Ranking the League from worst to first…

30. New Jersey Nets (4-42)
Last week: Beat L.A. Clippers; lost to Washington; lost to Philadelphia.
With Kris Humphries being able to step in and immediately become Jersey’s second-best big man, is that a credit to Humphries’ talent or an indictment of the team’s lack of talent? We’ll go with “B.”

29. Los Angeles Clippers (20-27)
Last week: Lost at New Jersey; lost at Minnesota; lost at Cleveland.
Technically, they could have had a worse week. At least the players’ paychecks didn’t bounce.

28. Minnesota Timberwolves (11-38)
Last week: Lost at New York; lost at Cleveland; beat L.A. Clippers; beat New York.
Is anybody else hoping the Wolves land the #1 pick in the Lottery just to see how GM David Kahn will handle the Jonny Flynn-Ricky Rubio-John Wall situation?

27. Golden State Warriors (13-33)
Last week: Lost at Sacramento; lost to New Orleans; lost to Charlotte; lost at Oklahoma City.
Watch out for Stephen Curry vaulting Brandon Jennings for second-place behind Tyreke Evans in the R.O.Y. race. As Jennings seems to be slowing down from his hot start, Curry is getting stronger. In January he averaged 19 points, five assists and two steals per game.

26. Washington Wizards (16-31)
Last week: Lost to L.A. Lakers; won at New Jersey; beat New York; lost to Boston.
In a win over the Knicks, Antawn Jamison posted 21 points and 23 boards. Two days later in a loss to the Celtics, he shot 2-for-17 and finished with eight points and eight boards. Apparently good offense doesn’t always beat good defense.

25. Sacramento Kings (16-31)
Last week: Beat Golden State; lost at Utah; lost to Charlotte; lost at Denver.
Not even Shaq can mess with Jon Brockman’s nickname game. In college, we called him “Jonny Matrix,” after Schwarzenegger’s character in Commando. In the pros he’s been “The Brockness Monster,” and on Monday one of Denver’s announcers called him “The Brocktopus”: as in it’s like he’s got eight limbs out there.

24. Detroit Pistons (15-31)
Last week: Lost to Memphis; lost to Miami; lost to Orlando.
Currently on a five-game losing streak, but this week brings the Nets (twice) and Pacers on the schedule.

23. Philadelphia 76ers (16-31)
Last week: Lost at Milwaukee; lost to L.A. Lakers; won at New Jersey.
Allen Iverson caught a 2001 flashback when the Lakers visited Philly, treating Derek Fisher like Tyronn Lue and dropping a season-high 23 points.

22. Indiana Pacers (16-32)
Last week: Lost to L.A. Lakers; lost to Cleveland; lost at Toronto.
Danny Granger shot 29 percent for the week, averaging 11.6 points in three losses.

21. New York Knicks (18-29)
Last week: Beat Minnesota; lost to Toronto; lost at Washington; lost at Minnesota.
Quick solution for the David Lee All-Star snub: Nate Robinson can let Lee be his alley-oop thrower in the dunk contest.

20. Miami Heat (24-24)
Last week: Lost at Toronto; won at Detroit; lost at Milwaukee; lost to Milwaukee.
If the Hornets had two nickels to rub together, we get the feeling D-Wade would take off for New Orleans real fast this summer. He and Chris Paul and boys, and you know both of them are tired of carrying their respective teams.

19. Milwaukee Bucks (21-25)
Last week: Lost at Dallas; beat Philadelphia; beat Miami; won at Miami.
In case you forgot Hakim Warrick was in the League, he put up 22 points on the Heat over the weekend, then caught a dunk in the rematch that Shawn Kemp would’ve been proud of.

18. Chicago Bulls (23-22)
Last week: Won at Oklahoma City; won at New Orleans.
Five straight road wins against five Western Conference playoff contenders. The Bulls return home to play the struggling Clippers, then take a trip to Philly before a big game in Atlanta.

17. Charlotte Bobcats (24-23)
Last week: Won at Phoenix; won at Golden State; won at Sacramento; lost at Portland.
Nobody over here is arguing against Gerald Wallace as an All-Star — you could even make a good case that he should be starting — but we’re still not really feeling him in the dunk contest. Unless somebody is bringing Boki Nachbar as a prop.

16. Houston Rockets (25-22)
Last week: Lost to Denver; beat Portland; lost to Phoenix.
Yao Ming is back on the practice court. He’s just shooting free throws for now, but it’s a start.

15. Toronto Raptors (26-22)
Last week: Beat Miami; won at New York; beat Indiana.
The hottest team in the League has won five straight and has the Pacers, Nets, Kings and Sixers coming up on the schedule.

14. Oklahoma City Thunder (26-21)
Last week: Lost to Chicago; beat Denver; beat Golden State.
Considering the guys they tried to have guarding Kevin Durant, the Warriors should feel lucky they only got hit up for 45 points. He could have gone for 60 had he been more aggressive.

13. Portland Trail Blazers (29-21)
Last week: Lost to Utah; lost at Houston; won at Dallas; beat Charlotte.
Andre Miller’s 52-point performance was even more out-of-nowhere than Brandon Jennings’ 55 or Jarrett Jack becoming the emotional spark plug of the Raptors.

12. New Orleans Hornets (26-22)
Last week: Won at Golden State; lost to Chicago; won at Memphis; lost to Phoenix.
Their season isn’t exactly finished now that Chris Paul could miss up to two months, but the expectation level just dropped dramatically. The Hornets have a perfect excuse to tank the rest of the year.

11. Memphis Grizzlies (26-21)
Last week: Won at Detroit; lost at San Antonio; lost to New Orleans; beat L.A. Lakers.
The biggest difference between last year’s Grizzlies and this year’s team? They feel like they should be winning. You could see it in the Lakers game; Memphis played like they expected to win.

10. Phoenix Suns (29-21)
Last week: Lost to Charlotte; beat Dallas; won at Houston; won at New Orleans.
Amar’e responded to his embarrassing one-rebound effort against Dallas to average 11.5 boards against the Rockets and Hornets. Not to mention 30.5 points per game.

9. Boston Celtics (30-16)
Last week: Lost at Orlando; lost at Atlanta; lost to L.A. Lakers; won at Washington.
Luckily for them, the Wizards have no heart and collapsed as soon as things got tough in the fourth quarter. Otherwise it’d be a four-game losing streak.

8. Dallas Maverick (30-18)
Last week: Beat Milwaukee; lost at Phoenix; lost to Portland; lost at Utah.
After catching Brandon Jennings, Steve Nash, Andre Miller (on a career night) and Deron Williams consecutively, Jason Kidd might need an extra ice bath for his knees.

7. San Antonio Spurs (27-19)
Last week: Beat Atlanta; beat Memphis; lost to Denver.
Bad timing for Tony Parker to get hurt right before an arduous eight-game road trip, but George Hill has been impressive in the meantime.

6. Utah Jazz (28-19)
Last week: Won at Portland; beat Sacramento; beat Dallas.
Ten wins in their last 11 games despite dealing with nagging injuries to their two best players, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer.

5. Atlanta Hawks (30-16)
Last week: Lost at San Antonio; beat Boston; lost at Orlando.
Since being named to the All-Star team, Al Horford has averaged 7.5 points and six rebounds. Not a good look.

4. Orlando Magic (32-16)
Last week: Beat Boston; beat Atlanta; won at Detroit.
Vince Carter is slumping, but pretty much everything else is going right for the Magic.

3. Denver Nuggets (33-15)
Last week: Won at Houston; lost at Oklahoma City; won at San Antonio; beat Sacramento.
Chauncey Billups’ play when ‘Melo has been out should be enough to land him the All-Star alternate spot left open by Chris Paul.

2. Los Angeles Lakers (37-12)
Last week: Won at Washington; won at Indiana; won at Philadelphia; won at Boston; lost at Memphis.
Did you see when Andrew Bynum was looking like Babyfaced Shaq against the Celtics and all Phil Jackson gave him was a “He’s doing OK” in the mid-game interview? Whenever it’s time for Kobe to fade away and Bynum to take over as The Franchise, we get the feeling Phil won’t be there. The kid seems to stress him out too much.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers (38-11)
Last week: Beat Minnesota; won at Indiana; beat L.A. Clippers.
Made it through “JV Week” unscathed with three blowouts. It gets a little tougher this week with the Grizzlies and Heat.