News from December 20. The NBA named James Harden (Hou) had DeMar DeRozan (Tor) as Players of the Week for the week ending December 18. Harden averaged 27 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 12.8 assists as Houston went 4-0. DeRozan averaged 31.5 points as Toronto went 3-1. Sacramento fined DeMarcus Cousins and undisclosed amount (reportedly $50,000) for his verbal tirade against a reporter. Ian Mahinmi (Was) underwent treatment on both knees and is expected to be out at least 6 more weeks. Boston activated Jordan Mickey and placed James Young on IL. Brooklyn activated Spencer Dinwiddie and placed Brook Lopez on IL. Golden State activated Anderson Varejao and placed James Michael McAdoo on IL. Houton activated Chinanu Onuaku and placed Clint Capela (broken fibula) on IL. The LA Clippers activated Diamond Stone and placed Blake Griffin (right knee surgery) on IL. The LA Lakers activated D'Angelo Russell and placed Tarik Black on IL. New Orleans activated Solomon Hill and placed Tyreke Evans on IL. New York activated Derrick Rose and placed Maurice Ndour on IL. Sac 126, Por 121 at Sac DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) had 55 points on 17-28 FG, 5-8 3-pointers, and 16-17 FT, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 5 turnovers. Ty Lawson (Sac) had 16 points and 8 assists. Anthony Tolliver (Sac) had 11 points including 3-4 3-pointers. Mason Plumlee (Por) had 27 points on 10-13 FG and 7-11 FT, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists. C.J. McCollum (Por) had 36 points 36 points on 13-22 FG and 8-10 FT. Damian Lillard (Por) had 24 points on 6-20 FG, 1-9 3-pointers, and 11-12 FT and 15 assists. Omri Casspi (Sac, ill) and Evan Turner (Por, sprained left ankle) did not play. GS 104, Uta 74 at GS Kevin Durant (GS) had 22 points and 5 rebounds. Draymond Green (GS) had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Stephen Curry (GS) had 25 points including 4-9 3-pointers and 3 steals. Rudy Gobert (Uta) had 11 points including 5-6 FG and 16 rebounds. Joe Johnson (Uta) had 14 points. Derrick Favors (Uta, rehab protocol) did not play. LAC 119, Den 102 at LAC DeAndre Jordan (LAC) had 13 points including 6-7 FG and 13 rebounds. J.J. Redick (LAC) had 27 points on 10-16 FG and 7-9 3-pointers. Chris Paul (LAC) had 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 15 assists. Danilo Gallinari (Den) had 17 points including 4-8 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Will Barton (Den) had 22 points including 9-15 FG and 5 rebounds. LAC shot 54.7% (47-86) FG and Den shot 43.3% (39-90) FG. SA 102, Hou 100 at Hou Kawhi Leonard (SA) had 21 points on 5-14 FG and 11-13 FT, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and 7 turnovers. LaMarcus Aldridge (SA) had 17 points, 10 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 5 assists. Patty Mills (SA) had 13 points including the game winning 3-pointer with 12.9 seconds left. James Harden (Hou) had 31 points including 1-11 3-pointers and 10-10 FT, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Trevor Ariza (Hou) had 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. Bos 112, Mem 109 OT at Mem Isaiah Thomas (Bos) had 44 points on 10-16 FG, 7-10 3-pointers, and 17-17 FT and 6 assists. Al Horford (Bos) had 17 points including 1-8 3-pointers and 14 rebounds. Jae Crowder (Bos) had 13 points and 7 rebounds. Marc Gasol (Mem) had 24 points including 8-22 FG and 3-4 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Mike Conley (Mem) had 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Troy Daniels (Mem) had 24 points including 4-7 3-pointers. Cle 114, Mil 108 OT at Mil LeBron James (Cle) had 34 points including 5-9 3-pointers, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. Kyrie Irving (Cle) had 28 points including 8-23 FG, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Tristan Thompson (Cle) had 10 points and 12 rebounds including 5 offensive. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Mil) had 25 points including 13-15 FT, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jabari Parker (Mil) had 30 points and 9 rebounds. Kevin Love (Cle, left knee contusion) did not play. Orl 136, Mia 130 2OT at Mia Serge Ibaka (Orl) had 20 points including 4-5 3-pointers and 9 rebounds. Evan Fournier (Orl) had 26 points and 5 rebounds. Nikola Vucevic (Orl) had 26 points and 12 rebounds. Elfrid Payton (Orl) had 22 points and 6 assists. Hassan Whiteside (Mia) had 32 points including 14-22 FG, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Goran Dragic (Mia) had 19 points including 6-17 FG and 5 assists. Tyler Johnson (Mia) had 32 points including 13-20 FG, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Wayne Ellington (Mia, sprained right hamstring) and Rodney McGruder (Mia, sprained left ankle) did not play. NY 118, Ind 111 at NY Derrick Rose (NY) had 24 points and 6 assists. Carmelo Anthony (NY) had 35 points including 7-11 3-pointers. Kristaps Porzingis (NY) had 21 points including 4-7 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Thaddeus Young (Ind) had 21 points and 7 rebounds. Myles Turner (Ind) had 21 points and 9 rebounds. Jeff Teague (Ind) had 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 12 assists. Rodney Stuckey (Ind, sore left hamstring) did not play. Tor 116, Bro 104 at Tor Kyle Lowry (Tor) had 23 points, 8 assists, and 3 steals. DeMarre Carroll (Tor) had 17 points on 7-11 FG. Norman Powell (Tor) had 21 points and 5 steals. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Bro) had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Spencer Dinwiddie (Bro) had 14 points. Cha 117, LAL 113 at Cha Kemba Walker (Cha) had 28 points including 4-10 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists. Nicolas Batum (Cha) had 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists. Marvin Williams (Cha) had 15 points and 5 rebounds. Nick Young (LAL) had 24 points including 5-10 3-pointers. Louis Williams (LAL) had 25 points on 9-13 FG and 7-9 3-pointers and 5 assists. Cha shot 20-24 FT and LAL shot 9-11 FT. NO 108, Phi 93 at Phi Anthony Davis (NO) had 31 points on 12-30 FG and 7-10 FT and 16 rebounds including 5 offensive. Terrence Jones (NO) had 17 points and 10 rebounds. E'Twaun Moore (NO) had 15 points including 6-7 FG. Robert Covington (Phi) had 11 points including 4-11 FG and 8 rebounds. Ersan Ilyasova (Phi) had 14 points. Schedule for Wednesday, December 21 (All times Central) Milwaukee @ Cleveland 6:00 pm NBATV Minnesota @ Atlanta 6:30 pm Memphis @ Detroit 6:30 pm Washington @ Chicago 7:00 pm Oklahoma City @ New Orleans 7:00 pm Sacramento @ Utah 8:00 pm Houston @ Phoenix 8:00 pm Dallas @ Portland 9:00 pm NBATV Schedule for Thursday, December 22 (All times Central) Golden State @ Brooklyn 6:30 pm Orlando @ New York 6:30 pm LA Lakers @ Miami 6:30 pm Boston @ Indiana 7:00 pm TNT San Antonio @ LA Clippers 9:30 pm TNT ---- 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