News from December 26. Charlotte released Will Blalock and Ronald Dupree. Houston released Damian Saunders. Memphis released Mikki Moore and Jared Reiner. New Orleans released Terrico White, Moses Ehambe, and Justin Dentmon. Portland released Ben McCauley, Seth Tarver, Jeff Foote, and Marshall Brown. San Antonio released Doug Thomas and Antoine Hood. Charlotte placed Eduardo Najera (left knee surgery) and Reggie Williams on IL. Cleveland placed Semih Erden and Mychel Thompson on IL. Dallas activated Sean Williams and placed Brandan Wright on IL. Denver placed Jordan Hamilton and Julyan Stone on IL. Houston placed Patrick Patterson and Hasheem Thabeet on IL. Indiana placed Jeff Foster and Jeff Pendergraph on IL. Memphis placed Xavier Henry and Darrell Arthur (torn right Achilles, out for season) on IL. Milwaukee placed Luc Mbah a Moute (tendinitis right knee) and Tobias Harris (dehydration) on IL. Minnesota placed Brad Miller and Martell Webster (back surgery) on IL. New Jersey placed Brook Lopez (right foot surgery) on IL. New Orleans placed DaJuan Summers and Gustova Ayon on IL. Philadelphia placed Lavoy Allen on IL. Portland placed Armon Johnson and Greg Oden on IL. Sacramento placed Hassan Whiteside on IL. San Antonio placed Gary Neal (appendectomy) on IL. Toronto placed Aaron Gray and Linas Kleiza on IL. Washington placed Hamady N'Diaye and Jan Vesely on IL. Den 115, Dal 93 at Dal Ty Lawson (Den) had 27 points including 10-15 FG and 3 steals. Andre Miller (Den) had 18 points including 6-8 FG, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Al Harrington (Den) had 18 points and 5 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 20 points. Jason Kidd (Dal) had 12 points. SA 95, Mem 82 at SA Richard Jefferson (SA) had 14 points. Tony Parker (SA) had 15 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals. Manu Ginobili (SA) had 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Rudy Gay (Mem) had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Marc Gasol (Mem) had 13 points including 5-6 FG and 6 rebounds. OKC 104, Min 100 at Min Kevin Durant (OKC) had 33 points and 5 rebounds. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 28 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 7 turnovers. James Harden (OKC) had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Michael Beasley (Min) had 24 points and 5 rebounds. Kevin Love (Min) had 22 points including 9-12 FT, 12 rebounds including 5 offensive and 5 assists. Sac 100, LAL 91 at Sac Marcus Thornton (Sac) had 27 points including 9-13 FG and 4-7 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Tyreke Evans (Sac) had 20 points including 7-12 FT. DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) had 12 points and 11 rebounds including 6 offensive. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 29 points including 9-10 FT, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Metta World Peace (LAL) had 19 points. Andrew Bynum (LAL, suspended) did not play. Orl 104, Hou 95 at Orl Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) had 23 points on 10-14 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Dwight Howard (Orl) had 21 points including 9-15 FG, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. J.J. Redick (Orl) had 20 points including 3-4 3-pointers. Luis Scola (Hou) had 19 points and 7 rebounds. Kyle Lowry (Hou) had 20 points including 9-10 FT, 7 rebounds, and 12 assists. Orl shot 7-10 FT and Hou shot 17-20 FT. GS 99, Chi 91 at GS David Lee (GS) had 22 points and 7 rebounds. Monta Ellis (GS) had 26 points including 10-17 FG and 7 assists. Stephen Curry (GS) had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, and 6 steals. Luol Deng (Chi) had 22 points including 10-15 FG and 10 rebounds. Derrick Rose (Chi) had 13 points including 4-17 FG and 1-8 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. NO 85, Pho 84 at Pho Trevor Ariza (NO) had 13 points and 7 rebounds. Carl Landry (NO) had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Eric Gordon (NO) had 20 points including the game winning jumper with 4.2 seconds left. Steve Nash (Pho) had 14 points and 12 assists. Robin Lopez (Pho) had 21 points and 7 rebounds. Jarrett Jack (NO, suspended) did not play. NJ 90, Was 84 at Was Kris Humphries (NJ) had 21 points including 9-14 FG and 16 rebounds including 7 offensive. Deron Williams (NJ) had 23 points including 4-11 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Anthony Morrow (NJ) had 16 points including 4-13 FG. Jordan Crawford (Was) had 15 points. Nick Young (Was) had 16 points. NJ out-rebounded Was 58-38 including 19-9 offensive. Cha 96, Mil 95 at Cha Boris Diaw (Cha) had 9 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. D.J. Augustin (Cha) had 19 points and 8 assists. Gerald Henderson (Cha) had 18 points and 9 rebounds. Andrew Bogut (Mil) had 17 points and 9 rebounds. Brandon Jennings (Mil) had 22 points. Tyrus Thomas (sprained left ankle) and Carlos Delfino (Mil, sprained right wrist) did not play. Ind 91, Det 79 at Ind Danny Granger (Ind) had 16 points including 6-18 FG. Roy Hibbert (Ind) had 16 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Tyler Hansbrough (Ind) had 15 points and 13 rebounds including 5 offensive. Jonas Jerebko (Det) had 17 points including 7-11 FG and 5 rebounds. Rodney Stuckey (Det) had 17 points and 6 assists. Charlie Villanueva (Det, suspended) did not play. Tor 104, Cle 96 at Cle Amir Johnson (Tor) had 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jose Calderon (Tor) had 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 11 assists. Ed Davis (Tor) had 14 points on 7-7 FG and 7 rebounds. Anderson Varejao (Cle) had 14 points and 10 rebounds including 7 offensive. Ramon Sessions (Cle) had 18 points and 6 assists. Tor shot 53.2% (42-79) FG and Cle shot 41.2% (35-85) FG. Tor shot 11-13 FT and Cle shot 20-28 FT. Por 107, Phi 103 at Por Gerald Wallace (Por) had 21 points and 9 rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 25 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Raymond Felton (Por) had 12 points including 4-14 FG, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Andre Iguodala (Phi) had 22 points including 4-8 3-pointers and 4 blocks. Louis Williams (Phi) had 25 points. Schedule for Tuesday, December 27 (All times Central) Atlanta at New Jersey 6:30 pm Boston at Miami 7:00 pm TNT Minnesota at Milwaukee 7:30 pm Sacramento at Portland 9:00 pm Utah at LA Lakers 9:30 pm TNT Schedule for Wednesday, December 28 (All times Central) Indiana at Toronto 5:00 pm Miami at Charlotte 6:00 pm Washington at Atlanta 6:30 pm Cleveland at Detroit 6:30 pm Oklahoma City at Memphis 7:00 pm Boston at New Orleans 7:00 pm NBATV LA Clippers at San Antonio 7:30 pm Utah at Denver 8:00 pm Philadelphia at Phoenix 8:00 pm New York at Golden State 9:30 pm NBATV ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For Trianglons puzzles: http://www.trianglons.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html