News from December 20. Charlotte placed Lance Stephenson (pelvic sprain) on IL. Dallas activated Ricky Ledo. New Orleans activated Russ Smith. Portland activated Nicolas Batum and placed Robin Lopez (injured hand) on IL. Stats Leaders Points James Harden (Hou) 26.3 LeBron James (Cle) 25.2 Kobe Bryant (LAL) 24.6 Rebounds DeAndre Jordan (LAC) 13.2 Andre Drummond (Det) 12.3 Pau Gasol (Chi) 11.7 Assists Ty Lawson (Den) 10.7 John Wall (Was) 10.6 Chris Paul (LAC) 9.9 Dal 99, SA 93 at Dal Chandler Parsons (Dal) had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 13 points including 4-14 FG. Monta Ellis (Dal) had 38 points including 15-23 FG and 5-6 3-pointers and 4 steals. Marco Belinelli (SA) had 21 points and 5 turnovers. Aron Baynes (SA) had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard (SA, injured right hand), Tim Duncan (SA, rest), Manu Ginobili (SA, rest), Danny Green (SA, rest), and Tiago Splitter (SA, rest) did not play. Pho 99, NY 90 at NY Markieff Morris (Pho) had 19 points and 5 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe (Pho) had 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals. Isaiah Thomas (Pho) had 22 points. Carmelo Anthony (NY) had 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals. Jose Calderon (NY) had 21 points including 5-6 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. J.R. Smith (NY, torn left plantar fascia) and Amare Stoudemire (NY, recovery) did not play. Por 114, NO 88 at NO LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 27 points including 12-20 FG, 12 rebounds, and 3 steals. Damian Lillard (Por) had 17 points and 7 assists. Chris Kaman (Por) had 16 points on 8-10 FG and 6 rebounds. Ryan Anderson (NO) had 16 points and 5 rebounds. Austin Rivers (NO) had 21 points including 11-12 FT. Por shot 53.3% (48-90) FG and NO shot 35.3% (30-85) FG. Cha 104, Uta 86 at Cha Al Jefferson (Cha) had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Kemba Walker (Cha) had 20 points and 6 assists. Gerald Henderson (Cha) had 17 points. Gordon Hayward (Uta) had 14 points and 6 assists. Rudy Gobert (Uta) had 11 points including 5-6 FG and 12 rebounds including 5 offensive. Atl 104, Hou 97 at Hou Kyle Korver (Atl) had 22 points including 4-8 3-pointers. Al Horford (Atl) had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. Paul Millsap (Atl) had 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Dwight Howard (Hou) had 19 points including 7-10 FG, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. James Harden (Hou) had 18 points including 5-16 FG, 6 rebounds, and 14 assists. Atl shot 51.4% (38-74) FG and Hou shot 39.5% (34-86) FG. Den 76, Ind 73 at Den Ty Lawson (Den) had 15 points, 10 assists, and 3 steals. Timofey Mozgov (Den) had 6 points on 3-4 FG, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Danilo Gallinari (Den) had 19 points. David West (Ind) had 19 points including 8-22 FG, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. C.J. Miles (Ind) had 16 points including 6-19 FG and 5 rebounds. Darrell Arthur (Den, strained left peroneals muscle), Ian Mahinmi (Ind, torn left plantar fascia), and C.J. Watson (Ind, upper respiratory ailment) did not play. LAC 106, Mil 102 at LAC Blake Griffin (LAC) had 24 points including 10-17 FG, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. J.J. Redick (LAC) had 23 points on 9-15 FG and 5-8 3-pointers. Chris Paul (LAC) had 27 points including 4-6 3-pointers and 11-12 FT and 9 assists. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Mil) had 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. Jared Dudley (Mil) had 16 points and 8 rebounds. Damien Inglis (Mil, injured right ankle) and Jabari Parker (Mil, torn left ACL). Schedule for Sunday, December 21 (All times Central) New York @ Toronto 2:30 pm Memphis @ Cleveland 3:30 pm LA Lakers @ Sacramento 5:00 pm Detroit @ Brooklyn 5:00 pm Boston @ Miami 5:00 pm Philadelphia @ Orlando 5:00 pm NBATV Phoenix @ Washington 5:00 pm Indiana @ Minnesota 6:00 pm New Orleans @ Oklahoma City 6:00 pm Schedule for Monday, December 22 (All times Central) Denver @ Charlotte 6:00 pm Toronto @ Chicago 7:00 pm Portland @ Houston 7:00 pm Utah @ Memphis 7:00 pm Atlanta @ Dallas 7:30 pm LA Clippers @ San Antonio 7:30 pm Sacramento @ Golden State 9:30 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