News from December 30. Boston activated Paul Pierce and placed Chris Wilcox on IL. Houston activated Patrick Patterson and placed Hasheem Thabeet on IL. Orlando activated Daniel Orton and placed Jameer Nelson (strained neck) on IL. Phoenix placed Michael Redd on IL. Dal 99, Tor 86 at Dal Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 18 points and 4 steals. Jason Terry (Dal) had 17 points. Ian Mahinmi (Dal) had 19 points on 6-6 FG and 7-11 FT and 5 rebounds. Andrea Bargnani (Tor) had 30 points including 11-18 FG and 7 rebounds. Leandro Barbosa (Tor) had 20 points. Dal shot 28-38 FT and Tor shot 14-18 FT. Chi 114, LAC 101 at LAC Luol Deng (Chi) had 19 points and 8 rebounds. Joakim Noah (Chi) had 19 points including 9-10 FT and 8 rebounds including 5 offensive. Derrick Rose (Chi) had 29 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 10-11 FT, 8 rebounds, and 16 assists. Blake Griffin (LAC) had 34 points on 14-25 FG and 6-10 FT and 13 rebounds including 6 offensive. Chris Paul (LAC) had 15 points, 14 assists, and 4 steals. Chauncey Billups (LAC, sore right groin), Eric Bledsoe (LAC, torn right lateral meniscus), and Reggie Evans (LAC, sprained right foot) did not play. Orl 100, Cha 79 at Cha Ryan Anderson (Orl) had 23 points including 5-12 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Dwight Howard (Orl) had 20 points including 6-14 FT, 24 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 4 blocks. Jason Richardson (Orl) had 16 points. Corey Maggette (Cha) had 20 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. D.J. Augustin (Cha) had 14 points including 3-11 FG. Tyrus Thomas (Cha, sprained left ankle) did not play. Mil 102, Was 81 at Mil Ersan Ilyasova (Mil) had 16 points including 6-8 FG and 7 rebounds. Andrew Bogut (Mil) had 13 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Brandon Jennings (Mil) had 22 points and 5 assists. Rashard Lewis (Was) had 14 points and 6 rebounds. Jordan Crawford (Was) had 24 points and 5 assists. Mil shot 53.4% (39-73) FG and Was shot 35.3% (30-85) FG. Mem 113, Hou 93 at Mem Zach Randolph (Mem) had 23 points including 11-14 FG, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals. Marc Gasol (Mem) had 20 points including 6-8 FG, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, and 5 blocks. Jannero Pargo (Mem) had 14 points and 5 assists. Kyle Lowry (Hou) had 15 points and 8 assists. Kevin Martin (Hou) had 21 points including 7-11 FG. Mem shot 56.3% (45-80) FG and Hou shot 43% (34-79) FG. Mike Conley (Mem, sprained left ankle) did not play. Ind 98, Cle 91 OT at Ind Danny Granger (Ind) had 22 points including 8-22 FG and 7 rebounds. David West (Ind) had 14 points including 5-14 FG and 10 rebounds. Roy Hibbert (Ind) had 17 points including 7-11 FG, 13 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 3 blocks. Andreson Varejao (Cle) had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Kyrie Irving (Cle) had 20 points and 5 rebounds. Mia 103, Min 101 at Min LeBron James (Mia) had 34 points including 16-26 FG, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, and 4 steals. Chris Bosh (Mia) had 20 points and 9 rebounds. Dwyane Wade (Mia) had 19 points, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 5 turnovers. Kevin Love (Min) had 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 turnovers. Ricky Rubio (Min) had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 12 assists, and 5 turnovers. J.J. Barea (Min, strained left hamstring), Malcolm Lee (Min, sore left knee), and Nikola Pekovic (Min, strained left adductor muscle) did not play. Pho 93, NO 78 at NO Channing Frye (Pho) had 10 points on 4-15 FG and 16 rebounds. Jared Dudley (Pho) had 16 points. Hakim Warrick (Pho) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Carl Landry (NO) had 17 points and 8 rebounds including 5 offensive. Emeka Okafor (NO) had 10 points on 2-6 FG and 6-10 FT and 16 rebounds including 8 offensive. Pho shot 42.3% (33-78) FG and NO shot 28.9% (26-90) FG. Eric Gordon (NO, bruised right knee) did not play. Uta 102, Phi 99 at Uta Paul Millsap (Uta) had 14 points including 4-16 FG, 14 rebounds, and 3 steals. Derrick Favors (Uta) had 20 points on 10-16 FG and 11 rebounds. Devin Harris (Uta) had 19 points. Spencer Hawes (Phi) had 15 points including 7-9 FG, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jrue Holiday (Phi) had 22 points including 9-15 FG. Louis Williams (Phi) had 20 points including 10-12 FT and 5 assists. Al Jefferson (Uta, sprained right ankle) did not play. Bos 96, Det 85 at Bos Jermaine O'Neal (Bos) had 19 points including 7-9 FG and 7 rebounds. Ray Allen (Bos) had 17 points. Brandon Bass (Bos) had 17 points including 7-11 FG. Greg Monroe (Det) had 22 points including 9-12 FG and 9 rebounds including 6 offensive. Austin Daye (Det) had 11 points and 5 rebounds. Charlie Villanueva (Det, suspended) did not play. Atl 105, NJ 98 at Atl Jeff Teague (Atl) had 22 points and 6 assists. Joe Johnson (Atl) had 21 points. Zaza Pachulia (Atl) had 11 points and 8 rebounds. Deron Williams (NJ) had 23 points and 6 assists. MarShon Brooks (NJ) had 21 points and 5 rebounds. Atl shot 27-38 FT and NJ shot 13-14 FT. Schedule for Saturday, December 31 (All times Central) Denver at LA Lakers 2:30 pm Indiana at Detroit 5:00 pm Atlanta at Houston 6:00 pm Phoenix at Oklahoma City 7:00 pm New York at Sacramento 7:00 pm Utah at San Antonio 7:30 pm NBATV Philadelphia at Golden State 8:00 pm Schedule for Sunday, January 1 (All times Central) Boston at Washington 5:00 pm NBATV Toronto at Orlando 5:00 pm Charlotte at Miami 5:00 pm New Jersey at Cleveland 5:00 pm Dallas at Minnesota 6:00 pm Memphis at Chicago 7:00 pm LA Lakers at Denver 7:00 pm New Orleans at Sacramento 8:00 pm Portland at LA Clippers 8:30 pm ---- 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