Nba Eastern Conference

Sporting News, The, April 2, 2001 by Dan Graf

WHO'S HOT

Celtics SF Paul Pierce is serious about getting his team into the playoffs. Pierce entered last weekend on one of the most torrid five-game stretches of any player this season. He led Boston to three wins by averaging 35.8 points on 55.9 percent shooting, and he topped the 40-point mark three times. Pierce has averaged 27 points since Rick Pitino left the Celtics in January.

WHO'S NOT

After averaging 14.2 points and 14.5 rebounds in his first nine games with the 76ers, C Dikembe Mntombo tailed off to 9.4 points and 9.2 rebounds during the team's five-game losing streak last week. The Sixers' slump probably had more to do with SG Allen Iverson's injury than Mutombo's drop-off, but acquiring another AlL-Star to go with Iverson was supposed to prevent slides like this.

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME

Two-headed and three-headed centers are commonplace, but the Bucks are holding down the second-best record in the East with a five-headed center. Entering last weekend, coach George Karl had started five players at the position--Mark Pope (29 times), Joel Przybilla (12), Scott Williams (12), Ervin Johnson (10) and Jason Caffey (five). Karl expects to settle on Johnson as the playoffs approach because of his superior defense and rebounding.

MATCHUP OF THE WEEK

BUCKS AT KINGS

The free-wheeling Bucks play like a Western Conference team, and their bid to win their first Central Division title in 15 seasons and claim the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference will live or die on a six-game Western trip that begins Saturday. Tuesday's matchup with the Kings is the third game of the trip and comes on the heels of games against the Spurs and Suns. The Bucks beat Sacramento, 112-109, on February 6 in Milwaukee but have a history of faltering against the West on the road. Milwaukee will begin the trip with a 2-6 road record against the West. With the Kings trying to hold on to first place in the Pacific, and with six of their final nine games on the road after this one, they will need a victory as badly as the Bucks. Expect a playoff atmosphere with the league's two best offenses engaged in a shootout.

NUMBERS GAME

2: Eastern Conference teams with winning road records--the 76ers and the Bucks.

39: Points scored by Knicks SG Allan Houston last week in a victory over the Cavaliers. He scored three times as many points as Cleveland's starters.

43: Consecutive free throws made by Magic PG Darrell Armstrong before he missed last week.

THEY SAID IT

"The same as usual. We got hosed again in Utah." --Pistons SG Jerry Stackhouse after Detroit went scoreless for 4 1/2 of the final five minutes last week in a loss to the Jazz.