News from December 20. Denver released Art Long. Denver activated Predrag Savovic and placed Chris Whitney on IR with a bone bruise in his left ankle. Whitney is expected to be out at least 3 weeks. Uta 93, Dal 81 at at Dal Karl Malone (Uta) had 16 points on 5-16 FG and 6-11 FT and 12 rebounds. Calbert Cheaney (Uta) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Greg Ostertag (Uta) had 16 points on 5-7 FG and 6-10 FT and 6 rebounds. Matt Harpring (Uta) had 19 points and 5 turnovers. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 28 points including 13-15 FT and 17 rebounds. Michael Finley (Dal) had 16 points including 7-21 FG and 6 rebounds. Steve Nash (Dal) had 25 points, 5 assists, and 6 turnovers. Uta shot 46.5% (33-71) FG and Dal shot 33.3% (25-75) FG. It was Dal's first home loss of the season (12-1). There are now no undefeated teams at home. Orl 89, Den 80 at Den Pat Garrity (Orl) had 17 points including 6-9 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 3 steals. Grant Hill (Orl) had 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals. Shawn Kemp (Orl) had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Juwan Howard (Den) had 20 points and 6 rebounds. Rodney White (Den) had 16 points including 5-14 FG and 5 rebounds. Orl shot 27-29 FT and Den shot 7-11 FT. Tracy McGrady (Orl, lower back contusion) did not play. Phi 107, LAL 104 OT at Phi Keith Van Horn (Phi) had 20 points and 11 rebounds. Allen Iverson (Phi) had 32 points on 11-33 FG and 7-13 FT, 5 assists, and 9 steals. Derrick Coleman (Phi) had 18 points and 8 rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal (LAL) had 26 points including 8-19 FT, 14 rebounds, and 7 turnovers. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 44 points including 10-10 FT, 10 assists, and 5 turnovers. Mem 95, Mil 84 at Mem Pau Gasol (Mem) had 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists. Wesley Person (Mem) had 23 points including 4-4 3-pointers. Jason Williams (Mem) had 11 points including 3-11 FG, 5 rebounds, and 13 assists. Tim Thomas (Mil) had 18 points and 5 turnovers. Sam Cassell (Mil) had 19 points including 6-19 FG and 6 assists. Mem shot 48% (36-75) FG and Mil shot 37.2% (32-86) FG. Jason Caffey (Mil, finger) did not play. Ind 101, Chi 86 at Ind Al Harrington (Ind) had 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals. Brad Miller (Ind) had 26 points including 11-16 FG and 14 rebounds. Ron Mercer (Ind) had 16 points. Jalen Rose (Chi) had 18 points and 5 turnovers. Marcus Fizer (Chi) had 26 points including 10-17 FG and 12 rebounds including 6 offensive. Jermaine O'Neal (Ind, sprained left knee) did not play. Bos 108, Min 99 at Bos Antoine Walker (Bos) had 13 points including 5-14 FG and 8 rebounds. Eric Williams (Bos) had 11 points and 8 rebounds. Paul Pierce (Bos) had 42 points including 4-8 3-pointers and 16-18 FT, 14 rebounds, and 6 turnovers. Kevin Garnett (Min) had 27 points and 8 rebounds. Radoslav Nesterovic (Min) had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Bos shot 32-37 FT and Min shot 15-16 FT. Det 109, Cle 107 OT at Det Ben Wallace (Det) had 11 points, 19 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 5 turnovers. Richard Hamilton (Det) had 27 points including 14-20 FT and 5 rebounds. Corliss Williamson (Det) had 19 points. Ricky Davis (Cle) had 42 points including 14-15 FT, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals in 50 minutes. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cle) had 20 points. Tyrone Hill (Cle, sacrum contusion) and Darius Miles (Cle, back spasms) did not play. Mia 97, Tor 77 at Tor Caron Butler (Mia) had 25 points including 9-10 FT and 6 rebounds. Brian Grant (Mia) had 11 points including 5-6 FG and 9 rebounds. Eddie Jones (Mia) had 17 points including 6-7 FG and 5 rebounds. Voshon Lenard (Tor) had 19 points. Alvin Williams (Tor) had 17 points. Mia shot 56.2% (36-64) FG and Tor shot 36.6% (26-71) FG. Antonio Davis (Tor, swollen right knee), Vince Carter (Tor, strained right knee), Mamadou N'diaye (Tor, stress fracture), and Nate Huffman (Tor, sore right knee) did not play. Hou 101, Atl 82 at Hou Yao Ming (Hou) had 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Steve Francis (Hou) had 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. Cuttino Mobley (Hou) had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocks. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Atl) had 20 points and 9 rebounds. Glenn Robinson (Atl) had 28 points on 12-18 FG and 4-6 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Hou shot 20-23 FT and Atl shot 5-8 FT. Eddie Griffin (Hou, personal reasons) and Chris Crawford (Atl, left knee injury) did not play. NO 88, Sea 86 OT at Sea Jamal Mashburn (NO) had 30 points including 13-21 FG and 3-4 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists in 50 minutes. Baron Davis (NO) had 20 points including 4-11 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. David Wesley (NO) had 18 points and 6 rebounds. Robert Traylor (NO) had the game winning tip-in at the buzzer. Rashard Lewis (Sea) had 26 points including 11-11 FT, 12 rebounds, and 5 steals. Gary Payton (Sea) had 15 points including 6-24 FG, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. NO shot 3-6 FT and Sea shot 16-17 FT. Pho 87, LAC 76 at LAC Shawn Marion (Pho) had 20 points including 4-6 3-pointers and 12 rebounds. Damon Stoudemire (Pho) had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Stephon Marbury (Pho) had 16 points, 8 assists, and 5 turnovers. Marco Jaric (LAC) had 18 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals, and 7 turnovers. Wang Zhizhi (LAC) had 16 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Eric Piatkowski (LAC, abdominal strain) and Elton Brand (LAC, strained right calf) did not play. Por 113, GS 111 at GS Rasheed Wallace (Por) had 16 points including the game winning jumper at the buzzer. Bonzi Wells (Por) had 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Derek Anderson (Por) had 15 points including 5-7 FG, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Antawn Jamison (GS) had 21 points and 6 rebounds. Jason Richardson (GS) had 23 points and 5 rebounds. Gilbert Arenas (GS) had 23 points including 10-12 FT and 5 assists.