News from February 26. Former NBA player Norm Van Lier died at age 61. He played 10 seasons in the NBA from 69-70 - 78-79, including 7 seasons with Chicago. Ben Wallace (Cle) suffered a fractured right fibula during Thursday's Cle-Hou game. He is expected to be out 4 to 6 weeks. Phoenix elected not to sign Courtney Sims for the rest of the season after he completed his 2nd 10-day contract. Cleveland activated Delonte West and placed Trey Johnson on IL. Houston activated Luther Head and placed Carl Landry on IL. Hou 93, Cle 74 at Hou Luis Scola (Hou) had 14 points including 5-7 FG and 9 rebounds. Yao Ming (Hou) had 28 points including 13-15 FG and 8 rebounds. Von Wafer (Hou) had 19 points including 4-6 3-pointers. LeBron James (Cle) had 21 points including 7-21 FG. Maurice Williams (Cle) had 21 points. Hou shot 49.3% (35-71) FG and Cle shot 33.8% (27-80) FG. LAL 132, Pho 106 at LAL Lamar Odom (LAL) had 23 points including 11-12 FG, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 22 points including 10-13 FG, 8 assists, and 3 steals. Pau Gasol (LAL) had 16 points and 9 rebounds. Leandro Barbosa (Pho) had 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Alando Tucker (Pho) had 16 points. LAL shot 57.4% (54-94) FG and Pho shot 42.9% (39-91) FG. Steve Nash (Pho, sprained right ankle) did not play. Schedule for Friday, February 27 (All times Central) Detroit @ Orlando 6:00 pm ESPN Chicago @ Washington 6:00 pm Miami @ Atlanta 6:30 pm Indiana @ Boston 6:30 pm Philadelphia @ New York 6:30 pm Portland @ Minnesota 7:00 pm Milwaukee @ New Orleans 7:00 pm Oklahoma City @ Dallas 7:30 pm LA Lakers @ Denver 8:00 pm Toronto @ Phoenix 8:00 pm Cleveland @ San Antonio 8:30 pm ESPN LA Clippers @ Sacramento 9:00 pm Charlotte @ Golden State 9:30 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