News from December 12. Scottie Pippen (Chi) underwent surgery on his left knee and is expected to be out 4 to 6 weeks. Houston released Ben Davis. Miami activated Rasual Butler and placed Wang Zhizhi on IR with patellar tendinitis. Michael Olowokandi (Min) underwent surgery on his right knee and is expected to be out 6 to 8 weeks. New Jersey activated Damone Brown and Tamar Slay and placed Brandon Armstrong (sprained left ankle) and Zoran Planinic (strained neck) on IR. Washington activated Gilbert Arenas and placed Mitchell Butler on IR with right knee tendinitis. Dal 110, LAL 93 at LAL Antoine Walker (Dal) had 27 points on 12-22 FG, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Josh Howard (Dal) had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Steve Nash (Dal) had 23 points including 11-12 FT, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Karl Malone (LAL) had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal (LAL) had 25 points on 7-7 FG and 11-24 FT, 14 rebounds including 7 offensive, and 5 turnovers. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 15 points including 4-18 FG, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Michael Finley (Dal, sprained right toe) did not play. NO 96, GS 85 at GS P.J. Brown (NO) had 16 points including 7-10 FG and 15 rebounds. David Wesley (NO) had 23 points. Baron Davis (NO) had 27 points and 12 assists. Nick Van Exel (GS) had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Mike Dunleavy (GS) had 25 points and 7 rebounds. Adonal Foyle (GS, left knee surgery) and Speedy Claxton (GS, lower back spasms) did not play. Ind 103, Atl 92 at Ind Ron Artest (Ind) had 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jermaine O'Neal (Ind) had 20 points. Fred Jones (Ind) had 18 points. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Atl) had 19 points and 8 rebounds. Jason Terry (Atl) had 18 points on 9-15 FG and 5 rebounds. Ind shot 24-31 FT and Atl shot 13-16 FT. Boris Diaw (Atl, sprained left ankle) did not play. Sac 100, Uta 93 at Uta Predrag Stojakovic (Sac) had 24 points and 8 rebounds. Mike Bibby (Sac) had 25 points including 10-16 FG and 6 rebounds. Bobby Jackson (Sac) had 22 points and 5 rebounds. Greg Ostertag (Uta) had 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Raja Bell (Uta) had 17 points. Anthony Peeler (Sac, sore right knee) did not play. NJ 99, Orl 95 at Orl Richard Jefferson (NJ) had 19 points and 6 assists. Kenyon Martin (NJ) had 16 points and 15 rebounds. Kerry Kittles (NJ) had 22 points on 9-12 FG and 4-5 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Jason Kidd (NJ) had 8 points including 1-10 FG, 8 rebounds, and 15 assists. Juwan Howard (Orl) had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Tracy McGrady (Orl) had 20 points including 4-7 3-pointers and 9 rebounds. Drew Gooden (Orl) had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Sea 93, Det 72 at Det Rashard Lewis (Sea) had 33 points and 7 rebounds. Brent Barry (Sea) had 18 points on 7-9 FG and 4-4 3-pointers, 9 assists, and 3 steals. Ronald Murray (Sea) had 19 points. Ben Wallace (Det) had 14 points and 11 rebounds including 7 offensive. Chauncey Billups (Det) had 12 points including 3-10 FG, 6 assists, and 6 turnovers. Sea shot 50% (35-70) FG and Det shot 38.2% (29-76) FG. Min 110, Was 91 at Was Latrell Sprewell (Min) had 21 points and 7 assists. Kevin Garnett (Min) had 23 points including 10-15 FG, 16 rebounds, and 5 assists. Sam Cassell (Min) had 25 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals. Larry Hughes (Was) had 16 points. Christian Laettner (Was) had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Min shot 56% (47-84) FG and Was shot 41.2% (35-85) FG. Michael Olowokandi (Min, right knee surgery) and Mark Madsen (Min, back spasms) did not play. Mia 91, Mem 88 at Mia Lamar Odom (Mia) had 29 points including 11-19 FG and 14 rebounds. Brian Grant (Mia) had 11 points including 4-11 FG and 13 rebounds. Rafer Alston (Mia) had 11 points on 4-13 FG and 7 assists. James Posey (Mem) had 19 points including 7-10 FG, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Earl Watson (Mem) had 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals. Jason Williams (Mem, back muscle strain) did not play. Den 86, Phi 77 at Phi Nene (Den) had 12 points including 5-7 FG and 12 rebounds. Marcus Camby (Den) had 16 points, 17 rebounds, and 4 steals. Andre Miller (Den) had 23 points and 7 assists. Kenny Thomas (Phi) had 19 points and 12 rebounds. Eric Snow (Phi) had 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 11 assists. Allen Iverson (Phi) had 18 points including 6-22 FG, 8 assists, and 7 turnovers. Greg Buckner (Phi, personal reasons) and Marc Jackson (Phi, fractured finger) did not play. Bos 114, Tor 111 at Bos Corie Blount (Bos) had 13 points including 6-8 FG and 7 rebounds. Mike James (Bos) had 21 points and 5 assists. Paul Pierce (Bos) had 33 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. Vince Carter (Tor) had 35 points including 5-7 3-pointers. Donyell Marshall (Tor) had 31 points including 7-9 3-pointers and 9 rebounds. Mil 109, Chi 95 at Mil Desmond Mason (Mil) had 21 points including 9-13 FG, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Michael Redd (Mil) had 30 points. Damon Jones (Mil) had 22 points and 9 assists. Kendall Gill (Chi) had 18 points. Kirk Hinrich (Chi) had 17 points including 5-7 FG and 4-5 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Marcus Fizer (Chi) had 19 points and 5 rebounds. Tim Thomas (Mil, sprained left ankle), Corie Blount (Chi, sprained left knee), and Scottie Pippen (Chi, left knee surgery) did not play.