‘NBA TOP TO BOTTOM

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

1. Lakers (48-11) Go figure: New, improved Shaq and Kobe, former Glen Rice, nine role players. (2)

2. Portland (46-12) Which of the Trail Blazers was supposed to be able to carry them in crunch time again? (1)

3. Indiana (39-19) Beast of the East just lost games by margins of 31 and 15 in the West. (3)

4. Utah (37-20) Who you calling old? The, uh, experienced guys are back in first in Midwest. (7)

5. Miami (37-21) The Heat just went 2-1 without Mourning, but today’s not a good day to go small. (5)

6. Phoenix (37-21) He may not be the Penny of old, but Suns are 25-10 with him in the lineup. (8)

7. San Antonio (37-22) Nervous time: Aging, fading, fighting and wondering what Duncan will do. (4)

8. New York (35-22) Argh: About to pull within half a game of first, blew 20-point lead in Miami. (6)

9. Seattle (36-24) Fun while it lasted: SuperSonics peaked at 27-13 in January, are 9-11 since. (9)

10. Toronto (32-25) Looks like Carter is holding up OK: Just averaged 29.8 in February. (14)

11. Minnesota (34-24) Szczerbiak back from injury, averaging 14.5 over eight (9.9 before). (12)

12. Philadelphia (33-25) Tick, tick, tick: Iverson hurting, lashing out at Philly media. (13)

13. Sacramento (33-25) No More Mr. Nice Guy: Adelman gets Jason Williams’ attention with quick hook. (10)

14. Charlotte (31-27) Anthony Mason is especially apt to get in your face at 4 a.m. outside some club. (11)

15. Detroit (28-30) Oh, and Pistons may have looked better to Duncan’s little buddy, Hill, too. (5)

16. Milwaukee (28-31) Karl, who was discreetly shopping Big Dog, may now put ad in classifieds. (16)

17. Orlando (27-31) Whoever those guys are, Magic is only half a game out of last playoff spot. (17)

18. Denver (26-31) As Carter explodes, Nuggets wince at thought they took LaFrentz instead of him. (18)

19. Houston (24-35) Time for Olajuwon to decide if he wants to keep playing and if so, where. (20)

20. New Jersey (24-35) Return of Keith Van Horn: The Nets go 3-1 as he averages 23.8 a game. (21)

21. Dallas (24-34) Rodman played great and Mavericks still lost. Guess what comes next. (22)

22. Cleveland (24-34) Nice season: Kemp showed up out of shape. Ilgauskas didn’t show up. (23)

23. Atlanta (23-34) Wilkens, asked if Hawks quit in home loss to Wizards: ‘I hope not.’ (24)

24. Boston (23-35) Nothing like a little 3-12 run to show what’s really on everyone’s mind. (19)

25. Vancouver (18-40) Oops: Abdur-Rahim vows to leave if Jackson does--but has six-year contract. (25)

26. Golden State (16-41) Maybe Larry Brown was on to something: Hughes shooting 35% as a Warrior. (26)

27. Washington (18-41) Hard to tell if Jordan is dumping games or if Wizards are really this bad. (28)

28. Chicago (12-45) How you’d like to be Floyd? He rights ship with Kukoc, so Bulls trade him. (27)

29. Clippers (12-47) If Kareem wants to get coaching out of his system, he came to right place. (29)

GAME OF THE WEEK

MIAMI at LAKERS

When--Today Time--3 p.m. TV--Channel 4

* Story line--This isn’t a good time to visit, unless it’s to see the Clippers. The Lakers just beat the NBA’s co-No. 1 team on its own court and brushed aside the No. 3 team here. The Heat, which started the weekend at No. 5, has struggled, looks overmatched and could be on the verge of a makeover but, under old mousse head, is still a hard-nosed road team that can rise to a challenge.