Have you happened to notice the top three teams in the NFC East, er, Atlantic Division? Have you happened to notice the bottom three? Have you happened to notice that things have, uh, changed?

	With injuries or poor play hurting key players like Brian Grant and Alonzo Mourning, Miami is struggling.

Sure, we all secretly suspected that the Nets, Celtics and Wizards, those paradigms of Ping Pong permutations, would be 1-2-3 in the Atlantic at the start of 2002. We all knew that Miami was going even further south than it already is. We suspected the worst when Allen Iverson and Aaron McKie showed up the day before work with a doctor's note that said: "Surgery needed immediately. Windsprints hazardous to the recovery process. Check back in a month."

Oh, and those Knicks? Do we really have to say something nice here about Larry Johnson? OK, we won't. But it must be the LJ Curse or else Glen Rice did a lot more last year than we knew or saw. Jeff Van Gundy may be doing some TNT work, but he'd be a far more appropriate host of Psychic Friends Network. Yes, the Knicks were above .500 when he packed it in. Those were the days, my friend.

Those three Atlantic laggards happened to be the Nos. 1, 3 and 4 seeds in last year's playoffs. None would even make the playoffs if the season ended today and Miami, despite the everyday presence and pearls of Commandant Pat Riley, isn't going to make them no matter when the season ends.

The Conventional Wisdom holds that the 76ers, at least, will somehow Get It Together and Turn It Around. Maybe it's me, but wasn't that supposed to happen now that everyone is back (sort of) and the Sense of Urgency kicked in? Then they went West and got squashed by the Shaq-less Lakers and the McDyess-less Nuggets? Ouch.

There's renewed speculation about how long Larry Brown is going to stick around. His response: "I'm here." But you may remember last year that he took some down time and contemplated stepping aside after some choice words with Allen Iverson during a team meeting. The Sixers were 17-6 at that point. They're 13-18 now. In other words, they've lost almost as many games by now as they did all last season (26).

There's a new world order in the Atlantic Division and it can be boiled down to these tried and true articles of faith: if you have two really good players, and no injuries, and don't go out West too often, you, too, can be a division and conference contender. That sums up the situation in Boston and New Jersey where, contrary to recent years, the mainstays have not only played well, but they've stayed on the court. They've also, for the most part, stayed east of Old Man River. New Jersey lost something like 4,692 man-games due to injuries last year. This year? Their five starters have not missed a single game due to injury. The only time a starter did not play was when Kenyon Martin had to serve a one-game suspension for his late-game clotheslining of Karl Malone. Among the top subs, Richard Jefferson, a rookie has missed three games.

	Kidd

The Nets also have the game's best point guard in Jason Kidd, the early and sentimental choice for Most Valuable Player. Thanks to Kidd, the Nets have five players who average double figures and we think we now see why a lot of people didn't consider Keith Van Horn to be that big of a dropoff from Tim Duncan.

Oh, yeah, and the Nets have played five Western Conference teams on the road -- and three of them are likely Secaucus attendees. But that's one more than the Celtics, who went out West after Christmas preening over their 17-8 record and then lost three of four. The one victory -- an overtime thrilla over the Clippers.

But the Celtics returned home and spanked around the Magic, showing again what having two good players and stability can do. Like New Jersey, Boston has had its starting lineup intact all season. Of the main rotation, only one player, Eric Williams, has had any down time. Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce are carrying the team with very strong and broad shoulders. There isn't much of a safety net there if one of those lads goes down.

	Mutombo

Contrast those two teams with Philadelphia, which will have finished its Western Conference road schedule this Saturday and has had only two guys who've gone wire to wire: Matt Harpring and Dikembe Mutombo. The other three starters have missed 34 games among them. You can envision a tough Philadelphia team with everyone hale and hearty, but, so far, that hasn't been the case. They go from macho to no mans overnight.

The Knicks have had the customary injury woes with Marcus Camby while also losing Clarence Weatherspoon. The danger signs for New York: most everyone else has played in every game and they've only had four games on the road against the West. Miami has lost Brian Grant and Kendall Gill for long spells and is trying to get by with a visibly sub-par Alonzo Mourning, who should be on the injured list. Maybe even the injured-retired list. Only one player, LaPhonso Ellis, has yet to miss a game for the win-challenged Heat.

Orlando, of course, lost Grant Hill, again, and traded Bo Outlaw and Brendan Haywood, moves made in the expectation that Hill would be here now and Duncan would be there in a couple years. But Orlando also only has two Western Conference roadies remaining: singletons against Houston and Memphis. As Doc Rivers put it, "the East is still wide open. It's a long season."

Who knows what to make of the Wizards? They've had two starters go down (Christian Laettner and Richard Hamilton) and still are finding ways to win. Haywood has been a discovery. Michael went from 6 to 51 in a hurry and we don't mean in a Land Rover. The Wizards have yet to play anyone from the Pacific Division on the road, however, their non-conference visits restricted to Texas and Memphis. Can you imagine where they'd be now with Shane Battier or Pau Gasol instead of the under-utilized Kwame Brown?

The ride has been fun so far for those who've been waiting in a Disney-esque line for a long time. The Celtics look to make the playoffs for the first time since 1995; the Nets for the first time since 1997. Pat Riley is poised to have to endure a playoff-less season for the first time in his coaching career while the Knicks may have empty seats at the World's Most Famous Sports Arena in late-April and May for the first time since 1987.

Hey, it could be worse. You could be in Portland. The team stinks and the rain is about to come.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.