1 (1) Suns 48-15 Impressive as it was to see Suns recover from the Houston loss by winning at Denver, Nash's quote after that Rockets defeat is worrisome: 'I'm not helping us very much on one leg.'
2 (4) Heat 48-16 How hot are Heat? Try this hot: Miami hasn't lost a game in regulation since Feb. 1. Heat's only two losses in the past 17 games came in overtime -- and both without Shaq.
3 (2) Spurs 47-15 Common sense says they'll be back at No. 1 before long and enter the playoffs as the title favorite. But for now, until Duncan and Ginobili are healthy, Spurs can't go higher than this.
4 (3) SuperSonics 42-19 Winning at MSG salvaged something from what had to be Sonics' worst week of the season. Holding a 10 1/2-game division lead over Denver doesn't hurt, either.
5 (5) Pistons 38-23 Pistons can't catch Miami, and chances are no one can catch Pistons and bump them out of the No. 2 spot. So it's as good a time as there is for Larry to take time off to get healthy.
6 (10) Rockets 37-25 Rockets are your proverbial Team O' The Week. Only problem with Houston's surge is that the No. 6 seed might prove more attractive than No. 5, depending on San Antonio's finish.
7 (6) Mavericks 41-21 Banged-up Mavs have no time to get what their coach says they desperately need. Nellie's view: 'We need 20 games together. . . . We don't even know how to play with each other.'
8 (12) Celtics 34-29 The defense can still be disappointing, but the numbers don't lie: Celts are 7-1 (and surging) since 'Toine's return.
9 (7) Grizzlies 35-27 How time flies: Gasol hasn't played since Jan. 22. Not sure how long this can last, but credit Grizz -- a gutty 12-8 without him.
10 (11) Nuggets 32-30 Nuggets are winning so much lately, George has little cause to be furious. Sunday's loss to Phoenix -- the second half of a back-to-back -- was the new coach's first home defeat.
11 (8) Kings 39-25 Just when Sacto thought its luck was turning -- with the disputed Bibby buzzer-beater to topple Memphis -- Miller goes down for perhaps the rest of the regular season. A killer blow.
12 (9) Wizards 33-27 Only six teams in the East have winning records against the West. And Wiz (12-11) are one of them, behind only Miami (15-10), Detroit (15-10) and Orlando (14-10).
13 (15) Bulls 32-28 Air Gordon is what they're apparently calling Chicago's surprising rookie sixth man. Let's see if they're still winning enough by the end of a crazy March to be passing out nicknames.
14 (16) Cavaliers 33-27 After halting that six-game skid by pounding Orlando and Indiana, Cavs (their fans, actually) face the prospect of another letdown Tuesday if Boozer isn't in the building.
15 (17) Lakers 32-29 Lakers' playoff chances would have been boosted by a trade at the deadline, but Kobe has scored at least 32 points in five straight. L.A. is 4-1 in those games and, thus, hanging in there.
16 (14) Magic 31-31 Heartwarming as it would be to see Grant Hill back on the playoff stage, Orlando's ongoing struggles are actually the biggest source of postseason hope in Philly and Indy these days.
17 (13) 76ers 30-33 Webber's taking the heat, but it's Iverson's MVP campaign that'll take the big hit if Sixers miss out on the playoffs.
18 (19) Pacers 31-31 For the first time since 1972, the state has no team in the NCAA Tournament. And if Jermaine's shoulder doesn't heal soon, Pacers won't be cheering up anyone in the nation's heartland.
19 (18) Timberwolves 32-32 This might just be us jumping the gun, but it sure looks (to us) like Wolves just want the season to be over with.
20 (22) Clippers 28-35 If they can manage a 13-6 finish -- a tad optimistic, true -- Clips can halt a league-worst run of 11 straight losing seasons.
21 (20) Nets 28-36 It hasn't been a pretty month in Jersey. You don't hear much talk about the playoffs now after four heavy losses (by an average of 20.3 ppg) and a near-loss at New Orleans.
22 (23) Knicks 26-35 You hate to be negative after Knicks' longest home winning streak (seven) since the spring of 2001. But the fact remains that they're 0-13 against teams at the .600 level or better.
23 (21) Bucks 25-36 The month basically breaks down this way so far: Redd hasn't missed much; Bucks haven't defended much.
24 (24) Raptors 27-36 Mo Pete is now the league's reigning Iron Man at 260 consecutive games. Of course, in line with Raps' recent fortunes, you'll note that A.C. Green's record is 1,192 consecutive games.
25 (27) Warriors 20-43 Warriors finished a brutal eight-game trip at 4-4. They prefer to focus on that as opposed to Montgomery needing until March to secure his 20th victory. Not a good thing in the pros.
26 (25) Trail Blazers 23-37 In our ongoing quest to find anything nice to say here, try this: Stoudamire recently became just the second player shorter than 6-0 (after Calvin Murphy) to score 10,000 career points.
27 (26) Jazz 20-42 Fresh off what might be his best job ever -- 42-40 in his first season without Mailman and Stock -- Sloan is officially a losing coach for the first time since taking over Jazz in 1988.
28 (28) Hornets 14-47 It isn't much, but it's something: Hornets are 3-2 in March, which could easily be 4-1. Which means they might actually be pulling away from Charlotte and Atlanta.
29 (30) Hawks 11-51 What a week. Hawks finally won a road game after 23 consecutive away defeats ... and Ty Lue topped the 25-point plateau in consecutive games for the first time in his career.
30 (29) Bobcats 12-48 Since that crucial 10th victory, Bobcats are 2-16. The wins were good (Nuggets, Kings) but you have to wonder how low they can go after that fall-from-ahead, Kobe-inflicted heartbreak.
