News from December 23. Josh McRoberts (Mia) underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. He is expected to be out for the rest of the season. Philadelphia signed Malcolm Thomas and released Ronny Turiaf. Atlanta activated Jeff Teague and placed John Jenkins on IL. Brooklyn activated Brook Lopez and placed Markel Brown on IL. Chicago placed Kirk Hinrich (tendinitis left knee) on IL. Indiana activated George Hill and placed Ian Mahinmi (torn left plantar fascia) on IL. Milwaukee activated Ersan Ilyasova and placed Jabari Parker (torn left ACL) on IL. Orlando activated Willie Green and placed Devyn Marble on IL. Portland activated Victor Claver and LaMarcus Aldridge and placed Robin Lopez (injured hand) and Nicolas Batum (sprained wrist) on IL. Former NBA player Paul Walther died at age 87. He played 6 seasons in the NBA from 1949-50 - 1955-54. Pho 124, Dal 115 at Pho Goran Dragic (Pho) had 25 points including 10-17 FG. Eric Bledsoe (Pho) had 16 points including 6-19 FG and 1-7 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, and 3 steals. Gerald Green (Pho) had 22 points including 6-9 3-pointers. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 22 points and 5 rebounds. Tyson Chandler (Dal) had 22 points on 6-8 FG and 10-12 FT and 14 rebounds including 6 offensive. Cle 125, Min 104 at Cle LeBron James (Cle) had 24 points including 4-7 3-pointers and 3 blocks. Kevin Love (Cle) had 20 points including 9-11 FT and 10 rebounds. Kyrie Irving (Cle) had 29 points including 12-19 FG, 3 steals, and 6 turnovers. Dion Waiters (Cle) had 19 points and 3 steals. Shabazz Muhammad (Min) had 18 points and 6 rebounds including 5 offensive. Gorgui Dieng (Min) had 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, and 4 blocks. Andrew Wiggins (Min) had 27 points. Ind 96, NO 84 at Ind David West (Ind) had 13 points including 6-8 FG, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Roy Hibbert (Ind) had 14 points and 7 blocks. George Hill (Ind) had 15 points [in his first game of the season]. Anthony Davis (NO) had 21 points and 9 rebounds. Tyreke Evans (NO) had 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals. Ind shot 50% (39-78) FG and NO shot 39.8% (33-83) FG. Damjan Rudez (Ind, upper respiratory infection) did not play. Orl 100, Bos 95 at Orl Tobias Harris (Orl) had 19 points including 3-4 3-pointers. Kyle O'Quinn (Orl) had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Nikola Vucevic (Orl) had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Tyler Zeller (Bos) had 22 points including 10-10 FT and 10 rebounds. Avery Bradley (Bos) had 20 points including 4-6 3-pointers. Chi 99, Was 91 at Was Pau Gasol (Chi) had 18 points and 9 rebounds. Derrick Rose (Chi) had 25 points including 10-17 FG and 5 turnovers. Aaron Brooks (Chi) had 13 points and 6 assists. John Wall (Was) had 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists. Marcin Gortat (Was) had 14 points including 5-15 FG, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Atl 107, LAC 104 at Atl DeMarre Carroll (Atl) had 25 points including 9-12 FG and 5-6 3-pointers and 10 rebounds. Paul Millsap (Atl) had 17 points including 4-12 FG, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. Al Horford (Atl) had 20 points and 5 rebounds. Blake Griffin (LAC) had 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 assists. DeAndre Jordan (LAC) had 15 points including 7-11 FG, 22 rebounds including 11 offensive, and 4 blocks. Chris Paul (LAC) had 19 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals. Bro 102, Den 96 at Bro Joe Johnson (Bro) had 27 points including 11-19 FG and 4-5 3-pointers. Mason Plumlee (Bro) had 19 points including 9-14 FG, 13 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 3 blocks. Jarrett Jack (Bro) had 17 points and 8 assists. Kenneth Faried (Den) had 20 points including 8-11 FG and 14 rebounds including 5 offensive. Ty Lawson (Den) had 29 points including 4-8 3-pointers and 9 assists. Phi 91, Mia 87 at Mia Luc Mbah a Moute (Phi) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Michael Carter-Williams (Phi) had 20 points, 5 assists, and 6 steals. Jerami Grant (Phi) had 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Shawne Williams (Mia) had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Dwyane Wade (Mia) had 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Phi out-scored Mia 18-9 in the 4th quarter. Furkan Aldemir (Phi, plantar fasciitis right foot), Hollis Thompson (Phi, upper respiratory injection), Tony Wroten (Phi, sprained right knee), and Justin Hamilton (Mia, concussion) did not play. Cha 108, Mil 101 at Mil Gerald Henderson (Cha) had 20 points. Kemba Walker (Cha) had 27 points including 8-10 FT. Al Jefferson (Cha) had 12 points and 9 rebounds. Brandon Knight (Mil) had 34 points including 13-21 FG and 4-7 3-pointers and 5 assists. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Mil) had 11 points including 3-4 FG and 6 rebounds. Damien Inglis (Mil, injured right ankle) did not play. Por 115, OKC 111 OT at OKC LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 25 points including 9-28 FG and 9 rebounds. Wesley Matthews (Por) had 22 points including 5-8 3-pointers. Damian Lillard (Por) had 40 points including 8-12 3-pointers and 10-11 FT, 6 rebounds, and 11 assists. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 40 points, 10 rebounds including 5 offensive, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Reggie Jackson (OKC) had 21 points and 9 rebounds. LAL 115, GS 105 at LAL Ed Davis (LAL) had 14 points on 7-7 FG and 5 rebounds. Ronnie Price (LAL) had 17 points, 8 assists, and 3 steals. Carlos Boozer (LAL) had 18 points including 8-11 FG, 9 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Stephen Curry (GS) had 22 points on 10-14 FG, 6 assists, and 7 turnovers. Klay Thompson (GS) had 18 points including 4-8 3-pointers. Kobe Bryant (LAL, rest), Xavier Henry (LAL, torn left Achilles), and Ryan Kelly (LAL, torn right hamstring) did not play. Schedule for Wednesday, December 24 (All times Central) No games scheduled Schedule for Thursday, December 25 (All times Central) Washington @ New York 11:00 am ESPN Oklahoma City @ San Antonio 1:30 pm ABC Cleveland @ Miami 4:00 pm ABC LA Lakers @ Chicago 7:00 pm NBATV Golden State @ LA Clippers 9:30 pm NBATV Schedule for Friday, December 26 (All times Central) Brooklyn @ Boston 12:00 pm Cleveland @ Orlando 6:00 pm Milwaukee @ Atlanta 6:30 pm Indiana @ Detroit 6:30 pm Houston @ Memphis 7:00 pm San Antonio @ New Orleans 7:00 pm Charlotte @ Oklahoma City 7:00 pm NBATV LA Lakers @ Dallas 7:30 pm Minnesota @ Denver 8:00 pm Philadelphia @ Portland 9:00 pm Phoenix @ Sacramento 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