News from January 4. The NBA named Draymond Green (GS) and Brook Lopez (Bro) as Players of the Week for the week ending January 3. Green averaged 18.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 9.5 assists as Golden State went 3-1. Lopez averaged 26.1 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks as Brooklyn went 2-1. The NBA named Kevin Durant (OKC), Russell Westbrook (OKC), and John Wall (Was) as Players of the Month for December. Durant averaged 24.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.7 assists and Westbrook averaged 23.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 8.9 assists as Oklahoma City went 12-3. Wall averaged 22.6 points and 11.7 assists and Washington went 8-8. The NBA named Karl-Anthony Towns (Min) had Kristaps Porzingis (NY) as Rookies of the Month for December. Towns averaged 18.6 points and 9.5 rebounds as Minnesota went 5-11. Porzingis averaged 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds as New York went 7-7. The NBA named Gregg Popovich (SA) and Scott Skiles (Orl) as Coaches of the Month for December. San Antonio went 14-2 and Orlando went 10-5 in December. The NBA fined Marcus Morris (Det) $15,000 for shoving Paul George (Ind) during Saturday's Det-Ind game and fined George $10,000 for his role in the altercation. The NBA fined O.J. Mayo (Mil) $25,000 for aggressively pursuing a ref and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection from Saturday's Mil-Min game. Philadelphia signed Elton Brand and released Christian Wood. Boston placed Avery Bradley (sore left hip) on IL. Brooklyn placed Jarrett Jack (torn right ACL) on IL. Miami activated Jarnell Stokes and placed Hassan Whiteside (sore right knee) on IL. Oklahoma City activated Steve Novak and placed Kevin Durant (sprained right big toe) on IL. Portland activated Damien Lillard and placed Luis Montero on IL. Sacramento activated Willie Cauley-Stein and placed Duje Dukan on IL. San Antonio activated Ray McCallum and placed Tony Parker (sore right hip) on IL. Toronto activated Norman Powell and Delon Wright and placed DeMarre Carroll (injured knee) on IL. Cle 122, Tor 100 at Cle LeBron James (Cle) had 20 points including 7-11 FG, 7 assists, and 3 steals. J.R. Smith (Cle) had 20 points including 7-11 FG, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Kyrie Irving (Cle) had 25 points including 10-16 FG, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Kyle Lowry (Tor) had 23 points and 10 assists. DeMar DeRozan (Tor) had 19 points. Phi 109, Min 99 at Phi Ish Smith (Phi) had 21 points, 11 assists, and 3 steals. Richaun Holmes (Phi) had 17 points including 7-10 FG. T.J. McConnell (Min) had 16 points on 8-11 FG. Gorgui Dieng (Min) had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Shabazz Muhammad (Min) had 20 points including 8-11 FG. Bos 103, Bro 94 at Bro Jae Crowder (Bos) had 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Isaiah Thomas (Bos) had 19 points and 7 assists. Evan Turner (Bos) had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Joe Johnson (Bro) had 21 points and 6 rebounds. Brook Lopez (Bro) had 19 points and 5 rebounds. Thaddeus Young (Bro) had 23 points and 15 rebounds including 6 offensive. Det 115, Orl 89 at Det Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Det) had 21 points including 5-8 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Andre Drummond (Det) had 17 points and 12 rebounds including 6 offensive. Brandon Jennings (Orl) had 17 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 6 assists. Victor Oldadipo (Orl) had 18 points including 7-11 FG, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Nikola Vucevic (Orl) had 16 points. Elfrid Payton (Orl, left ankle contusion) did not play. Mia 113, Ind 100 OT at Mia Chris Bosh (Mia) had 31 points including 13-16 FT and 11 rebounds. Dwyane Wade (Mia) had 27 points including 9-10 FT and 8 rebounds. Goran Dragic (Mia) had 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Paul George (Ind) had 32 points including 5-13 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Monta Ellis (Ind) had 17 points and 9 assists. George Hill (Ind, food poisoning) did not play. SA 123, Mil 98 at Mil Kawhi Leonard (SA) had 24 points including 9-2 FG. LaMarcus Aldridge (SA) had 16 points and 11 rebounds including 6 offensive. Jonathon Simmons (SA) had 18 points including 6-7 FG. Khris Middleton (Mil) had 19 points. Michael Carter-Williams (Mil) had 16 points and 6 assists. Sac 116, OKC 104 at OKC DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) had 33 points including 9-10 FT and 19 rebounds. Rajon Rondo (Sac) had 13 points, 9 rebounds, 19 assists, 5 steals, and 6 turnovers. Marco Belinelli (Sac) had 21 points. Anthony Morrow (OKC) had 20 points including 8-11 FG. Serge Ibaka (OKC) had 25 points, 10-17 FG, 7 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 17 points including 6-23 FG, 8 rebounds, 15 assists, and 7 turnovers. Omri Casspi (Sac, sore upper back) did not play. Hou 93, Uta 91 at Uta James Harden (Hou) had 30 points including 9-25 FG and 4-12 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 8 turnovers. Dwight Howard (Hou) had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Trevor Ariza (Hou) had 13 points and 4 steals. Gordon Hayward (Uta) had 20 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers. Rodney Hood (Uta) had 23 points including 5-6 3-pointers and 7 assists. Ty Lawson (Hou, sprained left ankle), Donatas Motejunas (Hou, sore back), Marcus Thornton (Hou, personal reasons), and Derrick Favors (Uta, back spasms) did not play. Mem 91, Por 78 at Por Courtney Lee (Mem) had 16 points. Zach Randolph (Mem) had 26 points including 11-18 FG and 18 rebounds including 6 offensive. Mario Chalmers (Mem) had 10 points including 3-9 FG and 6 assists. Damian Lillard (Por) had 17 points including 4-14 FG, 7 assists, and 7 turnovers. Al-Farouq Aminu (Por) had 15 points and 14 rebounds. Jordon Adams (Mem, sore right knee) did not play. GS 111, Cha 101 at GS Klay Thompson (GS) had 30 points including 6-11 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Stephen Curry (GS) had 30 points including 12-21 FG and 5-10 3-pointers. Draymond Green (GS) had 13 points and 15 rebounds including 10 offensive. Kemba Walker (Cha) had 22 points and 7 rebounds. Jeremy Lamb (Cha) had 22 points including 9-14 FG and 3 steals. GS shot 6-6 FT and Cha shot 18-19 FT. James Michael McAdoo (GS, sprained toe left foot) and Nicolas Batum (Cha, sprained toe right foot) did not play. ---- 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