News from January 5. The NBA named Kevin Durant (OKC) and Jeff Teague (Atl) as Players of the Week for the week ending January 4. Durant averaged 39 points and 9 rebounds as Oklahoma City went 2-0. Teague averaged 23.7 points and 8.3 assists as Atlanta went 3-0. The NBA named James Harden (Hou) and Kyle Lowry (Tor) as Players of the Month for December. Harden averaged 30.6 points and 7.1 assists as Houston went 9-5. Lowry averaged 22.3 points and 8.9 assists as Toronto went 11-4. The NBA named Andrew Wiggins (Min) and Nikola Mirotic (Chi) as Rookies of the Month for December. Wiggins averaged 14.6 points as Minnesota went 1-14. Mirotic averaged 9.9 points and 5.7 rebounds as Chicago went 11-4. The NBA named Terry Stotts (Por) and Mike Budenholzer (Atl) as Coaches of the Month for December. Portland went 13-3 and Atlanta went 14-2 in December. TRADE: In a 3-team trade, Cleveland traded away Dion Waiters, Louis Amundson, Alex Kirk, and a 2019 2nd round draft pick and received Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith, and a protected 2015 1st round draft pick; Oklahoma City traded away Lance Thomas and a protected 2015 1st round draft pick and received Dion Waiters; and New York traded away Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith and received Louis Amundson, Alex Kirk, Lance Thomas, and a 2019 2nd round draft pick. None of the traded players played in Monday's games. New York released Samuel Dalembert. Utah signed Elijah Millsap to a 10-day contract. Jabari Parker (Mil) underwent surgery on his left knee to repair a torn ACL. Boston activated James Young and placed Jameer Nelson (right ankle) on IL. Chicago activated Jimmy Butler. The LA Clippers activated Chris Douglas-Roberts and placed Jared Cunningham on IL. New Orleans activated Eric Gordon and placed Russ Smith on IL. Portland activated Victor Claver and placed Joel Freeland on IL. Washington activated Drew Gooden and placed DeJuan Blair on IL. Dal 96, Bro 88 OT at Bro Monta Ellis (Dal) had 19 points and 7 rebounds. Tyson Chandler (Dal) had 14 points and 13 rebounds including 8 offensive. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Nowitzki passed Moses Malone (27,409) for 7th place on the NBA all-time scoring list. Brook Lopez (Bro) had 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Jarrett Jack (Bro) had 20 points and 10 assists. Joe Johnson (Bro) had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Deron Williams (Bro, sore left side) and Kevin Garnett (Bro, rest) did not play. Atl 107, LAC 98 at LAC Paul Millsap (Atl) had 23 points and 8 rebounds. Jeff Teague (Atl) had 20 points, 9 assists, and 4 steals. DeMarre Carroll (Atl) had 17 points including 6-8 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Blake Griffin (LAC) had 26 points on 6-17 FG and 14-18 FT, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 turnovers. DeAndre Jordan (LAC) had 15 points including 7-7 FG, 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks. GS 117, OKC 91 at GS Harrison Barnes (GS) had 23 points including 5-5 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Klay Thompson (GS) had 19 points. Stephen Curry (GS) had 19 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 22 points on 5-21 FG and 11-14 FT, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Anthony Morrow (OKC) had 17 points and 10 rebounds including 6 offensive. GS shot 46.6% (41-88) FG and OKC shot 30.6% (30-98) FG. Brandon Rush (GS, flu) did not play. Por 98, LAL 94 at Por LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 21 points and 8 rebounds. Damian Lillard (Por) had 39 points on 12-21 FG, 4-8 3-pointers, and 11-13 FT, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Meyers Leonard (Por) had 12 points including 4-5 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 12 rebounds. Jordan Hill (LAL) had 23 points including 10-15 FG and 14 rebounds. Jeremy Lin (LAL) had 14 points. Kobe Bryant (LAL, rest) and Wesley Johnson (LAL, strained right hip flexor) did not play. Ind 105, Uta 101 at Uta Roy Hibbert (Ind) had 22 points and 8 rebounds. Luis Scola (Ind) had 16 points including 7-9 FG. C.J. Miles (Ind) had 13 points including 4-12 FG and 6 rebounds. Gordon Hayward (Uta) had 24 points on 6-17 FG and 12-13 FT and 7 rebounds. Derrick Favors (Uta) had 27 points on 10-16 FG and 7-10 FT and 11 rebounds including 7 offensive. George Hill (Ind, strained left groin), Trey Burke (Uta, strep throat), and Enes Kanter (Uta, sprained right ankle) did not play. Was 92, NO 85 at NO John Wall (Was) had 15 points, 12 assists, 4 steals, and 6 turnovers. Paul Pierce (Was) had 14 points on 6-8 FG. Marcin Gortat (Was) had 10 points including 4-11 FG and 5 rebounds. Anthony Davis (NO) had 21 points including 9-12 FG and 10 rebounds. Tyreke Evans (NO) had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 6 turnovers. Den 110, Min 101 at Min Arron Afflalo (Den) had 34 points including 11-18 FG and 4-6 3-pointers. Kenneth Faried (Den) had 15 points and 7 rebounds. J.J. Hickson (Den) had 16 points on 8-10 FG and 11 rebounds. Shabazz Muhammad (Min) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Gorgui Dieng (Min) had 22 points, 12 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 3 blocks. Andrew Wiggins (Min) had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Den shot 54.8% (46-84) FG and Min shot 42.7% (38-89) FG. Chase Budinger (Min, ill) and Robbie Hummel (Min, ill) did not play. Mem 105, NY 83 at Mem Mike Conley (Mem) had 22 points including 9-12 FG, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Marc Gasol (Mem) had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Tony Allen (Mem) had 14 points and 7 steals. Jose Calderon (NY) had 13 points on 5-7 FG and 3-3 3-pointers and 6 assists. Quincy Acy (NY) had 19 points including 7-8 FG and 14 rebounds. Andrea Bargnani (NY, strained right calf) and Amare Stoudemire (NY, sore right knee) did not play. Chi 114, Hou 105 at Chi Jimmy Butler (Chi) had 22 points and 5 rebounds. Pau Gasol (Chi) had 27 points including 10-16 FG and 14 rebounds including 5 offensive. Derrick Rose (Chi) had 19 points including 6-17 FG and 9 assists. Nikola Mirotic (Chi) had 17 points. Dwight Howard (Hou) had 12 points and 14 rebounds. James Harden (Hou) had 20 points including 7-22 FG. Josh Smith (Hou) had 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Chi out-scored Hou 31-16 in the 4th quarter. Chi shot 27-30 FT and Hou shot 3-5 FT. Alexey Shved (Hou, sprained left ankle) did not play. Cha 104, Bos 95 at Bos Cody Zeller (Cha) had 20 points on a perfect 8-8 FG and 4-4 FT and 7 rebounds. Kemba Walker (Cha) had 33 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Gerald Henderson (Cha) had 13 points and 8 assists. Jared Sullinger (Bos) had 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Jae Crowder (Bos) had 13 points and 5 rebounds. Lance Stephenson (Cha, pelvic sprain) did not play. Phi 95, Cle 92 at Phi Michael Carter-Williams (Phi) had 18 points including 1-6 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, and 13 assists. Robert Covington (Phi) had 16 points including 4-7 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Tony Wroten (Phi) had 20 points including 0-6 3-pointers, 8 assists, and 5 turnovers. Kevin Love (Cle) had 28 points including 1-6 3-pointers and 11-13 FT and 19 rebounds. Tristan Thompson (Cle) had 18 points and 9 rebounds including 6 offensive. Luc Mbah a Moute (Phi, turf toe), Hollis Thompson (Phi, upper respiratory infection), and Kyrie Irving (Cle, lower back tightness) did not play. Schedule for Tuesday, January 6 (All times Central) Phoenix @ Milwaukee 7:00 pm NBATV Detroit @ San Antonio 7:30 pm Schedule for Wednesday, January 7 (All times Central) New Orleans @ Charlotte 6:00 pm Houston @ Cleveland 6:00 pm ESPN Milwaukee @ Philadelphia 6:00 pm New York @ Washington 6:00 pm Memphis @ Atlanta 6:30 pm Boston @ Brooklyn 6:30 pm Utah @ Chicago 7:00 pm Detroit @ Dallas 7:30 pm Orlando @ Denver 8:00 pm Phoenix @ Minnesota 8:30 pm ESPN Oklahoma City @ Sacramento 9:00 pm Indiana @ Golden State 9:30 pm LA Lakers @ LA Clippers 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