News from December 21. New Orleans signed Alexis Ajinca. Jeff Taylor (Cha) is out for the season with a torn right Achilles. Golden State recalled Nemanja Nedovic from the NBADL. Detroit activated Rodney Stuckey and placed Chauncey Billups on IL. New Orleans placed Jason Smith on IL. New York activated Amare Stoudemire and placed Kenyon Martin on IL. Orlando activated Arron Afflalo and placed E'Twaun Moore on IL. San Antonio activated Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and placed Nando de Colo and Malcolm Thomas on IL. Utah activated Rudy Gobert and placed Mike Harris on IL. Pho 123, Dal 108 at Pho Eric Bledsoe (Pho) had 25 points including 9-12 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 6 assists. Channing Frye (Pho) had 18 points including 4-6 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Gerald Green (Pho) had 22 points including 4-8 3-points. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 21 points and 6 rebounds. Monta Ellis (Dal) had 19 points, 9 assists, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers. Brandan Wright (Dal) had 19 points including 8-10 FG, 6 rebounds, and 4 blocks. LAC 112, Den 91 at LAC Blake Griffin (LAC) had 24 points including 8-10 FT and 16 rebounds including 5 offensive. Jamal Crawford (LAC) had 27 points including 6-12 3-pointers. Chris Paul (LAC) had 10 points, 11 assists, and 3 steals. Wilson Chandler (Den) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Timofey Mozgov (Den) had 15 points and 9 rebounds. LAC shot 45.3% (39-86) FG and Den shot 35.2% (31-88) FG. GS 102, LAL 83 at GS David Lee (GS) had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Andrew Bogut (GS) had 12 points and 20 rebounds including 9 offensive. Stephen Curry (GS) had 18 points including 5-15 FG and 4-9 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals. Chris Kaman (LAL) had 10 points on 5-17 FG, 17 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Nick Young (LAL) had 20 points on 5-18 FG, 1-6 3-pointers, and 9-12 FT. Steve Blake (LAL, torn ligament), Jordan Farmar (LAL, left hamstring tear), and Pau Gasol (LAL, upper respiratory infection) did not play. Por 110, NO 107 at Por LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 18 points including 8-24 FG and 8 rebounds. Wesley Matthews (Por) had 18 points and 6 rebounds. Damian Lillard (Por) had 29 points including 4-10 3-pointers and 5 assists. Anthony Davis (NO) had 21 points and 9 rebounds. Tyreke Evans (NO) had 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. OKC 113, SA 100 at SA Kevin Durant (OKC) had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 31 points including 13-22 FG and 8 assists. Reggie Jackson (OKC) had 21 points. Tony Parker (SA) had 23 points including 11-13 FT and 8 assists. Tim Duncan (SA) had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard (SA), dental procedure) did not play. Mil 116, Phi 106 at Mil Khris Middleton (Mil) had 27 points including 1-15 FG and 5 rebounds. Caron Butler (Mil) had 22 points including 8-21 FG and 2-10 3-pointers and 11 rebounds. Brandon Knight (Mil) had 21 points and 6 assists. Thaddeus Young (Phi) had 30 points including 11-19 FG and 4-4 3-pointers and 10 rebounds. Spencer Hawes (Phi) had 25 points including 10-15 FG and 16 rebounds including 7 offensive. Michael Carter-Williams (Phi) had 19 points and 12 assists. Mil shot 52.4% (43-82) FG and Phi shot 40.9% (38-93) FG. Zaza Pachulia (Mil, fractured right foot) did not play. Chi 100, Cle 84 at Chi Carlos Boozer (Chi) had 19 points and 9 rebounds. Joakim Noah (Chi) had 11 points including 4-11 FG and 18 rebounds including 5 offensive. D.J. Augustin (Chi) had 18 points including 4-6 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, and 5 turnovers. Andrew Bynum (Cle) had 19 points including 9-15 FG and 7 rebounds. Kyrie Irving (Cle) had 14 points including 5-16 FG and 5 assists. Chi shot 53.6% (37-69) FG and Cle shot 40% (36-90) FG. Chi shot 16-24 FT and Cle shot 8-9 FT. Loul Deng (Chi, sore left Achilles), Jimmy Butler (Chi, sprained right ankle), and Kirk Hinrich (Chi, sore back) did not play. Hou 114, Det 97 at Det Chandler Parsons (Hou) had 20 points including 9-15 FG and 7 rebounds. Dwight Howard (Hou) had 35 points on 13-18 FG and 9-14 FT, 19 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 5 turnovers. Francisco Garcia (Hou) had 16 points including 4-8 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Josh Smith (Det) had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Greg Monroe (Det) had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Hou shot 55.7% (44-79) FG and Det shot 44.9% (40-89) FG. Omer Asik (Hou, right thigh contusion), Jeremy Lin (Hou, back spasms), and James Harden (Hou, sprained ankle) did not play. Uta 88, Cha 85 at Cha Trey Burks (Uta) had 20 points including 4-8 3-pointers. Derrick Favors (Uta) had 14 points and 9 rebounds. Gordan Hayward (Uta) had 12 points including 3-11 FG and 10 rebounds. Kemba Walker (Cha) had 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Al Jefferson (Cha) had 19 points, 11 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 3 blocks. Jeff Taylor (Cha, torn right Achilles) did not play. Sac 105, Orl 100 at Orl Rudy Gay (Sac) had 23 points and 6 rebounds. Isaiah Thomas (Sac) had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals. DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) had 14 points including 5-14 FG and 11 rebounds including 5 offensive. Tobias Harris (Orl) had 21 points including 7-11 FG. Arron Afflalo (Orl) had 26 points. Was 106, Bos 99 at Bos Trevor Ariza (Was) had 27 points including 5-8 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. John Wall (Was) had 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 steals. Nene (Was) had 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jared Sullinger (Bos) had 22 points and 11 rebounds including 5 offensive. Avery Bradley (Bos) had 26 points including 12-18 FG and 5 rebounds. Mem 95, NY 87 at NY Zach Randolph (Mem) had 25 points including 7-10 FT, 15 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Tony Allen (Mem) had 19 points and 8 rebounds. Kosta Koufos (Mem) had 10 points and 9 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony (NY) had 30 points and 7 rebounds. J.R. Smith (NY) had 16 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals. Tayshaun Prince (Mem, sore left knee), Raymond Felton (NY, strained left hamstring), and Metta World Peace (NY, sore left knee) did not play. Schedule for Sunday, December 22 (All times Central) Boston at Indiana 5:00 pm Toronto at Oklahoma City 6:00 pm Minnesota at LA Clippers 8:30 pm Schedule for Monday, December 23 (All times Central) Milwaukee at Charlotte 6:00 pm Detroit at Cleveland 6:00 pm New York at Orlando 6:00 pm Indiana at Brooklyn 6:30 pm Atlanta at Miami 6:30 pm Dallas at Houston 7:00 pm Utah at Memphis 7:00 pm Toronto at San Antonio 7:30 pm Golden State at Denver 8:00 pm LA Lakers at Phoenix 8:00 pm New Orleans at Sacramento 9:00 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