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ATLANTA HAWKS: The Hawks latest losing streak stands at five games following Saturday's 90-68 loss at Dallas. The game marked the return of forward Antoine Walker to Dallas and he finished with 13 points. ... Walker also was mentioned in the Boston Herald's gossip column last week. The column said he would return to Boston if the Hawks failed to give him a contract extension. But according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it's not taking place. "I ain't going back there," he said. "Honestly, I never said that." ... On the court, the Hawks made a pair of trips to Texas last week and hit season lows in points both times. They had 69 in Houston Wednesday and 68 in Dallas on Saturday, a game that saw them tie a team record for futility with 28 first-half points. ... Guard Tony Delk also returned to Dallas and reunited himself with an injured soldier from the war in Iraq as he met with Army Cpl. J.R. Martinez, who suffered burns over 40 percent of his body following a collision with a land mine. ... Rookie guard Josh Childress set a career high with 10 rebounds Friday vs. Portland. ... Center Kevin Willis sat out Saturday's game with the flu while G Jon Barry was a DNP-CD for the seventh straight game. ... The Hawks are currently starting five players that are 6'8 or taller. In an NBA player survey, the Hawks ranked as the fifth-tallest club at 6'7.

BOSTON CELTICS: The Celtics have won four of their last five games with two coming in overtime following big comebacks. On Monday in Los Angeles vs. the Clippers, they rallied from 12 points down for a 133-127 double-overtime win and Saturday in Cleveland, they overcame a 16-point deficit for a 114-107 win at Cleveland. In both wins, Ricky Davis was heavily involved. He was key on offense Monday and Saturday, he held LeBron James in check down the stretch and according to coach Doc Rivers, he has been their go-to guy on the defensive side. "I like playing defense, getting down and dirty and sacrificing your body are some of the things you've got to do to win," Davis said to the Associated Press. "I tried to use some experience, deny him (James) the ball and made sure when he got it, it was away from the basket where he can't do as much damage." .... Davis also has thrived as the team's sixth man, averaging 15.2 points in 16 games since being moved to the bench by Rivers on November 21. The celtics are 8-8 in those games and their reserves are averaging 35.5 points per game. ... The move also has paid off for guard Jiri Welsch, who is averaging 10.7 points in 16 games as a starter. In their last 16 games, the Celtics are averaging 103.7 points in their last 16 contests. ... F Tom Gugliotta is one game shy of 600 for his career but that won't be coming soon. He landed back on the injured list Thursday with a mild right ankle sprain.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS: Rookie F Emeka Okafor's double-double streak stands at 12 games following his 23 point, 17 rebound showing in Saturday's 101-100 overtime win vs. the Houston Rockets, which gave the Bobcats their first winning streak. He is the first rookie to have 12 straight double-doubles since Shaquille O'Neal had 14 for Orlando in 1992-93. He can equal that mark when he makes his return to his native Houston Wednesday night. O'Neal holds the record for most consecutive double-doubles by an active player in their first year with 15 from Dec. 22, 1992 to Jan.26, 1993. Okafor is one of 14 players to average a double-double in points and rebounds. While the Bobcats are the only winless road team at 0-10, they have won five in a row at home. On Saturday, Okafor kept the streak alive by forcing overtime with a dunk over Dikembe Mutombo with three seconds left and battled for a loose ball in overtime that gave him a bloody nose. ... Guard Brevin Knight recorded 11 assists Saturday night and has reached double digits in assists in three straight games and eight times overall. ... Okafor's jersey is the eighth most popular based on sales at the NBA store and on NBA.com.

CHICAGO BULLS: The Bulls were 1-10 in November but are 6-5 this month, with wins over the Lakers, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Grizzlies, Bucks and Pacers. They have won three in row for the first time since December 14-18, 2002 and are now 7-6 since dropping their first nine games. The Bulls have a chance for their first four-game winning streak since the 1997-98 season.. In their last chance at four straight victories, the Bulls were handed a 15-point loss at Indiana on December 20, 2002. ''It's crazy, man,'' center Eddy Curry said to the Chicago Sun-Times of coach Scott Skiles telling them how long it's been since the Bulls had won four in a row. ''Coach is good about putting stuff up there that we didn't know. When he put that up after the game, we were like, 'Man, we really have a chance to really turn the corner and do something special.''' ... Curry scored 23 points in Saturday's 85-71 win vs. the Pacers and has finished in double figures in his last seven games. Tyson Chandler had nine rebounds and just missed getting double-digit rebounds for the fifth straight game. In his last 15 games, Chandler has averaged 11.2 boards. Rookie Ben Gordon is averaging 13.1 points in his last 15 outings ... Antonio Davis bruised his jaw and suffered a concussion Saturday and X-Rays on his jaw came back negative, leaving him questionable for Monday's 1992 finals rematch vs. Portland. ... Wednesday's win in Memphis marked the first time in 281 career games as a coach Skiles was ejected. He was tossed by Leroy Richardson with 4:13 remaining in the second quarter for arguing a non-foul call against Earl Watson. ... Thursday's game vs. the Bucks drew just 14,403 fans, the lowest for a home game since 1987 vs. the Clippers at Chicago Stadium.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: Cleveland was 12-6 following a 103-97 win over New Jersey on December 7 but has dropped four of its last six games. The Cavaliers have been blown out in Chicago and San Antonio, were held to six points in the third quarter at Detroit on Thursday and blew a 16-point to Boston Saturday night. The blown lead to the Celtics ended Cleveland's nine-game winning streak at Gund Arena, the longest in the 11-year-old facility. It was the team's longest run on their homecourt since winning 12 in a row at the suburban Richfield Coliseum Jan. 16-March 16, 1993. Both of Cleveland's home losses have been in overtime. They opened the season with a five-point double overtime defeat to the Pacers. ... G Eric Snow was suspended for Saturday's game for cursing at Paul Silas Thursday. The incident got national attention as Silas delivered a brief postgame tirade at a reporter who hounded him about it. LeBron James scored a career-high 43 vs. Detroit on November 24 but Thursday was held to 11 on 4-of-21 shooting. James played in his 100th game last Wednesday vs. Portland and his career average of 21.8 is better than Ron Harper, Brad Daugherty and Mark Price through the same point in their careers. ... Cleveland has dropped 14 of its last 16 meetings with the Celtics.

DETROIT PISTONS: The Pistons have endured coach Larry Brown's suspension and center Ben Wallace's six-game suspension for fighting Ron Artest. Now the latest obstacle was Richard Hamilton's dental issues, which started November 27. Before scoring 29 points in New York Wednesday, Hamilton had games in which he finished with eight and 14 points while struggling on defense. "I've got to go back one more time," Hamilton said to the Detroit Free Press "I had an abscess. At first I couldn't sleep, I couldn't do anything. Once they opened it up the last time, which was two or three days ago, I've been cool. I've been able to eat. When you don't sleep and can't rest and can't eat everything you want to eat .... you have to adjust everything." ... The Pistons fell to 3-1 in one-point games with Saturday's 75-74 loss to Portland. Hamilton shot 3-of-22 and Detroit shot 31.5 percent (29-of-92). ... Detroit has shot under 40 percent for the fourth time in seven games. Surprisingly, the Pistons are 1-3 when they shoot 50 percent. ... With Thursday's win over Cleveland, Brown moved past Bill Fitch for fourth place on the all-time wins list at 945.

INDIANA PACERS: As expected the fallout from last month's brawl in Detroit have negatively impacted the Pacers record. They were 7-3 after beating the Pistons and won three of their first four games following the incident to go to 10-4. But since Nov. 26, the Pacers are 2-8. On Saturday, guard Jamaal Tinsley scored a career-high 33 points in an 85-71 loss at Chicago. But he missed 20-of-31 shots and Indiana shot 30.6 percent (26-of-85). ... Rookie center David Harrison scored a career-high 22 points in Friday's 89-86 win vs. Toronto but suffered back spasms in the opening quarter and played just nine minutes. F Austin Croshere missed his third straight game with a sprained left ankle. Guard Anthony Johnson sat out with a pulled right hamstring and totaling his suspension and injuries he has missed 15 games. Johnson and Croshere are hopeful to play Wednesday vs. Philadelphia.

MIAMI HEAT: The Heat have won eight in a row for the first time since 10-game streak during the 1997-98 season. In Sunday's 117-107 win over the Magic, they rallied from a 63-54 halftime deficit and outscored Orlando, 31-21 in the fourth quarter. Miami has won nine of its last 10 games and strong fourth quarters are a reason. They have allowed an average of 21 points and are scoring 27 in the final 12 minutes. The Heat are 8-0 with Damon Jones as one of their starting guards. Center Shaquille O'Neal has made at least half his shots in 12 straight games and 21 times overall. On Sunday, the Heat debuted their red secondary road jerseys. Miami is 14-0 when topping the century mark and 15-2 against Eastern Conference opponents.

The rest of the East comes tomorrow.