News from February 8. The NBA announced that the 2013 All-Star game will take place in Houston. The NBA announced the contestants of the Rookie-Sophomore game, to take place February 24 in Orlando. In a change, Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley will select the makeup of each of the two teams from the below players (instead of a solid rookie team vs a solid sophomore team). The players are: Rookies Sophomores MarShon Brooks (NJ) DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) Kyrie Irving (Cle) Landry Fields (NY) Brandon Knight (Det) Paul George (Ind) Kawhi Leonard (SA) Blake Griffin (LAC) Markieff Morris (Pho) Gordon Hayward (Uta) Ricky Rubio (Min) Greg Monroe (Det) Tristan Thompson (Cle) Tiago Splitter (SA) Kemba Walker (Cha) Evan Turner (Phi) Derrick Williams (Min) John Wall (Was) Houston signed Greg Smith for the rest of the season with a team option for 2 more years. New Orleans signed Donald Sloan to a 10-day contract. Utah signed DeMarre Carroll for the rest of the season. Cleveland activated Daniel Gibson and placed Tristan Thompson on IL. The LA Clippers activated Kenyon Martin and placed Chauncey Billups (torn left Achilles) on IL. Miami activated Terrell Harris and placed Mario Chalmers (sprained left hand) on IL. Orlando activated Justin Harper and placed Daniel Orton on IL. Philadelphia activated Elton Brand. Portland activated Raymond Felton and placed Armon Johnson on IL. Dal 105, Den 95 at Den Shawn Marion (Dal) had 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 25 points and 9 rebounds. Vince Carter (Dal) had 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Ty Lawson (Den) had 16 points including 5-16 FG, 10 assists, and 3 steals. Al Harrington (Den) had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Dal shot 8-9 FT and Den shot 20-27 FT. Danilo Gallinari (Den, sprained left ankle) and Corey Brewer (Den, death in the family) did not play. Orl 102, Mia 89 at Orl Ryan Anderson (Orl) had 27 points including 5-11 3-pointers and 11 rebounds including 7 offensive. Dwight Howard (Orl) had 25 points on 9-14 FG and 7-10 FT, 24 rebounds including 7 offensive, and 3 steals. Jameer Nelson (Orl) had 12 points. LeBron James (Mia) had 17 points on 5-15 FG and 7-10 FT, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals. Dwyane Wade (Mia) had 33 points including 15-24 FG and 3 blocks. SA 100, Phi 90 at Phi Tim Duncan (SA) had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Tony Parker (SA) had 37 points including 13-13 FT and 8 assists. Gary Neal (SA) had 18 points including 4-4 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Andre Iguodala (Phi) had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Louis Williams (Phi) had 22 points. SA shot 21-26 FT and Phi shot 7-11 FT. Spencer Hawes (Phi, strained left Achilles) did not play. Mil 105, Tor 99 at Tor Carlos Delfino (Mil) had 25 points including 6-8 3-pointers, 9 rebounds, and 4 steals. Drew Gooden (Mil) had 20 points, 14 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 6 turnovers. Mike Dunleavy (Mil) had 18 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan (Tor) had 25 points including 4-6 3-pointers. James Johnson (Tor) had 15 points including 7-11 FG and 7 rebounds. Mil shot 27-37 FT and Tor shot 16-17 FT. Ersan Ilyasova (Mil, back spasms) did not play. Chi 90, NO 67 at NO Carlos Boozer (Chi) had 18 points and 6 rebounds. Joakim Noah (Chi) had 13 points including 6-7 FG and 10 rebounds including 5 offensive. Taj Gibson (Chi) had 14 points and 6 rebounds. Emeka Okafor (NO) had 10 points on 5-7 FG and 9 rebounds. Chris Kaman (NO) had 17 points including 6-17 FG, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jason Smith (NO, concussion) did not play. Mem 85, Min 80 at Mem Rudy Gay (Mem) had 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals. Marc Gasol (Mem) had 12 points including 4-13 FG, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Quincy Pondexter (Mem) had 17 points and 6 rebounds. Reggie Williams (Min) had 13 points and 9 rebounds. J.J. Barea (Min) had 17 points and 6 assists. Kevin Love (Min, suspended) did not play. Hou 103, Por 96 at Por Courtney Lee (Hou) had 16 points including 4-5 3-pointers. Chase Budinger (Hou) had 22 points including 4-8 3-pointers. Patrick Patterson (Hou) had 11 points and 7 rebounds. Gerald Wallace (Por) had 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jamal Crawford (Por) had 21 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 6 assists. NY 107, Was 93 at Was Tyson Chandler (NY) had 25 points including 11-14 FT and 11 rebounds. Jeremy Lin (NY) had 23 points including 9-14 FG and 10 assists. Steve Novak (NY) had 19 points including 5-9 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Trevor Booker (Was) had 17 points including 8-11 FG and 7 rebounds. John Wall (Was) had 29 points including 12-21 FG and 6 assists. Carmelo Anthony (NY, strained right groin), Amare Stoudemire (NY, death in the family), and Rashard Lewis (Was, sore left knee) did not play. Cle 99, LAC 92 at Cle Antawn Jamison (Cle) had 27 points and 8 rebounds. Anderson Varejao (Cle) had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Ramon Sessions (Cle) had 24 points including 9-16 FG and 13 assists. Caron Butler (LAC) had 21 points. Blake Griffin (LAC) had 25 points including 9-10 FT and 15 rebounds including 5 offensive. Kyrie Irving (Cle, concussion) did not play. Atl 97, Ind 87 at Atl Josh Smith (Atl) had 28 points including 11-17 FG, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, 5 steals, and 5 turnovers. Joe Johnson (Atl) had 20 points including 8-23 FG, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Kirk Hinrich (Atl) had 17 points on 7-9 FG. Danny Granger (Ind) had 21 points and 5 rebounds. David West (Ind) had 15 points and 6 rebounds. Jason Collins (Atl, sprained left elbow), Jeff Foster (Ind, sore lower back), and George Hill (Ind, chip fracture left ankle) did not play. Det 99, NJ 92 at NJ Tayshaun Prince (Det) had 15 points and 5 assists. Greg Monroe (Det) had 20 points on 10-16 FG and 12 rebounds. Jonas Jerebko (Det) had 16 points and 7 rebounds. Deron Williams (NJ) had 34 points including 6-9 3-pointers and 7 assists. Jordan Farmar (NJ) had 22 points. Det shot 53.4% (39-73) FG and NJ shot 42.3% (33-78) FG. MarShon Brooks (NJ, broken toe right foot) and DeShawn Stevenson (NJ, sore right knee) did not play. Schedule for Thursday, February 9 (All times Central) LA Lakers at Boston 7:00 pm TNT Golden State at Denver 8:00 pm Houston at Phoenix 8:00 pm Oklahoma City at Sacramento 9:30 pm TNT Schedule for Friday, February 10 (All times Central) Boston at Toronto 6:00 pm LA Clippers at Philadelphia 6:00 pm Miami at Washington 6:00 pm Chicago at Charlotte 6:00 pm Atlanta at Orlando 6:00 pm New Jersey at Detroit 6:30 pm Milwaukee at Cleveland 6:30 pm LA Lakers at New York 7:00 pm ESPN Indiana at Memphis 7:00 pm Portland at New Orleans 7:00 pm Dallas at Minnesota 7:00 pm Oklahoma City at Utah 9:30 pm ESPN ---- 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