1. Miami Heat (64-16, previous No. 1) - Well, Dwyane Wade is back, and the Heat look ready for the postseason. They might even consider resting LeBron James and Wade for the entire series with Milwaukee in preparation for an actual challenge.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (59-21, previous No. 2) – Kevin Durant was fined $25,000 for a “menacing gesture” last week, but what he and the Thunder do in the Western Conference should be even more menacing.

3. San Antonio Spurs (58-22, previous No. 4) - The Spurs weathered the storm that was the 2012-13 NBA regular season. But do they have enough left in the tank to go deep into the postseason? It’ll be tough.

4. Memphis Grizzlies (54-26 previous No. 3) - What to make of Memphis’ 91-87 loss to the Clippers over the weekend? One, it could be an opening round playoff preview. Two, it should be a very entertaining one.

5. Los Angeles Clippers (54-26, previous No. 5) - A win over the Griz before the postseason does wonders for L.A.’s confidence. It also helps that it could give them homecourt advantage over them.

6. New York Knicks (53-27, previous No. 6) - The Knicks beat up on the Celtics pretty good in the regular season, but make no mistake: they aren’t thrilled about their opening round matchup.

7. Denver Nuggets (55-25, previous No. 7) - On the day point guard Ty Lawson returned, Kenneth Faried sprained his left ankle. Hopefully it’s not serious, because they’ll need all hands (and ankles) on deck without Danilo Gallinari.

8. Indiana Pacers (49-31, previous No. 8) - Roy Hibbert is playing at a higher level over the second half of the season. The Pacers should be fine against a banged up Bulls team or a Hawks team that lacks an identity.

10. Brooklyn Nets (47-33, previous No. 10) - The team that nobody is talking about could give the Heat more trouble than we all think in the second round. Deron Williams is playing as good as anybody.

9. Houston Rockets (45-35, previous No. 9) - The Rockets are the only Western Conference playoff team with a losing record against Western Conference teams. Beating up on the Eastern Conference won’t help them now.

11. Golden State Warriors (45-35, previous No. 11) - The Warriors seem to be that team that every other team in the Western Conference wants to play. Can they use that as fuel? Or will they just prove all those teams right?

12. Chicago Bulls (43-37, previous No. 12) - It feels more and more like the season of “what could have been” for Chicago. Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson are banged up now. Derrick Rose doesn’t appear to be suiting up this season, either.

13. Boston Celtics (41-39, previous No. 13) - The Celtics may not have depth on their side. Or age. But one thing they’ve never lacked is confidence, and often times that’s all a team needs.

14. Atlanta Hawks (44-36, previous No. 14) - He seems to go under the radar just about every year, but Al Horford is the type of player every team wants. Can play both power forward and center effectively on both ends.

15. Los Angeles Lakers (44-37, previous No. 15) - It’s an absolute shame that Kobe Bryant is lost for the season after doing everything in his power to get his team into the playoffs. Can Dwight carry them now?

16. Utah Jazz (42-38, previous No. 16) - The Jazz didn’t trade Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap at the deadline, could lose both now, and it’s looking like they’ll miss the postseason. What a season …

17. Milwaukee Bucks (37-43, previous No. 17) - No truth to the rumor that the Bucks are raising a banner with the words “Just Happy to be Here” written on it before the Heat series.

18. Dallas Mavericks (40-40, previous No. 18) - The Dallas Mavericks all finally shaved their beards on Sunday . . . because they reached .500 on the season. Congrats?

19. Philadelphia 76ers (33-47, previous 20) - Reports are that Doug Collins will resign as head coach after the season. Not a big surprise. It was pretty clear that, like everybody else, he had had enough with that team.

20. Toronto Raptors (32-48, previous – ) - All the Raptors are doing now is costing themselves ping pong balls. Should have followed the Trail Blazers lead to end the season (an 11-game losing streak).

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1. Miami Heat (58-15, previous No. 1) – The streak is snapped, which could be a good thing in the long run. After all, it allowed the heat to sit LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers vs. the Spurs . . . and still win.

2. Denver Nuggets (50-24, previous No. 2) – There’s a three-team race for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, and the Nuggets are just barely ahead of the Grizzlies and Clippers. They kill teams at home, so that’s big.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder (54-20, previous No. 3) – Four days off for the No. 2-seeded Thunder before a big game on Thursday against the No. 1-seeded Spurs. This top seed is still up for grabs, unlike in the East. OKC should win this one at home.

4. Memphis Grizzlies (49-24 previous No. 6) - Grizzlies-Clippers in the first round of the playoffs would be appointment television … Assuming it’s not played on Sunday nights around 9 p.m.. Tyrion Lannister would NOT be happy.

5. San Antonio Spurs (55-18, previous No. 5) - Here’s some not-so-shocking news: Another key member of the Spurs is out again. Manu Ginobili is expected to miss 3-4 weeks with a right hamstring strain. No bueno, Los Spurs.

6. Los Angeles Clippers (49-25, previous No. 4) – The Clippers lost to the Rockets by 17 without James Harden. I don’t know about you, but they’re just too streaky to trust in the postseason. I’ll take the other coach over Vinny Del Negro.

7. Indiana Pacers (47-27, previous No. 7) - The Pacers went into Monday’s game in L.A. against the Clippers winners of three road games in a row. That’s a great sign for a team that’s had trouble away from home.

8. Houston Rockets (40-33, previous No. 8) - The Rockets could go into the postseason with some serious momentum. Seven of their final nine games are against current non-playoff teams. But teams that have beaten up on them await there.

9. New York Knicks (46-26, previous No. 12) – And just like that, the Knicks are winners of eight in a row. They’re doing it without Tyson Chandler too, which is more impressive. If it’s Celtics-Knicks in Round 1, Boston 100 percent needs Kevin Garnett – we know that.

11. Golden State Warriors (42-32, previous No. 11) - The Warriors have been fun to watch at times this year – on offense anyways – but the Nuggets would literally eat them up and spit them out in a first round matchup.

12. Chicago Bulls (40-33, previous No. 15) – Derrick Rose is waiting for a sign from God to let him know he’s ready to play. Well, what if God isn’t a Bulls fan? Ever think of that, Derrick?

13. Atlanta Hawks (41-33, previous No. 9) – Credit the Hawks for being in the position that they’re in, but they aren’t deep enough or mentally tough enough to do damage in the postseason. Josh Smith, you are the weakest link. Goodbye.

14. Boston Celtics (38-35, previous No. 13) – We don’t have a point guard … we don’t have a center… our pets heads are falling off! Boston needs to get right before the playoffs, or they’ll be watching them on TV like the rest of us. Except on nicer TVs.

15. Los Angeles Lakers (38-36, previous No. 14) – You can’t help but think that if the Lakers just get to the playoffs, they could make things interesting. But can they get there before they all kill each other?

16. Milwaukee Bucks (35-37, previous No. 16) - The Bucks are going to need to get in touch with Ryan Braun’s people – and fast – if they want a shot at competing with the Heat. And that’s not a knock on them.

17. Utah Jazz (36-37, previous No. 18) – Four straight wins for the Jazz heading into Monday night. They’re hanging onto that eight seed for dear life. It’s almost like they don’t know they’ll have to play four games against the Spurs or Thunder if they get there.

18. Dallas Mavericks (36-37, previous No. 17) – It’s great to see Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs make some noise down the stretch. It almost drowns out all the noise Mark Cuban makes from the sidelines.

19. Portland Trail Blazers (33-40, previous No. 19) - They were 4.5 games out of a playoff spot on Mondyay, with the Mavs and Lakers ahead of them trying to get in. Time for the Blazers to start booking those offseason vacations. Tip: Avoid cruises.

20. Philadelphia 76ers (30-43, previous 20) – “Did somebody say offseason vacations?” – Andrew Bynum, as he books his fourth vacation of the NBA regular season…

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The Knicks did what they have usually done on this West Coast road trip — show some fight for the first half of the game, only to wilt in the second half. Sunday afternoon wasn’t any different as they fell to the Clippers, 93-80.

Despite missing the services of Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler, the Knicks (38-26) maintained some sort of competitiveness — for the first 24 minutes — as they actually played the Clippers (46-21) close, trailing by just seven points.

Jason Kidd’s jump shot had a bit of a revival in the third quarter, knocking down three 3-pointers, as the Knicks tried to stay within striking distance, but a 13-0 Clippers run was too much to overcome. Kidd finished with 11 points, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Chris Copeland, 13 points, and J.R. Smith, 17 points, were the only other offensive threats for the Knicks, as they shot a paltry 35.8 percent from the floor. About the only other factors that allowed the Knicks to stay relatively competitive were the 3-point shot (46.2 percent) and winning the turnover battle, 12-9.

Smith was a paradox as usual, in that he did enough to keep the Knicks within reach in the opening half, scoring 11 points, but his poor shot selection and shooting percentage (4-of-20) also allowed the Clippers to ignite fastbreaks off long rebounds and capitalize on his mistakes. Smith should be commended for having a career season (career highs of 16.7 points in 33.2 minutes per game) and thriving whenever Anthony has been out of the lineup, but New York still needs him to be more judicious if they’re going to weather Anthony’s extended absence.

As much fight as the Knicks had, though, the Clippers simply had too many options on the offensive end. Only a few garbage-time buckets by the Knicks kept the final score closer than it actually was. When it came down to shutting down the Knicks’ offense when they had to, they’d simply take the ball out of their playmakers’ hands and make the secondary guys beat them. They couldn’t, and the Clippers sent the Knicks to their fourth-straight loss.

What we learned …

1. Deeper than the Pacific Ocean

On paper, and when healthy, these are two of the deepest teams in the league. But Sunday showed what happens when one team is stacked with youthful depth, while the other is banking on 30-somethings. The Clippers, like the Knicks, have battled injury problems all season, but unlike their New York counterpart, they have enough young legs to get them through the difficult times. Los Angeles is particularly strong in their starting five, as all but center DeAndre Jordan (eight points, 10 rebounds, two blocks) reached double figures scoring, while New York only had two starters score more than 10 points.

2. They’re going streaking

Sunday marked the fourth-straight loss for a Knicks’ squad that is one game away from ending this brutal five-game West Coast road trip with an 0-for. The Knicks began their sojourn with a semicomfortable 2 1/2 game lead over the Nets and a 4 1/2 game lead over the Celtics. They now find themselves in a dogfight down the stretch for the Atlantic Division title — a lead they have had all to themselves since the start of the season. If the Knicks continue this descent, they could conceivably be in jeopardy of losing their division lead and homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

3. Shooting guard who can’t shoot

Iman Shumpert is in the midst of a terrible shooting slump since returning to the lineup following his arduous ACL rehab. Shumpert, who entered the game shooting 34 percent in his 26 previous games, went 2-of-6, including 0-of-3 in 3-pointers, for just five points. Sans Anthony, the Knicks certainly need more offensive options. And as of right now, Shumpert has been more liability than contributor on the offensive end.

Follow Knicks beat writer Tony Williams on Twitter @TBone8.

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Thankfully there is still separation between sports and reality TV. Know why that’s still true despite the Manti Te’o saga, Lance Armstrong on Oprah and Nick Cannon hosting the NBA dunk contest?

Because Lamar Odom remains the most normal person on any of the Kardashian’s 20 different spin-off shows. Whenever he appears (my wife watches the show … that’s the excuse I’m using … yup, that’s the excuse), a giant brush of humbleness and calmness clobbers the giant head of Khloe. No, Odom is not on the show all that much, but when he is on there is a change in everyone’s demeanor. He is truly the steady rock that holds the Kardashian-Jenner clan together. In the reality TV world, Odom has his sh** together.

In the sports world? Entirely different story. Compared with his pro sports peers, Odom is an IHOP garbage-disposal at 4 a.m. mess.

He is such a diva that he can only play in Los Angeles to maintain a clear head. When he played in Dallas last year, he flat-out quit on the Mavericks and, in turn, his teammates were ecstatic about it. Today, the NY Post wrote that Odom fell asleep on a courthouse bench in New York while his children’s custody war was being waged.

“Excuse me, are you OK?” a court officer asked the slumping Odom. “I need you to sit up.”

The Clippers slug was sleeping for 20 minutes, according to the Post. He blamed it on jet-lag and “the flu.”

While this was going on, the two sides in the custody case were talking over crucial matters like whether or not the kids could appear on two separate reality showS (PLURAL). Because, of course, the mother of these kids, Liza Morales, appears on her own reality show, “Starter Wives.”

Head meet ball
In the age of concussions, we can still laugh at stuff like this, right? It’s our obligation as a society, right?

The second best part of these ball-to-head videos is always the reaction of the person who threw or kicked the ball. You always get that classic, “uh, Hoah!” chuckle right after contact. Like it’s hilarious for .2 seconds and then you realize that you’re a complete a**hole. It’s OK, we’ve all been there.

Matt Burke is sports editor and a columnist at Metro Boston. Follow him on Twitter @BurkeMetroBOS

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The NBA Trade Deadline is just two days away, but the hype leading up to it began weeks – months? – ago. Some teams are looking for one more piece to put them over the top, while others are looking to cut salary and build toward the future.

Players and fans are equally on edge as GMs kick around offers behind closed doors.

Here are five teams most likely to make a move by Feb. 21:

Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are done playing second fiddle to the Lakers, and realize they have a team that’s one or two players short of winning the title this season. Eric Bledsoe, the team’s backup point guard to Chris Paul, is their bait, and they’ve already reportedly tried dangling him to the Celtics (with Caron Butler, for Kevin Garnett) and the Jazz (for Paul Millsap). It doesn’t look like the C’s are biting on that offer, but it makes sense for the Jazz, who could certainly use a point guard, and could lose Millsap to free agency after the season. Regardless of where, Bledsoe could certainly be out of LA by Thursday night.

Atlanta Hawks
It seems like Josh Smith has been included in trade talks for the past few years (because he has). Why does it make sense to trade him now? Well, unless the absolute improbable happens, Atlanta doesn’t seem to be going far with him as its centerpiece. He’s due for a max deal or close to one over the offseason – whether he deserves it or not – and the Hawks may not be interested. Both the Celtics and Nets, among others have come up as suitors, but the Nets are also reportedly interested in Millsap.

Phoenix Suns
Phoenix understands it needs to unload some players and hope it pays dividends down the road. Marcin Gortat is a big man who can help out just about any team, as could Luis Scola. Swingman Jared Dudley is by all accounts a great locker-room guy (and can play). Michael Beasley plays in spurts, and could scare teams away if the Suns include him in potential deals.

Boston Celtics
An 8-1 stretch has probably killed all Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett trades – unless the C’s are blown away by an offer. But don’t count out a smaller trade to bring in a backup guard or big man.

Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks have a decision to make: Monta Ellis or Brandon Jennings? They can’t sign both, and may elect to trade one or the other by Thursday.

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The Knicks insist they’re not in the trading game, but maybe some sort of shakeup is needed following yesterday’s 102-88 matinee loss to the Clippers.

Los Angeles was playing an early tip-off — which west coast teams notoriously have troubling playing — had travel difficulties due to the nor’easter that pounded the northeast corridor and were playing only their fourth game with their entire roster intact. Even starting forward Caron Butler caught the injury bug when he was getting treatment in the locker room during halftime and didn’t come out to play again. Butler was replaced by Matt Barnes, who shot a disastrous 1-of-8 in 19 minutes of action.

Yet, there were the Knicks struggling with an undermanned Clippers’ team that had every reason to fold. Los Angeles had no answer for Carmelo Anthony, as he had a game-high 42 points (18 in the third quarter) to singlehandedly keep his team in the game, making for his fifth 40-point scoring game of the season. But Anthony’s performance was about as good as it would get for the Knicks.

Amongst the lowlights for New York included a bench that gave them next to nothing (Amar’e Stoudemire had nine points, while J.R. Smith had six on 1-of-9 shooting). Shumpert didn’t provide his usual energy, scoring just two points on 1-of-4 shooting in 20 minutes of action. Clippers’ sixth man — and former Knicks’ guard — Jamal Crawford personally outscored his bench counterparts with a team-high 27 points and the Clippers shot a blistering 51.2 percent from the field.

Knicks center Tyson Chandler showed his frustration afterward when recalling the box sheet, as other than Anthony, only Raymond Felton notched double-digits in scoring with 20.

“Yeah, [Anthony] was amazing again, and you have to keep feeding him the ball when he’s going like that,” said Chandler, “but you also have to find a way to get others involved and get shots as well.”

The Clippers got others involved, as four players reached double figures. Chris Paul was brilliant throughout as he notched 25 points, six rebounds, and seven assists.
Even Stoudemire, who’s never been known as a defensive stopper, lamented the team’s effort in deterring the Clippers’ main scorers.

“Teams are definitely looking at us and will continue to test us,” Stoudemire said of the pick-and-roll. “It’s up to us to figure out a way to improve in that area and get back to our principles.”

Despite the aforementioned shortcomings, the Knicks were within striking distance before wilting down the stretch. The microcosm of the Knicks’ uneven afternoon came as they were chipping away at a late deficit, cutting the margin to just six points with 2:48 remaining. Head coach Mike Woodson, however, pulled Chandler from the game and never played him again. The Clippers went on a 10-0 run to salt away the comeback attempt.

Chandler wasn’t a dominant scorer, but his presence kept the Clippers’ defense honest, especially on the pick-and-roll with Felton. Chandler did impose his will in the paint, though, as he had 11 rebounds, and was the only Knicks player to be on the positive side of the plus-minus margin at plus-9. And while he only had six points (3-of-3 shooting), it was the mere threat of Chandler rolling to the rim for an easy dunk or layup that made Paul and Co. hesitant to leave him open, thus allowing Felton to knock down wide-open jumpers.

“That’s one of the best teams in the West, so we know where we stand,” acknowledged Woodson. “We know we just have to get better, without a doubt.”

Woodson lamented the collective effort, but stopped short of saying there needs to be changes made.

Follow Knicks beat writer Tony Williams on Twitter @TBone8.

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