Show Western Conference turning heads h ir v h ir v m r i Marco Villano Sports Editor The is closing in on the playoffs with less than 30 games left in the regular season The Western Conference standings in the are extremely stacked right now There are seven teams within at least three games game of first place and five within a game and a half The Lakers top the Western Conference as of Tuesday but the Spurs Suns Mavs Hornets Jazz and Rockets are all nipping at LAs LA's heals The hottest team in inthe inthe inthe the West right now is the Houston Rockets who are on a tear with straight 12 wins They are 4 23 in their last 27 games putting them just three games back from first place Their downfall may come with the injury to Yao Ming's foot sending him to the bench for the remainder of the season Weve been playing exceptional ball Yao's been a huge part of that said Rockets Rocket's GM Daryl Morey One of the biggest surprises in the W West st isto is isto isto to see the Lakers atop the conference standings With the talk about Kobe Bryant wanting out of LA earlier in the season nobody thought that they would be beany beany beany any good They overcame adversity and have been playing fantastic basketball this season Their biggest move to get them closer to toa toa toa a championship this season was picking up Pau a footer 7 who can shoot with the best of them Although getting the AllStar AllStar All All- Star snub Deron Williams has proved that he is an elite point guard in the league He has led the Jazz to the best home record in the with a 3 24 record The Jazz will look to hold onto that fourth spot in the West for the playoffs so they can have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs Their record on the road this season is 12 Another sleeper team team in th the West has been the Hornets They are are one of the teams to beat in inthe inthe inthe the league led by AllStar AllStar AllStar All- All Star Chris Paul They are currently holding down the fifth spot in the West right now and could play the Jazz in the first round of the playoffs which would be bea a very fair match up The Hornets have been playing a little sloppy in their last 10 games going 5 but a team like that wont won't play that bad for too long Of course the typical teams to beat are the Suns Mavericks and Spurs The Mavs and Suns just made some great moves before the trade deadline picking up to Wiley veterans The Suns acquired time four champ Shaquille Oneal and the Mavs rounded up former assist leader Jason Kidd Both teams were looking for fort t that player who could coul l' l get them over that hump in inthe inthe inthe the playoffs and wi win a championship The Spurs have proven that they arent aren't washed up The defending champs are on a six game win streak and have won nine of their last 10 The teams on the bubble are the Nuggets Blazers and Warriors These three teams will fight for that last playoff spot and they all have a chance of making it to the Finals |