By Shawn O'Neal
SportsLine NBA Editor

They've had their rough spots this year, but the Utah Jazz are sizzlin' again.

And it looks like they're going to stay that way.

After absorbing half of their eight losses in an 11-day span last month, the Jazz appear rid of whatever was ailing them. They've certainly reclaimed their throne as the best team in the Western Conference. Heading into their Saturday date with the Lakers, the Jazz have won nine in a row and have finally overtaken Portland in the race for the top playoff seed in the Western Conference.

Through the winning streak, the Jazz have shown the toughness that always has been part of their game. The antics of Karl Malone (also see Fizzlin') are hardly admirable, but they seem to be working.

He was suspended for the Jazz's Monday win over Vancouver, but otherwise has been vintage Mailman. He's averaging 26 points over his last eight games, is a lock to make the All-NBA first team for the 11th straight year and could (should?) add a second MVP award to his resume.

John Stockton has been steady, Bryon Russell (averaging 17.5 points during the streak) is a consistent contributor and Greg Ostertag (16 points, 19 rebounds against the Clippers Thursday) has been occasionally nasty.

Salt Lake City has never won a championship in a major professional sport. This could be the year.

There will be no titles -- or even post-season -- for New Jersey this year, but you'd think the Nets were hot stuff by listening to point guard Stephon Marbury.

Every time the Coney Island playground legend faces New York he offers his opinion on the Knicks' point guard situation, bashing Charlie Ward and Chris Childs with a baffling array of mumbo-jumbo.

"They still need a point guard," Marbury said after being shut down by both players in the team's 93-78 loss to the Knicks. "They'll never win a championship with those two guys. Never, ever, never. Never continuous to eternity, decimal, decimal, decimal. They might not even make the playoffs."

Marbury apparently considers his 2-6 lifetime playoff record as proof that he's a winner.

Sizzlin' ... The Countdown

5. Webber on the warpath

If the Sacramento Kings miss the playoffs it won't be Chris Webber's fault, as he's averaged 21 points, 14.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists over the past six games.

4. Phills cures Hornets' ills

We've said it before, but how important is Bobby Phills to the Charlotte Hornets? He can walk through any mall in the country and not get asked for an autograph, and his 13.8-point average is hardly the stuff of legends, but he's clearly the Hornets MVP this season. In their last 17 games the team is 10-1 with him and 1-5 when he was nursing an injury. Since his return, Charlotte has won five straight and still could make the playoffs.

3. He's a Magic Man

His Orlando Magic suffered a setback to the Indiana Pacers Wednesday, but Chuck Daly's team is still atop the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference playoff race by two games. It's not a sure thing yet, but the Magic don't look like they're going away anytime soon.

2. Cutting the Worm loose

In a move that will surely anger some of their fans, the Los Angeles Lakers dismissed Dennis Rodman early Friday. It was time to cut bait. The idea of Rodman was nice -- a guy who would come in, rebound, play defense and allow the Lakers' scorers to take care of their business. On an already-volatile team, however, Rodman's histrionics weren't worth the 11.2 rebounds per game he brought to the mix.

1. Can't stop the music

The Jazz are hot. The rest of the West should be scared.

Fizzlin' ... The Countdown

5. Stay in school, kid

No doubt, Duke's Elton Brand will be a solid NBA player -- probably the first selected in the June draft. But what is William Avery thinking? A sophomore guard, Avery followed Brand to the NBA, though it's difficult to see him having a similar impact in the draft. Let's get this straight -- a 6-foot-8, 265-pound Karl Malone clone will be fine in the show. A 6-2, 185-pound sophomore can expect results similar to Corey Benjamin -- a fine college player who rarely plays for the woeful Bulls.

4. Rodzilla's last stand?

Will anybody ever take a chance on Rodman again? There are still a few bridges he's yet to burn.

3. The Mailman's delivers -- cheap

He's a tremendous player, but Malone's recent antics are truly pathetic. He kneed Houston's Brent Price in the groin and Luc Longley blasted Malone's play as "piss weak" when the Mailman crashed into him, "intentionally" hyperextending the Aussie's knee. The league, however, didn't fine Malone until he threw a punch at Houston's Othella Harrington Sunday. That cost him $4,000 and a one-game suspension. He could be the league's MVP. He should act like it.

2. What a mess

The Bulls scored 49 points in a game last week, the lowest total since the institution of the shot clock. The clock, by the way, is running on Jerry Krauss's grand plan to rebuild the Bulls into a viable NBA franchise again.

1. Shut up Stephon

Marbury keeps saying he's the best point guard in the NBA. Wonder what Gary Payton, Rod Strickland, Jason Kidd and Tim Hardaway think about that? And now that he's in a major media market, people are hearing what he says, and wish they didn't.