A lot of people may have given up on the Portland Trail Blazers once the news of top overall draft choice Greg Oden's season-ending microfracture knee surgery. But you can be certain that was never an option for coach Nate McMillan and the rest of the team.

And we seem to be learning more about their resolve on a nightly basis. On Wednesday night, the red-hot Golden State Warriors, in the middle of a 12-3 run (the best in 32 years), found out just how tough the Blazers are in a 105-95 Portland win. All of a sudden, the young Blazers have won five in a row and moved to within two games of .500. Led by their superb sophomore duo of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, and the rapidly improving Travis Outlaw, the Blazers are proving they want to make a difference in the Western Conference this season.

The odds of them making the playoffs aren't particularly encouraging, but it is already apparent they won't care until they are eliminated, and that may be much later than anyone could have imagined. Then again, nobody thought much about Joel Przybilla standing in for Oden and producing the 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks as he did Wednesday against the Warriors. More to the point is they are built in McMillan's image. They play fast, they play tough and they won't roll over for anybody. They aren't ready yet to be serious players in the West, but they're coming along. If you don't believe it, ask the Warriors.

Shots from the perimeter

Abracadabra, the magic seems to be seeping out of Orlando. After a 14-3 start with the NBA world hailing Dwight Howard as the Most Valuable Player before the season was even a quarter of the way through, the Magic have lost four of six. They got off to such a fast start with Howard and maximum free agent signing Rashard Lewis dominating. Lewis averaged 21.2 points and shot .514 from the field in the first 12 games when they were 10-2. Then came the scouting reports, and since then he's averaged 17.0 points and shot .367 as they've struggled to 6-5. Now that the league has adjusted, can they adjust to the league?

With the Magic drop off, it's allowed the Celtics to just run away and hide. After knocking off the Kings Wednesday night, they raised their record to an NBA-best 18-2, including 11-0 at home - one game shy of their club record of 12-0 set during the 1984-85 season. And for the first time, the story really didn't surround Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen or Paul Pierce. It was "Big Baby" Glen Davis with 16 points and 9 rebounds, starting his first game because Kendrick Perkins injured his right big toe in a bizarre accident when his bed broke at home. The result was taking a good long look at another weapon coach Doc Rivers can develop as the season progresses. How dominant have they been? Well, 15 of those 18 wins have been by double digits.

Allen Iverson told the world he wants to opt out of his contract next summer with the Denver Nuggets and sign an extension to stay in Denver and play until he's 40. Wednesday night, at the age of 32, he showed once again why the Nuggets have to consider anything he asks. Iverson had 22 points and 11 assists in a big six-point win over New Orleans for their third win in a row and fifth in six games to solidify their hold on first place in the Northwest Division. With Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby continuing to put up big numbers and Kenyon Martin progressing rapidly in his comeback from knee surgery, the Nuggets are showing signs of gaining consistency for coach George Karl.  And with point guard Chucky Atkins ready to finally start practicing with the groin injury that has kept him out all season finally healing, they're beginning to look like a serious challenger in the West.

The good news for the Toronto Raptors -- that the frightening fall point guard T.J. Ford took Tuesday night against Atlanta didn't cause any damage -- didn't hurt their plight Wednesday night. With Jose Calderon as one of the backup point guards in the game and Chris Bosh getting healthier, they embarrassed the Dallas Mavericks 92-76. That drops the Mavs to 5-7 over the past 12 games after a 9-2 start. And as they struggle to settle on a point guard, consider the slide of Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs have split their past eight games. In three of those games, Dirk has averaged 31 points - they won two of those. In the other five, he has averaged just 14.8 and shot 38 percent from the field. Something is wrong in Big D and unless they shake out of it in a hurry, changes are inevitable - and soon.

Nobody is coming to the games, and really nobody is talking about the Sixers at all, unless it's about the availability of point guard Andre Miller with new general manager and president Ed Stefanski. Nevertheless, they won their fourth game in a row, and the dominant figure was also the most confounding figure on this team - center Samuel Dalembert, who came within one block of a triple-double. Count 18 points, 11 rebounds and 9 blocks in their 98-94 win over the woeful Timberwolves.

The good thing for the rest of the league about the Knicks failing so dramatically in Madison Square Garden is it translates into a great opportunity for a coming-out party. Wednesday night, it was super-rook Kevin Durant's turn. He was magnificent down the stretch again to give the Seattle SuperSonics a 117-112 win and finished with 30 points. He's scored at least 30 points three of the past seven games, as the young and struggling Sonics have pieced together a 4-3 run, which is significant for a team that was 2-13 before this began. Even a little success removes some of the heat from Durant and coach P.J. Carlesimo.

And lastly, on the flip side of the Blazers are the Utah Jazz. They suffered a tough five-point loss at Phoenix Wednesday night, and now have tossed five in a row. Suddenly, the exceptional combination of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams isn't anywhere near enough to win against the top teams ... at least not yet. This team is too talented and Jerry Sloan too exceptional a coach for them not to straighten out. A loss at Phoenix is hardly embarrassing, but something isn't clicking right now and at the moment, it's difficult to decipher. In fact, you can throw the Jazz, the Mavs and the Houston Rockets into the same pot right now and ask the same questions.

Or, maybe all three are just overrated.