News from December 25. The NBA named Chris Paul (LAC) and LeBron James (Mia) as Players of the Week. Paul averaged 16.3 points, 11.3 assists, and 3.5 steals as the Clippers went 4-0. James averaged 25.3 points, 8 rebounds, and 7.7 assists as Miami went 3-0. Boston signed Jarvis Varnado. Cleveland signed Shaun Livingston and released Donald Sloan. Washington signed Shelvin Mack and Garrett Temple. Sacramento reinstated DeMarcus Cousins (his "indefinite" suspension ended up lasting 1 game). Brooklyn activated Mirza Teletovic and placed Kris Humphries (abdominal strain) on IL. Oklahoma City activated Perry Jones and DeAndre Liggins and placed Daniel Orton on IL. LAL 100, NY 94 at LAL Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 34 points including 14-24 FG and 5 rebounds. Dwight Howard (LAL) had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Metta World Peace (LAL) had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony (NY) had 34 points and 7 rebounds. J.R. Smith (NY) had 25 points and 5 rebounds. LAL shot 21-31 FT and NY shot 9-16 FT. Rasheed Wallace (NY, sore left foot) did not play. Hou 120, Chi 97 at Chi Chandler Parsons (Hou) had 23 points including 9-15 FG and 4-5 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Omer Asik (Hou) had 20 points including 9-13 FG, 18 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 3 blocks. Jeremy Lin (Hou) had 20 points and 11 assists. James Harden (Hou) had 26 points including 11-13 FT, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Luol Deng (Chi) had 14 points including 5-14 FG and 5 rebounds. Nate Robinson (Chi) had 27 points including 4-8 3-pointers. Hou shot 56.1% (46-82) FG and Chi shot 44.6% (37-83) FG. Mia 103, OKC 97 at Mia LeBron James (Mia) had 29 points including 12-20 FG, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. Dwyane Wade (Mia) had 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Mario Chalmers (Mia) had 20 points including 4-8 3-pointers. Kevin Durant (OKC) had 33 points including 9-11 FT and 7 rebounds. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 21 points on 5-19 FG and 10-12 FT, 11 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 5 turnovers. Bos 93, Bro 76 at Bro Rajon Rondo (Bos) had 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Jeff Green (Bos) had 15 points. Jared Sullinger (Bos) had 16 points including 6-7 FG and 7 rebounds. Gerald Wallace (Bro) had 15 points including 7-11 FT, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Brook Lopez (Bro) had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Bos shot 11-13 FT and Bro shot 17-29 FT. LAC 112, Den 100 at LAC Chris Paul (LAC) had 14 points, 8 assists, and 3 steals. Jordan Crawford (LAC) had 22 points. Matt Barnes (LAC) had 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals. Kosta Koufos (Den) had 16 points on a perfect 8-8 FG and 10 rebounds. Ty Lawson (Den) had 15 points and 5 assists. Schedule for Wednesday, December 26 (All times Central) Cleveland at Washington 6:00 pm Miami at Charlotte 6:00 pm New Orleans at Orlando 6:00 pm Chicago at Indiana 6:00 pm Detroit at Atlanta 6:30 pm Brooklyn at Milwaukee 7:00 pm Philadelphia at Memphis 7:00 pm Houston at Minnesota 7:00 pm Toronto at San Antonio 7:30 pm LA Lakers at Denver 8:00 pm Golden State at Utah 8:00 pm New York at Phoenix 8:00 pm NBATV Sacramento at Portland 9:00 pm Schedule for Thursday, December 27 (All times Central) Dallas at Oklahoma City 7:00 pm TNT Boston at LA Clippers 9:30 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