News from December 8. In the final punishment for the Joe Smith illegal contracts saga, the NBA suspended Minnesota owner Glen Taylor through August 31 and VP of basketball operations Kevin McHale has agreed to take a leave of absence through July 31. Neither may attend games or practices or be involved in business operations in any way. The NBA also restored Minnesota's 2003 1st round draft pick. The NBA had revoked Minnesota's 2001 - 2005 1st round draft picks. Team lawyer Jack Regan was barred from representing Minnesota through August 31. Houston signed Anthony Miller. Phoenix signed Elliot Perry and placed Jake Tsakalidis on IR after undergoing dental surgery. Dal 105, Chi 86 - at Dal Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 14 points including 4-11 FG and 7 rebounds. Christian Laettner (Dal) had 17 points and 6 rebounds. Steve Nash (Dal) had 22 points including 10-12 FG and 5 assists. Ron Artest (Chi) had 15 points and 3 steals. Kahlid El-Amin (Chi) had 18 points. Elton Brand (Chi, hyper-extended left knee), Fred Hoiberg (Chi, sprained left ankle), and Jake Voskuhl (Chi, tendinitis left foot) did not play. Sac 111, Hou 98 - at Sac Hidayet Turkoglu (Sac) had 16 points and 3 blocks. Chris Webber (Sac) had 37 points including 15-26 FG and 18 rebounds. Doug Christie (Sac) had 18 points, 8 assists, and 3 steals. Steve Francis (Hou) had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals. Cuttino Mobley (Hou) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Predrag Stojakovic (Sac, bruised right shoulder) and Carlos Rogers (Hou, strained right knee) did not play. Tor 108, GS 92 - at GS Antonio Davis (Tor) had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Corliss Williamson (Tor) had 22 points on 7-9 FG and 8-10 FT. Vince Carter (Tor) had 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Antawn Jamison (GS) had 28 points including 7-14 FT and 7 turnovers. Larry Hughes (GS) had 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Erick Dampier (GS, left knee inflammation) and Chris Mills (GS, inflammed right ankle) did not play. Sea 103, LAL 95 - at LAL Rashard Lewis (Sea) had 20 points including 8-10 FG and 6 rebounds. Patrick Ewing (Sea) had 10 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Gary Payton (Sea) had 25 points including 9-13 FT, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists. Shaquille O'Neal (LAL) had 26 points including 0-11 FT [set NBA record for most attempts without a make], 17 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 blocks. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 19 points including 8-25 FG. Sea shot 21-34 FT and LAL shot 5-18 FT. Emanual Davis (Sea, sprained right ankle) did not play. Phi 107, Por 94 - at Por George Lynch (Phi) had 14 points including 6-7 FG and 5 assists. Theo Ratliff (Phi) had 19 points including 7-10 FG and 10 rebounds. Allen Iverson (Phi) had 30 points including 12-17 FT, 10 assists, and 4 steals. Steve Smith (Por) had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Arvydas Sabonis (Por) had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Phi shot 25-35 FT and Por shot 13-18 FT. Matt Geiger (Phi, right quad tendinitis), Tyrone Hill (Phi, sprained right ankle), and Eric Snow (Phi, stress fracture right ankle) did not play. Cha 92, LAC 87 - at Cha Jamal Mashburn (Cha) had 17 points including 6-18 FG, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Baron Davis (Cha) had 14 points including 6-9 FG, 6 rebounds, 9 assist, and 4 steals. David Wesley (Cha) had 20 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Jeff McInnis (LAC) had 21 points and 7 assists. Corey Maggette (LAC) had 14 points and 9 rebounds. Eddie Robinson (Cha, sprained right ankle) did not play. Mia 80, Atl 76 - at Mia Brian Grant (Mia) had 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals. Eddie Jones (Mia) had 23 points including 9-10 FT, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Cedric Ceballos (Mia) had 15 points including 5-6 FG in 15 minutes. Alan Henderson (Atl) had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Dikembe Mutombo (Atl) had 11 points, 17 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Don MacLean (Mia, surgery right foot) did not play. Ind 104, Bos 91 - at Bos Jalen Rose (Ind) had 25 points including 12-12 FT, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Austin Croshere (Ind) had 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 steals. Travis Best (Ind) had 27 points including 11-15 FG, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists. Antoine Walker (Bos) had 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Paul Pierce (Bos) had 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 turnovers. Bryant Stith (Bos) had 25 points including 9-15 FG and 4-8 3-pointers. NJ 86, Pho 84 - at NJ Aaron Williams (NJ) had 23 points including 9-10 FT, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Sherman Douglas (NJ) had 22 points including 10-14 FG. Johnny Newman (NJ) had 13 points. Kenyon Martin (NJ) had 8 points including the game winning putback with 2.1 seconds left and 8 rebounds. Shawn Marion (Pho) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Clifford Robinson (Pho) had 25 points. Jason Kidd (Pho) had 17 points including 5-16 FG, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Kendall Gill (NJ, right knee tendinitis) and Stephon Marbury (NJ, sprained left ankle) did not play.