News from January 4. The NBA named Russell Westbrook (OKC) and LeBron James (Cle) as Players of the Month for December. Westbrook averaged 27.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 10.6 assists and Oklahoma City went 12-5. James averaged 27.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 10.3 assists and Cleveland went 9-5. The NBA named Donovan Mitchell (Uta) and Jayson Tatum (Bos) as Rookies of the Month for December. Mitchell averaged 23.1 points as Utah went 7-10. Tatum averaged 14.6 points and 5.9 rebounds as Boston went 11-6. Golden State activated Andre Iguodala and placed Kevin Durant (strained right calf) on IL. Houston activated Chinanu Onaku and placed Nene (right knee contusion) and Zhou Qi on IL. The LA Clippers placed Austin Rivers (right ankle injury) and Jamil Wilson on IL. GS 124, Hou 114 at Hou Draymond Green (GS) had 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. Klay Thompson (GS) had 28 points including 6-9 3-pointers. Stephen Curry (GS) had 29 points including 4-10 3-pointers, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Eric Gordon (Hou) had 30 points and 7 assists. Chris Paul (Hou) had 28 points including 5-10 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 turnovers. Gerald Green (Hou) had 29 points including 8-15 3-pointers. GS shot 13-30 3-pointers and Hou shot 17-50 3-pointers. OKC 127, LAC 117 at LAC Paul George (OKC) had 31 points including 12-16 FG and 5-8 3-pointers and 6 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony (OKC) had 22 points including 9-12 FG. Russell Westbrook (OKC) had 29 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, and 6 turnovers. Blake Griffin (LAC) had 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. DeAndre Jordan (LAC) had 26 points including 10-15 FG and 17 rebounds. Lou Williams (LAC) had 26 points including 8-22 FG and 4-11 3-pointers and 10 assists. Schedule for Friday, January 5 (All times Central) New York at Miami 6:00 pm ESPN Detroit at Philadelphia 6:00 pm Minnesota at Boston 6:30 pm Toronto at Milwaukee 7:00 pm Chicago at Dallas 7:30 pm Phoenix at San Antonio 7:30 pm Utah at Denver 8:00 pm Washington at Memphis 8:30 pm ESPN Atlanta at Portland 9:00 pm Charlotte at LA Lakers 9:30 pm Schedule for Saturday, January 6 (All times Central) Golden State at LA Clippers 2:30 pm Boston at Brooklyn 5:00 pm Houston at Detroit 6:00 pm Chicago at Indiana 6:00 pm Cleveland at Orlando 6:00 pm Milwaukee at Washington 7:00 pm New Orleans at Minnesota 8:00 pm Denver at Sacramento 9:00 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