Top to Bottom : CAPSULES AND RANKINGS

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Team (Record) Comment 1. Chicago (23-3) Just might be some lunatics you’re looking for 2. Houston (21-5) Charlie on warpath again 3. Utah (20-4) Stockton plays in 1,000th--of possible 1,004 4. Lakers (19-9) Funny thing happened on way to elite status 5. Seattle (19-9) McMillan, needed to spell Payton, out again 6. Miami (19-7) Reality beckons: three losses at home in week 7. Detroit (20-5) Christmas present: trip to Chicago 8. New York (18-7) Best acquisition: Childs, 8-1 as starter 9. Atlanta (15-9) After 6-6 start 10. Cleveland (16-8) But Fratello-ball chills attendance too 11. Milwaukee (14-11) Andrew Lang 0, Shaq 41 12. Charlotte (14-11) On second thought, who got better of LJ deal? 13. Indiana (11-12) For a moment, they had reached .500 14. Portland (14-13) Something missing in collective upstairs 15. Washington (12-12) 3-1 on West Coast trip 16. San Antonio (6-17) Win at Houston shows they’re back in game 17. Phoenix (8-17) Already tied for No. 8 in West 18. Clippers (10-16) Still hanging in there 19. Toronto (9-17) Ditto 20. Orlando (9-13) Penny out a month. Lottery beckons 21. Dallas (9-15) 0-7 vs. teams with winning records 22. Golden State (9-17) Too bad this isn’t a game of H-O-R-S-E 23. Philadelphia (7-18) Oops: Wild Bunch heads west for seven 24. Sacramento (10-17) St. Jean should get vote of confidence soon 25. Minnesota (9-17) Franchise’s best start 26. Denver (7-19) Next coach (and GM) 27. New Jersey (6-16) Rookie Kerry Kittles already their best 28. Boston (5-18) Only expansion saves them from being worst 29. Vancouver (5-22) Abdur-Rahim averaging 20 in last five

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GAME OF THE WEEK

DETROIT AT CHICAGO

* When: Wednesday. Time: 5:30 PST. TV--Ch. 4.

* Storyline--Are the Bulls’ problems over? Can the young Pistons challenge them? Can anyone? Tune in and see if Grant Hill’s challengers improve on their 18-point loss in the first meeting at Auburn Hills.