News from December 17. Houston announced that Yao Ming is out for the rest of the season with the stress fracture in his left ankle. It has not yet been determined if he will undergo surgery on the ankle (but that is the usual treatment for the injury) - if he does, then the recovery time is expected to be 10 months. Brandon Roy (Por) is expected to be out 3 games with a sore left knee. Cleveland activated Samardo Samuels and Jamario Moon and placed Joey Graham and Leon Powe on IL. Indiana activated Danny Granger and placed Paul George on IL. The LA Lakers activated Joe Smith and placed Devin Ebanks on IL. New Jersey activated Sasha Vujacic and placed Anthony Morrow on IL. Toronto activated Jose Calderon and placed Peja Stojakovic (swollen left knee) on IL. Atlanta activated Joe Johnson and placed Jordan Crawford on IL. Detroit activated DaJuan Summers and placed Austin Daye (strained hamstring) on IL. Utah activated Mehmet Okur and placed Jeremy Evans on IL. Oklahoma City activated Cole Aldrich and placed Morris Peterson on IL. Minnesota activated Kosta Koufos and placed Lazar Hayward on IL. Dal 106, Pho 91 at Dal Caron Butler (Dal) had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 18 points and 5 rebounds. Jason Terry (Dal) had 18 points and 6 assists. Goran Dragic (Pho) had 14 points and 10 assists. Hakim Warrick (Pho) had 15 points and 14 rebounds. Mia 113, NY 91 at NY Chris Bosh (Mia) had 26 points including 11-19 FG, 7 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. LeBron James (Mia) had 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Dwyane Wade (Mia) had 26 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 3 steals. Danilo Gallinari (NY) had 25 points including 4-8 3-pointers. Amare Stoudemire (NY) had 24 points and 14 rebounds including 7 offensive. Mia shot 54.9% (45-82) FG and NY shot 39.3% (35-89) FG. LAL 93, Phi 81 at Phi Lamar Odom (LAL) had 28 points including 11-18 FG and 8 rebounds. Pau Gasol (LAL) had 19 points and 13 rebounds including 6 offensive. Matt Barnes (LAL) had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Andre Iguodala (Phi) had 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Spencer Hawes (Phi) had 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists. LAL shot 24-28 FT and Phi shot 12-14 FT. LAC 109, Det 88 at Det Ryan Gomes (LAC) had 18 points. Blake Griffin (LAC) had 24 points including 11-17 FG and 17 rebounds. Eric Gordon (LAC) had 15 points and 6 assists. Ben Gordon (Det) had 15 points. Charlie Villanueva (Det) had 18 points and 9 rebounds. LAC shot 56.8% (46-81) FG and Det shot 40.2% (33-82) FG. LAC shot 7-13 FT and Det shot 18-27 FT. NO 100, Uta 71 at NO Trevor Ariza (NO) had 17 points and 7 rebounds. David West (NO) had 23 points including 7-9 FG and 8 rebounds. Marcus Thornton (NO) had 19 points on 8-10 FG and 5 rebounds. Paul Millsap (Uta) had 14 points and 6 rebounds. Deron Williams (Uta) had 10 points including 4-12 FG and 5 assists. NO shot 50.7% (38-75) FG and Uta shot 35.85 (29-81) FG. NO out-rebounded Uta 53-24 including 13-7 offensive. OKC 102, Sac 87 at OKC Kevin Durant (OKC) had 24 points including 9-3 FT and 5 assists. Serge Ibaka (OKC) had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 21 points and 6 assists. DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) had 19 points, 16 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 5 turnovers. Beno Udrih (Sac) had 19 points on 9-12 FG. Tyreke Evans (sac) had 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Atl 90, Cha 85 at Atl Marvin Williams (Atl) had 16 points and 8 rebounds. Al Horford (Atl) had 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Joe Johnson (Atl) had 16 points including 5-14 FG, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Boris Diaw (Cha) had 22 points including 10-15 FG, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals. D.J. Augustin (Cha) had 22 points including 1-7 3-pointers. Ind 108, Cle 99 at Ind Danny Granger (Ind) had 30 points including 4-7 3-pointers and 12 rebounds. Roy Hibbert (Ind) had 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 blocks. Brandon Rush (Ind) had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Antawn Jamison (Cle) had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Maurice Williams (Cle) had 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 11 assists. Por 107, Min 102 at Por LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 36 points including 15-22 FG, 10 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 5 blocks. Wesley Matthews (Por) had 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Rudy Fernandez (Por) had 26 points including 9-15 FG and 4-9 3-pointers, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Michael Beasley (Min) had 33 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 4 blocks. Kevin Love (Min) had 19 points and 17 rebounds including 7 offensive. Martell Webster (Min) had 19 points and 9 rebounds. Brandon Roy (Por, sore left knee) did not play. Hou 103, Mem 87 at Hou Shane Battier (Hou) had 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Luis Scola (Hou) had 23 points 9 rebounds, and 6 turnovers. Kyle Lowry (Hou) had 17 points, 18 assists, 5 steals, and 5 turnovers. Kevin Martin (Hou) had 34 points including 13-21 FG and 6 rebounds. Rudy Gay (Mem) had 19 points and 4 steals. Thaddeus Young (Mem) had 19 points including 8-9 FG. Hou shot 48.1% (39-81) FG and Mem shot 36.5% (31-85) FG. Tor 98, NJ 92 at Tor Linas Kleiza (Tor) had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Andrea Bargnani (Tor) had 32 points and 9 rebounds. Jose Calderon (Tor) had 15 points on 7-9 FG and 14 assists. Brook Lopez (NJ) had 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 6 turnovers. Devin Harris (NJ) had 15 points and 6 assists. Sonny Weems (Tor, sore lower back) did not play. Schedule for Saturday, December 18 (All times Central) Philadelphia @ Orlando 6:00 pm Miami @ Washington 6:00 pm NBATV New York @ Cleveland 6:30 pm LA Clippers @ Chicago 7:00 pm Utah @ Milwaukee 7:30 pm Memphis @ San Antonio 7:30 pm Minnesota @ Denver 8:00 pm Golden State @ Portland 9:00 pm Schedule for Sunday, December 19 (All times Central) Indiana @ Boston 12:00 pm Atlanta @ New Jersey 12:00 pm LA Lakers @ Toronto 12:00 pm New Orleans @ Detroit 5:00 pm Houston @ Sacramento 5:00 pm Phoenix @ Oklahoma City 6:00 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