NBA TOP TO BOTTOM

Team (record); Comment; (Last week’s position)

1. Utah (13-3): 35-year-old Karl Malone’s average, his last five seasons: 27-26-27-27-24; (1)

2. Lakers (12-6): Rodman showing them how the game should be played. What could go wrong now?; (6)

3. Miami (12-4): How dominant is Mourning in the East? He’s outscoring opposing centers, 21-12.; (4)

4. Portland (12-3): Like Lakers: Talent-plus, but it will all depend on character, or characters.; (9)

5. Orlando (14-4): If Hardaway doesn’t strangle Daly, or vice versa, they may keep it going.; (2)

6. Indiana (11-5): There’s a difference between a pretty good team and a very good one.; (3)

7. Seattle (9-6): Paul Westphal is finding out the proper form of address for Shaq is “Sir.”; (5)

8. Minnesota (10-6): 22-year-old Kevin Garnett’s average, first four seasons: 10-17-19-20.; (8)

9. Philadelphia (10-6): Iverson is first in scoring, third in steals, gets 5.6 rebounds a game.; (16)

10. Houston (10-7): 36-year-old Hakeem Olajuwon’s average, last five seasons: 28-27-23-16-16.; (7)

11. Boston (7-7): Tough early going: Of Celtics’ first 20 games, 13 will be on the road.; (14)

12. Milwaukee (9-5): See if this sounds familiar: Karl can’t find center, tries 6-7 1/2 Traylor.; (12)

13. San Antonio (9-8): 33-year-old Robinson’s average, last six seasons: 30-28-25-18-22-15.; (18)

14. New York (9-7): 36-year-old Patrick Ewing’s average, last five seasons: 24-23-22-21-17.; (10)

15. Detroit (10-7): Life begins at 35 for someone: Dumars averages 20 as Pistons go 6-0.; (17)

16. Phoenix (9-8): McDyess breakout suggests 30 minutes a game Suns gave him was little light.; (11)

17. Atlanta (8-8): Except for 103 they got vs. Clippers, Hawks get 67-77-77 in last four.; (13)

18. Sacramento (8-9): Wait till someone tells Rodman that Webber leads league in rebounding. ;(15)

19. Cleveland (7-8): Mike Fratello is about one injured center shy of his annual miracle.; (19)

20. Golden State (7-10): Return of P.J.: Players suddenly stop complaining and start playing.; (21)

21. New Jersey (3-12): Jayson Williams hurt: May be best team ever that didn’t win 10 games.; (20)

22. Washington (6-9): Wizards are old, they’re small, they’re capped and they’re going nowhere.; (22)

23. Denver (5-12): Are Nuggets sure they want Van Exel to take more shots than McDyess?; (24)

24. Toronto (5-10): Raptors, who were last in defense last season, now tied for 10th.; (25)

25. Chicago (4-12): Krause says draft has three franchise players. For his sake, it better.; (26)

26. Dallas (6-12): Mad Stork sighting: Bradley averaging NBA-best 3.6 blocks in 24 minutes.; (27)

27. Vancouver (4-13): Last season, started 7-11, finished 19-63. This season, started 4-6.; (23)

28. Charlotte (4-11): Another rat spied scurrying off sinking ship: Shinn expected to sell team.; (28)

29. Clippers (0-15): By next week, they should have achieved a little bit of immortality.; (29)

GAME OF THE WEEK

LAKERS AT UTAH

When--Today Time--3 PST TV--Channel 4

* Story line--The Jazz only thought they hated the Lakers before today, when the most ballyhooed kids in the game show up--accompanied by Utah’s most despised basketball player, or human being, Dennis Rodman, who insulted Mormons, sneered at the local night life, split on off days during the NBA finals to gamble in Las Vegas and, oh yes, helped the Bulls beat them twice.