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Team (record) Comment (last week’s position)

1. San Antonio (14-4) Proving there are no dynasties in West either, Spurs lose by 22 at Detroit. (2)

2. Lakers (13-4) MVP territory: Shaq’s in top three in scoring, rebounds, blocks, shooting percentage. (6)

3. Portland (14-4) Good thing Trail Blazers can defend; they haven’t scored 95 in last six games. (1)

4. Miami (12-4) Eastern Conference kingpins head West to show what they’ve really got. (5)

5. Sacramento (11-3) Had only been held to 100 or less once before trip, but now it’s thrice. (3)

6. Seattle (13-4) Oops: May be problem putting Grant at center vs. Shaq, Twin Towers, et al. (4)

7. Phoenix (11-5) Suns won seven in row but six were at home and only two over winning teams. (8)

8. Toronto (10-6) Raptors play next five at home, so if they have a big move in them, now’s the time. (7)

9. Indiana (10-7) Pacers out of their funk; start 3-0 on West swing, win at Portland, Utah. (14)

10. Utah (9-7) As Chick would say, the Jazz is in the refrigerator and Jell-O’s jiggling. (9)

11. Milwaukee (9-7) Forget about note that said Karl loves Robinson. Big Dog for sale again. (10)

12. Minnesota (7-7) Burden telling on Da Kid: Garnett hasn’t been over 20 points in last seven. (11)

13. Charlotte (9-7) Hornets in West too. Bad place to be for team that doesn’t bring it on road. (12)

14. New York (10-8) Ewing is practicing again, expected to come back soon and save the day. (18)

15. Boston (8-8) Trade rumors swirl around Walker again as Pierce moves into role as main man. (15)

16. Orlando (9-8) Biggest surprise yet: Doc’s collection of nobodies has 6-4 road record. (20)

17. Detroit (8-10) Hill averaging 27.3 points--5.9 better than his previous best season. (13)

18. Philadelphia (10-9) Player stepping up with Iverson out isn’t Larry Hughes but Aaron McKie. (19)

19. Atlanta (8-9) Get the stopwatch out: Rider is back, “playing with a smile on my face.” (21)

20. Cleveland (8-7) Just saw tape of Shamu, er, Kemp missing two-handed dunk. It was hilarious. (17)

21. Denver (7-8) Nuggets make Hornets look like road warriors: 5-82 on road since February 1997. (16)

22. Washington (5-13) Strickland wants out, but he and the Wizards may be stuck with each other. (25)

23. Houston (6-12) Thank heaven Rockets found the Clippers before they forgot what a win was. (26)

24. Dallas (7-11) Nellie combs waiver wire for guards as Pack, Erick Strickland go down. (23)

25. Clippers (4-12) Another monument to underachievement for our favorite dispirited organization. (22)

26. Vancouver (3-13) Usual story: Grizzlies start 3-3 and then pop their chutes once again. (24)

27. New Jersey (2-15) Owners approach NBA’s Thorn so it looks as if GM Nash may leave with Casey. (27)

28. Golden State (2-14) Looks like Warriors have quit on P.J., who better talk them into reviving soon. (27)

29. Chicago (1-14) Bulls lost to Mavericks at home to prove there aren’t any wins they can count on. (29)

GAME OF THE WEEK

LAKERS at SACRAMENTO

When--Wednesday. Time--5 p.m. TV--Ch. 9, TBS

* Story line--Another in our series of old-Pacific-royalty-meets-the-upstarts as the Lakers, who used to mop the floor with the Kings, try to deal with the new version. Sacramento is a young, slick-passing, crowd-pleasing, high-scoring team, led by Chris Webber, who’s having his best season, and the game’s flashiest, if not best point guard, Jason Williams.