With Allen Iverson wearing a suit and tie, his teammates can do any of the following: step up, give up, overachieve, underachieve. Trying to figure which way they??™ll go is extremely difficult. But without AI the tempo is the one that suffers, Sixers played four times without him this season and the point totals were 167 (NY), 170 (Orl), 222 (Pho) and 167 (Det). And they even shot 45.2% from the field in those three low-scoring games, just under their season average. So even with solid shooting percentage the games were ???slow??™, except the one against the Suns. The other AI has a minor injury as well, he is bothered by a sprained right thumb, which could affect his shooting and force him to focus on his defense.

Toronto and under is always tricky, but a few Raptors could struggle tonight. Villanueva appears to have hit the rookie wall in the last four, scoring just over 5 ppg during the stretch. Morris Peterson has averaged just 9.7 ppg in previous three games against the Sixers this season (guarded by Iguodala). And they also failed to break the century mark in the last four games, have three unders in a row, while Sixers have four.

Key number: -33.2

Basketball is a team sport, you usually need five solid starters and a couple of subs to win a game, but if my life depended on the ability of a single player to carry his team through 48 minutes, at this point i??™d just give Paul Pierce the ball and enjoy the show. I??™d say he was on fire, but that would be such a huge understatement, it wouldn??™t be fair. The way he played in February has put him on the same shelf with all the other Celtics legends, Larry Bird included. After all, he has scored 30+ in 13 of last 14 games, recently even registered a triple-double, and led the Celtics to five wins in the last seven games. And no, he??™s not doing it all alone, like he had to prior to the All-Star break, thanks to emergence of Ryan Gomes and the ever-improving Delonte West, the second year, tough as nails point guard who expects to play against the Bucks after being forced to sit the last two with a groin injury. Don??™t get me wrong, The Glory Days are not anywhere in sight for the Celtics, but i guess hanging out with the Pistons during the All-Star games has done wonders for Paul Pierce in terms of leadership.

Not many good things can be said of the Bucks right now, as they lost seven of their last nine, and allowed more than 116 ppg in the last 4 losses. Ending such a bad stretch is not an easy task for a team that lacks leadership, and there really are no vocal leaders on the Bucks??™ roster. And by that i mean there??™s no Paul Pierce kind of guy in Milwaukee. Michael Redd is a good player, but a true leader he??™s not. There are several quality players in Milwaukee, but what this team lacks is a true difference-maker and having one of those on your roster down the stretch is a must if you??™re battling for a playoff spot.

Key Factor: Mies van der Rohe used to say that less is more. Doc Rivers might not be the best tactician around, but in terms of getting more performance out of less talent no NBA coach comes near him.

This Sonics team probably is one of the most confident .383 teams in the NBA history. Mr. Rick Sund has done wonders for his team in the last few weeks, bringing in three W??™s (Wilcox, Watson, Wilks) and getting rid of four whining babies at the same time. It??™s definitely too soon to tell if these moves are the ones that bring the Sonics back where they were last season, but the right mindset is there again and that was what this team lacked the most so far this season. They might even be over-confident at this point but that??™s not going to hurt them (at least not short term). Even without Nick Collison (out for 4 weeks) they should be just fine with Chris Wilcox starting. They already compare him to Shawn Kemp and it??™s not because of his (lack of) intelligence.

Memphis has been a confusing team in the last ten games winning three in a row, then dropping three straight, and winning three again before losing the last game in Denver easily. You never know which Memphis team is going to show up, but with the home crowd finally having something to be happy about the home team should be the one that sets the tone in this one. Also keep in mind that Grizzlies??™ D is not exactly where Fratello wants it to be, since they held their opponent below 98 points just once in the last five games. And once Seattle gets hot, well, it??™s game, set and match Supersonics.

Key Factor: Sonics actually might be ??™06 version of Golden State Warriors.

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Lower stakes than this total deserves and it??™s for one reason only. Early tip-off, which could (but not necessarily) lead to a sloppy game. Other than that all you have to look at is Philly??™s games after the All-Star break. In six games they only failed to reach the century mark once and they never kept their opponents??™ scoring in double-digits range. It would be a concern if they were losing and desperate to change their game plan, but the Sixers are 5-1 after the break and it looks like they??™re clicking. Especially Allen Iverson and Chris Webber. AI has put up 87 points and 22 dimes, while C-Webb has dropped 51 and grabbed 25 boards in the last two games. They also combined for 77 points in the last game, their highest scoring total since Webber came to town. And Philly is not just those two guys, there are several other players capable of lighting up the scoreboard. Korver has averaged 17.6 ppg since the break, while Iggy has been dropping 14.6 ppg after being named the Rookie Game MVP.

Not much can be said about Indiana, other than the well-known fact that they??™re not a defensive powerhouse anymore now that Artest is gone and with JO injured. They still are a solid ballclub and surprisingly enough still are the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference standings (1/2 game ahead of Philly) but nowadays they??™re winning games with their shooting, especially from beyond the arc (hit 7.5 threes per game in the last 10). This is the last game of a 4-game road trip for Indiana, so defensive intensity is definitely not something they should count on. They have no perimeter defenders, not too much inside presence and they??™re visiting Allen Iverson. Their best defender, Danny Granger just is simply too big to guard Allen Iverson on the perimeter and too small to be considered an inside stopper.

Key Factor: If they keep up their stellar play Sixers should drop around 110. If they do it, that should be enough for them to cover and enough for this game to go over 201.5 points.

Every time he faces his first NBA team it??™s going to be Vince Carter this and Vince Carter that, but let??™s leave him aside and focus on something less obvious. After two solid defensive outings Toronto is back to it??™s usual (horrific) FG defense. The only opponent they held under .450 FG shooting in their last six games was Memphis (.419) and during the stretch they allowed .603 to Miami, .508 to New York and .542 to Minnesota. Against a team that??™s being run by Jason Kidd you usually pay a huge price for poor ???D??™. And yes, there??™s that guy that likes to dunk on people and was bothered by foul trouble the last time Toronto Raptors paid him a visit.

I must say i respect Sam Mitchell for not tanking the season (yet). It??™ll give his group of guys (so far he has four regulars: James, Peterson, Villaneuva and Bosh) a chance to develop some chemistry and they definitely are not the same miserable team that started the season but there still are games they??™re not supposed to win. Other than ???Bosh ??“ Who ever gets the chance to look silly trying to guard him??? matchup, not much goes in Toronto??™s favor. There??™s no trio in the league that is expected to outplay Kidd-Carter-Jefferson and Nenad Krstic should have another solid game against the Raptors and who ever they start at center. Last time i checked it was Matt Bonner, wow. I just hope Carter doesn??™t decide he wants to win it on the last second shot once again.

Key Factor: If you go 1-through-5 on position battles, Nets beat the Raptors 4 to 1.

It??™s not easy being a Jazz fan on nights when AK47 is out and according to reports coming out of Salt Lake City, he??™s (very) doubtful tonight. Jazz are 2-9 in games which Kirilenko has missed, the latest defeat coming on Wednesday in Charlotte (89-104). He??™ll still be making headlines during the weekend because of his wife??™s interview in which she said she allows him to be with another woman one night per year, as long as she??™s aware of it (i just had to bring this up, i know it has nothing to do with the game, sorry), but he probably won??™t hit the hardwood before the game at Seattle on Sunday. So, what does Sloan have when AK is out? Not much, really, and it??™s not like he has confidence in his team either. Plus he won??™t be able to count on Gordan Giricek once again, and Mehmet Okur is playing on a slightly bruised knee which seems to cause him to have an off night every now and then. It??™s good to know that Utah has already lost to Clippers twice this season (by nine points both times).

Clippers have definitely put their 5-game losing streak behind them, as they??™re going for their fourth straight win tonight. The last three W??™s were very impressive, with the average margin of victory being over 16 pts, and the last half they played was the best half in the history of the league, defensively (allowed just 16 points to Hornets). After reading Clippers??™ players pre-game quotes i??™d say they are pretty fired up to continue their strong play. With Corey Magette expected to return tonight (finally) and Chris Kaman??™s return also possible that could mean even more firepower on a roster already filled with talent. The only way the Jazz, with all their missings, can stay in this game is if the Clippers have an off night, and with their recent streak, it??™s not very likely to happen.

Key Factor: Clippers feel good about themselves, while Sloan doesn??™t feel good about his team at this point.

This is Heat??™s time of the year, just like it was last season. Those guys are crushing their opponents and probably are the most confident team in the NBA right now. The thing is, you just can??™t blame them for that, not if you know that they??™re enjoying their longest winning streak of the season and are cruising through the easiest part of their 2005/06 schedule. Their Superman-Flash combo has been particularly impressive after the break, Wade has put up some monster numbers during the streak (32.1 ppg, 7 rpg, 6.3 apg) while Shaq has gone absolutely mad after the All-Star, shooting 77% from the field in wins against NY, Toronto and Seattle. One thing that Boston and these three teams have in common is lack of interior defense, so saying Shaq will dominate once again is like saying it??™ll get dark after the sunset. Miami has scored 156 points in the paint in the last two games, shot over 50% from the field in franchise-high five straight and outscored its opponents in the paint by an average of 20 points per game in the last 17. I believe domination is the best word to describe all that.

As far as the Celtics are concerned, there??™s absolutely no one on their roster who can slow Diesel down. No one can even come close to achieving such feat. The heaviest player on their roster: Michael Olowokandi gets less than 10 minutes of PT per game and rightfully so. Next two: Al Jefferson (50-50 chance he??™ll play tonight) and Kendrick Perkins (out) wouldn??™t be able to defend O??™Neal even if they were both at 100%. Among other Celtics news, Wally is still being slowed down by his swollen knee, while Paul Pierce has a sore left elbow (but he will play). To sum it up, there is only one Celtic that could shine tonight but that??™s just not enough to beat Shaq, America??™s Favorite Highflyer and their deep supporting cast.

Key Factor: Dunks and layups, Boston just can??™t prevent those.

How often do you see a team have a fresh start three times during a single season? Well, that??™s exactly what the Sonics are doing, after starting the season with a home loss to Clippers and beating the Bulls in Chicago in the first game since hiring Bob Hill as their new head coach, the Seattle franchise enters tonight??™s game with a new look, once again. Potapenko, Evans, Murray and Radmanovic (traded a bit earlier) are all gone and none of them wanted to stay in Seatown. Watson, Wilks and Wilcox (acquired in a trade for Radmanovic) are here, and they??™re here to play. Earl Watson and Chris Wilcox should prove to be very valuable players for the remainder of the season, cause both of them fill deep holes Seattle had before bringing them in. Besides, any trade where you get rid of 4 chemistry killers is a good one. Adding some quality players only makes it better. One more note, Collison and possibly Swift will be back tonight.

New Orleans has gone 7-3 in the last ten games, but how many tough ones did they really win? They split home-and-home series with Utah (road team winning both times), defeated Portland twice, New York, Seattle (109-102) and Washington at home, Minnesota on the road and they lost at New Jersey and at Indiana (badly). That??™s not the most difficult 10-game stretch David Stern can come up with. Yeah, they??™re good, they might even keep it up until April and make the playoffs, they did add some depth at the trading deadline, but Seattle still has the best two players in this matchup, with all due respect for Chris Paul.

Key Factor: Seattle got a lot better through trades and this is their first home game and the first one at full strength since the deadline.

The All-Star was fun, with one 5??™7??? slam dunk champ leaping over another, a seven-footer winning the three-point shootout and a 6??™8???, 230 lbs. guy beating Nash??™s and Paul??™s time in skills contest, but now it??™s time for some seriousness.

Boston??™s GM Danny Ainge has one tough decision ahead of him. Does he trade Pierce and tank the season, or does he let Doc try to lead them to the playoffs (and fail) and make it his fault? I guess he??™ll run away from responsibility one more time and keep Pierce, but that probably won??™t affect this game. The last trade they made was a complete disaster, sending Ricky Davis for Szczerbiak alone was a bad thing, but adding Banks and Blount to the package had just made things worse. And no, getting Olowokandi is not a consolation prize one would look forward to. This team is (and has been for the past few years) all about Paul Pierce. C??™s need him to be happy if they want him to lead them, and happy he??™s not. The only teammate Paul has praised is Delonte West, but one superstar and one rising star won??™t give them too many wins in this league. To make matters worse, list of Celtics??™ players with minor or major injuries is not a short one. Al Jefferson is dubbed as doubtful (by coach Rivers), Kendrick Perkins will not return before Jefferson does, while Szczerbiak??™s knee is still not great (although he did manage to drive his family from Minnesota to Boston, during the All-Star weekend). All this on a team that has won 2 of 9 since the big trade.

The Jazz have lost last two games, both on the road and both to solid teams. They are in the 9th place in the Western Conference standings, and will remain in the battle for a playoff spot until the season is over. The return of Carlos Boozer should help them a lot, cause he will at least provide some muscle in the paint. They??™re simply much more stable and a lot deeper than the Celtics at this point and that should be enough.

Key Factor: Celtics are 4 and 20 on the road, and have lost their last 7 away from home.

Orlando has one win in the past 10 games, and only two out of 9 losses were by less than 5 points (to Atlanta and New York, no less). They do have Grant Hill back, but they also have tons of problems with their Franchise player. What they don’t have is beef, and you can’t play against Shaq’s teams if you’re lacking in the size department. Last night Dwight Howard had a chance to see how strong Shaq actually is, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience for the second year pro.

Miami has lost 3 of their last 10 games, but those losses were to Suns, Nets and Mavs, all three are playoff-bound teams and all three are much stronger and in better form than the Magic. I’m still not on the Heat bandwagon (and probably never will be) but games like this one are the games they are capable of winning even if they are having a bad day.

Key Factor: The heaviest player in Orlando’s rotation: Dwight Howard (240 lbs.). Shaq’s weight? He’s listed at 325 lbs. but we all know that’s not true.

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