Does Miami stand a chance without this guy?

Unless there’s some kind of miracle brewing in South Beach, Dwyane Wade’s shoulder injury opens the door for a new Eastern Conference champ. It also sends the Miami Heat sliding down our latest NBA Hit List. Meanwhile, last year’s Western Conference champs look as invincible as ever, holding down the No. 1 spot for another week…

30. Boston Celtics — At this point, is Danny Ainge watching every Ohio State and Texas game closely? Is he asking himself things like, “Do we completely structure the offense around Durant right away?” or “When should I have someone write the script for the Oden/Bill Russell ‘Generation Next’ commercial?”

29. Memphis Grizzlies — With Memphis in full “play the young guys” mode, we’ve been seeing a lot of Rudy Gay, Lawrence Roberts and Alexander Johnson lately. You know, if you combined Roberts and AJ, you’d have, like, Antonio Davis in his prime.

28. Milwaukee Bucks — Two wins in their last 13 games, and those Ws were both at home. The last time Milwaukee won on the road? Jan. 15 against Charlotte. The last time they beat a good team on the road? Dec. 26 at San Antonio, back when the Bucks were still a .500 team and Michael Redd was still in the lineup.

27. Philadelphia 76ers — Andre Iguodala had a rough three-game stretch recently, shooting 19 percent from the floor (7-for-36) and scoring just 34 points total (11.3 ppg). That’s what happens when the D focuses on you, Iggy. As Sean Connery would say, “You’re the man now, dog.”

26. Atlanta Hawks — Since his All-Star appearance, Joe Johnson has put up games of 31, 30, 29 and 28 points. Looks like someone’s in for a big second half of the season. Now if he could just get the rest of the team to follow suit, ATL could fend off the Bobcats and avoid another last-place finish.

25. Charlotte Bobcats — A four-game win streak was snapped against the Raptors last week, in part because of Emeka Okafor having to leave that game with a calf injury. During the win streak, Emeka was a beast, pulling down about 16 boards per night and swatting 3 shots.

24. Portland Trail Blazers — Just so we’re all clear, new Blazer Fred Jones told reporters he’d prefer to go by “Freddie” Jones. Don’t get it mixed up.

23. Seattle Supersonics — “We don’t wanna say this team is too reliant on Ray Allen, but he has led them in scoring 15 straight games, and Seattle doesn’t seem to stand a chance unless he scores at least 25.”
That’s what we said about the Sonics last week. So what do you think happened when Ray got put on lock by Bruce Bowen (4-for-20 FGs, 12 pts) in San Antonio last week? Exactly.

22. Los Angeles Clippers — Shaun Livingston went for 14 points and 14 dimes in a win over the Warriors over the weekend, while a banged-up Sam Cassell played just 15 minutes off the bench. The official passing of the torch seemed to be happening any day now … and then Shaun destroyed his knee on Monday against Charlotte.

21. New York Knicks — With David Lee’s ankle injury, normally weak-rebounding Eddy Curry needs to step up. E-City came through Monday night, pulling down 11 boards in a win over the Heat.

20. Golden State Warriors — If they could all just get healthy at once, in Nellie’s system, this squad could put up Suns-like numbers on the scoreboard. Interesting fact: Golden State’s recent starting five of Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Mickael Pietrus and Andris Biedrins is the first starting five in League history with no college experience.

19. Sacramento Kings — It has to say something about the balance of power in the League right now when a weak Western Conference team (Sacto) can play on the road without arguably its best player (Ron Artest) and still smoke one of the Eastern Conference’s better squads (Indiana).

18. Miami Heat — Can they even make it past the first round of the postseason without D-Wade? It’s times like this where we’d imagine GP and ‘Zo are second-guessing their decisions not to retire after winning the chip.

17. Denver Nuggets — One reason for Denver’s recent struggles? Turnovers. Carmelo and A.I. are each coughing the ball up about five times a night on average. They’re collectively playing like Rex Grossman out there.

16. Minnesota Timberwolves — In 56 T’Wolves game this year going into Tuesday, Kevin Garnett has led them in rebounding 54 times. And one of the times he didn’t have the high number was because he didn’t play.

15. New Jersey Nets — If they can just get into the playoffs, they could do some damage. Vince Carter has been on fire lately, dropping 37 points a night in his last three.

14. Orlando Magic — If they’re going to hang in a seven-game playoff series, they need Grant Hill healthy. We don’t have to tell you how risky that is.

13. New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets — The Big Four (sans Peja) have stepped up big to lead NOK to an 8-3 February record. Chris Paul is putting up 16 ppg, 8.5 apg and 2.3 spg over the month; David West has been good for 18 ppg and 8 rpg; Tyson Chandler is pulling down 17 rpg; and Desmond Mason is dropping in 15 ppg.

12. Indiana Pacers — Since Jan. 30, the Pacers have won three straight, lost three, won three, and currently are on a two-game skid. If that pattern holds, Indy will lose to Phoenix on Tuesday (its third loss in a row), then turn around and knock the Suns off this Friday. We’ll see.

11. Washington Wizards — They’re slipping, going 4-5 in February without Antawn Jamison.

10. Cleveland Cavaliers — How does GM Danny Ferry not make a deadline deal to help this squad? As presently constructed, there’s no way the Cavs make it to the Eastern Finals, despite having arguably the best player in the conference (or in the game, for that matter).

9. Chicago Bulls — Big Ben lost his first game back in Detroit, but more importantly, the Bulls lost what could have been a statement game against the East’s elite.

8. Toronto Raptors — Moving up the charts despite Monday’s blowout loss to San Antonio. The Raps went 8-3 in February, and Andrea Bargnani is making his case for R.O.Y., dropping 15 ppg in his last five.

7. Los Angeles Lakers — They bounced back from a six-game losing streak by winning their next three. Although L.A. could have lapsed against the Celtics, Warriors and short-handed Jazz, they weren’t playing around. And all this despite the fact that they’re so banged-up Aaron McKie has been getting tick; he’s played 10-plus minutes in each of the last three games, after playing just once all season before that.

6. Houston Rockets — Last week, we used this space to ask why T-Mac wasn’t getting any MVP consideration. Monday’s loss to the Celtics, without T-Mac (flu), only bolsters our point. The Rockets are hideous without McGrady on the court.

5. Utah Jazz — Deron Williams has been in and out of the lineup with a groin injury. And when he’s out, Utah loses.

4. Detroit Pistons — The beasts of the East were 10-1 in the month of February, with the only loss coming to the Spurs. Dwyane Wade’s injury perhaps clears Detroit’s path to the NBA Finals.

3. San Antonio Spurs — Six wins in a row, and a different guy out of the Big Three is stepping up every night. Just like clockwork with these guys.

2. Phoenix Suns — They’d lost three straight, got Steve Nash back, and proceeded to rip off four in a row. Nash dropped 13 dimes per game in that stretch, another argument for his third straight MVP.

1. Dallas Mavericks — What more can you say? The win streak is still intact at 12 going into Tuesday’s game at Minnesota, and Dallas isn’t just beating teams, they’re beating teams convincingly.