News from December 2. The NBA named Kevin Durant (OKC) and LeBron James (Mia) as Players of the Week for the week ending December 1. Durant averaged 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists as Oklahoma City went 3-0. James averaged 29 points and 6 rebounds as Miami went 4-0. The NBA named Terry Stotts (Por) and Frank Vogel (Ind) as Coaches of the Month for November (and October). Portland went 13-3 and Indiana went 15-1. Paul Pierce (Bro) is expected to be out 2 to 4 weeks with a fractured bone in his right hand. Jordan Farmar (LAL) is expected to be out at least 4 weeks with a torn left hamstring. New Orleans activated Jeff Withey and placed Anthony Davis (broken left hand) on IL. Was 98, Orl 80 at Was Trevor Ariza (Was) had 24 points including 8-9 FG and 4-4 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. John Wall (Was) had 16 points including 5-14 FG and 13 assists. Nene (Was) had 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Arron Afflalo (Orl) had 21 points including 10-16 FG and 5 rebounds. Maurice Harkless (Orl) had 16 points. Jameer Nelson (Orl, sprained left foot) did not play. NO 131, Chi 128 3OT at Chi Ryan Anderson (NO) had 36 points including 12-20 FG and 7-11 3-pointers and 6 rebounds in 57 minutes. Eric Gordon (NO) had 23 points including 7-23 FG, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals. Jrue Holiday (NO) had 19 points including the game winning 3-point play with 2.6 seconds left, 8 rebounds, and 12 assists. Luol Deng (Chi) had 37 points on 15-27 FG and 7-11 FT, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 7 turnovers in 56 minutes. Joakim Noah (Chi) had 19 points and 10 rebounds in 50 minutes. Taj Gibson (Chi) had 26 points, 14 rebounds including 7 offensive, and 5 blocks. Mike Dunleavy (Chi) had 23 points including 7-14 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. SA 102, Atl 100 at SA Tim Duncan (SA) had 23 points including 10-15 FG and the game winning jumper with .4 seconds left and 21 rebounds including 6 offensive. Tony Parker (SA) had 15 points on 7-11 FG and 7 assists. Boris Diaw (SA) had 16 points including 7-9 FG. Jeff Teague (Atl) had 19 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 7 assists. Al Horford (Atl) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Paul Millsap (Atl) had 15 points including 6-20 FG and 14 rebounds. SA shot 12-17 FT and Atl shot 5-5 FT. Uta 109, Hou 103 at Uta Gordon Hayward (Uta) had 29 points including 12-18 FG and 5 rebounds. Trey Burke (Uta) had 21 points and 6 assists. Alec Burks (Uta) had 21 points including 7-11 FG and 3-4 3-pointers. James Harden (Hou) had 37 points including 10-10 FT and 8 assists. Dwight Howard (Hou) had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Jeremy Lin (Hou, sprained knee), Chandler Parsons (Hou, sore back), and Greg Smith (Hou, sprained right knee) did not play. Por 106, Ind 102 at Por LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 28 points including 11-19 FG and 10 rebounds. Damian Lillard (Por) had 26 points including 10-10 FT and 6 rebounds. Wesley Matthews (Por) had 15 points. Paul George (Ind) had 43 points including 16-30 FG and 7-15 3-pointers and 3 steals. Roy Hibbert (Ind) had 16 points and 14 rebounds including 5 offensive. Schedule for Tuesday, December 3 (All times Central) Orlando at Philadelphia 6:00 pm Milwaukee at Boston 6:30 pm Denver at Brooklyn 6:30 pm Detroit at Miami 6:30 pm NBATV Phoenix at Memphis 7:00 pm Charlotte at Dallas 7:30 pm Oklahoma City at Sacramento 9:00 pm Toronto at Golden State 9:30 pm Schedule for Wednesday, December 4 (All times Central) Denver at Cleveland 6:00 pm LA Clippers at Atlanta 6:30 pm Phoenix at Houston 7:00 pm Detroit at Milwaukee 7:00 pm Dallas at New Orleans 7:00 pm Indiana at Utah 8:00 pm San Antonio at Minnesota 8:30 pm NBATV at Mexico City, Mexico Oklahoma City at Portland 9:00 pm ---- 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