NBA DOWN THE LANE News Milwaukee Bucks

THIS WEEK IN THE NBA

After playing at home today against New York and Tuesday against Philadelphia, the Boston Celtics head west for a four-game trip. Despite getting off to the best start in franchise history, Boston continues to fine-tune its game. "We have not played a stretch where as a coach you would say, 'We've hit our stride,' " said coach Doc Rivers. "We clearly have not done that. But we're winning games and that's important." The 76ers' game at Boston is the first of six straight on the road. The five-game Western portion of the trip begins Friday in Denver. Portland and Denver play a back-to-back, Monday in Denver and Tuesday in Portland. The Los Angeles Lakers finish up a four-games-in-five nights stretch on the road with games at Memphis on Monday and New Orleans on Tuesday.

GAME OF THE WEEK

In a festive Christmas Day made-for-TV special, Boston takes on the Lakers at the Staples Center on Thursday in a rematch of last season's Finals.

Bucks WEEK

Coach Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz will be in town Tuesday to spread some holiday cheer in what will be the final stop on a five-game trip for Utah. The only other game in a light week will be Saturday when Allen Iverson and the Detroit Pistons visit the Bradley Center.

QUOTABLE

"We couldn't hit a bull in the (butt) with a bass fiddle."

- Dallas coach Rick Carlisle, after the Mavericks' 34.9% shooting night against Denver.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Perhaps it was New Orleans Hornets guard Devin Brown who put it into perspective best when teammate Chris Paul set an NBA record by coming up with a steal in a 106th consecutive game, in a victory over San Antonio. Paul broke Alvin Robertson's steals record that had stood since 1985-'86. Brown grew up in San Antonio and watched Robertson play for the Spurs and later, when playing in college for Texas-San Antonio, Brown played in pickup games against Robertson. "I know what type of player Alvin was, seeing him first-hand," said Brown. "He guarded everybody on the floor. So it's a tremendous honor for CP to have the record." Robertson played for the Bucks for three-plus seasons beginning in 1989 and was one of the most tenacious defenders to ever wear a Milwaukee uniform. Paul achieved the record when he swiped the ball away from Tony Parker in the second quarter. "Now that I have the record, I might as well try to smash it," said Paul. "It's such a crazy stat. But I know stealing the ball is one of my best attributes. Every time I deflect it, I want to come up with it."

NUMBERS GAME

3:12 During his record-setting streak of steals, the longest Chris Paul went into a game before getting a steal was last January against Portland when he didn't get a steal until 3 minutes, 12 seconds remained in the game.

7 Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki averaged 32.7 points and 41.3 minutes during the team's recent seven-game home stand.

11.6 Kobe Bryant's new personal low-cut sneaker made my Nike weighs just 11.6 ounces, the lightest Basketball shoe ever made by his company.

30 Portland is 2-4 when Brandon Roy scores 30 or more points.

351 Orlando's Dwight Howard had played in 351 straight games before sitting out two games with a knee injury.