News from April 1. The NBA named Kobe Bryant (LAL) and Derrick Rose (Chi) as Players of the Month for March. Bryant averaged 25.8 points as the Lakers went 12-1. Rose averaged 25.6 points and 7.1 assists as Chicago went 13-3. The NBA named Phil Jackson (LAL) and Tom Thibodeau (Chi) as Coaches of the Month for March. The Lakers went 12-1 and Chicago went 13-3. The NBA named Blake Griffin (LAC) and John Wall (Was) as Rookies of the Month for March. Griffin averaged 20.5 points and 10.4 rebounds as the Clippers went 8-6. Wall averaged 18.1 points and 7.3 assists as Washington went 3-12. The NBA suspended Matt Barnes (LAL) for 1 game for escalating an altercation between Jason Terry (Dal) and Steve Blake (LAL) during Thursday's Dal-LAL game. The NBA announced the divisional winners for the Sportsmanship Award. The winners are George Hill (SA), Stephen Curry (GS), LaMarcus Aldridge (Por), D.J. Augustin (Cha), Luol Deng (Chi), and Deron Williams (NJ). One player from each team was nominated for the award and 4 former players (Rolando Blackman, John Crotty, Mark Jackson, and Eddie Johnson) selected the divisional winners. The overall winner of the Sportsmanship Award will be selected from the 6 divisional winners. Detroit retired Dennis Rodman's #10. Utah placed Andrei Kirilenko (nerve damage knee) on IL. Denver activated Arron Afflalo and placed Kosta Koufos on IL. The LA Clippers activated Brian Cook and placed Chris Kaman on IL. Miami activated Dexter Pittman and placed Mike Miller (sprained right knee) on IL. Minnesota activated Nikola Pekovic and placed Sebastian Telfair on IL. Boston activated Avery Bradley and placed Nenad Krstic (injured right knee) on IL. Detroit activated Ben Wallace and placed Tracy McGrady (rest) on IL. New Jersey placed Kris Humphries (sprained ankle) on IL. Milwaukee activated Chris Douglas-Roberts and placed Jon Brockman on IL. Indiana activated James Posey and placed Lance Stephenson on IL. LAL 96, Uta 85 at Uta Kobe Bryant (LAL) had 21 points including 7-10 FT and 5 rebounds. Pau Gasol (LAL) had 16 points and 9 rebounds. Lamar Odom (LAL) had 16 points and 7 rebounds. C.J. Miles (Uta) had 24 points including 8-10 FT. Al Jefferson (Uta) had 17 points, 10 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 5 assists. Matt Barnes (LAL, suspended), Raja Bell (Uta, sprained right foot), and Ronnie Price (Uta, left shin contusion) did not play. Atl 88, Bos 83 at Atl Al Horford (Atl) had 16 points and 15 rebounds. Joe Johnson (Atl) had 19 points on 4-20 FG and 10-11 FT and 5 rebounds. Jamal Crawford (Atl) had 20 points and 5 rebounds. Paul Pierce (Bos) had 25 points including 8-11 FT and 8 rebounds. Rajon Rondo (Bos) had 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Hou 119, SA 114 OT at Hou Luis Scola (Hou) had 21 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists. Kyle Lowry (Hou) had 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Kevin Martin (Hou) had 33 points including 4-10 3-pointers and 13-14 FT. Tim Duncan (SA) had 23 points and 13 rebounds. Tony Parker (SA) had 31 points including 15-23 FG and 6 assists. Manu Ginobili (SA) had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Den 99, Sac 90 at Sac Kenyon Martin (Den) had 14 points on 7-11 FG. Nene (Den) had 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists. Raymond Felton (Den) had 17 points and 5 turnovers. Francisco Garcia (Sac) had 17 points. Samuel Dalembert (Sac) had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Chi 101, Det 96 at Det Luol Deng (Chi) had 15 points including 7-11 FG. Carlos Boozer (Chi) had 22 points including 9-13 FG, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Derrick Rose (Chi) had 27 points including 8-11 FT, 7 assists, and 4 steals. Tayshaun Prince (Det) had 17 points and 6 assists. Richard Hamilton (Det) had 30 points on 9-14 FG and 11-12 FT. Pho 111, LAC 98 at Pho Grant Hill (Pho) had 19 points. Jared Dudley (Pho) had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Hakim Warrick (Pho) had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Blake Griffin (LAC) had 20 points including 8-10 FT and 13 rebounds. Eric Gordon (LAC) had 21 points including 4-9 3-pointers. Steve Nash (Pho, flu like symptoms) did not play. Mem 93, NO 81 at NO Zach Randolph (Mem) had 28 points including 11-19 FG, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Marc Gasol (Mem) had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Tony Allen (Mem) had 17 points. Carl Landry (NO) had 19 points. Marco Belinelli (NO) had 14 points. Por 98, OKC 91 at Por LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 32 points and 8 rebounds. Andre Miller (Por) had 13 points on 2-9 FG and 9-10 FT and 7 assists. Nicolas Batum (Por) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Kevin Durant (OKC) had 25 points including 9-24 FG and 3-13 3-pointers and 11 rebounds. James Harden (OKC) had 21 points. Mia 111, Min 92 at Min LeBron James (Mia) had 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists. Chris Bosh (Mia) had 24 points and 11 rebounds. Dwyane Wade (Mia) had 32 points including 14-21 FG and 5 rebounds. Kevin Love (Min) had 18 points including 8-10 FT and 7 rebounds. Martell Webster (Min) had 22 points including 4-5 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Mia shot 54.5% (42-77) FG and Min shot 42% (34-81) FG. Phi 115, NJ 90 at Phi Elton Brand (Phi) had 21 points and 7 rebounds. Jrue Holiday (Phi) had 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Thaddeus Young (Phi) had 22 points including 9-12 FG, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Brook Lopez (NJ) had 11 points and 6 rebounds. Brandan Wright (NJ) had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Phi shot 56.3% (45-80) FG and NJ shot 43.5% (37-85) FG. Orl 89, Cha 77 at Orl Dwight Howard (Orl) had 26 points including 10-14 FG and 14 rebounds including 5 offensive. Jameer Nelson (Orl) had 15 points and 6 assists. Quentin Richardson (Orl) had 14 points including 3-11 FG and 5 rebounds. Dante Cunningham (Cha) had 21 points including 10-15 FG and 7 rebounds. D.J. Augustin (Cha) had 19 points, 6 assists, and 5 turnovers. Gilbert Arenas (Orl, ill), Chris Duhon (Orl, sprained right thumb), J.J. Redick (Orl, lower abdominal strain), Stephen Jackson (Cha, strained left hamstring), and Tyrus Thomas (Cha, sore left knee) did not play. Was 115, Cle 107 at Was Andray Blatche (Was) had 36 points and 19 rebounds including 16 offensive. JaVale McGee (Was) had 25 points including 11-15 FG, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jordan Crawford (Was) had 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. J.J. Hickson (Cle) had 21 points including 9-12 FT and 10 rebounds. Ramon Sessions (Cle) had 26 points. John Wall (Was, suspended), Nick Young (Was, bruised left knee), and Samardo Samuels (Cle, sprained right wrist) did not play. Ind 89, Mil 88 at Ind Danny Granger (Ind) had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Roy Hibbert (Ind) had 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Darren Collison (Ind) had 11 points and 7 assists. Andrew Bogut (Mil) had 16 points including 7-11 FG and 6 rebounds. Brandon Jennings (Mil) had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Schedule for Saturday, April 2 (All times Central) Toronto @ Chicago 7:00 pm Minnesota @ Memphis 7:00 pm Philadelphia @ Milwaukee 7:30 pm Dallas @ Golden State 9:30 pm Oklahoma City @ LA Clippers 9:30 pm NBATV Schedule for Sunday, April 3 (All times Central) Phoenix @ San Antonio 12:00 pm ABC Denver @ LA Lakers 2:30 pm ABC Detroit @ Boston 5:00 pm Washington @ Charlotte 5:00 pm Miami @ New Jersey 5:00 pm Cleveland @ New York 5:00 pm Orlando @ Toronto 5:00 pm Utah @ Sacramento 5:00 pm Atlanta @ Houston 6:00 pm Indiana @ New Orleans 6:00 pm Dallas @ Portland 8:00 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