Defending champs have some questions they have to answer

Seven questions for the next seven days:

So is 81-1 out of the question? -- Who would have figured that when the defending champions roll into Oklahoma City on Tuesday night that the Lakers and Thunder would have the same record? On one of their rare sojourns outside of California before Christmas, Kobe Bryant and his pals play at OKC (Tuesday) and Houston (Wednesday) and will try along the way to find out whatever happened to Ron Artest's lost jump shot. Gee, not that anybody's fretting -- well, maybe after that home-court whipping by Dallas they are -- but the quest to break the regular season record of 72-10 suddenly takes a back seat to concerns about Pau Gasol's nagging hamstring injury.

But can they still swing the big bats? -- Manu Ginobili turned into Count Whackula on Halloween night when he clobbered an intruding bat that was buzzing the court at the AT&T Center. Now the Spurs have to head out for back-to-back games at Utah (Thursday) and Portland (Friday) to prove that their remade and supposedly rejuvenated lineup can survive and thrive on the road. A couple of home wins over the buzzless Hornets and lowly Kings make less of an impression than a second half wipeout against the Bulls in Chicago.

Who's the best O'Neal? -- After listening to a summer full of hype surrounding the arrival of Shaquille O'Neal in Cleveland, it seems the whole world forgot there was another guy with the same name on the back of his uniform. Jermaine O'Neal was able to take care of fitness business, getting healthy and has turned back into the solid front-line performer of the past, averaging 17.3 points and 10 rebounds to help Dwyane Wade get the Heat off to a 3-0 start. This week's test comes at Washington on Wednesday.

Are you green with envy? -- What does it say when Rajon Rondo can take just two shots, score just two points and the Celtics still give last spring's playoff headache from Chicago a thrashing? That Rondo can concentrate on dishing 16 assists and grabbing eight rebounds while the rest of the deeper-than-the-championship-season Celtics come out of the starting blocks like Usain Bolt. A back-to-back at Philly (Tuesday) and Minnesota (Wednesday) will be the first test for the roster full of veterans.

Can we get a Witness? Please? -- Have you ever seen such begging, pleading, groveling on the sidewalks of a major city? No, those aren't panhandlers, but Knicks executives and members of the New York media wearing holes in the knees of their pants as they genuflect on LeBron James's first visit of the season to Madison Square Garden. The Knicks and Nets are both winless (a combined 0-6) and that means the Big Apple will sound like the world's largest aviary with all of the "tweets" that greet every inhale, exhale, raised eyebrow and turn of the head by LeBron when he takes the court on Friday night.

Did anyone pack the Sun block? -- After getting out to a 3-0 start by taking advantage of the weak sisters (Clippers, Warriors and Timberwolves) of the Western Conference, the Suns pack up their old running game and their new confidence for a five-game East Coast trip that begins in Miami (Tuesday), goes through Orlando (Wednesday) and Boston (Friday), and might go a long way toward proving if they're for real. Amar'e Stoudemire seems happy and productive and all the good things they said in Phoenix about Channing Frye being a nice addition have been right so far.

What's up the Magic's sleeves? -- It looks like they don't need Hedo Turkoglu (traded to Toronto), don't need Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee or Tony Battie (traded to New Jersey) and apparently don't even need Rashard Lewis (suspended) or Vince Carter, who missed Sunday's win in Toronto with a sprained ankle. Now the defending Eastern Conference champion Magic, who've been lost in the backwash of the hype surrounding Cleveland and Boston, will take a perfect 3-0 record into the last stop of their three-game road trip at Detroit on Tuesday. Then it's back home to face Phoenix (Wednesday) and the Pistons (Friday) as the Magic pick up where they left off last spring; not giving an inch to the Celtics in the already hot East race.

Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here.

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