News from January 2. The NBA named Kobe Bryant (LAL) and Dwyane Wade (Mia) as Players of the Month for December. Bryant averaged 28.2 points and 5.7 rebounds as the Lakers went 11-4. Wade averaged 29.2 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.3 rebounds as Miami went 9-4. The NBA named Bryon Scott (NO) and Mike Brown (Cle) as Coaches of the Month for December. New Orleans went 10-3 and Cleveland went 12-2. The NBA named Russell Westbrook (OKC) and Derrick Rose (Chi) as Rookies of the Month for December. Westbrook averaged 15.5 points, 5.1 assists, and 5.1 rebounds as Oklahoma went 2-13. Rose averaged 16.3 points and 6.2 assists as Chicago went 6-9. Detroit assigned Alex Acker and Walter Sharpe to the NBADL. Washington activated Oleksiy Pecherov and placed DeShawn Stevenson (back injury) on IL. Cleveland activated Wally Szczerbiak and Lorenzen Wright and placed Jawad Williams and Zydrunas Ilgauskas on IL. Ilgauskas is expected to be out 3 to 4 weeks with a fractured bone in his left ankle. New Jersey activated Keyon Dooling and placed Maurice Ager on IL. Sacramento activated Kenny Thomas and placed Shelden Williams on IL. San Antonio activated Francisco Oberto and placed Jacque Vaughn on IL. Minnesota activated Mike Miller and placed Mark Madsen on IL. Golden State activated Marcus Williams and placed Brandan Wright (sprained wrist) on IL. Charlotte activated Nazr Mohammed and placed Ryan Hollins on IL. Phoenix activated Alando Tucker and placed Dee Brown on IL. Tucker was recalled from the NBADL. New Orleans activated Ryan Bowen and placed Melvin Ely on IL. Utah activated Paul Millsap and Jarron Collins and placed Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko on IL. Dal 96, Phi 86 at Dal Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 31 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Erick Dampier (Dal) had 10 points on a perfect 5-5 FG and 14 rebounds including 5 offensive. Jason Terry (Dal) had 21 points and 5 assists. Andre Iguodala (Phi) had 22 points and 5 assists. Andre Miller (Phi) had 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 turnovers. Orl 86, Mia 76 at Orl Rashard Lewis (Orl) had 17 points including 4-7 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Dwight Howard (Orl) had 15 points and 15 rebounds including 7 offensive. Jameer Nelson (Orl) had 16 points and 5 assists. Dwyane Wade (Mia) had 33 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Udonis Haslem (Mia) had 12 points and 8 rebounds. Orl shot 20-30 FT and Mia shot 9-10 FT. Tor 94, Hou 73 at Tor Chris Bosh (Tor) had 19 points and 5 rebounds. Andrea Bargnani (Tor) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Joey Graham (Tor) had 10 points. Yao Ming (Hou) had 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Von Wafer (Hou) had 18 points including 7-9 FG. Tor shot 48.2% (40-83) FG and Hou shot 34.1% (28-82) FG. Shane Battier (Hou, inflammation left foot) did not play. Bos 108, Was 83 at Bos Paul Pierce (Bos) had 26 points including 9-10 FG and 5-6 3-pointers. Rajon Rondo (Bos) had 10 points and 14 assists. Ray Allen (Bos) had 11 points and 6 assists. Antawn Jamison (Was) had 14 points including 6-20 FG and 9 rebounds. Nick Young (Was) had 15 points. Bos shot 55.4% (41-74) FG and Was shot 38.3% (31-81) FG. Cle 117, Chi 92 at Cle LeBron James (Cle) had 16 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 blocks, and 5 turnovers. Anderson Varejao (Cle) had 26 points on 9-14 FG and 8-13 FT, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals. J.J. Hickson (Cle) had 13 points and 6 rebounds. Ben Gordon (Chi) had 22 points. Lindsey Hunter (Chi) had 13 points. Cle shot 50.6% (40-79) FG and Chi shot 36.6% (30-82) FG. Luol Deng (Chi, sprained left ankle), Drew Gooden (Chi, sprained right ankle) did not play. NJ 93, Atl 91 OT at NJ Devin Harris (NJ) had 26 points, 11 assists, and 8 turnovers. Vince Carter (NJ) had 18 points including 6-18 FG and 5-7 3-pointers and the game winning long 3-pointer at the buzzer. Bobby Simmons (NJ) had 12 points on 5-7 FG and 5 rebounds. Josh Smith (Atl) had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers. Mike Bibby (Atl) had 22 points including 4-9 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Ind 105, NY 103 at NY Danny Granger (Ind) had 22 points including 10-10 FT, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. Troy Murphy (Ind) had 15 points including 5-14 FG, 18 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 3 steals. Jarrett Jack (Ind) had 29 points including 10-14 FG and 4-7 3-pointers and the game winning jumper with .9 seconds left, 5 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. David Lee (NY) had 26 points including 12-15 FG, 11 rebounds, and 5 steals. Al Harrington (NY) had 27 points including 4-8 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Tim Thomas (NY, sore right big toe) and Danilo Gallinari (NY, sore lower back) did not play. Det 98, Sac 92 at Det Tayshaun Prince (Det) had 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Allen Iverson (Det) had 23 points and 6 rebounds. Rodney Stuckey (Det) had 38 points including 8-10 FT and 7 assists. John Salmons (Sac) had 21 points and 8 rebounds. Brad Miller (Sac) had 25 points including 9-10 FT and 16 rebounds including 8 offensive. Kevin Martin (Sac) had 20 points on 4-15 FG and 12-12 FT and 5 rebounds. Det shot 48.8% (40-82) FG and Sac shot 33.7% (28-83) FG. Antonio McDyess (Det, sore ribs) and Rasheed Wallace (Det, sore right foot) did not play. SA 91, Mem 80 at Mem Tim Duncan (SA) had 20 points including 8-11 FG, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. Tony Parker (SA) had 19 points and 5 assists. Manu Ginobili (SA) had 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals. Marc Gasol (Mem) had 15 points and 11 rebounds including 5 offensive. Hakim Warrick (Mem) had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Min 115, GS 108 at Min Ryan Gomes (Min) had 21 points including 9-16 FG and 10 rebounds. Al Jefferson (Min) had 32 points including 10-10 FT. Randy Foye (Min) had 17 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals. Stephen Jackson (GS) had 25 points including 9-11 FT, 7 assists, and 6 turnovers. Andris Biedrins (GS) had 18 points and 13 rebounds including 5 offensive. Den 122, OKC 120 at OKC Carmelo Anthony (Den) had 31 points including 9-13 FT and the game winning 3-pointer with .1 second left and 9 rebounds. Nene (Den) had 27 points including 10-11 FG and 14 rebounds including 5 offensive. Chauncey Billups (Det) had 24 points including 4-8 3-pointers. and 7 assists. Kevin Durant (OKC) had 33 points including 4-5 3-pointers, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jeff Green (OKC) had 18 points. Nick Collison (OKC, fractured left thumb) did not play. Mil 103, Cha 75 at Mil Richard Jefferson (Mil) had 18 points and 6 rebounds. Michael Redd (Mil) had 31 points on 10-16 FG and 8-10 FT and 5 rebounds. Charlie Villanueva (Mil) had 27 points including 9-16 FG and 5 rebounds. Boris Diaw (Cha) had 16 points and 6 assists. Emeka Okafor (Cha) had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Pho 106, LAC 98 at Pho Amare Stoudemire (Pho) had 23 points including 10-17 FG and 8 rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal (Pho) had 17 points and 9 rebounds. Jason Richardson (Pho) had 15 points and 5 turnovers. Marcus Camby (LAC) had 19 points including 5-10 FT and 23 rebounds including 11 offensive. Eric Gordon (LAC) had 21 points. Pho shot 55.4% (41-74) FG and LAC shot 41.7% (35-84) FG. Baron Davis (LAC, bruised tailbone) and Zach Randolph (LAC, sore left knee) did not play. NO 92, Por 77 at Por David West (NO) had 25 points. Chris Paul (NO) had 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 11 assists. James Posey (NO) had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Rudy Fernandez (Por) had 19 points. LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 13 points including 5-18 FG, 10 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 5 assists. NO shot 51.3% (39-76) FG and Por shot 39.7% (29-73) FG. NO shot 6-7 FT and Por shot 15-18 FT. LAL 113, Uta 100 at LAL Pau Gasol (LAL) had 21 points including 9-11 FT, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 40 points including 12-14 FT and 7 rebounds. Lamar Odom (LAL) had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Paul Millsap (Uta) had 16 points and 17 rebounds. Mehmet Okur (Uta) had 21 points and 13 rebounds. Ronnie Brewer (Uta) had 20 points. [note: all 30 teams played] Schedule for Saturday, January 3 (All times Central) Sacramento @ Indiana 5:00 pm Houston @ Atlanta 6:00 pm Milwaukee @ Charlotte 6:00 pm New Jersey @ Miami 6:30 pm Minnesota @ Chicago 7:30 pm Philadelphia @ San Antonio 7:30 pm NBATV New Orleans @ Denver 8:00 pm ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html