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

1. Philadelphia (42-15) So much for the race: 76ers started weekend with 7 1/2-game lead in East. (1)

2. Utah (37-16) Missing piece: Marshall averaging 19, Jazz 16-3 since he became starter. (4)

3. San Antonio (37-18) Duncan says Spurs are better than title team--just before they fall to Lakers. (2)

4. Portland (38-18) Stumbling when they should be spurting--Trail Blazers just lost at home to Celtics, on road to Clippers. (3)

5. Lakers (36-18) Left home one game out in loss column in West, somehow got back two out. (5)

6. Sacramento (36-17) What is “You the man!” in Serbian? With Webber sidelined, Divac averages 20. (7)

7. Milwaukee (33-20) Bucks are 22-7 with Mark Pope starting at center. OK, who is Mark Pope? (11)

8. Dallas (34-22) Wait till they tell Howard that part of deal is that he gets to guard Shaq. (10)

9. Phoenix (33-21) Marion gets 67 points, 40 rebounds as Suns win at Miami, Orlando and New York. (12)

10. Miami (33-23) Oops: After rising to No. 2 in East, Heat lost to Bulls, Knicks and Suns. (6)

11. Minnesota (33-23) Thank heavens for Warriors’ visit or Timberwolves would still be winless since break. (9)

12. New York (31-23) Oops: Philly’s package for Mutombo trumps Knicks’ offer of Camby, Rice. (8)

13. Seattle (29-27) How this will work: We can talk about Payton--if you’ll take Baker too. (13)

14. Charlotte (30-26) David Wesley averaged 18 a game until Feb. 1 but has been at 12.6 since. (18)

15. Houston (30-26) Taylor averaging usual 5.6 rebounds--and Rockets have promised him $80 million. (17)

16. Orlando (28-25) Rookie Miller averaged 6.0 in December, 11 in January, 16.5 this month. (15)

17. Toronto (29-27) Carter says Raptors are just proud to take “a team like the Kings” to triple overtime. (16)

18. Denver (29-28) Issel better get suit of armor: 2-10 run drops Nuggets back to .500. (14)

19. Indiana (24-28) Playoff hopes improve: Of course, at current pace, 36-46 would do it. (19)

20. Boston (24-32) Playoff hopes flicker: Celtics started 2-1 on Western swing but finished 2-5. (20)

21. Detroit (21-34) Stackhouse says Pistons still playoff contender--before Clippers win there. (22)

22. Clippers (20-38) You’d really like to see what they’d do if they could keep them together. (25)

23. Vancouver (18-39) Bibby stays--but Grizzlies don’t want to pay him, and he and Abdur-Rahim aren’t close. (24)

24. Cleveland (21-32) Color him gone: Players hold meeting to discuss problems with Wittman. (21)

25. New Jersey (19-38) Kittles not expected back. To date, he has been in 108 games in three seasons. (23)

26. Atlanta (18-38) With Mutombo gone, Hawks should just start training camp for next year. (26)

27. Golden State (15-40) Right now they look more like “Guys Mailing It In” than “Warriors.” (27)

28. Washington (13-43) Everyone knows who Jordan wants all that cap space for in 2003: Vince Carter. (28)

29. Chicago (9-45) Bulls say they’ll stay with kids at trade deadline--then lose to Clippers. (29)

Game of the Week

MIAMI AT PHILADELPHIA

When--Wednesday. Time--5 PST. TV--TNT.

Story line--The West may be best overall, with seven teams on a 50-win pace, but none of its elite have caught fire. Meanwhile, the 76ers have. Here’s a look at them and their new 7-foot center.