How they rank

RANKINGS THROUGH SATURDAY, WITH MARK HEISLER’S COMMENTS

IN LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

1. Boston (5-1) Best news of season: No more knock-down, drag-out battles with Pistons. (2)

2. Lakers (4-0) Game 3 of 82 may be a tad early to go into their home run trot. (1)

REST ARE THISCLOSE

3. Utah (5-0) Williams wanted to play last week, will miss 2-3 more but Jazz seems OK. (6)

4. Atlanta (4-0) Win in New Orleans suggests they’re no longer merely young and talented. (7)

5. Houston (4-2) T-Mac gets 30 in best game in Portland, two in worst vs. Clippers next night.(4)

6. New Orleans (4-2) Scott fumed at loss to Hawks, may have to have been tied up after loss to Bobcats. (3)

7. Phoenix (5-2) Shaq sits out second game of back-to-back, comes back with 29 vs. Bucks. (8)

8. Cleveland (5-2) Best news of season: No more knock-down drag-out battles with Pistons. (15)

9. Detroit (4-1) How Pistons knew it was time: Fans were bored, bailing early in opening win. (5)

10. Orlando (4-2) Team that made 9.8 threes a game last season, makes 34 in 4-0 run. (12)

11. Dallas (2-3) Carlisle has them running and gunning -- or trying to: No. 20 on offense (14)

12. Toronto (3-2) Reality check: Beat 76ers, Warriors, Bucks, lost to Pistons, Hawks. (11)

13. Portland (3-3) Backcourt of future? Roy gets time at point as Rudy Fernandez happens. (10)

14. Denver (2-3)

Oops: As much as I love Iverson, trading him for Billups wasn’t so dizzy. (23)

15. Miami (3-3) With no starter over 6-7 1/2 , Heat is East version of pre-Shaq Suns. (16)

16. Philadelphia (2-4) Where’s Elton? Averaging 14.7 for team that doesn’t throw ball inside. (11)

17. New York (3-2) Oh yeah, them: Eclipsed by Steph Crisis, this is best start since 2000. (19)

18. Milwaukee (3-4) That didn’t take long: Mbah a Moute gets 17, makes 8 of 10 shots in fourth game. (26)

19. Chicago (3-4) Oops: Top scorer Gordon on one-year deal, making him unrestricted in summer. (18)

20. Sacramento (2-4) 2-0 back in friendly confines of Arco after opening with 0-4 East trip. (29)

21. Memphis (3-3) That didn’t take long: Mayo scores 28 and 20 in fifth and sixth games. (27)

22. Indiana (2-3) After 1-3 start vs. four playoff teams, schedule sends them Nets to beat up. (17)

23. Charlotte (2-3) Week two of Larry Brown Era: They’ve already won more than he expected. (20)

24. New Jersey (2-3) Devin Harris, who was supposed to break out years ago, gets 38 vs. Pistons. (22)

WHO ARE ALL YOU GUYS?

25. San Antonio (1-4) At least Spurs don’t have to worry about getting a good seeding anymore. (13)

26. Minnesota (1-5) That didn’t take long: Love makes first start in fifth game, gets 20-8. (21)

27. Golden State (2-4)If you think team is bad, front office is in complete turmoil. (24)

28. Washington (0-5) Making most of opportunity, Nick Young averaging 17, shooting 55%. (25)

29. Clippers (0-6) These are times that try Clippers’ souls. To date, they always flunked. (28)

30. Oklahoma City (1-4) Westbrook, 19, averaging 10, already getting rep as lockdown defender. (30)