News from November 18. The NBA fined Marvin Williams (Cha) $15,000 for making excessive contact to the head of Louis Amundson (NY) during Tuesday's NY-Cha game. Houston fired head coach Kevin McHale and named assistant John-Blair Bickerstaff as interim head coach. Chicago activated Cristiano Felicio and placed Derrick Rose (sore ankle) on IL. Dallas activated John Jenkins and placed Charlie Villanueva (birth of daughter) on IL. Denver activated Jusuf Nurkic and placed Joffrey Lauvergne on IL. Minnesota activated Tyus Jones and placed Kevin Garnett on IL. Oklahoma City activated Andre Roberson and placed Josh Huestis on IL. Orlando activated Victor Oladipo and placed C.J. Watson on IL. Phoenix activated Ronnie Price and placed T.J. Warren on IL. Sacramento activated Darren Collison and placed Eric Moreland on IL. San Antonio activated Jonathon Simmons and Matt Bonner and placed Manu Ginobili and Boban Marjanovic on IL. Ginobili is expected to be out 2 games with an injured hip. Dal 106, Bos 102 at Bos Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 23 points including 9-14 FG and 7 rebounds. Wesley Matthews (Dal) had 18 points including 4-12 FG. Zaza Pachulia (Dal) had 14 points including 5-7 FG and 12 rebounds. Isaiah Thomas (Bos) had 19 points including 1-8 3-pointers and 6 assists. Jared Sullinger (Bos) had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Dallas out-scored Boston 36-24 in the 4th quarter. Cha 116, Bro 111 at Cha Nicolas Batum (Cha) had 24 points and 8 assists. Kemba Walker (Cha) had 18 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 5-10 FT, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Al Jefferson (Cha) had 18 points and 8 rebounds. Brook Lopez (Bro) had 23 points and 5 rebounds. Thaddeus Young (Bro) had 27 points including 11-17 FG and 8 rebounds. Jarrett Jack (Bro) had 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. Orl 104, Min 101 OT at Orl Evan Fournier (Orl) had 26 points including 5-7 3-pointers and the game winning 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds left and 3 steals. Elfrid Payton (Orl) had 24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Tobias Harris (Orl) had 12 points including 5-15 FG and 11 rebounds. Karl-Anthony Towns (Min) had 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 blocks. Andrew Wiggins (Min) had 28 points including 12-14 FT and 5 rebounds. Ricky Rubio (Min) had 8 points including 3-11 FG, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. Ind 112, Phi 85 at Phi Paul George (Ind) had 34 points including 5-10 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Ian Mahinmi (Ind) had 20 points including 4-7 3-pointers. Chase Budinger (Ind) had 15 points and 6 assists. Nik Stauskas (Phi) had 16 points on 7-9 FG, 6 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Jahlil Okafor (Phi) had 14 points and 6 rebounds. George Hill (Ind, upper respiratory infection), Rodney Stuckey (Ind, sprained right ankle), Myles Turner (Ind, chip fracture left thumb), Richaun Holmes (Phi, strained right hamstring), and Kendall Marshall (Phi, right knee injury) did not play. Atl 103, Sac 97 at Atl Paul Millsap (Atl) had 23 points, 16 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 3 steals. Dennis Schroder (Atl) had 22 points and 6 assists. Al Horford (Atl) had 17 points. DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) had 24 points on 7-20 FG and 9-11 FT and 12 rebounds. Rajon Rondo (Sac) had 12 points, 12 rebounds 10 assists, and 7 turnovers. Hou 108, Por 103 OT at Hou Trevor Ariza (Hou) had 18 points including 6-18 FG and 4-12 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Dwight Howard (Hou) had 7 points, 19 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 3 blocks. James Harden (Hou) had 45 points on 11-29 FG, 4-15 3-pointers, and 19-20 FT, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, 5 steals, and 5 turnovers. Damian Lillard (Por) had 23 points on 6-19 FG, 1-6 3-pointers, and 10-10 FT and 6 turnovers. C.J. McCollum (Por) had 19 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals. OKC 110, NO 103 at OKC Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 43 points including 15-20 FT, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Andre Roberson (OKC) had 8 points and 8 rebounds. Enes Kanter (OKC) had 24 points including 8-12 FT and 14 rebounds including 6 offensive. Ryan Anderson (NO) had 30 points including 4-10 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Eric Gordon (NO) had 18 points including 6-20 FG and 1-9 3-pointers, 5 assists, and 3 steals. OKC shot 27-40 FT and NO shot 9-9 FT. Omer Asik (NO, stomach illness), Anthony Davis (NO, injured shoulder), and Jrue Holiday (NO), and Norris Cole (NO, sprained left ankle) did not play. SA 109, Den 98 at SA Kawhi Leonard (SA) had 20 points including 3-4 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Tony Parker (SA) had 25 points including 9-14 FG and 9 assists. Patty Mills (SA) had 17 points and 6 rebounds. Kenneth Faried (Den) had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Nikola Jokic (Den) had 23 points, 12 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 3 blocks. SA shot 48.8% (42-86) FG and Den shot 38.8% (38-98) FG. Uta 93, Tor 89 at Uta Gordon Hayward (Uta) had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Derrick Favors (Uta) had 18 points including 7-9 FG and 11 rebounds. Rodney Hood (Uta) had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Luis Scola (Tor) had 22 points on 10-15 FG and 5 rebounds. Kyle Lowry (Tor) had 20 points including 6-17 FG and 1-7 3-pointers, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers. Terrence Ross (Tor, left thumb ligament) did not play. Chi 103, Pho 97 at Pho Jimmy Butler (Chi) had 32 points and 6 rebounds. Pau Gasol (Chi) had 17 points and 8 rebounds. Kirk Hinrich (Chi) had 14 points on 6-7 FG and 6 assists. P.J. Tucker (Pho) had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Brandon Knight (Pho) had 23 points and 5 turnovers. Eric Bledsoe (Pho) had 21 points including 7-22 FG, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. ---- 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