1 (2) Kings 30-11 By now, you knew this was coming. Right? Two more chances to impress this month: Nets on Tuesday, Lakers on Jan. 31. 2 (1) Mavericks 31-8 By now, you knew this was coming. Right? Loss to Kings sent Mavs into a funk. Haven't seen their improved D since Tuesday and shots aren't going in, either. 3 (5) Pistons 27-13 Detroit didn't get the call in Indy on Saturday night, so here's the make-up call. Justification: Pistons have looked good on Indy's court twice and still have the East's best record against the West (8-4). 4 (4) Pacers 29-12 More painful than the loss Monday: Indy's bench production. Pistons' reserves cleaned up in the home-and-home, 55-23. 5 (3) Nets 28-12 Make that two demoralizing road defeats in quick succession: Philly, then Utah. Trip goes Warriors-Lakers-Nuggets after Kings; Nets need to win at least two. 6 (7) Spurs 26-14 Heating up (again), and now is certainly the time with that rodeo/stock show looming. Ten of next 12, remember, are roadies. 7 (9) Jazz 25-15 Sloan publicly questions team attitude. Team becomes league's hottest team. Maybe they're still Team Efficiency. 8 (10) Rockets 23-16 Rox delivered on the big stage even if that foul on Shaq was unquestionably questionable. Compaq Center, as a bonus, rocked Friday like it hadn't since days of Dream, Clyde and Chuck. Comets games excluded, of course. 9 (6) Suns 25-17 Up to 11 straight home wins and counting after turning back Mavs ... but the road is proving bumpy, as predicted. 10 (13) Celtics 24-17 Just when it seemed no one in the East wanted the No. 4 seed that guarantees home-court advantage, Celts pop up to win four straight. Now to see how long this second wind lasts for Pierce and 'Toine. 11 (8) Trail Blazers 24-15 Complain all you like about the length of the suspension, but fact remains 'Sheed put himself in position for the punishment by losing his temper for the umpteenth time. So we ask again: Has anything changed with these guys? 12 (12) Timberwolves 23-18 Portland win helps Wolves maintain 3 1/2-game lead over Lakes for No. 8 in the West. Could do with home wins over Seattle and Clips this week before facing all three Texas teams. 13 (11) Lakers 19-21 There's no question that Shaq's limited mobility -- earth-bound is how Phil Jackson describes it -- makes him easier to guard. The question that gets louder every day: How much of Shaq's mobility will come back before the playoffs. 14 (16) Hornets 22-20 Welcome back to the jumble ... five East teams fighting over four playoff spots. Funny how much better Hornets look when Baron is back. 15 (14) Wizards 21-20 A 2-2 week, without Stack, could have been worse. Could just be us but Hughes seems to be progressing nicely. 16 (18) Bucks 19-21 Won five in a row to vault themselves right back into the mess, er, mix. Furious George has been saying, over and over, that Toni K. is a difference-maker, and record with Toni (13-9) backs it up. 17 (15) Magic 21-21 Latest Grant Hill dagger could be a crusher. Especially with Mike Miller hobbling, too. 18 (17) 76ers 21-20 Wins over Nets and Wiz and fact they're still in the playoff hunt keep Sixers (barely) in the top 20. New theory: Maybe they're all getting along too well. 19 (19) SuperSonics 18-21 Home resurrection over Dallas was huge, after Key defeats to (ugh) Nuggets, Clips and Cavs. But if the Lakes are struggling to climb into the top eight, Sonics will have it worse. 20 (20) Warriors 17-23 Another week on the precipice of the teens ... and then Seattle takes down Dallas to deny Warriors. Next week for sure if Ws can beat one of these heavyweights: Lakers, Nets, Jazz. 21 (25) Knicks 16-23 In best stretch of schedule they could hope for, Knicks making a (moderate) push toward mediocrity. Just what New Yorkers wanted to hear. 22 (26) Bulls 15-26 Sources say Bulls actually won a road game. Give us 18 or so minutes to go to the replay monitor to confirm. 23 (22) Clippers 15-25 Love the throwback unis. Repulsed by Clips' unshakeable habit of crumbling in crunch time. Needed a 46-7 edge in free throws to hold off Sacto. 24 (26) Nuggets 10-30 With a win over Cleveland, and in spite of the latest Camby letdown, Nuggets very quietly avoid history with win No. 10. Didn't help John Lucas that these guys have two more wins than Cavs do. 25 (24) Grizzlies 12-28 Grizz drop to three games under .500 (12-15) since 0-13 start and about to slip under .500 at home with Kings visiting Thursday. 26 (21) Hawks 14-27 With 13 straight road defeats, they're the new Bulls. Worse yet, Hawks ended Bulls' road drought by surrendering 41 fourth-quarter points Monday. Playoffs? Playoffs? Where's Jim Mora? 27 (24) Heat 14-27 Actually, maybe it's this Florida team that could use the fairy tale. The Magic, at least, still have T-Mac. Heat were robbed of Zo and, barring a lottery home run, probably won't clear the cap room sufficient to get an All-Star. Painful to watch, indeed. 28 (29) Raptors 10-32 Lowe, Kruger and Lucas have left us. Gentry is safe, Clips keep saying. Hot seat, then, is all Lenny's now. 29 (28) Cavaliers 8-34 Sure they want LeBron James. But they want to lose like the Nuggets do -- with grit, being pesky, controlling tempo. We love Luke -- he's a tennis guy and this is a tennis committee -- but all Cavs did was bicker and get routed.
