Begrüßungen » hitting streak to 21 games dating to Sept. 10

(SportsNetwork.com) - As we look ahead to the New Year, I have a feeling well have only two divisions that will be hotly contested. The Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers have very comfortable cushions with Toronto leading the Brooklyn Nets in the Atlantic by 8 1/2 games, while the Blazers are 10 1/2 games up on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Northwest. The Chicago Bulls lead the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers by 3 1/2 games in the Central, but with the loss of Anderson Varejao for the season and Kevin Love continuing to struggle, it doesnt look like the Cavs will be able to keep up with such a deep Chicago team. In the Pacific, the Golden State Warriors are five games up on the Los Angeles Clippers, who look like theyve taken a step back from last season. With Stephen Curry clearly better than Chris Paul, and the Warriors talent level clearly being better than the Clippers, I dont see Doc Rivers team being capable of staying with Golden State. So that leaves us with the Southeast and Southwest Divisions, which may not be decided until April. Lets take a close look at each race: SOUTHEAST DIVISION The Washington Wizards were the preseason favorites to win the division, but have been unable to shake the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are one game up on the Wizards, but Atlanta has been the more impressive team. They have clearly been better against the upper level teams of the league. Atlanta is 7-3 versus teams that would currently qualify for the playoffs, while the Wizards are just 3-7. The Hawks lost their first three games of the season against such teams, but since are 7-1. Former Hawks great Dominique Wilkins, who is currently the teams television color analyst, is really excited about what hes seeing on both ends of the floor. Theres two things that excite me about the team: team defense and playing defense on the ball is the most impressive thing, said Wilkins. You see a lot of teams rely too much on help; the Hawks defend out front. Secondly, ball movement from side to side. They share the ball. They give up a good shot for a great shot. As for the Wizards, I have to wonder after hearing some comments from Paul Pierce following a win over the struggling Miami Heat on Dec. 19, if theyre as committed to being a top team as the Hawk are. We got to build ourselves on great habits, Pierce said, according to the Washington Post. Tonight I wasnt happy with the defense, especially against a team struggling to score 100 points. We allowed them to shoot too high of a percentage. So them arent the habits we want to have throughout the course [of the season]. I think the division will be up for grabs into the final month, but my gut tells me the Hawks will be the one to prevail. SOUTHWEST DIVISION The Grizzlies sit atop the division with a one-game lead over the Mavericks, 1 1/2 games over the Rockets, while the Spurs are five back. Heres a breakdown of each team: MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES The Grizzlies big three of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Mike Conley have all played at a high level, and are mainly responsible for their 23-8 mark. Gasol is easily having his best season. In just his eighth year in the league, hes averaging a career-high 20.1 points, which is more than five points above his previous high. One problem with the Grizzlies is the secondary players who arent on the same level as those on the Spurs and Rockets. Up until Randolph missing the last five games with a sore knee, the Grizzlies have not had to deal with any injury issues, unlike two of their division rivals. Memphis lost the first three game without its starting power forward, but then beat the struggling Heat, who were without Chris Bosh and followed it up with a win over the Spurs, who were missing Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard. The bottom line is the Grizzlies can ill afford to lose any of their top three players for any period of time if they hope to win the division. HOUSTON ROCKETS Aside from James Hardens MVP-worthy performance so far, the big story has been the Rockets ability to overcome a ton of injuries. Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverley have each sat out 12 games, while Terrence Jones has missed the last 26. During Howards absence, which included seven games without Beverley and Jones, the Rockets managed to go 8-4. The injury to Jones gave Donatas Motiejunas the opportunity for some big minutes and hes really blossomed, averaging 10.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in just over 27 minutes per game. The third-year power forward is now coming off the bench again after the Rockets signed Josh Smith following his release by the Detroit Pistons. Smith scored 21 points in his Rockets debut in a win in Memphis, but he combined to score just eight points on 3-of-13 from the field and committed eight turnovers over the next two games, which Houston lost. Does Will Smiths presence hurt the Rockets chemistry? Its certainly a question worth asking, as the Pistons have run off three straight wins after dumping the 10-year veteran. But the Rockets have another recent addition that has already paid immediate dividends and should only bolster a very solid bench. Corey Brewer, who was acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec. 19, is averaging 16.3 points in just over 24 minutes in four games with the Rockets, and is shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 59.1 percent from 3-point range. If Smith can fit in, I like Houstons chances to come out on top, especially with Harden playing at such a high level and the Rockets having so much depth SAN ANTONIO SPURS The Spurs have given the Rockets plenty of competition in the injury department. Tony Parker is dealing with a lingering hamstring injury which has caused him to miss 12 games, while Kawhi Leonard has missed 11 games with a bruised hand and is out indefinitely at this point. In addition to the injuries to two of their top players, the Spurs have had to deal with Tiago Splitter missing 22 games, while backup point guard Patty Mills has played just two games after finally coming back from offseason shoulder surgery. With Parker and Leonard having ongoing issues, and the need to also keep Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili fresh for the playoffs, dont expect Greg Popovich to push his team to win the division title. DALLAS MAVERICKS Rick Carlisles team will have to prove they can compete with the better teams and have to overcome the loss of valuable backup big man Brandan Wright, who was dealt to the Boston Celtics in the Rajon Rondo trade. The Mavericks are just 5-8 against teams that would currently qualify for the postseason, and one of those wins came against a depleted Spurs team playing without Duncan, Parker, Leonard, Ginobili and Splitter. The Mavs particularly have had problems in beating the other seven teams in the Western Conference that would qualify for the playoffs at this point. That mark is just 1-7. The addition of Rondo should help Dallas defensively in the backcourt, but it doesnt solve the problems in the frontcourt where Dirk Nowitzki and Chandler Parsons have problems with their lack of athleticism. Defensive deficiencies and the loss of Wright will make it difficult for Dallas to take the division. 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SYDNEY, Australia -- Yasiel Puig had three hits and two RBIs to back a scoreless outing by Hyun-Jin Ryu, and the Los Angeles Dodgers made it 2 for 2 Down Under with a 7-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. Dee Gordon and Juan Uribe also had three hits for the Dodgers, who finished with 13 in beating Arizona starter Trevor Cahill for the first time. After a 3-1 win behind ace Clayton Kershaw in the Major League Baseball season opener Saturday night, Los Angeles remained perfect at Sydney Cricket Ground with its second consecutive victory over its NL West rival in Australia. Cahill (0-1) came in 6-0 with a 2.01 ERA in 10 career starts against the Dodgers, but left in the fifth trailing 3-0. He gave up eight hits with just one strikeout and was charged with five runs and four walks in four-plus innings. The Diamondbacks made three errors, two by catcher Miguel Montero. After trailing 7-0, Arizona scored once in the eighth and four times in the ninth, including Mark Trumbos two-run homer off closer Kenley Jansen with two outs. Jansen struck out Gerardo Parra to end a game that featured 14 pitchers and lasted a minute more than 4 hours. Beginning his second season in the majors, Ryu (1-0) held the Diamondbacks to two hits in five shutout innings. He struck out five and walked one. The left-hander had a strong rookie season last year, going 14-8 with a 3.00 ERA in 30 starts after seven seasons in South Korea. Trumbo also had an RBI single in the eighth, his first hit for the Diamondbacks. Martin Prado had a two-run single in the ninth. Puig, who was 0 for 5 with three strikeouts in the opener, also made a nice running catch in right field on a liner off the bat of Aaron Hill with the bases loaded to end the Arizona seventh. These were the first regular-season major league games played in Australia. The 162-year-old cricket ground was turned into a baseball park over two weeks, and nearly 80,000 fans attended the two games.dddddddddddd The Dodgers led 1-0 after the first inning. Puig singled and scored on a two-out single by Andre Ethier. Los Angeles scored two more runs in the third after Ryu helped himself by leading off the inning with a sharp single over Hills head at second base. He moved to third when Gordon doubled to centre, and scored on Puigs second hit. Adrian Gonzalez added a sacrifice fly. Uribe hit an RBI double in a two-run fifth, and Puig doubled home Gordon in the sixth. Gordon had a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Gordon and Puig were both hit by pitches. Puig was plunked by Cahill in the fourth inning, and Gordon by Addison Reed in the ninth. Last June, a brawl between the teams resulted in eight suspensions. Paul Goldschmidts first-inning single for Arizona extended his hitting streak to 21 games dating to Sept. 10 last season, the longest active streak in the majors. The Diamondbacks threatened in the fourth thanks to some shoddy Dodgers fielding, but Ryu struck out Parra to end the inning. NOTES: Dodgers LF Carl Crawford, who is on paternity leave and didnt travel to Australia, is a dad. The team said his fiancee, Evelyn Lozado, gave birth to their first child, Carl Leo Crawford, in Arizona early Saturday morning. ... Before the game, Diamondbacks INF Didi Gregorius visited with a group of fans from his former Canberra Calvary team in the Australian Baseball League, where he played in 2010. ... The opening ceremonies that were scratched Saturday because of thunderstorms and light rain were held before Sundays game, including the introduction of nearly 20 Australians who have played in the majors. Ex-Yankee Graeme Lloyd threw the ceremonial first pitch to Dave Nilsson, one in the dirt that got past the former All-Star catcher. ' ' '