Catching Jerz will be tough. They've won six straight, and have Miami, Orlando, and Philly up next. After a test against Detroit, their next five include Toronto twice, Atlanta, Miami again, and Memphis. Out of those nine, they could win 6, maybe more.

Our next nine games include road games vs. Sacramento, N'awlins and Dallas, plus match-ups with Detroit, Utah and Miami.

Hey, but we just beat Indiana, so that makes us the best team in the East, right?

But then again, we are only one game behind TO for the sixth seed in the East. Look what they've got to deal with in February:

4 Wed Orlando
6 Fri Indiana
8 Sun @ Golden State
10 Tue @ Phoenix
12 Thu @ Seattle
17 Tue @ Chicago
18 Wed San Antonio
20 Fri New Jersey
22 Sun Sacramento
24 Tue @ New Jersey
25 Wed Washington
27 Fri @ Boston
29 Sun Boston

They could easily lose 8 out of those first ten games-- they've only won 3 out of their last 10. A lot of season left; one step at time for us.