The New York Knicks are getting chased by the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics in the wining days of the regular season. There are less than 30 days of regular season basketball remaining and the Eastern Conference has another race with the Indiana Pacers chased by the Chicago Bulls. Check the standings and where your favorite teams lie in the 2013 NBA Standings, but let's look at these two divisions and how the top teams are playing.
The Knicks are on a streak, unfortunately, it's a losing streak having dropped four consecutive games on the road. They were trumped by the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday and look to break out of their funk against a team battling for a playoff spot in the West, the Utah Jazz, which is coincidentally, the last team they defeated.
In the hunt for the Atlantic crown, the Nets are just a game behind the Knicks and had a chance to tie for the lead on Sunday night. The Nets are also struggling as they are 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Knicks are 4-6 while the Celtics are 7-3 and 2.5 games behind the Knicks and just 1.5 behind the Nets for second place in the division.
It's simple. The Knicks need Carmelo Anthony back healthy. Currently, J.R. Smith is their best scorer. There's no Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler also banged up. Smith is the only player to appear in every game and he's been designated to solely a bench role.
Over in the Central, the struggling Pacers hold a 3.5-game lead over the Bulls. Mathematically speaking, the eighth place Milwaukee Bucks have a chance to make a comeback as they're only 6.5 games behind, but the Pacers would really have to collapse in order to fall that deep in the Central standings.
The good news for the Pacers is that the Bulls aren't playing incredibly great basketball. While the Pacers are 5-5, the Bulls are 4-6, but they took advance of a recent Pacers loss and won a game, pulling in to just 3.5 games.
This is how the season breaks down for both of these divisions.
The Knicks play the Celtics twice before the conclusion of the season. They don't see the Nets again in the regular season. The Nets play the Celtics once before the end of the season.
As for the Pacers and Bulls, they have one game coming up in five days as they face off on Mar. 23 in Chicago's United Center.
Here are the NBA standings as of Monday 11:30 a.m. ET.
|
Eastern |
W |
L |
PCT |
GB |
STREAK |
|
Miami1x |
51 |
14 |
0.785 |
0.0 |
W 22 |
|
40 |
26 |
0.606 |
11.5 |
L 2 |
|
|
38 |
26 |
0.594 |
12.5 |
L 4 |
|
|
38 |
28 |
0.576 |
13.5 |
L 1 |
|
|
37 |
29 |
0.561 |
14.5 |
W 3 |
|
|
36 |
29 |
0.554 |
15.0 |
W 1 |
|
|
36 |
29 |
0.554 |
15.0 |
W 2 |
|
|
33 |
32 |
0.508 |
18.0 |
W 1 |
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|
Western |
W |
L |
PCT |
GB |
STREAK |
|
51 |
16 |
0.761 |
0.0 |
W 2 |
|
|
50 |
17 |
0.746 |
1.0 |
W 3 |
|
|
46 |
21 |
0.687 |
5.0 |
W 1 |
|
|
44 |
21 |
0.677 |
6.0 |
L 2 |
|
|
45 |
22 |
0.672 |
6.0 |
W 11 |
|
|
38 |
30 |
0.559 |
13.5 |
W 1 |
|
|
36 |
31 |
0.537 |
15.0 |
L 1 |
|
|
36 |
32 |
0.529 |
15.5 |
W 2 |
|
|
34 |
32 |
0.515 |
16.5 |
W 1 |
