Best & worst in West at halfway point

The Utah Jazz played Game No. 41 last night in Chicago — meaning exactly one half of the 82-game regular season is over, believe it or not.

With that in mind, here's a look at some of the bests and worst from the first half of the season in the Western Conference:

Most surprising team — The Utah Jazz

The Jazz were the talk of the NBA early in the year with their 12-1 start and they've led the Northwest Division throughout. Sure, a recent four-game losing streak caused fans heartburn, butCarlos Boozer has been both healthy and consistently good, Deron Williams is quickly becoming one of the league's top point guards and Mehmet Okur has been a clutch shooter. Not only are the Jazz headed back to the playoffs — based on their first half — but they are going to get a decent seed.

Runner-up: The L.A. Lakers. Kobe Bryant hasn't been shooting as much — and the team is better for it.

Most disappointing team — The L.A. Clippers

The jokes about the Clippers ended last season, as they became a winning team that was fun to watch. With Elton Brand and his entire crew back, it looked like the Clips were poised to join the conference's elite.

It hasn't happened. After perhaps overachieving last year, they've underachieved to a sub-.500 record thus far.

Runner-up: The Memphis Grizzlies

Best team — The Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavs blew a 2-0 series lead in the NBA Finals last June by losing four straight games to the Miami Heat. They didn't appear over that shock when this season started, losing three in a row right off the bat.

Since then, however, Dallas has proven to be the class of the league. The Mavs finished the first half of the season with an NBA-best 33-8 mark.

Runner-up: The Phoenix Suns

Worst team — The Memphis Grizzlies.

A playoff team just last year, the Grizzlies figured to get off to a rough start because their best player, Pau Gasol, was injured. But to go from 49 wins last season to just 10 up to this point is embarrassing.

The poor start cost Mike "the Czar of the Telestrator" Fratello his job. Tony Barone took over and loosened the reins, as the Grizzlies converted to a run-and-gun style. It certainly has made them more interesting to watch, but the wins are still few and far between. Last Monday, for instance, the Grizz scored 122 points. Unfortunately for them, they gave up 137 to the Suns.

Runner-up: The New Orleans Hornets