Clipper win streak up to 16, Hawks contending in the East, Avery Johnson relieved of coaching duties in Brooklyn.

On the 150th blog entry of this blog, for the last time for the year 2012, here are the highlights of Week 9 in the NBA.

Clippers win streak now at 16!

Photo ©NBA/Clippers.com

The win streak for the Western Conference leaders the Los Angeles Clippers continues as it currently stands at 16. In their last win, they had to battle from behind all game long, but they manage to pick up a huge road victory against the Utah Jazz at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City. With this winning streak, we could see Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro coach the Western Conference in the 2013 NBA All Star Game in Houston, unless the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs have anything to say about it and keep contending for the top spot in the Western Conference. Then again, who knows when the streak will come to an end? But these guys from Tinseltown are playing their best basketball not only this year, but also in franchise history after all the heartbreak and struggles that the franchise had gone through in it's existence.

Hawks contending in the East.

Photo ©NBA/Hawks.com

In the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks have made a lot of headway this season and have shocked the NBA world as they currently sit in third place in the East and are right on the heels of both the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks. Their star Josh Smith have been putting up all-star numbers for the Hawks and is in serious contention to make his first All-Star Game appearance this season, after being snubbed in previous years. Smith has also been getting a lot of help this season from players like Al Horford, Lou Williams, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver. Head coach Larry Drew has done a pretty good job in Atlanta, keeping them a competitive team every season, as well as playing well on their first season without last season's leading scorer in Joe Johnson who moved to the Nets this season. These Hawks are making some noise in the East, and their chances of sneaking to the top of the Eastern Conference are very high.

Avery Johnson relieved of coaching duties in Brooklyn.

Photo ©CBSNews.com

After 2 1/2 seasons as head coach of the Nets, the curtain has closed for the "Little General", as Avery Johnson was relieved of coaching duties by the Brooklyn Nets organization. His firing came after the Nets have gone 3-10 in December, after they started the season at 11-4 and in the Top 3 of the Eastern Conference and giving him the Coach of the Month Award  for the month of October-November. Johnson finishes his tenure with the Nets with a overall record of 60-116 (.341) which spans 2 1/2 season. Assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo has taken over the coaching reins on a interim basis for the Nets, as the organization searches for a permanent replacement for Johnson. So another coach gets the boot this season, the question now is how will the Nets continue their promising inaugural season in Brooklyn? That we will have to see in the days to come.

Meanwhile in Week 8, LeBron James of the Miami Heat has won his third Eastern Conference Player of the Week award of the season. While Chris Paul becomes the second Los Angeles Clippers player after Blake Griffin and the seventh player to receive the Western Conference Player of the Week award.

Here are the standings across the association after Week 9:

Western Conference:

1. Clippers (24-6), 2. Thunder (23-6), 3. Spurs (24-8), 4. Grizzlies (19-8), 5. Warriors (21-10), 6. Rockets (16-14), 7. Nuggets (17-15), 8. Timberwolves (14-13), 9. Trail Blazers (15-14), 10. Lakers (15-15), 11. Jazz (15-16), 12. Mavericks (12-18), 13. Suns (11-20), 14. Kings (10-19), 15. Hornets (7-23)

Eastern Conference: 

1. Heat (20-8), 2. Knicks (21-9), 3. Hawks (19-9), 4. Bucks (16-12), 5. Bulls (16-12), 6. Pacers (17-13), 7. Nets (16-14), 8. Celtics (14-15), 9. 76ers (14-17), 10. Magic (12-18), 11. Raptors (11-20), 12. Pistons (10-22), 13. Bobcats (7-23), 14. Cavaliers (7-25), 15. Wizards (4-24)

Only four teams have less than 10 wins so far with 9 weeks of the season thru, it's a five-way race in the Western Conference while it's a three-way race in the Eastern Conference on top of the standings.

Stay tuned as the first NBA weekly blog of 2013, comes to you 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