It is only 8-10 games before the money season starts in the 2007-8 NBA regular season.

Currently in the Eastern Conference, the only "true" contenders are probably the Celtics, Pistons, and the dark horses being the Cavs and the Magics. Aside from the East, the West is pact with contenders vying just for a spot in the playoffs.

Currently the Nuggets are a half game behind the Warriors for the last spot on the Western Conference playoff pictures while the Hornets are only 6 games ahead overall. That shows that this year's playoff picture is absolutely compact with big teams in one conference and the other conference teams below 0.500 are allowed to enter the money season. However, because of this, most Eastern teams will get the higher picks of this year's draft and probably bolster their rosters to make next year's playoff picture more balanced.

And so forth, this years playoff picture by today's standings:

Hornets VS Warriors: The team that traded Baron Davis and the team with the new point guard Chris Paul. Both teams are fast tempo with Hornets more inside oriented with West and Chandler and Warriors being more shooter oriented. If the Warriors pull off another upset against the first seed, then the Bay Area fans have every reason to go bananas.

Rockets VS Mavericks: Two Texax team duking it out in the first round. The Rockets will be without Yao Ming and the Mavs will likely be without Dirk, so the balance of the rosters are pretty even. It will all come down to McGrady making his shots and staying away from injury along with role players Alston and Scola doing their jobs. For the Mavs it'll be the ability of Kidd to mesh with Johnson and the players in time. If not, Mark Cuban may look like the most riskiest and the laughing stock of the League.

Lakers VS Suns: Three years straight these teams are duking it out against each other with the Suns winning both previous series. This time, with all this rivalry, their will be the Shaq-Kobe Drama mixed in with Kobe leading the Lakers along with Odom, Bynum, Gasol, and 2000-2 winning teammate Fisher against Shaq, two time MVP Nash, Bell, Amare "I should be the MVP" Stoudemire, and Diaw. Besides the Shaq/Kobe thing, there also will be the Bynum/Shaq thing between the rising star and the falling star battle of the true centers. It'll all come down to who can make the stops, and who can make the clutch shots. Look for the Zen-Master to maximize his new crop of excellent bench (last two years, they were under developed) and role players' ability again against the Suns.

Jazz VS Spurs: It'll be Tim Duncan VS Carlos Boozer, Derom Williams, top 5 point guard in the League against last year's Finals MVP PG, Tony Parker. Besides these guys getting theirs, it'll come down to whether AK47 being able to stop Manu from going on a rampage since both coaches Sloan and Pops are a master at adjusting for the money season. This series will be interesting if you're a purist like Charely Rosen since these two teams emphasize the fundamentals along with hard nose defense.

Any one of these teams actually have a good to slim chance of making it to the Finals, but give the Lakers and the Spurs the nod if they survive the first round because of their outstanding bench players and coach. The best situation is the conference finals between these two giants in a 7game third overtime game and it's only available in the NBA.

Although it was a home court win, the Jazz kept rolling to their NBA's best home record yesterday against the Dallas Mavericks. The star players Carlos Boozer scored 28points and grabbed 8 rebounds, while Deron Williams scored 17 points and 20 assists.

As more time goes by, this duo looks more dynamic and more dangerous against contenders. Although the Mavericks are still meshing with the arrival of star point guard Jason Kidd and playing a back to back after an overtime loss to the Lakers, it is not excusable for the Mavericks bench to score less than Kyle Korver did for the Jazz (17points). Only George had 12 points while sixth man Jerry Stackhouse only scored 2 points while he is supposed to be the energetic engine for the second group for the Mavericks.

After the foul to AK47, the already hostile Salt Lake City fans became viscious; booing Dirk everytime he touched the ball. Although Josh Howard scored his usual amount along with Dirk doing the same, it seemed that Dirk lost his confidence in playing in hostile environments ever since the historical loss to the Golden State Warriors last year in the first round of the playoffs.

Dirk Nowitzki was stripped of the ball by Carlos Boozer twice in the waning moments of the final quarter of the game and both Kidd and Dirk could not stop Jazz's late surge in scoring 16 straight points to close the game. Although Jazz's William was on a roll during the entire game getting 20 assist and 14 just in the first half, that does not excuse the Mavericks from being incapable of stopping themselves from fouling every player that ventured into the paint. What happened to Jason Kidd and his nifty defense? Though he and Dirk made 3 pointers at the end of the fourth quarter, that was not enough. Kidd couldn't get other guys to shake off their nervousness and play like contenders. The other day center Dampier had 17 rebounds against the Lakers, and today he only grabs 5 boards and gets into foul trouble playing only 26 minute of the game.

Props for the Jazz to retain their win and their NBA best home record after losing Andrei to a bruised hip (they say it's not broken). For the Mavericks to contend truly in the West, not only must Kidd show leadership, which he is doing, but he must also gather the trust of his teammates so that they do not break down late in games. If Dirk Nowitzki wants to justify to critics about his legitmatecy as a MVP, he must make stops early against opposing teams' runs, and also show to teammates and coach Avery Johnson that he can play clutch in every game he plays.

If not, it's recommended that the Mavs scrap and start rebuilding again after the season. The team has enough players to attract various number of draft picks and prospects, along with the endless depth to Mark Cuban's wallet.