from around the association:

Western Conference:

1. Thunder (25-7), 2. Clippers (27-8), 3. Spurs (27-9), 4. Grizzlies (20-10), 5. Warriors (22-11), 6. Rockets (20-14), 7. Trail Blazers (18-15), 8. Nuggets (19-16), 9. Timberwolves (15-15), 10. Jazz (17-18), 11. Lakers (15-17), 12. Mavericks (13-21), 13. Kings (13-21), 14. Suns (12-22), 15. Hornets (8-25)

Eastern Conference:

1. Heat (22-9), 2. Knicks (23-10), 3. Hawks (20-12), 4. Pacers (20-14), 5. Bulls (18-13), 6. Nets (19-15), 7. Bucks (16-16), 8. Celtics (16-17), 9. 76ers (15-20), 10. Pistons (13-22), 11. Raptors (12-21), 12. Magic (12-21), 13. Bobcats (8-24), 14. Cavaliers (8-27), 15. Wizards (4-27)

Stay tuned as the next NBA weekly blog comes your way next week.

K-Smoove

Clippers win streak up to 12. Heat tie Knicks on top the East. Bobcats now have lost 15 straight.

Two teams are streaking, one in a good way, the other in a bad way. Here are some of the highlights of Week 8 of the 2012-13 NBA season.

Clippers win streak now stands at 12!

Photo ©NBA/Clippers.com 

Things are looking well in Tinseltown, this time thanks to the men from Lob City, the Los Angeles Clippers, as they continue with their win streak at 12 games and they are now the hottest team in the NBA today, after the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder suffered a setback against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis, which ended a 12 game winning streak for them. The Clippers are now sitting in second place in the Western Conference behind the Thunder. This week, point guard Chris Paul also made history, he became the 3rd youngest player in NBA history to reach the 5,000 assists in his career in a game against the New Orleans Hornets at home. In fact, Paul himself didn't knew that he had set history and was left wondering why the Clipper Nation in attendance are giving a standing ovation. These guys are giving people in Tinseltown a reason to cheer about as their more popular co-tenants the Lakers are going through a dramatic season with a lot of ups and downs. With a streak snapped out West, who knows when their streak will come to an end.

Heat tie Knicks for top spot in the East.

Photo ©NBA/Heat.com

The reigning NBA champions Miami Heat have tied the New York Knicks on top of the Eastern Conference, the Knicks who suffered a home setback against the Chicago Bulls on a game that saw the Knicks star forward Carmelo Anthony, center Tyson Chandler, head coach Mike Woodson and Chicago's Joakim Noah get ejected from the game. Meanwhile, the Heat have now won four straight games with their usual protagonists of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh leading the way. The Heat are at 18-6, while the Knicks stand at 19-7. It is going to be another wild finish on top of the Eastern Conference with both the Knicks and Heat jockeying for position on top and with the Atlanta Hawks not far behind. Who knows who will be the best team in the East at the end of the season.

Bobcats losing streak stands at 15.

Photo ©NBA/Bobcats.com

A promising start to the season has turned into a nightmare for the Charlotte Bobcats, as they have now dropped their 15th straight game bringing back memories of their disastrous campaign last season when they capped the season with a 23 game losing streak. Despite a strong season from their young backcourt of sophomore Kemba Walker and rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and the Bobcats being competitive all-season long, they have failed to capitalized their good play into victories. Most of the games in this losing streak were decided in the final moments, while some games, they played bad and suffered massive routs from their opponents. From standing as high as 6th place in the Eastern Conference, they have now fallen into 13th place only ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards. These guys from the Queen City still have a lot of work to do, they are a young team, and these growing pains will make them even better in the future.

Meanwhile in Week 7, Paul George of the Indiana Pacers becomes the 6th player to win the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award for the season. While David Lee of the Golden State Warriors also becomes the 6th player to receive the Western Conference Player of the Week award for the season.

Here are the standings from across the association:

Western Conference:

1. Thunder (21-5), 2. Clippers (20-6), 3. Grizzlies (18-7), 4. Spurs (20-8), 5. Warriors (18-10), 6. Timberwolves (13-11), 7. Rockets (14-12), 8. Nuggets (15-13), 9. Trail Blazers (13-12), 10. Jazz (14-14), 11. Lakers (13-14), 12. Mavericks (12-15), 13. Suns (11-16), 14. Kings (8-18), 15. Hornets (5-22)

Eastern Conference:

1. Heat (18-6), 2. Knicks (19-7), 3. Hawks (16-9), 4. Bulls (15-11), 5. Pacers (16-12), 6. Bucks (14-12), 7. Nets (13-12), 8. Celtics (13-13), 9. 76ers (13-14), 10. Magic (12-14), 11. Raptors (9-19), 12. Pistons (9-21), 13. Bobcats (7-20), 14. Cavaliers (6-23), 15. Wizards (3-22)

Once again, both sides are having tight races for the top and middle spots in the standings. 23 out of the 30 teams have now won at least 10 games with the West having 13 of the 15 teams with 10 wins or more, while the East have 10 of the 15 teams with 10 wins or more.

Stay tuned for the final edition of my NBA weekly blog for 2012 will come to you next week.

K-Smoove