News from February 22. Rajon Rondo (Bos) was named as an injury replacement for Joe Johnson (Atl, sore left knee) for the All-Star game for Sunday, February 26 in Orlando. Kevin Durant (OKC) was named as a replacement for Joe Johnson (Atl, sore left knee) for the 3-point Shooting contest for All-Star Saturday on February 25 in Orlando. Jeremy Evans (Uta) was named as a replacement for Iman Shumpart (NY, left patella tendinitis) for the Slam Dunk contest for All-Star Saturday on February 25 in Orlando. The NBA announced the contestants for the Shooting Stars competition to take placed February 25 in Orlando. The teams consist of a NBA player, a former NBA player, and a WNBA player. It's a timed shooting contest. The teams are: Atlanta - Joe Johnson (Atl), Steve Smith, Lindsey Harding New York - Landry Fields (NY), Allan Houston, Cappie Pondexter Orlando - Jameer Nelson (Orl), Dennis Scott, Marie Ferdinand-Harris Texas - Chandler Parsons (Hou), Kenny Smith, Sophia Young Philadelphia signed Francisco Elson to a 2nd 10-day contract. [Philadelphia had released Elson on 2/8 and signed him to a 10-day contract 2/11.] Atlanta activated Jason Collins and placed Joe Johnson (sore left knee) on IL. Boston activated Kevin Garnett and placed Jermaine O'Neal on IL. Charlotte activated Eduardo Najera and placed Byron Mullens on IL. Minnesota activated Darko Milicic and placed Anthony Randolph on IL. Orlando activated Daniel Orton and placed Justin Harper on IL. LAL 96, Dal 91 at Dal Pau Gasol (LAL) had 24 points including 11-18 FG, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers. Andrew Bynum (LAL) had 19 points and 14 rebounds including 5 offensive. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 15 points including 4-15 FG, 5 rebounds, and 7 turnovers. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 25 points including 1-6 3-pointers and 12 rebounds. Vince Carter (Dal) had 20 points and 5 rebounds. Rodrigue Beaubois (Dal, death of father) and Lamar Odom (Dal, personal reasons) did not play. Orl 108, NJ 91 at NJ Ryan Anderson (Orl) had 14 points including 5-15 FG and 9 rebounds including 7 offensive. Dwight Howard (Orl) had 20 points on 9-13 FG and 2-10 FT and 17 rebounds including 7 offensive. Glen Davis (Orl) had 16 points on 8-11 FG. Deron Williams (NJ) had 23 points including 4-8 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, and 7 turnovers. MarShon Brooks (NJ) had 24 points on 10-15 FG and 4-7 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Jordan Farmar (NJ, strained right groin) and Kris Humphries (NJ) did not play. OKC 119, Bos 104 at OKC Kevin Durant (OKC) had 28 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 31 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. James Harden (OKC) had 17 points and 7 assists. Paul Pierce (Bos) had 23 points on 5-15 FG and 12-16 FT, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Kevin Garnett (Bos) had 23 points including 8-11 FG and 13 rebounds. Ray Allen (Bos) had 21 points and 7 assists. Nick Collison (OKC, left quad contusion), and Lazar Hayward (OKC, orbital floor fracture), Chris Wilcox (Bos, strained right abductor), and Rajon Rondo (Bos, suspended) did not play. NY 99, Atl 82 at NY Jeremy Lin (NY) had 17 points and 9 assists. Landry Fields (NY) had 16 points and 7 rebounds. Steve Novak (NY) had 17 points including 5-10 3-pointers. Jeff Teague (Atl) had 18 points. Willie Green (Atl) had 16 points. Bill Walker (NY, sore left elbow) and Jason Collins (Atl, sprained left elbow) did not play Hou 93, Phi 87 at Hou Luis Scola (Hou) had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Lowry (Hou) had 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Kevin Martin (Hou) had 16 points. Louis Williams (Phi) had 17 points on 4-13 FG and 9-11 FT and 6 rebounds. Nikola Vucevic (Phi) had 18 points and 8 rebounds including 5 offensive. Terrence Williams (Hou), Elton Brand (Phi, sprained right thumb), and Spencer Hawes (Phi, strained left Achilles) did not play. Sac 115, Was 107 at Was Marcus Thornton (Sac) had 22 points and 3 steals. DeMarcus Cousin (Sac) had 16 points including 6-20 FG and 16 rebounds including 9 offensive. Isaiah Thomas (Sac) had 18 points and 6 assists. Tyreke Evans (Sac) had 22 points including 8-10 FG and 6 rebounds. John Wall (Was) had 21 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers. Jordan Crawford (Was) had 32 points including 12-19 FG. Chi 110, Mil 91 at Chi Carlos Boozer (Chi) had 20 points including 9-12 FG and 7 rebounds. Joakim Noah (Chi) had 13 points, 13 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 10 assists. Derrick Rose (Chi) had 16 points and 7 assists. Ersan Ilyasova (Mil) had 15 points. Brandon Jennings (Mil) had 20 points and 5 assists. Chi shot 54.4% (43-79) FG and Mil shot 42% (37-88) FG. Chi out-rebounded Mil 49-29 including 14-12 offensive. C.J. Watson (Chi), Drew Gooden (Mil, sprained right wrist), Stephen Jackson (Mil, sore right hamstring), and Tobias Harris (Mil, right shoulder contusion) did not play. LAC 103, Den 95 at LAC Blake Griffin (LAC) had 27 points on 11-18 FG and 5-10 FT, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Chris Paul (LAC) had 36 points on 11-16 FG and 11-12 FT and 9 assists. DeAndre Jordan (LAC) had 10 points, 16 rebounds including 9 offensive, and 3 blocks. Arron Afflalo (Den) had 20 points including 7-10 FG and 6 rebounds. Jordan Hamilton (Den) had 18 points including 4-5 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Ty Lawson (Den, sprained ankle), Danilo Gallinari (Den, sprained left ankle), and Rudy Fernandez (Den, lower back strain) did not play. GS 106, Pho 104 at Pho Dorell Wright (GS) had 23 points including 7-11 FG and 7 rebounds. David Lee (GS) had 22 points. Monta Ellis (GS) had 26 points including the game winning jumper with a second left and 6 assists. Channing Frye (Pho) had 22 points, 9 rebounds including 7 offensive, and 3 steals. Marcin Gortat (Pho) had 21 points including 9-13 FG and 15 rebounds including 5 offensive. Min 100, Uta 98 at Min Nikola Pekovic (Min) had 15 points on 3-11 FG and 9-10 FT and 12 rebounds including 8 offensive. Luke Ridnour (Min) had 17 points including the game winning floater at the buzzer and 6 assists. J.J. Barea (Min) had 22 points including 5-6 3-pointers. Josh Howard (Uta) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Paul Millsap (Uta) had 25 points including 10-17 FG and 9 rebounds. Al Jefferson (Uta) had 18 points, 11 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 3 steals. Jamaal Tinsley (Uta, stomach flu) did not play. NO 89, Cle 84 at Cle Chris Kaman (NO) had 21 points and 13 rebounds including 6 offensive. Marco Belinelli (NO) had 19 points. Jarrett Jack (NO) had 16 points and 7 rebounds. Antawn Jamison (Cle) had 22 points including 8-22 FG and 12 rebounds including 6 offensive. Alonzo Gee (Cle) had 13 points including 4-13 FG and 5 rebounds. Emeka Okafor (NO, sore left knee) and Jason Smith (NO, concussion) did not play. Tor 103, Det 93 at Tor Jose Calderon (Tor) had 6 points including 1-4 FG, 8 rebounds, and 15 assists. DeMar DeRozan (Tor) had 23 points including 9-15 FG and 7 rebounds. Leandro Barbosa (Tor) had 17 points. Tayshaun Prince (Det) had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Greg Monroe (Det) had 30 points including 12-16 FT and 14 rebounds including 5 offensive. Tor shot 52.6% (40-760 FG and Det shot 41.7% (35-84) FG. Will Bynum (Det, personal reasons) did not play. Ind 102, Cha 88 at Cha Danny Granger (Ind) had 12 points including 2-11 FG and 5 rebounds. Tyler Hansbrough (Ind) had 22 points and 9 rebounds including 6 offensive. A.J. Price (Ind) had 11 points and 6 assists. Corey Maggette (Cha) had 20 points. D.J. Augustin (Cha) had 15 points. Jeff Foster (Ind, sore lower back) did not play. Schedule for Thursday, February 23 (All times Central) New York at Miami 6:00 pm TNT Orlando at Atlanta 6:30 pm San Antonio at Denver 8:00 pm LA Lakers at Oklahoma City 8:30 pm TNT Schedule for Friday, February 24 (All times Central) All-Star Friday Rookie-Sophomore Practice 9:00 am NBATV 2012 Hall of Fame Announcement 10:30 am NBATV All-Star interviews 11:00 am NBATV Rookie-Sophomore Game 8:00 pm TNT Schedule for Saturday, February 25 (All times Central) All-Star Saturday All-Star Practice 10:00 am NBATV NBADL All-Star Game 1:00 pm NBATV David Stern Press Conference 6:00 pm NBATV All-Star Saturday Night 7:30 pm TNT Shooting Stars Contest Skills Contest 3-Point Contest Slam Dunk Contest Schedule for Saturday, February 26 (All times Central) All-Star Sunday Legends Brunch 11:00 am NBATV All-Star Game 6:30 pm TNT ---- 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