News from December 22. An arbitrator ruled that Jermaine O'Neal's (Ind) 25 game suspension should be reduced to 15 games and upheld the suspensions for Ron Artest (Ind), Stephen Jackson (Ind), and Anthony Johnson (Ind). The NBA did not participate in the arbitration and is contesting the arbitrator's right to rule on the suspensions and is challenging the ruling in federal court. The collective bargaining agreement states that the commissioner has exclusive rights to hand down punishment for on court behavior while the Players Association argued that part of the Ind-Det brawl occurred in the stands and the punishments were excessive. The LA Lakers activated Brian Grant and placed Vlade Divac on IR with a sore back. Cleveland activated Luke Jackson and placed Dajuan Wagner on IR with left foot plantar fasciitis. Houston activated Charlie Ward and Bostjan Nachbar and placed Ryan Bowen (bruised left hip) and Andre Barrett (tendinitis right knee) on IR. Atl 113, Dal 100 at Atl Al Harrington (Atl) had 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Antoine Walker (Atl) had 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 turnovers. Josh Childress (Atl) had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Josh Howard (Dal) had 23 points and 5 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 23 points and 7 rebounds. Jason Terry (Dal) had 23 points including 9-14 FG and 4-7 3-pointers, 4 steals, and 6 turnovers. Jerry Stackhouse (Dal, sore right hand) did not play. Orl 93, SA 87 at Orl Cuttino Mobley (Orl) had 11 points and 5 assists. Steve Francis (Orl) had 29 points including 13-17 FT, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) had 16 points on 7-11 FG and 5 rebounds. Tim Duncan (SA) had 24 points and 8 rebounds. Tony Parker (SA) had 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. NJ 92, Cle 90 at NJ Richard Jefferson (NJ) had 42 points on 12-20 FG and 16-17 FT and the game winning alley-oop with .8 seconds left, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Jason Collins (NJ) had 10 points and 6 rebounds. Rodney Buford (NJ) had 22 points and 7 rebounds. Drew Gooden (Cle) had 14 points and 11 rebounds. LeBron James (Cle) had 23 points including 8-10 FT, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. Sea 98, Den 83 at Sea Rashard Lewis (Sea) had 21 points. Ray Allen (Sea) had 20 points including 7-20 FG and 5 rebounds. Vladimir Radmanovic (Sea) had 19 points and 9 rebounds. Kenyon Martin (Den) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Andre Miller (Den) had 20 points including 8-11 FG and 7 assists. Antonio Daniels (Sea, acute tonsilitis) and Carmelo Anthony (Den, sprained left ankle) did not play. Por 104, Mil 95 at Mil Zach Randolph (Por) had 22 points including 9-14 FG, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. Derek Anderson (Por) had 14 points including 4-6 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists. Nick Van Exel (Por) had 26 points including 6-11 3-pointers. Joe Smith (Mil) had 14 points and 9 rebounds. Mike James (Mil) had 22 points. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Por, hyperextended right elbow) and Keith Van Horn (Mil, right ankle tendinitis) did not play. Tor 98, Uta 86 at Tor Chris Bosh (Tor) had 18 points and 8 rebounds. Rafer Alston (Tor) had 9 points and 14 assists. Donyell Marshall (Tor) had 22 points including 4-8 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Carlos Boozer (Uta) had 29 points including 7-11 FT, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Mehmet Okur (Uta) had 11 points and 15 rebounds including 5 offensive. Alonzo Mourning (Tor, right knee injury) did not play. Bos 114, NY 109 at Bos Mark Blount (Bos) had 22 points including 10-16 FG and 6 rebounds. Gary Payton (Bos) had 17 points including 7-11 FG and 5 assists. Paul Pierce (Bos) had 21 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Tim Thomas (NY) had 19 points including 3-4 3-pointers. Nazr Mohammed (NY) had 22 points including 10-11 FT and 18 rebounds including 8 offensive. Jamal Crawford (NY) had 25 points including 5-9 3-pointers and 5 assists. Raef LaFrentz (Bos, sprained left ankle) did not play. Chi 89, Det 82 at Det Ben Gordon (Chi) had 19 points including 7-11 FG. Andres Nocioni (Chi) had 18 points. Tyson Chandler (Chi) had 13 points including 6-8 FG and 11 rebounds. Ben Wallace (Det) had 12 points, 15 rebounds including 9 offensive, and 6 blocks. Chauncey Billups (Det) had 32 points including 4-7 3-pointers and 10-10 FT and 7 assists. Chi shot 47.1% (33-70) FG and Det shot 35.6% (31-87) FG. Phi 102, Ind 90 at Ind Allen Iverson (Phi) had 40 points including 14-16 FT, 5 assists, and 5 turnovers. Marc Jackson (Phi) had 18 points including 7-11 FG and 6 rebounds. Andre Iguodala (Phi) had 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jeff Foster (Ind) had 18 points including 9-12 FG, 12 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Reggie Miller (Ind) had 30 points including 10-15 FG. John Salmons (Phi, bronchitis) did not play. Cha 90, Hou 87 at Hou Emeka Okafor (Cha) had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Primoz Brezec (Cha) had 14 points and 5 rebounds. Jason Kapono (Cha) had 16 points. Yao Ming (Hou) had 20 points, 14 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 10 turnovers. Tracy McGrady (Hou) had 25 points on 6-17 FG and 11-17 FT, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals. GS 109, Mem 99 at GS Troy Murphy (GS) had 19 points including 6-12 FT and 13 rebounds including 6 offensive. Jason Richardson (GS) had 22 points on 6-18 FG and 10-12 FT, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Speedy Claxton (GS) had 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Pau Gasol (Mem) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Stromile Swift (Mem) had 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 blocks. James Posey (Mem) had 22 points including 1-7 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Mike Dunleavy (GS, flu) did not play. LAL 101, NO 89 at LAL Chris Mihm (LAL) had 11 points, 21 rebounds including 8 offensive, and 5 blocks. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 29 points on 9-26 FG and 10-15 FT, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals. Chucky Atkins (LAL) had 30 points including 6-15 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Lee Nailon (NO) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. P.J. Brown (NO) had 14 points and 17 rebounds including 6 offensive. David Wesley (NO) had 20 points including 7-21 FG and 4-7 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. LAL shot 30-37 FT and NO shot 7-11 FT.