News from December 29. TRADE: Minnesota traded Jason Hart to Phoenix for Alando Tucker, and 2nd round draft pick, and cash. Phoenix released Jason Hart. Portland released Anthony Toliver. Phoenix assigned Taylor Griffin to the NBADL. Portland assigned Patrick Mills to the NBADL. Sacramento signed president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie to a 3 year contract extension. Minnesota activated Brian Cardinal and placed Oleksiy Pecherov on IL. Houston activated Chase Budinger and placed Tracy McGrady on IL. New Orleans activated Morris Peterson and placed Hilton Armstrong on IL. Detroit activated Chucky Atkins and placed Will Bynum (sore ankles) on IL. Atlanta activated Joe Smith and placed Othello Hunter on IL. Cle 95, Atl 84 at Atl LeBron James (Cle) had 14 points including 6-20 FG, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, and 5 steals. Maurice Williams (Cle) had 20 points, 5 assists, and 7 turnovers. Delonte West (Cle) had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Josh Smith (Atl) had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Jamal Crawford (Atl) had 26 points including 10-17 FG and 4-5 3-pointers. LAL 124, GS 118 at LAL Pau Gasol (LAL) had 27 points including 10-16 FG, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 44 points including 16-16 FT and 11 assists. Lamar Odom (LAL) had 11 points including 4-12 FG and 11 rebounds. Corey Maggette (GS) had 25 points on 7-11 FG and 11-13 FT. Monta Ellis (GS) had 22 points and 7 assists. Ron Artest (LAL, concussion) and Mikki Moore (GS, bone spurs right heel) did not play. OKC 110, Was 98 at Was Kevin Durant (OKC) had 35 points on 12-19 FG and 8-10 FT, 11 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Jeff Green (OKC) had 18 points. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 11 points on 5-14 FG, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists. Antawn Jamison (Was) had 28 points. Gilbert Arenas (Was) had 24 points including 4-8 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals. OKC shot 54.4% (43-79) FG and Was shot 40.2% (37-92) FG. Hou 108, NO 100 at Hou Shane Battier (Hou) had 20 points including 5-8 3-pointers. Aaron Brooks (Hou) had 27 points including 5-7 3-pointers. Carl Landry (Hou) had 18 points and 6 rebounds. David West (NO) had 44 points including 18-30 FG and 12 rebounds. Chris Paul (NO) had 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Chase Budinger (Hou, sprained right ankle) did not play. SA 117, Min 99 at SA Richard Jefferson (SA) had 24 points on 10-17 FG and 4-7 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Tim Duncan (SA) had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Manu Ginobili (SA) had 14 points, 9 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals. Kevin Love (Min) had 18 points and 12 rebounds including 5 offensive. Al Jefferson (Min) had 20 points and 8 rebounds. Chi 104, Ind 95 at Chi Luol Deng (Chi) had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Derrick Rose (Chi) had 28 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 turnovers. John Salmons (Chi) had 17 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 5 assists. Solomon Jones (Ind) had 13 points. Roy Hibbert (Ind) had 17 points and 6 rebounds. Chi shot 52.8% (38-72) FG and Ind shot 41.1% (37-90) FG. Tyler Hansbrough (Ind, inner ear infection) did not play. NY 104, Det 87 at Det Danilo Gallinari (NY) had 16 points including 4-9 3-pointers. Wilson Chandler (NY) had 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals. David Lee (NY) had 30 points including 13-19 FG, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Rodney Stuckey (Det) had 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Ben Gordon (Det) had 17 points. Schedule for Wednesday, December 30 (All times Central) Atlanta @ Cleveland 6:00 pm Memphis @ Indiana 6:00 pm Milwaukee @ Orlando 6:00 pm Charlotte @ Toronto 6:00 pm New York @ New Jersey 6:30 pm Utah @ Minnesota 7:00 pm Miami @ New Orleans 7:00 pm Boston @ Phoenix 8:00 pm NBATV LA Clippers @ Portland 9:00 pm Philadelphia @ Sacramento 9:00 pm ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html