THE TIMES’ RANKINGS TOP TO BOTTOM

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

1. Seattle (29-6) Won by 25 in Cleveland, 19 in Boston, heading to New York and Chicago. (3)

2. Lakers (27-8) Bad news Shaq’s not in shape yet. Good news He’s really ticked off. (1)

3. Chicago (25-11) Surprise! Pippen didn’t wait for trade deadline to pass. (2)

4. Miami (22-11) Riley out to end Bulls’ intimidation, sets up Knicks-Bulls-style feud. (4)

5. Utah (23-11) Led NBA in shooting last three seasons, back on top after a cold start. (6)

6. San Antonio (23-12) Did it on defense Spurs gave up 93 a game in November, 88 in December. (7)

7. Phoenix (22-10) Smurfs win in Indiana and Minnesota, end Spurs’ streak, have NBA’s fourth-best mark. (9)

8. Indiana (23-11) Pacers still look more like competition for the Heat than for the Bulls. (5)

9. Charlotte (21-13) Some nice homecoming for Divac Gets to deal with 320 pounds of Shaq. (10)

10. Atlanta (21-12) Without Mookie Blaylock and Ed Gray, Hawks’ problems aren’t over yet. (8)

11. Cleveland (20-13) Baker 25, Kemp 9 as SuperSonics win by 25. Rematch/boofest in Seattle on Saturday. (12)

12. Portland (19-15) Anderson, Rider, whose career low marks were 39%, 45%, shooting 38%, 41%. (11)

13. New Jersey (18-16) Times are a’changing The Nets were 9-25 at this point last season. (14)

14. Washington (19-18) Strickland isn’t in top 10 in all-star voting. Muresan, yet to play, is. (15)

15. Minnesota (18-16) Misprint? Miracle? Roberts goes 34 minutes, outscores Sabonis, 14-12. (18)

16. New York (19-15) Good news They’re 4-4 without Ewing. Bad news Six games were at home.(16)

17. Houston (17-15) Last Hurrah? It looks like Rockets’ Big Three had theirs years ago. (13)

18. Boston (16-18) Pitino calls Ellison “best person I ever coached.” Means he’s available. (17)

19. Orlando (19-17) Desperation is self-styled “values-based organization” signing Mad Max. (19)

20. Detroit (16-18) Misprint? Miracle? All-star bid? Williams averaged 11.3 rebounds in December. (20)

21. Milwaukee (16-19) Big Dog (21 ppg) is all-star long shot. Wait until you hear this howl. (21)

22. Sacramento (15-21) Started surge with rookies Stewart, Johnson, Abdul-Whahad starting. (22)

23. Clippers (9-26) But light at end of the tunnel is the headlight of upcoming East swing. (24)

24. Philadelphia (9-23) On bright side, looks like the 76ers will have a lot of cap room soon. (25)

25. Vancouver (10-26) Grizzlies’ first 20-win season doesn’t look such a lock any more, does it? (23)

26. Golden State (7-25) Lost four in row at home, routed in Detroit, looking like mopes again. (26)

27. Dallas (6-29) Nellie, Adubato, Heard, Buckner and Motta--all lost 10 in row in ‘90s. (27)

28. Toronto (5-30) Canada said it wanted major leagues? This is the major leagues. (28)

29. Denver (2-31) On bright side, Nuggets are young, the pay is good and it’s only a game. . . . (29)

GAME OF THE WEEK

SEATTLE AT CHICAGO

* When--Tuesday. * Time--5 p.m. * TV--TNT.

* Storyline--The SuperSonics are more harmonious with Vin Baker, but are they as good as they were when they reached the ’96 finals with volatile Shawn Kemp? They just scored 109 points against the deliberate Cavaliers and 111 against the overmatched Celtics, while Laker Coach Del Harris watched the scores on his pocket pager and fretted. Tuesday night, they’re in the United Center, where visitors struggle to score 85 points and the home team is 96-4 over three seasons.