News from December 23. Phoenix released Mike James. Utah signed Nazareth Mitrou-Long to a 2-way contract. Nikola Vucevic (Orl) suffered a broken bone in his left hand that will require surgery. Golden State placed Shaun Livingston (sore right knee) on IL. Indiana activated T.J. Leaf. The LA Lakers placed Brandon Ingram (left quad tendinitis) on IL. Memphis activated Ivan Rabb and placed JaMychal Green (sore right knee) on IL. Milwaukee activated D.J. Wilson and placed Giannis Antetokounmpo (sore right knee) on IL. Philadelphia activated Joel Embiid. Portland placed Noah Vonleh (dislocated finger right hand) on IL. San Antonio activated Pau Gasol and placed Danny Green (tightness left groin) on IL. Atl 112, Dal 107 at Atl Ersan Ilyasova (Atl) had 21 points including 7-9 FG and 7 rebounds. Dennis Schroder (Atl) had 33 points including 13-22 FG and 7 assists. Miles Plumlee (Atl) had 11 points including 2-8 FG, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Harrison Barnes (Dal) had 22 points. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 18 points including 7-11 FG and 6 rebounds. Tor 102, Phi 86 at Tor DeMar DeRozan (Tor) had 29 points including 4-7 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Serge Ibaka (Tor) had 17 points and 6 rebounds. Kyle Lowry (Tor) had 12 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Dario Saric (Phi) had 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Joel Embiid (Phi) had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 5 turnovers. Cha 111, Mil 106 at Cha Dwight Howard (Cha) had 21 points on 7-11 FG and 7-12 FT and 16 rebounds including 5 offensive. Kemba Walker (Cha) had 19 points including 5-15 FG and 8 assists. Nicolas Batum (Cha) has 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Khris Middleton (Mil) had 31 points including 4-10 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe (Mil) had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Cha shot 30-40 FT and Mil shot 14-17 FT. Ind 123, Bro 119 OT at Ind Bogan Bogdanovic (Ind) had 17 points and 6 rebounds. Myles Turner (Ind) had 23 points including 8-10 FG and 3-4 3-pointers, 9 rebounds, and 6 blocks. Victor Oladipo (Ind) had 38 points on 13-23 FG and 10-10 FT and 6 assists. DeMarre Carroll (Bro) had 20 points including 4-10 3-pointers and 13 rebounds. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Bro) had 18 points and 8 rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie (Bro) had 26 points including 5-11 3-pointers and 8 assists. Was 130, Orl 103 at Was Otto Porter (Was) had 17 points including 4-6 3-pointers. Bradley Beal (Was) had 17 points including 3-4 3-pointers. Mike Scott (Was) had 18 points including 7-8 FG. Elfrid Payton (Orl) had 30 points including 11-16 FG, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, and 4 steals. Mario Hezonja (Orl) had 16 points and 3 steals. Was out-rebounded Orl 49-28 including 12-4 offensive. Jonathan Isaac (Orl, sore right ankle) did not play. Bos 117, Chi 92 at Bos Kyrie Irving (Bos) had 25 points including 9-15 FG and 5-7 3-pointers and 7 assists. Jaylen Brown (Bos) had 20 points including 7-10 FG and 4-6 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Terry Rozier (Bos) had 10 points and 15 rebounds including 5 offensive. Lauri Markkanen (Chi) had 12 points and 5 rebounds. Bobby Portis (Chi) had 17 points and 8 rebounds. NO 109, Mia 94 at Mia Anthony Davis (NO) had 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 blocks. DeMarcus Cousins (NO) had 16 points including 5-7 FG, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks, and 5 turnovers. Ian Clark (NO) had 19 points on 7-11 FG and 5-7 3-pointers. Tyler Johnson (Mia) had 20 points. Goran Dragic (Mia) had 13 points including 5-15 FG. NO shot 53.4% (39-73) FG and Mia shot 42.4% (36-85) FG. Dion Waiters (Mia, sprained left ankle) and Justise Winslow (Mia, strained left knee) did not play. Mem 115, LAC 112 at Mem Tyreke Evans (Mem) had 30 points including 6-11 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, 11 assists, and 3 steals. Marc Gasol (Mem) had 17 points and 15 rebounds. Andrew Harrison (Mem) had 15 points including 3-14 FG and 5 assists. Austin Rivers (LAC) had 38 points including 14-20 FG and 5-8 3-pointers. Lou Williams (LAC) had 36 points including 5-13 3-pointers and 11-12 FT. Wesley Johnson (LAC, sore left foot) did not play. OKC 103, Uta 89 at Uta Paul George (OKC) had 26 points including 10-17 FG and 4-7 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 6 turnovers. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Carmelo Anthony (OKC) had 16 points on 6-18 FG and 4-10 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Donovan Mitchell (Uta) had 29 points including 12-16 FG and 5 rebounds. Derrick Favors (Uta) had 11 points and 8 rebounds. Den 96, GS 81 at GS Nikola Jokic (Den) had 18 points and 9 rebounds. Gary Harris (Den) had 19 points. Wilson Chandler (Den) had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Kevin Durant (GS) had 18 points including 6-17 FG and 6 rebounds. Klay Thompson (GS) had 15 points including 6-21 FG and 1-10 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Min 115, Pho 106 at Pho Karl-Anthony Towns (Min) had 16 points and 14 rebounds. Jimmy Butler (Min) had 32 points including 12-13 FT and 6 rebounds. Jeff Teague (Min) had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 turnovers. T.J. Warren (Pho) had 24 points and 9 rebounds. Isaiah Canaan (Pho) had 15 points and 9 assists. Por 95, LAL 92 at LAL Shabazz Napier (Por) had 21 points including 4-7 3-pointers, 5 assists, and 3 steals. C.J. McCollum (Por) had 17 points including 7-23 FG and 5 rebounds. Maurice Harkless (Por) had 22 points and 6 rebounds. Kyle Kuzma (LAL) had 18 points including 6-19 FG and 7 rebounds. Jordan Clarkson (LAL) had 18 points. SA 108, Sac 99 at Sac LaMarcus Aldridge (SA) had 29 points including 13-22 FG and 10 rebounds. Pau Gasol (SA) had 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Dejounte Murray (SA) had 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Willie Cauley-Stein (Sac) had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Buddy Hield (Sac) had 24 points including 4-7 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard (Sac, rest) did not play. Schedule for Tuesday, December 24 (All times Central) No games scheduled Schedule for Monday, December 25 (All times Central) Philadelphia at New York 11:00 am ESPN Cleveland at Golden State 2:00 pm ABC Washington at Boston 4:30 pm ABC Houston at Oklahoma City 7:00 pm ABC Minnesota at LA Lakers 9:30 pm TNT Schedule for Tuesday, December 26 (All times Central) Indiana at Detroit 6:00 pm Toronto at Dallas 6:00 pm Orlando at Miami 6:30 pm Chicago at Milwaukee 7:00 pm NBATV Brooklyn at San Antonio 7:30 pm Utah at Denver 8:00 pm Memphis at Phoenix 8:00 pm Sacramento at LA Clippers 9:30 pm NBATV ---- 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