TOP TO BOTTOM

No. Team (record) Comment (last week’s position)

1. Philadelphia (35-12) Your basic week: Win at Indiana, New York, Iverson snarls slur into live mike. (1)

2. Sacramento (31-12) They’re not Cinderella and it’s not midnight: Kings have won 14 of 19. (3)

3. Portland (34-15) Guess who got suspended for harassing ref in fourth quarter of routine win? (2)

4. San Antonio (29-15) Duncan throws away protective sleeve on his left knee and turns it up. (4)

5. Utah (31-15) Stockton, 38, is No. 3 in assists, No. 5 in shooting, No. 12 in steals. (6)

6. Lakers (29-16) At least they don’t have to worry how Shaq and Kobe are getting along now. (5)

7. Miami (29-19) Sunshine state: Mason is an all-star and Riley hasn’t suspend him once. (10)

8. New York (27-17) Van Gundy says team MVP is Johnson, the 6-foot-5 power forward. (8)

9. Dallas (30-18) Finley’s an all-star, but Nowitzki isn’t. Cuban conspiracy theory awaited. (9)

10. Minnesota (31-18) On a mission to honor memory of Sealy (and maybe stick it to David Stern). (11)

11. Milwaukee (28-17) Karl sad Cassell isn’t all-star. George must be over stuff he said about him. (7)

12. Phoenix (26-19) Suns have made playoffs every season since ‘88, but this year’s no sure shot. (14)

13. Seattle (27-23) It’s Nate’s show now: Since McMillan suspended Payton, SuperSonics are 6-2. (13)

14. Denver (27-21) Maybe they need to re-mutiny: Since their 11-3 run, Nuggets are 3-5. (12)

15. Charlotte (25-23) Silas no longer playing Coleman at all and the owner and GM don’t like it. (15)

16. Toronto (24-23) Future looks murky, short- and long-term, as Carter has problems with sore knee. (16)

17. Orlando (23-23) Turnaround: Since Dec. 27 when Hill went on injured list, Magic is 11-7. (20)

18. Indiana (21-26) Finals, here they come (cont.) : At this pace they’d win 38, make playoffs. (17)

19. Houston (22-25) Hakeem’s lie-down vs. Clippers looks like a hint he’d prefer to be excused. (19)

20. Cleveland (20-25) It was fun while it lasted: Cavaliers were 16-12 when the new year started. (18)

21. Boston (20-26) Gee, if they fired Pitino two years ago, Celtics might be atop East by now. (21)

22. Atlanta (16-30) DerMarr Johnson, who had 147 points all season, just got 56 in last five. (22)

23. Detroit (18-30) Well, it seemed OK for a while: Pistons were 9-10 when bottom dropped out. (23)

24. Golden State (14-32) Jamison can’t understand why he isn’t all-star. Hint: Check standings. (25)

25. New Jersey (14-34) Net net: Kendall Gill lost for season. Kerry Kittles never started it. (24)

26. Clippers (15-33) Big test: Are they going to get better or get demoralized, as usual? (26)

27. Washington (12-36) Wizards had won seven games all season when they went on a shocking 5-0 run. (27)

28. Vancouver (13-34) At this rate, it looks like hockey is safe as Canada’s national sport. (28)

29. Chicago (6-40) Last month could have gone a little better. Bulls won once, Jan. 4. (29)

GAME OF THE WEEK

SACRAMENTO AT LAKERS

* When--Today. * Time--12:30 p.m. * TV--Ch. 4

* Story line--NBC is back for another look at the Western kingpin that has become the flashiest, most entertaining outfit this side of Showtime. No, it’s not the Lakers.