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As difficult as it has been at times this season to get a handle on the Rockets, they could get a strong indication in the next few days.

They’ll learn more when Tracy McGrady and Brent Barry return from injuries, and that does not seem likely anytime soon.

Ron Artest and Shane Battier will likely be gimpy through most of the month. The role players stepping in with all the injuries have been spectacularly inconsistent.

But the Rockets had shown signs of getting their offense, limited by injuries as it might be, in gear last week with consecutive home wins against the Clippers and Warriors. They scored 103 points against the Clippers, which was their most since the second game of the season, then rolled up 131 against the Warriors, their most since 1995.

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Two teams with nearly identical records, but playing in different conferences, will square off Thursday to see who the best among them is. The Cavaliers ride into this game with Lebron James and his over 30 points a game. After a slower than anticipated start the Cavs are starting to look like the team that made it all the way to the NBA Finals a season ago. They are on a roll, winning eight out of their last ten ballgames. They did take a tough break a couple of games ago when Anderson Varejao went down four 4-6 weeks with a hurt ankle, but the rest of the gain should be able to keep them more than afloat until he returns, although his return will be welcomed. A high energy guy like Varejao is always appreciated on any team looking to make a run deep into the playoffs.

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The Blue Devils were expected to be good, but not this good. The team, as a whole, is young, yet they are surprising everyone by starting off the year 16 and 1, with the only loss coming by a single point to Pittsburgh. A lot of teams are well balances, but Duke is the epitome of balance, with six players averaging nine points or more. Duke is currently on top of the ACC rankings because of the unexpected loss of UNC to Maryland. They are also rated number three in the countries top 25 rankings. Early in the season people thought it would be a good season if the Blue Devils could finish the year in the top-25, now experts are trying to figure out if they can be significant title challengers.

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The Kansas Jayhawks are undefeated, and are looking for that elusive NCAA championship that has eluded them the last few years, despite having good years. The Big 12 is one of the hardest conferences in America to play in, but that hasn’t stopped the Jayhawks either. Kansas is a very well balanced team, with four out of the five scorers averaging double digits, with the fifth not that far behind. Darnell Jackson is the only senior among the five starters, and he is averaging 12.8 points and seven rebounds a game.

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Year after year the Phoenix Suns put up one of the best regular season records, but fail to produce in the playoffs. The good record part seems to be in full bloom once again this year, but they will be getting a good taste of what to expect in the playoffs as they take on the defending NBA champions, San Antonio Spurs, on Thursday.

Two-time MVP Steve Nash is once again passing the ball at will against NBA defenses, averaging over 12 assists per game. Nash is also scoring 17 points a game, numbers almost equal to his MVP seasons. Amare Stoudemire leads the team in scoring with 22.7 points a game, while his counterpart Shawn Marion leads the team with just over ten rebounds a game.

The big three for the Suns is pretty good, but the big three for the Spurs has proven they can get it done on the biggest of stages. Tim Duncan continues to be one of the best power forwards in the league, leading his team with 11.2 rebounds. Tony Parker, who has come alive the last few years, leads all Spurs scorers with 19.6 a game. Finally Manu Ginobili is averaging 19.2 a game. The Spurs have had nagging injury problems all year, but unfortunately for the rest of the league, they seem to all be pretty healthy now. The Spurs are currently in the middle of a log jam in the Southwest standings in the west, with three teams, including themselves, within a half game of each other in the standings. I like the Spurs in this one, they seem to be on a roll lately.

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This game on Thursday features two of the most exciting, and well regarded teams in the NBA. Both the Mavericks and the Celtics have NBA Final aspirations, as do all teams, but these two have as good as chance as just about any of the best teams. The Mavericks are winners of eight out of their last ten after starting the beginning of the season a little slower than years past. Nobody in the Western conference is dominating this year, and 55 wins or so might be enough to win the conference. In other words, there are a lot of good teams in the conference this year. The Celtics are actually in the midst of their worst downswing of the season. While still playing well, they have actually only won six out of their last ten. While that doesn’t seem that bad, when you consider they only have seven losses the entire season, you can see that most of them have came of late. Surprisingly, four of those seven losses have come at home. The Celtics still have a commanding lead in the Eastern conference, but they would like to continue playing well to ensure the home court advantage all the way through the playoffs. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett have never won an NBA championship, and with each in their 30’s now, they would like to finish their career on a high note with a championship or two. In order to do that they will need to beat tough teams like Dallas in the process.

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The UConn Huskies are a bit improved from years past, but they will have to bring their best game into Indiana to try to beat the red hot Hoosiers. All five of the Huskies starters are averaging over ten points a game, indicating a very balanced offense. Leading the team in scoring and rebounding is junior forward Jeff Adrien. Adrien is averaging just under a double-double, with 14.5 points a game and 9.2 rebounds a game. Another thing about this talented starting five is that none of them are seniors, and only two of them are juniors. While they hope to do big things this season, it’s my guess that they will be among the best teams in the nation next year.

One of the teams that are among the best in the country is the 10th ranked Indiana Hoosiers. In Indiana basketball comes second on the list of most important things, right behind breathing. For a few years the team struggled, but with the play of super freshman Eric Gordon, and his 22.4 points a game. Their only loss of the season came as a bit of a shocker in the sixth game of the season by 15 points to Xavier.

Gordon is a special kind of player, who may only play in college for one year, but could make a huge impact, like a Carmelo Anthony, in his short visit. The Huskies will be one of the toughest games of the year for Indiana, but playing at home should be enough for the Hoosiers to get the upper hand in this contest.

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The UCLA Bruins started the year as the number one ranked team in the nation, and with the exception of one little blip on the screen, they appear to still be among the best. If it weren’t for a two point loss against Texas back in the beginning of December they would still be undefeated, but the Bruins didn’t allow this loss to set them back. The Bruins have also opened the Pac-10 conference undefeated, a good start in a very tough conference. The Bruins have a good balance of older leadership on the team, but it’s a young freshman now that is leading the team. Kevin Love, expected to play in the NBA in just a year or two, is averaging a double-double. His 16 points and 10 rebounds a game comes consistently every night, no matter who they are playing.

The Oregon Ducks are playing fairly well, but also enjoy the advantage of having one of the loudest arenas in all of college basketball. Oregon is undefeated at home, and their high scoring offense, 81 points a game, is a joy to watch. All five of their starters are scoring double figures. Leading the scoring is senior guard Malik Hairston with over 18 points a game.

At home you expect the Ducks to be able to hang with anyone, including the Bruins. But a look at their record shows that they have dropped some games that seem unacceptable, including those against Nebraska and Oakland, not exactly powerhouses. I know every game is a different series of match-ups, but I feel that the Bruins will be able to go into Duck country and live victorious.

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The New Jersey Nets started off a bit slow, but after going on a steady winning streak since the initial decline, the Nets are right in the hunt of things in the Eastern Conference. However, they have hit a mini-slid here of late, dropping three in a row, but two of those games were against the Boston Celtics and the Portland Trailblazers, both very good teams. It won’t be easy for them to turn it around when they travel to Golden State and take on the Warriors. Nets point guard Jason Kidd will be more than up for the challenge, as he has been putting up triple-doubles at a quick rate. Kidd is averaging 11.5 points, 10.7 and 8.6 rebounds a game. He is also good on the defensive side of the ball, averaging 1.7 steals a game. Richard Jefferson leads the team with in scoring with 23.9 points a game.

To match wits with Kidd will be Warriors point guard Byron Davis. Davis leads his team in points, assists and rebounds. When Davis is healthy, which he has been the majority of this year; he is among the best players in the entire league. In the past couple of years Golden State has continued to get better, while playing for a playoff position on the bottom half of the eligible standings. There 23-17 record puts them about there, but as they proved against Dallas in the first round last season, they surely aren’t an easy out. Any game between Davis and Kidd is a treat, but I feel Davis will come out the victor in this one, with home court advantage being the main factor

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Things in Miami aren’t looking so hot, at least on the basketball court. As of this writing the team has lost 11 games in row. Things started poorly when Dwayne Wade went down with in injury in the opening games of the season, and have continued to spiral out of control since. Coach Pat Riley is continually on the hot seat, and the play of Shaquille O’Neal has also slowed down, which can be expected from a player who had the term “hack a Shaq,” named especially for him. Wade is back, and is personally playing well, averaging over 24 points a game, but as the old adage goes, he can’t do it all himself. Back up center Alonzo Mourning is also gone for the year, putting even more stress on the bench. Things won’t get any better when the Spurs come into town.

San Antonio is also in a mini-funk, losing five of ten, and owning a below .500 record on the road. Like the Heat, the Spurs tough road can be attributed to bad health. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili have both seen considerable time on the injury list this year, but seem to be coming out of it now, bad news for the rest of the league. Tony Parker is currently the number one offensive weapon on the team, averaging 20.2 points a game.

The Heat are a team that are sinking fast. I guess it won’t be a shocker here when I expect the Spurs, despite the slight slide lately, will go to Miami and take care of business in their generally usually effective way.

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