News from December 23. The NBA Board of Governors and Players Association ratified the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The old CBA expires at the end of this season and the new CBA is for 7 years, with an opt-out for both sides after 6 years. The CBA still needs to be fully completed and signed. Detroit announced that they will retire Richard Hamilton's #32 on February 26. J.R. Smith (Cle) underwent surgery to repair his fractured right thumb and is expected to be out 3 to 4 months. Brooklyn activated Chris McCullough and placed Trevor Booker on IL. Dallas activated Dirk Nowitzki and placed J.J. Barea (sore left Achilles) on IL. Golden State activated Draymond Green and placed James Michael McAdoo on IL. The LA Lakers activated Tarik Black and Jose Calderon and placed Larry Nance (bone bruise left knee) and Julius Randle on (personal reasons) IL. Milwaukee activated Michael Beasley and placed Rashad Vaughn on IL. Orlando activated Chris Wilcox and placed Evan Fournier on IL. Portland activated Reggie Williams and placed Terrence Jones on IL. San Antonio activated Nicolas Laprovittola and placed Pau Gasol (rest) on IL. Stats Leaders Points Russell Westbrook (OKC) 31.8 Anthony Davis (NO) 29.7 DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) 29.1 Rebounds Hassan Whiteside (Mia) 14.9 Andre Drummond (Det) 13.4 Dwight Howard (Atl) 13.0 DeAndre Jordan (LAC) 13.0 Assists James Harden (Hou) 11.9 Russell Westbrook (OKC) 10.8 John Wall (Was) 9.7 Dal 90, LAC 88 at LAC Harrison Barnes (Dal) had 24 points including 11-19 FG and the game winning short jumper with 3.7 seconds left. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 17 points [in 15 1st half minutes, with minutes restriction in his first game back in a month]. Wesley Matthews (Dal) had 16 points including 1-8 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. DeAndre Jordan (LAC) had 7 points and 17 rebounds. Jamal Crawford (LAC) had 26 points including 10-16 FG and 6 assists. Chris Paul (LAC, strained left hamstring) did not play. SA 110, Por 90 at Por Kawhi Leonard (SA) had 33 points on 9-15 FG, 5-7 3-pointers, and 10-10 FT. LaMarcus Aldridge (SA) had 18 points, 14 rebounds including 6 offensive, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Patty Mills (SA) had 23 points including 7-9 FG and 5-7 3-pointers and 5 assists. C.J. McCollum (Por) had 16 points including 5-16 FG and 6 rebounds. Damian Lillard (Por) had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists. Tony Parker (SA, rest) did not play. Pho 123, Phi 116 at Pho Devin Booker (Pho) had 23 points including 4-9 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Eric Bledsoe (Pho) had 24 points including 8-11 FT, 11 assists, and 3 blocks. T.J. Warren (Pho) had 19 points and 5 rebounds. Joel Embiid (Phi) had 27 points including 10-11 FT and 7 rebounds. Sergio Rodriguez (Phi) had 21 points including 4-8 3-pointers and 7 assists. Richaun Holmes (Phi, concussion) and Nik Stauskas (Phi, right knee contusion) did not play. Tor 104, Uta 98 at Uta DeMar DeRozan (Tor) had 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. Kyle Lowry (Tor) had 36 points including 15-20 FG and 4-8 3-pointers and 5 assists. Jonas Valanciunas (Tor) had 14 points including 5-5 FG and 7 rebounds. Gordon Hayward (Uta) had 23 points and 5 assists. Trey Lules (Uta) had 19 points including 4-6 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Atl 109, Den 108 at Den Dennis Schroder (Atl) had 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Paul Millsap (Atl) had 20 points including 5-15 FG and 8-10 FT and the game winning free throws with 6 seconds left and 8 rebounds. Mike Muscala (Atl) had 13 points including 5-7 FG. Danilo Gallinari (Den) had 21 points including 9-10 FT and 11 rebounds. Wilson Chandler (Den) had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Kyle Korver (Atl, ill) did not play. Sac 109, Min 105 at Min DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) had 32 points including 13-24 FG, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 5 turnovers. Ty Lawson (Sac) had 15 points. Anthony Tolliver (Sac) had 17 points including 5-7 3-pointers. Zach LaVine (Min) had 40 points including 13-21 FG and 7-12 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Karl-Anthony Towns (Min) had 20 points, 13 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 5 assists. NO 91, Mia 87 at NO Anthony Davis (NO) had 28 points including 10-17 FG, 22 rebounds including 7 offensive, and 4 blocks. Jrue Holiday (NO) had 22 points and 6 assists. Langston Galloway (NO) had 11 points on 4-11 FG. Goran Dragic (Mia) had 23 points including 10-17 FG and 5 assists. Hassan Whiteside (Mia) had 10 points and 18 rebounds including 7 offensive. Wayne Ellington (Mia, strained right hamstring) and Rodney McGruder (Mia, sprained left ankle) did not play. Mem 115, Hou 109 at Mem Mike Conley (Mem) had 24 points and 5 assists. Marc Gasol (Mem) had 16 points including 5-14 FG and 5 rebounds. Zach Randolph (Mem) had 16 points on 8-11 FG and 5 rebounds. Ryan Anderson (Hou) had 31 points including 10-18 FG and 8-14 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. James Harden (Hou) had 16 points, 7 rebounds, 17 assists, and 9 turnovers. Mil 123, Was 96 at Mil Giannis Antetokounmpo (Mil) had 39 points on 12-19 FG and 15-17 FT, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Jabari Parker (Mil) had 21 points including 9-15 FG and 8 rebounds. Malcolm Brogdon (Mil) had 17 points on a perfect 7-7 FG and 3-3 3-pointers and 7 assists. John Wall (Was) had 18 points and 10 assists. Otto Porter (Was) had 18 points on 7-9 FG and 4-5 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Michael Beasley (Mil, sprained left foot) did not play. GS 119, Det 113 at Det Kevin Durant (GS) had 32 points including 13-18 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Draymond Green (GS) had 5 points including 1-8 FG and 0-6 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Stephen Curry (GS) had 25 points including 5-9 3-pointers, 8 assists, and 5 turnovers. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Det) had 25 points including 4-12 3-pointers. Tobias Harris (Det) had 26 points including 4-6 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. OKC 117, Bos 112 at Bos Domantas Sabonis (OKC) had 20 points on 8-11 FG and 4-6 3-pointers. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 45 points including 5-7 3-pointers and 14-16 FT, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. Enes Kanter (OKC) had 20 points and 6 rebounds. Isaiah Thomas (Bos) had 34 points including 12-22 FG, 10 assists, and 5 turnovers. Al Horford (Bos) had 23 points and 6 rebounds. Cle 119, Bro 99 at Cle LeBron James (Cle) had 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Kevin Love (Cle) had 14 points including 4-14 FG and 15 rebounds. Tristan Thompson (Cle) had 16 points including 7-8 FG and 11 rebounds including 6 offensive. Brook Lopez (Bro) had 16 points including 7-11 FG. Sean Kilpatrick (Bro) had 12 points and 5 rebounds. J.R. Smith (Cle, fractured right thumb) did not play. Orl 109, LAL 90 at Orl Serge Ibaka (Orl) had 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Elfrid Payton (Orl) had 25 points on 11-16 FG and 9 assists. Nikola Vucevic (Orl) had 11 points and 7 rebounds. D'Angelo Russell (LAL) had 15 points. Jordan Clarkson (LAL) had 18 points including 4-8 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Orl shot 50.6% (45-89) FG and LAL shot 35.6% (31-87) FG. Tarik Black (LAL, sprained right ankle) did not play. Cha 103, Chi 91 at Cha Nicolas Batum (Cha) had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Kemba Walker (Cha) had 20 points and 5 rebounds. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Cha) had 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Jimmy Butler (Chi) had 26 points including 11-19 FG. Doug McDermott (Chi) had 15 points. Cha shot 24-28 FT and Chi shot 8-10 FT. Schedule for Saturday, December 24 (All times Central) No games scheduled Schedule for Sunday, December 25 (All times Central) Boston @ New York 11:00 am ESPN Golden State @ Cleveland 1:30 pm ABC Chicago @ San Antonio 4:00 pm ABC Minnesota @ Oklahoma City 7:00 pm ESPN LA Clippers @ LA Lakers 9:30 pm ESPN Schedule for Monday, December 26 (All times Central) Milwaukee @ Washington 6:00 pm Memphis @ Orlando 6:00 pm Charlotte @ Brooklyn 6:30 pm Cleveland @ Detroit 6:30 pm Indiana @ Chicago 7:00 pm NBATV Dallas @ New Orleans 7:00 pm Phoenix @ Houston 7:00 pm Atlanta @ Minnesota 7:00 pm Toronto @ Portland 9:00 pm Denver @ LA Clippers 9:30 pm NBATV Philadelphia @ Sacramento 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