TOP TO BOTTOM

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

1. Portland (38-11) Dunleavy’s team is No. 1 at the break and he gets to take the weekend off. (1)

2. Lakers (37-11) Trail Blazers have two front lines. Spurs have Twin Towers. Lakers have Shaq. (2)

3. San Antonio (32-17) Can’t knock Duncan: He’s in top 10 in scoring, rebounding and blocks. (3)

4. Indiana (32-16) Conseco Fieldhouse wins nod as best new arena and Pacers are 21-2 there. (4)

5. Miami (30-17) Why Heat has trouble with the Knicks: Ewing tops Mourning, 25-12, in showdown. (5)

6. Seattle (31-20) What can I tell you? I picked the Clippers to finish ahead of SuperSonics. (6)

7. New York (29-18) Patrick of old: 37-year-old averages 20, 12.5 rebounds as the Knicks go 3-1. (7)

8. Sacramento (30-18) On 50-win pace. Last time Kings won that many, they were Cincinnati Royals. (8)

9. Utah (29-18) Experience is great but this much? Jazz starters average 34.6 years of age. (9)

10. Phoenix (29-19) Good news is Suns are on 50-win pace. Bad news is they’re No. 7 in West. (11)

11. Minnesota (27-20) At this pace, the No. 8 team in the West is going to win 47 games. (10)

12. Charlotte (27-20) Eddie’s on the roll of his career, averaging 25.4 points this month. (14)

13. Philadelphia (27-22) Hughes down to 15 minutes a game this month as Brown looks for a taker. (13)

14. Toronto (26-21) Not that this is new experience for Raptors,but five wins will break club mark. (15)

15. Milwaukee (26-24) Enjoy your break, George: Bucks go 0-3, giving up an average of 107.3. (12)

16. Detroit (25-23) Grant’s back, we can start showing up: again: Hill gets 70 in 2-0 run. (16)

17. Orlando (24-26) Everybody thought Magic would win 24, only not so soon. (22)

18. Denver (21-27) Issel talks about building for future as bottom falls out of present. (17)

19. Boston (21-28) How’d you like to be Celtics, behind the Magic, which just dumped all its players? (18)

20. Houston (20-30) Semi-retirement: Olajuwon has played 14 games since return, all as a sub. (19)

21. New Jersey (19-30) After meeting with new (shudder) partner Steinbrenner, everyone’s under gun. (20)

22. Dallas (20-28) So it begins. Rodman gets 13 rebounds in debut. Place sells out. Mavericks lose. (21)

23. Cleveland (19-30) Let’s look at bright spots for a change. Rookie Andre Miller. That’s it. (23)

24. Atlanta (19-28) Despite denials, management isn’t happy with Lenny Wilkens and vice versa. (24)

25. Vancouver (14-34) They’re alive! The Grizzlies are 10-16 since Lionel Hollins took over. (27)

26. Washington (15-34) Jordan is 3-7. The good news is, Wizards are marketing a No. 23 jersey. (25)

27. Chicago (10-37) Price on Kukoc drops from two players and No. 1 pick, to No. 1 pick. (26)

28. Golden State (12-35) Dampier has played in seven games after knee surgery, is still hurting. (28)

29. Clippers (11-38) Good thing Sterling fired Ford, before the playoff race got out of hand. (29)

GAME OF THE WEEK

INDIANA at NEW YORK

When--Saturday. Time--12:30 p.m. TV--Channel 4.

* Story line--Those ancient rivals, Reggie Miller and Spike Lee, square off for another round of throat-grabbing in this duel at the top of the conference someone has to win.