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Team (Record) Comment (Last week’s position)

1. Utah (33-10) Refs let Trail Blazers turn showdown into

tag-team match but old folks prevail. (1)

2. San Antonio (31-12) Spurs beat Jazz, Blazers,

Rockets within five days. (7)

3. Portland (31-11) Had to play someone sometime: After

28-7 start, Trail Blazers go 3-4. (2)

4. Miami (29-13) ‘90s kind of shootout in East. Heat gets

23 in first half at Orlando, wins. (5)

5. Indiana (29-15) Maybe Bird can import boo-birds from

Boston to terrorize Pacer players. (6)

6. Orlando (29-16) Signs they’re unraveling again: Daly

junks Armstrong-Penny backcourt. (3)

7. Houston (27-16) Bad night: Pippen outscored

22-4 by Nowitzki, arrested on DUI. (4)

8. Atlanta (27-17) You have to hand it to Lenny: Hawks

aren’t flashy but they’re still OK. (9)

9. Lakers (28-17) Buss-West, Shaq-Kobe. They don’t need

point guard, they need mediation. (8)

10. Philadelphia (24-19)Will be OK if Iverson’s shoulder

can hold up for 22 shots a game. (11)

11. Milwaukee (24-19) Underwhelming Tim Thomas season;

Million-dollar talent, 6.2 average. (12)

12. Phoenix (22-21) Oops: We started sneering little early.

Suddenly they’re in No. 6 slot. (16)

13. Charlotte (22-21) Might be coincidence: DC returns to

starting lineup, win streak ends. (19)

14. Detroit (23-20) Nice knowing you: Gentry at odds with

GM Sund. Laettner, Stackhouse rumble. (10)

15. Toronto (22-21) Just when it looked like recess time,

kids win at New York and Orlando. (18)

16. New York (22-21) Another ‘reassignment’?

LJ’s last four games: 5-15-6-7. (14)

17. Sacramento (22-22) Kings have one more vs. top five in

West. SuperSonics have four more. (20)

18. Seattle (21-22) They were mad Karl didn’t win title.

What if Westphal misses playoffs? (17)

19. Minnesota (22-22) Timberwolves pick

a bad time to go into free fall. (15)

20. Cleveland (21-22) Without Kemp, taking air out of ball

won’t do, they’ll have to hide it. (13)

21. Golden State (19-25) Release playoff ticket info, blows

28-point lead to Lakers that night. (21)

22. Boston (17-27) I pity these fools when Pitino gets

hold of them next training camp. (22)

23. Washington (16-27) Mitch’s luck: Leaves Sacramento

and winds up on much worse team. (23)

24. New Jersey (13-30) Way to go, Case: Interim coach

benches Falk client Kittles. (24)

25. Dallas (15-29Free agent-to-be Gary Trent averaging

24 with nine rebounds in April. (25)

26. Chicago (12-33) Ron Harper gets nose broken, says

from now on, he’ll look like Pippen. (26)

27. Denver (14-30) NBA’s only 6-7 center, Fortson

averages 11 points, 12 boards as starter. (27)

28. Clippers (9-35) One for Ford--season ended long

ago but they’re still playing hard. (28)

29. Vancouver (8-37) Their season ended a month

ago, along with all signs of life. (29)

GAME OF THE WEEK

UTAH AT HOUSTON

When--Friday. Time--5 p.m. TV--TNT.

* Story line--With the possibility growing they’ll play Houston in the first round, the Lakers will be eager to see how the Rockets, who lost last week to the Mavericks and Clippers, finish. The Jazz started the Rockets’ fade, ending their nine-game winning streak by coming from 15 points behind April 1 at Salt Lake City.