News from March 1. The NBA named Carlos Boozer (Uta) and LeBron James (Cle) as Players of the Month for February. Boozer averaged 21.2 points and 13 rebounds as Utah went 10-3. James averaged 32.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 10.5 assists as Cleveland went 8-3. The NBA named Darren Collison (NO) and Jonas Jerebko (Det) as Rookies of the Month for February. Collison averaged 21.6 points and 8.3 assists as New Orleans went 5-8. Jerebko averaged 10.2 points and 6 rebounds as Detroit went 6-7. The NBA named Scott Brooks (OKC) and Scott Skiles (Mil) as Coaches of the Month for February. Oklahoma City went 9-2 and Milwaukee went 10-4. The NBA named Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) and LeBron James (Cle) as Players of the Week. Nowitzki averaged 31.8 points and 8.3 rebounds as Dallas went 4-0. James averaged 30.7 points and 10.3 assists as Cleveland went 3-0. Indiana suspended Solomon Jones for 1 game for conduct detrimental to the team. Shaquille O'Neal (Cle) underwent surgery on his right thumb and is expected to be out 8 weeks. Indiana released Travis Diener. Minnesota released Mark Blount. San Antonio released Michael Finley. Washington reached a buyout agreement with Mike James and released him. Cleveland activated Danny Green and placed Daniel Gibson (personal reasons) on IL. Chicago activated Joe Alexander and placed Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis left foot) on IL. Toronto activated Marcus Banks and placed Jose Calderon (elbow injury) on IL. The LA Clippers activated Brian Skinner and placed Craig Smith on IL. Dal 89, Cha 84 at Cha Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 27 points and 13 rebounds. Caron Butler (Dal) had 22 points including 10-16 FG and 3 steals. Jason Terry (Dal) had 20 points. Stephen Jackson (Cha) had 20 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 6 turnovers. Tyrus Thomas (Cha) had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Tyson Chandler (Cha, sore left foot) and Nazr Mohammed (Cha, back spasms) did not play. Cle 124, NY 93 at Cle LeBron James (Cle) had 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Antawn Jamison (Cle) had 17 points and 12 rebounds. J.J. Hickson (Cle) had 17 points including 6-7 FG and 9 rebounds. Al Harrington (NY) had 18 points. Bill Walker (NY) had 21 points including 9-14 FG and 5 rebounds. Cle shot 56.7% (51-90) FG and NY shot 40.9% (36-88) FG. Cle out-rebounded NY 60-31 including 14-2 offensive. Wilson Chandler (NY, personal reasons) and J.R. Giddens (NY, left knee surgery) did not play. SA 106, NO 92 at NO Tim Duncan (SA) had 22 points and 9 rebounds. Tony Parker (SA) had 18 points on 9-15 FG and 6 assists. George Hill (SA) had 23 points including 9-13 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Emeka Okafor (NO) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Darren Collison (NO) had 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 15 assists. Marcus Thornton (NO) had 30 points on 12-19 FG and 6-7 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Darius Songaila (NO, sprained right ankle) did not play. Atl 116, Chi 92 at Chi Marvin Williams (Atl) had 18 points and 9 rebounds. Josh Smith (Atl) had 17 points and 18 rebounds including 6 offensive. Jamal Crawford (Atl) had 21 points. Brad Miller (Chi) had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Derrick Rose (Chi) had 24 points. Atl shot 24-30 FT and Chi shot 12-15 FT. Atl out-rebounded Chi 63-37 including 22-8 offensive. Luol Deng (Chi, swollen left knee) did not play. Por 103, Mem 93 at Mem Nicolas Batum (Por) had 21 points including 7-11 FG and 4-7 3-pointers. Andre Miller (Por) had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 11 assists. Brandon Roy (Por) had 25 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Rudy Gay (Mem) had 19 points and 7 rebounds. Zach Randolph (Mem) had 22 points and 7 rebounds. Steven Hunter (Mem, sore left knee) did not play. Orl 126, Phi 105 at Phi Rashard Lewis (Orl) had 19 points including 3-4 3-pointers. Jameer Nelson (Orl) had 22 points including 8-11 FG and 10 assists. Vince Carter (Orl) had 19 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Andre Iguodala (Phi) had 19 points. Jrue Holiday (Phi) had 23 points on 9-13 FG and 5-6 3-pointers and 6 assists. Elton Brand (Phi, right Achilles tendinitis) did not play. Pho 101, Den 85 at Pho Grant Hill (Pho) had 19 points and 8 rebounds. Amare Stoudemire (Pho) had 19 points and 10 rebounds including 5 offensive. Channing Frye (Pho) had 16 points and 5 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony (Den) had 17 points including 7-21 FG, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals. Chauncey Billups (Den) had 21 points. Pho shot 26-33 FT and Den shot 10-16 FT. Hou 116, Tor 92 at Hou Aaron Brooks (Hou) had 28 points including 11-16 FG and 4-9 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Kevin Martin (Hou) had 28 points including 5-8 3-pointers. David Andersen (Hou) had 16 points and 5 rebounds. Andrea Bargnani (Tor) had 14 points on 6-17 FG and 6 rebounds. Marcus Banks (Tor) had 15 points and 4 steals. LAC 108, Uta 104 at LAC Eric Gordon (LAC) had 24 points including 4-6 3-pointers. Drew Gooden (LAC) had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Kaman (LAC) had 18 points and 14 rebounds. Baron Davis (LAC) had 19 points, 5 rebounds, 12 assists, and 9 turnovers. Carlos Boozer (Uta) had 20 points and 6 rebounds. Deron Williams (Uta) had 13 points including 5-15 FG, 13 assists, and 5 steals. Schedule for Tuesday, March 2 (All times Central) Boston @ Detroit 6:30 pm Golden State @ Miami 6:30 pm Sacramento @ Oklahoma City 7:00 pm Indiana @ LA Lakers 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