The Times’ NBA rankings

(Rankings through Saturday)

GRAY WHALES TRAVEL IN PAIRS

1; MIAMI (4-0) You can’t win them all? Heat will try.

2; OKLAHOMA CITY (4-0) Dr. Phil may have to arrange sit-down with Westbrook and Durant.

POTENTIALLY BIG FISH

3; CHICAGO (3-1) Rose and Hamilton best Bulls duo since Pippen and that Jordan guy.

4; LAKERS (3-2) Fans want real thing in Dwight Howard, get Kurt Rambis clone.

5; INDIANA (3-0) Adding David West leads to a big move north in standings.

6; PORTLAND (3-0) Rip City meets Lob City on Sunday against Clippers.

7; ORLANDO (3-1) Howard suddenly a happy camper, but for how long?

8; DENVER (2-2) Half of team marooned in China; better half off to solid start.

9; SAN ANTONIO (2-1) Gregg Popovich once lost to Caltech, so Rockets defeat no biggie.

10; NEW ORLEANS (2-1) Clippers Lite looks great, plenty thrilling so far.

11; CLIPPERS (1-2) It was same-old, same-old for new-look roster after first victory.

12; GOLDEN STATE (2-1) Surprise, surprise: Warriors win twice by double digits.

13; ATLANTA (3-0) Not fooling anybody with wins over Nets, Wizards.

14; DALLAS (1-3) These guys are old, slow — and those are the nicer adjectives.

15; MEMPHIS (1-2) Victories at FedEx Forum usually delivered by 10:30 p.m.

SWIMMING UPSTREAM

16; NEW YORK (1-2) Tyson Chandler may not solve many defensive deficiencies, if any.

17; BOSTON (1-3) With Celtics losing cachet, Garnett invests in Italian soccer club.

18; PHILADELPHIA (1-2) Player’s tale of buying armed man McDonald’s sounds like a whopper.

19; SACRAMENTO (1-2) By next season, could be part of happiest hoops hotbed on earth.

20; HOUSTON (1-2) If Spurs win is any indication, maybe nixed trade a good thing.

21; PHOENIX (1-2) Nash sweepstakes could heat up faster than Tempe in July.

22; CHARLOTTE (1-2) Michael Jordan’s wedding gives him something to look forward to.

23; MILWAUKEE (2-1) Bucks have Brandon Jennings … and who else, exactly?

24; CLEVELAND (1-2) Kyrie Irving had a layup to beat Indiana; unfortunately it didn’t go in.

25; TORONTO (1-2) Raptors equally bad north, south of border.

26; NEW JERSEY (1-3) Prokhorov misses home opener, sends regrets from Russia with love.

MINNOWS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

27; UTAH (1-2) Things so hopeless, Jazz fans longing for the days of Mehmet Okur.

28; DETROIT (0-3) D-League affiliate Fort Wayne Mad Ants generating more buzz.

29; WASHINGTON (0-3) Good news: Nick Young is back. Bad: They’re still the Wizards.

30; MINNESOTA (0-3) Back-to-back home sellouts watch back-to-back losses.