News from December 28. The NBA named James Harden (Hou) and Jimmy Butler (Chi) as Players of the Week for the week ending December 29. Harden averaged 34.7 points and 7.3 assists as Houston went 2-1. Butler averaged 23 points and 7 rebounds as Chicago went 4-0. The LA Lakers claimed Tarik Black off waivers and released Xavier Henry. Dallas activated Raymond Felton and placed Tyson Chandler (back spasms) on IL. San Antonio activated Patrick Mills and placed Tony Parker (strained hamstring) on IL. Dal 112, OKC 107 at Dal Monta Ellis (Dal) had 18 points including 6-20 FG and 1-6 3-pointers and 5 assists. Chandler Parsons (Dal) had 26 points including 10-16 FG and 5-9 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 30 points including 12-12 FT and 5 rebounds. Rajon Rondo (Dal) had 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Serge Ibaka (OKC) had 26 points including 11-14 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 10 rebounds. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 18 points including 6-23 FG, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals, and 5 turnovers. Reggie Jackson (OKC) had 21 points on 10-17 FG and 6 turnovers. Det 103, Cle 80 at Cle Andre Drummond (Det) had 16 points, 17 rebounds including 8 offensive, and 5 blocks. Brandon Jennings (Det) had 25 points including 5-9 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Jodie Meeks (Det) had 14 points including 3-4 3-pointers. LeBron James (Cle) had 17 points including 5-19 FG, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and 7 turnovers. Kevin Love (Cle) had 20 points including 1-7 3-pointers and 10 rebounds. Tristan Thompson (Cle) had 18 points including 7-8 FG and 11 rebounds including 7 offensive. Det shot 4-9 FT and Cle shot 13-17 FT. SA 110, Hou 106 at SA Tim Duncan (SA) had 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals. Danny Green (SA) had 24 points including 9-10 FT and 5 steals. Manu Ginobili (SA) had 15 points including 5-7 FG and 5 rebounds. Dwight Howard (Hou) had 24 points including 11-13 FG and 17 rebounds including 5 offensive. James Harden (Hou) had 28 points, 5 assists, and 9 turnovers. Corey Brewer (Hou) had 25 points including 8-11 FG and 6-8 3-pointers. Por 101, NY 79 at Por Nicolas Batum (Por) had 17 points on 6-8 FG and 5-7 3-pointers. Wesley Matthews (Por) had 28 points including 6-15 3-pointers and 5 assists. Chris Kaman (Por) had 13 points and 9 rebounds. Cole Aldrich (NY) had 12 points and 19 rebounds including 9 offensive. Tim Hardaway (NY) had 17 points including 5-17 FG and 5 assists. Por shot 46.9% (38-81) FG and NY shot 33.3% (31-93) FG. Samuel Dalembert (NY, sprained right ankle), J.R. Smith (NY, torn left plantar fascia), and Amare Stoudemire (NY, sore right knee) did not play. Tor 116, Den 102 at Den Kyle Lowry (Tor) had 30 points including 12-20 FG, 7 rebounds, and 11 assists. Amir Johnson (Tor) had 13 points. Louis Williams (Tor) had 31 points including 11-18 FG and 4-7 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Wilson Chandler (Den) had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kenneth Faried (Den) had 17 points and 19 rebounds including 7 offensive. Ty Lawson (Den) had 28 points including 9-11 FT, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Landry Fields (Tor, concussion) did not play. Pho 116, LAL 107 at LAL Goran Dragic (Pho) had 24 points including 4-6 3-pointers. Eric Bledsoe (Pho) had 22 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 steals. Markieff Morris (Pho) had 12 points and 7 rebounds. Jeremy Lin (LAL) had 19 points including 8-11 FG. Nick Young (LAL) had 21 points including 4-6 3-pointers. Ryan Kelly (LAL, torn right hamstring) did not play. Schedule for Monday, December 29 (All times Central) Milwaukee @ Charlotte 6:00 pm NBATV Chicago @ Indiana 6:00 pm Sacramento @ Brooklyn 6:30 pm Orlando @ Miami 6:30 pm Washington @ Houston 7:00 pm Utah @ LA Clippers 9:30 pm Schedule for Tuesday, December 30 (All times Central) Detroit @ Orlando 6:00 pm Cleveland @ Atlanta 6:30 pm NBATV Brooklyn @ Chicago 7:00 pm San Antonio @ Memphis 7:00 pm Phoenix @ New Orleans 7:00 pm Washington @ Dallas 7:30 pm LA Lakers @ Denver 8:00 pm Minnesota @ Utah 8:00 pm Toronto @ Portland 9:00 pm Philadelphia @ 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