Heck, I'll throw the Heat into the mix, holding steady at No. 5. with a two-game cushion on the Bucks. Miami drew closer to the pack after blowing a six-point lead in the final five minutes of Sunday's home loss to Portland. Brandon Roy, who is taking charge of the Blazers' once-schizophrenic offense now that Greg Oden isn't around, drained 11-of-14, including 11 points in a four-minute stretch of the fourth quarter to lead the come-from-behind victory. Roy, incidentally, has averaged 27 points in his last 10 games. Thankfully for the Heat (13-12), they didn't lose any ground to Charlotte (10-16), who also lost Sunday. But wait, the Bobcats lost to the Knicks (10-17) and now the Heat are just four games ahead of New York. That high-noon showdown on Christmas Day in New York between the Heat in Knicks looms large this week. And while Dwyane Wade is capable of keeping Miami out of the riff-raff of seeds 6-12, as he did in 2008-09, an elite-conditioned and healthy Wade is needed for that. Days after Pat Riley mildly chided Wade's conditioning, suggesting its played a role in the star guard's career-low 43-percent shooting, Wade has come up with a back problem that clearly affected him Sunday, when he went 13-of-31 from the field, came up short on several shots, and didn't have a rebound. A healthy Wade, who averages over nine free-throw attempts per game, is attacking the rim more often. But he had just two free-throw attempts last night and just 15 in the previous four games. Miami better establish some reliable secondary and tertiary options to help Wade.

The Knicks, who opened the season at 1-9, have won six of their last eight to put themselves back into the playoff picture. There are wins over Phoenix, Atlanta and Portland during the stretch, and what appears to be a nod to defense in holding opponents under 100 points in seven straight games. Sunday's 98-94 win over Charlotte moves them a half-game behind the Bobcats for 10th place in the East. Defense played a role late when Danilo Gallinari blocked Acie Law's attempted game-tying drive with seconds left. The Nate Robinson saga would be much more of a calamity had not the team's fortunes improved with the decision to bench him nine games ago. Agent Aaron Goodwin, watching his client play the role of Stephon Marbury this season, has since asked the Knicks to trade Robinson. And while coach Mike D'Antoni shortened his rotation by benching Robinson and Eddy Curry, he was able to find room for Jonathan Bender, who had been out of basketball since the 05-06 season. Bender has 20 points in two games since being signed out of retirement and has apparently made himself into a three-point specialist (4-for-4) in his four years away from the NBA. The Knicks host two games with playoff implications this week -- Tuesday against the Bulls and the holiday extravaganza against Miami.

Of course the dynamic of New York's meeting with the Bulls on Tuesday could change drastically, depending on how Chicago fares in Monday's home game against Sacramento. A win over the Kings would put the Bulls into eighth place ahead of Detroit, meaning the Knicks would now be facing a playoff team instead of another lottery contender. The Bulls are coming off an overtime thriller Saturday night over the Hawks and beat these very same Knicks in New York on Thursday. But that was a different Knick team -- one where Eddy Curry was in the rotation. A Bulls loss Monday means the Knicks could pass them with a win Tuesday. Now that Milwaukee (11-4, 7th place, three-game losing streak) and Detroit (11-16, 8th place, four-game losing streak) have made things interesting, the Pacers (9-16, 12th place) and the Wizards (8-17, 13th place) have reason to hope. The Bucks, 2-9 on the road, travel to Indiana on Monday. The Pacers have won their last three at home when playing a team with a sub-.500 record. A Bucks loss would leave them reeling in a five-game swoon as they prepare for the Wizards on Wednesday. And what of Washington? They have three winnable games against the Sixers (Tuesday), Bucks (Wednesday) and Minnesota (Saturday). A week from today and we could be talking about the 10th place Wizards. If they can tread water until Mike Miller comes back in early January, they could make some noise all the way up to sixth seed. And don't think for a moment I'm overlooking that Detroit/Charlotte matchup in Carolina on Tuesday. Just a week ago on Dec. 15, the Bobcats surged into eighth place ahead of Toronto before a three-game losing streak dropped them from the playoff seeds. The Raptors (13-17, 7th place) enter the week having won their last two games, albeit against teams with sub-.500 records, and are finally justifying the money spent on Hedo Turkoglu. They'll be well rested for Wednesday's smackdown in Detroit. And the two teams play a return bout next Sunday.

So many possibilities here. It's like trying to figure out the playoff scenarios in the AFC. I'll guarantee you this: the team starting this week in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, will not be the team in eighth place next Monday.