THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

MARK HEISLER’S NBA RANKINGS AND COMMENTS

1 DALLAS (18-2)

Mavericks were really feeling good about themselves ‘til 9:15 p.m. Friday. (1)

2 SACRAMENTO (17-5)

Bobby Jackson may be wild, but 19.9 points and 49% shooting is All-Star pace. (2)

3 SAN ANTONIO (12-8)

In another of his surprises, this season Tony Parker’s off to a slow start. (6)

4 UTAH (12-8)

Lakers, who said Jazz was too old in ‘98, get yet another lesson in want-to. (10)

5 LAKERS (8-13)

Not that the race is over, but at least local fans have a horse in it again. (13)

6 INDIANA (15-5)

East, which was 10 games over .500 three weeks ago, started weekend one under. (3)

7 PHILADELPHIA (15-6)

Can Brown’s Olympic gig and Iverson’s desire to go keep them chilled out ‘til then? (4)

8 NEW JERSEY (13-7)

Nets already struggling when they lost Kittles for two weeks, Mutombo for four months. (7)

9 NEW ORLEANS (15-6)

Problem: Davis, their best player, is up and down because of a herniated disk. (8)

10 BOSTON (13-6)

Walker says he wants to play in Olympics. Best apply for foreign citizenship. (12)

11 DETROIT (12-7)

Carlisle fumes at drop in effort, but maybe Pistons just seeking their level. (5)

12 HOUSTON (11-8)

Duncan says Spurs had hand in Yao’s face as he got 27. More like his belly button.(9)

13 SEATTLE (11-9)

Seeking more realistic level after 8-2 start, with seven of next nine on road.(11)

14 MINNESOTA (11-10)

Running on empty: 10 days into six-game 12-day trip, scrawny team is 2-3. (14)

15 ORLANDO (12-9)

He’s still going (cont.): Hill returns from tendinitis scare as Magic goes 3-1. (16)

16 PHOENIX (10-8)

Suns don’t care if Gugliotta is dinged again, they’d rather start Amare Stoudemire. (15)

17 PORTLAND (8-9)

You can imagine how hard it is squeezing games in around their court dates. (17)

18 CLIPPERS (8-12)

Piatkowski has better career mark on threes (40.3%) than Reggie Miller (40.1). (18)

19 ATLANTA (10-10)

Hawk exec denies AOL-Time Warner will sell them. Seriously. Who’d buy them? (20)

20 MILWAUKEE (8-11)

Karl dreamed of trading Robinson, now says owner made him do it to save $. (19)

21 TORONTO (7-12)

Carter averages 23 in five starts as Raptors go 3-2 to end their free fall. (21)

22 WASHINGTON (9-11)

Wizards could have been first to show you can rebuild and win today too. (22)

23 GOLDEN STATE (7-13)

Musselman says Jamison is small forward, as is No. 1 pick Dunleavy. (23)

24 DENVER (6-14)

Goes to show, if you slow game enough, an opponent or two might nod off. (24)

25 CHICAGO (5-15)

Chicago Tribune’s Sam Smith, quoting Bill Murray: “And then depression set in.”(25)

26 NEW YORK (5-13)

City slickers: Paying nobodies $95 million, which will cost $40 million in tax. (26)

27 CLEVELAND (3-18)

Comparison to Iverson holds up: Wagner averaging 22 points, shooting 39%. (27)

28 MIAMI (5-15)

Grant up to 10 points, 12 rebounds a game but still not $11 million worth. (28)

29 MEMPHIS (2-18)

Does anyone out there want Wright or Swift? West is open for offers. (29)

*

GAME OF THE WEEK

UTAH AT LAKERS

When -- Tonight. Time -- 6:30 TV -- Fox Sports Net

Friday’s comeback is up there in Laker annals with last spring’s rally in Game 4 of the West finals against Sacramento, and Game 7 of the 2000 West finals, when they came from behind in the fourth quarter against Portland. Whether they’ve turned themselves around remains to be seen, starting tonight against the venerable Jazz, which outrebounded them by seven and outhustled them noticeably in the bad old days last week.