Ron ain’t going out without a fight
(Photo. Stephen Hill)

30. Minnesota Timberwolves (3-15) — Is Sunday’s win over the Suns worth a move out of the gum-on-the-NBA’s-sneaker spot? Not yet. The Wolves can settle it this Friday, when they host the Sonics. Plenty of good seats still available.

29. Seattle Supersonics (5-16) — With all respect to Al Horford, Kevin Durant’s got R.O.Y. locked up. But what about an All-Star berth? The kid is putting up 20 points per game, four and a half boards and more than one block per night. Is that enough to break through in the West?

28. New York Knicks (6-14) — Well, this is one team you can’t definitely say is better off without Stephon Marbury in the lineup.

27. Charlotte Bobcats (7-12) — Now we’re starting to see where the ‘Cats could really use Morrison (shooting) and May (interior scoring). This team has a lot of talent but somehow not a lot of options.

26. Memphis Grizzlies (6-14) — Pau Gasol is putting as quiet a 17 points and 7 boards a night as you can get for a franchise player. If you’re a Grizzlies fan right now, would you rather build around Gasol or Rudy Gay?

25. Los Angeles Clippers (7-12) — Eight losses in their last nine, and Sam Cassell (calf) can’t get healthy fast enough.

24. Milwaukee Bucks (8-12) — Four straight losses, eight L’s in their last nine … it’s getting ‘06-07 style ugly in Wisconsin. And you can’t even blame injuries this time around.

23. Chicago Bulls (6-12) — The Green Machine stood in the way of a three-game win streak. With the Sonics, Pacers and Knicks on the schedule this week, Chicago could finally put together a solid string of games.

22. Philadelphia 76ers (8-13) — With the way Andre Miller is passing, Reggie Evans is rebounding, the Dalembeast is protecting the rim and Willie Green and Andre Iguodala are scoring, this team isn’t that bad.

21. Sacramento Kings (8-12) — Add Utah to the list of elite teams to fall at Arco. Ron Artest and John Salmons are making sure this group doesn’t go into the tank while Kevin Martin sits out.

20. Miami Heat (8-15) — A disastrous West Coast road trip ended on a positive note with W’s over the Clips and Suns. Don’t look now, but Dwyane Wade has notched three straight games of 30-plus points.

19. Atlanta Hawks (10-10) — Joe Johnson’s game-winner against Minnesota sparked a three-game win streak (including one over the Magic), during which Josh Smith is killing: 26 points, 4 blocks and 3 steals per.

18. Portland Trail Blazers (8-12) — Brandon Roy’s last three games: 25 points, 7 dimes a night. Portland’s last three games: Wins.

17. Cleveland Cavaliers (9-12) – Drowning. The losing streak is up to six games since LeBron got hurt. Forget Anderson Varejao, the Cavs need to see what’s up with Mark Price, Brad Daugherty and Wesley Person.

16. New Jersey Nets (9-12) — In their 12 losses this year, the Nets have failed to crack 100 points in 10 of them. After Jason Kidd’s maybe-it-was, maybe-it-wasn’t attempt at sending a message, the team has dropped three straight. Not sure that would’ve been the intent.

15. Washington Wizards (10-10) — When Nick Young gets minutes, he gets buckets. The numbers say that if he gets 15-plus minutes, he’ll get you double-figure points at least.

14. Houston Rockets (11-11) – Taking charges and playing D is great, but the Rockets have to be kicking themselves right now for the Shane Battier/Rudy Gay trade.

13. Toronto Raptors (11-10) — Bosh is back, but T-Dot seems more wrapped up in the T.J. Ford vs. Jose Calderon quarterback controversy.

12. Golden State Warriors (11-9) – Stephen Jackson’s been scoring a lot this month. But he hasn’t been hot. There’s a difference. S-Jack (38% FGs, 36% from deep) is definitely living up to his nickname.

11. Indiana Pacers (10-10) — After a rough weekend for Jamaal Tinsley, he can make himself feel better by schooling Daniel Gibson, Kirk Hinrich and White Chocolate this week.

10. New Orleans Hornets (14-7) – Tough stretch this week has the Hornets at Denver, at Dallas and home for Phoenix. Or for Chris Paul, that’s Iverson, Terry/Harris and Nash.

9. Denver Nuggets (13-8) – Is this the year Carmelo becomes an All-Star starter? You know Duncan will get one spot out West, but the KG’s former place is likely gonna come down to ’Melo, Dirk and Boozer.

8. Los Angeles Lakers (12-8) — In their 12 wins this year, the Lakers cracked 100 points in 11 of them. Can they go for triple-digits against the Spurs and Warriors this week? No and yes.

7. Detroit Pistons (14-6) – Six wins in their last seven, but it hasn’t been against the toughest competition. Meanwhile, Tayshaun Prince is slumping offensively. In four of his last five games he’s failed to hit double-digits, shooting 30 percent from the floor on those occasions.

6. Utah Jazz (13-8) – Three straight losses, and the defense needs to be addressed. Josh Howard dumped 47 points on the Jazz last week, Manu hit ‘em up for 37, and the Kings totaled 117 points, getting buckets from Ron-Ron, K-Mart II and John “Caviezel” Salmons.

5. Dallas Mavericks (14-8) – We talked to Jason Terry when the Mavs came to the Garden on Monday and asked him about his team’s habit of playing down to its competition. Jet believes it’s actually the other way around: other teams playing up because the Mavs have a target on their backs.

4. Orlando Magic (16-6) – Stan Van Gundy to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “Carlos (Arroyo) has played really well of late, and he’s not making many mistakes. When he’s not throwing those no-look passes that end up out of bounds, I have great confidence in him.”

3. Phoenix Suns (16-6) – We were gonna forgive the Minnesota loss over the weekend: last game of a long road trip, possibly looking ahead to a date with Utah this week, etc. But dropping one on Monday at home to Miami? You’re not supposed to lose two trap games in a row.

2. Boston Celtics (17-2) – The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors of the NBA (with KG playing Colt Brennan) need to play some tougher comp before they get the top spot. And no, this week’s slate of Sacramento, Milwaukee and Toronto isn’t enough. Can Dec. 19th just get here already so we can see the C’s play Detroit?

1. San Antonio Spurs (17-3) – Weren’t they supposed to be missing a Hall of Fame-lock big man last week? We couldn’t tell. Manu dropped 37 points apiece on the Mavs and Jazz as the Spurs kept the pain train rolling.