News from March 5. The NBA named Blake Griffin (LAC) and LeBron James (Mia) as Players of the Month for February. Griffin averaged 30 points and 10.7 rebounds as the Clippers went 7-4. James averaged 30.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 6.7 assists as Miami went 9-1. The NBA named Nick Calathes (Mem) and Victor Oladipo (Orl) as Rookies of the Month for February. Calathes averaged 10.7 points and 4.6 assists as Memphis went 7-5. Oladipo averaged 14.7 points and 4.9 assists and Orlando went 5-7. Brooklyn signed Jason Collins to a 2nd 10-day contract. Golden State released Hilton Armstrong after he completed a 10-day contract. Houston activated Isaiah Canaan and placed Greg Smith (right knee surgery) IL. Orlando activated Arron Afflalo and placed Jameer Nelson on IL. Utah activated Malcolm Thomas and placed Andris Biedrins on IL. Washington placed Kevin Seraphin on IL. Den 115, Dal 110 at Den Wilson Chandler (Den) had 21 points including 6-17 FG and 5 rebounds. Ty Lawson (Den) had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. J.J. Hickson (Den) had 16 points on 8-10 FG, 5 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 27 points including 13-20 FG and 7 rebounds. Brandan Wright (Dal) had 18 points on 9-13 FG. Den shot 30-36 FT and Dal shot 9-9 FT. Nate Robinson (Den, torn left ACL) and Wayne Ellington (Dal, personal reasons) did not play. Por 102, Atl 78 at Por Nicolas Batum (Por) had 14 points and 18 rebounds. Maurice Williams (Por) had 15 points including 3-3 3-pointers and 5 assists. Damian Lillard (Por) had 12 points and 6 assists. Jeff Teague (Atl) had 10 points including 4-12 FG. Cartier Martin (Atl) had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Por shot 44.3% (35-79) FG and Atl shot 33% (29-88) FG. Paul Millsap (Atl, right knee contusion) did not play. NY 118, Min 106 at Min Carmelo Anthony (NY) had 33 points including 3-10 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers. Amare Stoudemire (NY) had 18 points and 8 assists. Tyson Chandler (NY) had 15 points including 6-8 FG and 14 rebounds including 5 offensive. Raymond Felton (NY) had 18 points, 8 assists, and 4 steals. Kevin Love (Min) had 19 points including 6-17 FG and 3-10 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Nikola Pekovic (Min) had 17 points and 6 rebounds. Sac 116, Mil 102 at Mil Rudy Gay (Sac) had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 turnovers. DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) had 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Isaiah Thomas (Sac) had 25 points including 9-16 FG, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Brandan Knight (Mil) had 25 points including 9-10 FT, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Jeff Adrien (Mil) had 15 points and 5 rebounds. Chi 105, Det 95 at Det Joakim Noah (Chi) had 10 points on 5-7 FG, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. Jimmy Butler (Chi) had 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 steals. D.J. Augustin (Chi) had 26 points including 10-10 FT and 6 assists. Taj Gibson (Chi) had 22 points on 11-16 FG and 5 rebounds. Greg Monroe (Det) had 27 points including 12-20 FG, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Josh Smith (Det) had 15 points including 6-21 FG, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 blocks. Peyton Siva (Det, sprained left ankle) did not play. Bro 103, Mem 94 at Bro Joe Johnson (Bro) had 21 points including 5-7 3-pointers. Deron Williams (Bro) had 16 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals. Marcus Thornton (Bro) had 20 points including 4-5 3-pointers. Marc Gasol (Mem) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Jon Leuer (Mem) had 19 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Kevin Garnett (Bro, back spasms) and Zach Randolph (Mem, flu) did not play. GS 108, Bos 88 at Bos David Lee (GS) had 18 points and 10 rebounds including 5 offensive. Klay Thompson (GS) had 18 points including 1-8 3-pointers. Jordan Crawford (GS) had 15 points. Rajon Rondo (Bos) had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 7 turnovers. Kelly Olynyk (Bos) had 19 points and 5 rebounds. GS shot 11-12 FT and Bos shot 21-26 FT. Gerald Wallace (Bos, torn meniscus left knee) did not play. Was 104, Uta 91 at Was Trevor Ariza (Was) had 26 points including 9-14 FG and 4-6 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Bradley Beal (Was) had 22 points and 5 rebounds. Marcin Gortat (Was) had 16 points including 7-11 FG and 9 rebounds. Gordon Hayward (Uta) had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Alec Burks (Uta) had 19 points including 5-10 FT. Was shot 10-10 FT and Uta shot 13-22 FT. Martell Webster (Was, sore back) did not play. Hou 101, Orl 89 at Orl Chandler Parsons (Hou) had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Dwight Howard (Hou) had 19 points, 13 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 6 turnovers. James Harden (Hou) had 31 points including 11-19 FG and 6 assists. Nikola Vucevic (Orl) had 15 points including 7-9 FG and 10 rebounds. Arron Afflalo (Orl) had 18 points. Hou shot 15-24 FT and Orl shot 10-12 FT. Victor Oladipo (Orl, sore left ankle) did not play. Cha 109, Ind 87 at Cha Al Jefferson (Cha) had 34 points including 16-25 FG and 8 rebounds. Kemba Walker (Cha) had 19 points and 9 assists. Josh McRoberts (Cha) had 12 points and 5 rebounds. George Hill (Ind) had 17 points. Evan Turner (Ind) had 22 points including 9-12 FG and 5 assists. Cha shot 51.2% (43-84) FG and Ind shot 40.8% (31-76) FG. Gerald Henderson (Ind, strained right calf) did not play. Schedule for Thursday, March 6 (All times Central) Miami @ San Antonio 7:00 pm TNT Oklahoma City @ Phoenix 8:00 pm LA Clippers @ LA Lakers 9:30 pm TNT Schedule for Friday, March 7 (All times Central) Memphis @ Chicago 6:00 pm ESPN Cleveland @ Charlotte 6:00 pm Sacramento @ Toronto 6:00 pm Brooklyn @ Boston 6:30 pm Utah @ New York 6:30 pm Detroit @ Minnesota 7:00 pm Milwaukee @ New Orleans 7:00 pm Portland @ Dallas 7:30 pm LA Lakers @ Denver 8:00 pm Indiana @ Houston 8:30 pm ESPN Atlanta @ Golden State 9:30 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