News from January 3. The NBA named Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) and Vince Carter (NJ) as Players of the Month for December. Nowitzki averaged 27.2 points and 9.3 rebounds as Dallas went 12-4. Carter averaged 28.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists as New Jersey went 10-4. The NBA named Gregg Popovich (SA) and Flip Saunders (Det) as Coaches of the Month for December. San Antonio went 13-4 and Detroit went 13-2. The NBA named Chris Paul (NO) and Charlie Villanueva (Tor) as Rookies of the Month for December. Paul averaged 16.3 points, 7.9 assists, and 6.4 rebounds as New Orleans went 5-10. Villanueva averaged 14.2 points and 4.9 rebounds as Toronto went 7-7. The NBA named Shawn Marion (Pho) and Dwyane Wade (Mia) as Players of the Week. Marion averaged 25.3 points including 67% FG and 12.5 rebounds as Phoenix went 4-0. Wade averaged 30.3 points including 61% FG, 5.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists as Miami went 3-1. Seattle fired head coach Bob Weiss and named assistant Bob Hill as head coach. Jim Lynam resigned as an assistant coach of Philadelphia for health reasons. Miami assigned Dorell Wright and Earl Barron to the NBADL. Minnesota assigned Dwayne Jones to the NBADL. Damon Stoudamire (Mem) underwent surgery on his torn right patellar tendon. He is out for the season. The LA Clippers released Howard Eisley. Washington activated Andray Blatche and placed Donell Taylor on IL. Utah activated Matt Harpring and placed Andre Owens on IL. Dal 95, Por 81 at Dal Josh Howard (Dal) had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 22 points including 10-14 FG and 8 rebounds. Jason Terry (Dal) had 22 points including 4-8 3-pointers and 7 assists. Zach Randolph (Por) had 19 points and 11 rebounds including 7 offensive. Ruben Patterson (Por) had 19 points including 7-11 FT. Phi 111, Sac 98 at Sac Chris Webber (Sac) had 20 points and 16 rebounds. Samuel Dalembert (Phi) had 20 points including 8-10 FG and 14 rebounds including 6 offensive. Andre Iguodala (Phi) had 22 points including 8-10 FG, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Allen Iverson (Phi) had 19 points including 8-25 FG and 12 assists. Peja Stojakovic (Sac) had 19 points and 7 rebounds. Brad Miller (Sac) had 36 points on 13-22 FG and 9-10 FT and 11 rebounds. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Sac, broken jaw) did not play. Mem 104, GS 94 at Mem Pau Gasol (Mem) had 21 points including 9-14 FT, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 blocks. Eddie Jones (Mem) had 23 points including 4-10 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals. Bobby Jackson (Mem) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Troy Murphy (GS) had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Jason Richardson (GS) had 20 points including 4-10 3-pointers. Mem shot 27-40 FT and GS shot 10-12 FT. Uta 90, LAL 80 at Uta Andrei Kirilenko (Uta) had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 7 blocks, and 6 steals. Mehmet Okur (Uta) had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Deron Williams (Uta) had 19 points. Lamar Odom (LAL) had 25 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Kobe Bryant (LAL, suspended) did not play. Hou 123, Was 111 at Was Tracy McGrady (Hou) had 38 points including 14-16 FT, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. Juwan Howard (Hou) had 24 points including 10-14 FG and 7 rebounds. Rafer Alston (Hou) had 17 points on 7-11 FG and 10 assists. Caron Butler (Was) had 20 points and 6 rebounds. Gilbert Arenas (Was) had 44 points including 5-10 3-pointers and 13-16 FT, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Hou shot 55.1% (43-78) FG and Was shot 42.4% (36-85) FG. Det 108, Orl 99 at Det Ben Wallace (Det) had 11 points and 9 rebounds. Richard Jefferson (Det) had 25 points including 10-17 FG and 5 turnovers. Chauncey Billups (Det) had 37 points on 9-15 FG, 4-6 3-pointers, and 15-17 FT and 9 assists. Dwight Howard (Orl) had 22 points including 8-11 FG and 14 rebounds. Jameer Nelson (Orl) had 18 points. Tor 108, Atl 97 at Atl Chris Bosh (Tor) had 27 points including 11-14 FT and 12 rebounds. Mike James (Tor) had 28 points including 4-4 3-pointers and 6 assists. Morris Peterson (Tor) had 13 points including 4-11 FG and 5 rebounds. Al Harrington (Atl) had 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Zaza Pachulia (Atl) had 18 points including 12-14 FT and 7 rebounds.