News from December 30. Atlanta suspended Isaiah Rider indefinitely for missing a team flight and a team practice. Minnesota placed Bobby Jackson (bruised and strained right knee) and Wally Szczerbiak (inflammation right knee) on IR. Tor 109, Dal 104 - at Dal Vince Carter (Tor) had 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Antonio Davis (Tor) had 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Tracy McGrady (Tor) had 24 points including 10-16 FG and 11 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 32 points including 12-17 FG and 4-4 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks in 48 minutes. Cedric Ceballos (Dal) had 26 points and 5 rebounds. Tor out-rebounded Dal 54-34. Dee Brown (Tor, injured knee) and Steve Nash (Dal, sprained right ankle) did not play. Det 106, Atl 105 OT - at Det Grant Hill (Det) had 25 points on 6-25 FG and 12-12 FT, 9 rebounds, 12 assists, and 5 turnovers. Christian Laettner (Det) had 16 points and 9 rebounds. Chris Mills (Det) had 17 points on 6-9 FG, 5-7 3-pointers, and the game winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. Jerry Stackhouse (Det) had 33 points on 14-22 FG and 4-8 FT. Dikembe Mutombo (Atl) had 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Jim Jackson (Atl) had 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. Bimbo Coles (Atl) had 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. Isaiah Rider (Atl, suspended) did not play. NY 89, Was 86 - at Was Larry Johnson (NY) had 24 points. Patrick Ewing (NY) had 13 points including 3-10 FT and 9 rebounds. Allan Houston (NY) had 19 points. Mitch Richmond (Was) had 24 points and 5 assists. Tracy Murray (Was) had 15 points including 4-5 3-pointers in 17 minutes. Mil 91, Cle 90 - at Mil Glenn Robinson (Mil) had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Ray Allen (Mil) had 15 points on 4-14 FG and 7-10 FT and 7 assists. Sam Cassell (Mil) had 20 points on 5-15 FG and 10-10 FT and 5 assists. Lamond Murray (Cle) had 11 points including 4-12 FG and 5 rebounds. Bob Sura (Cle) had 19 points including 4-6 3-pointers and 12 rebounds. Mil shot 28-37 FT and Cle shot 10-14 FT. NJ 102, Orl 92 - at NJ Keith Van Horn (NJ) had 20 points including 9-23 FG and 11 rebounds including 7 offensive. Stephon Marbury (NJ) had 21 points, 9 rebounds, 13 assists, and 4 steals. Jamie Feick (NJ) had 16 points and 15 rebounds. Tariq Abdul-Wahad (Orl) had 18 points and 17 rebounds. Darrell Armstrong (Orl) had 18 points including 6-18 FG and 4-7 3-pointers. Ind 109, Cha 99 - at Ind Dale Davis (Ind) had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Reggie Miller (Ind) had 30 points including 10-16 FG and 4-7 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Mark Jackson (Ind) had 18 points including 7-8 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 11 assists. Elden Campbell (Cha) had 15 points and 6 rebounds. David Wesley (Cha) had 17 points on 6-9 FG and 5-7 3-pointers. Min 94, Chi 76 - at Min Kevin Garnett (Min) had 22 points including 9-11 FG, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals. Radoslav Nesterovic (Min) had 12 points and 7 rebounds. Terrell Brandon (Min) had 12 points and 7 assists. Elton Brand (Chi) had 9 points including 4-11 FG. Corey Benjamin (Chi) had 21 points and 6 rebounds. Min shot 50.7% (36-71) FG and Chi shot 40% (28-70) FG. Fred Hoiberg (Chi, strained left quad) did not play. Bos 102, Den 94 - at Den Antoine Walker (Bos) had 26 points on 8-22 FG and 8-13 FT and 8 rebounds. Paul Pierce (Bos) had 21 points including 10-12 FT, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Kenny Anderson (Bos) had 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Raef LaFrentz (Den) had 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Ron Mercer (Den) had 20 points on 5-14 FG and 10-11 FT. Keon Clark (Den) had 18 points including 6-10 FT, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks. SA 98, Van 88 - at Van Tim Duncan (SA) had 32 points including 8-10 FT, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 5 turnovers. David Robinson (SA) had 19 points including 11-12 FT and 13 rebounds. Terry Porter (SA) had 14 points. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Van) had 24 points including 10-15 FG and 7 rebounds. Michael Dickerson (Van) had 19 points and 7 assists. Mike Bibby (Van) had 21 points and 11 assists. SA shot 29-33 FT and Van shot 13-16 FT. Por 108, Phi 90 - at Por Rasheed Wallace (Por) had 23 points including 10-11 FT and 11 rebounds. Steve Smith (Por) had 20 points including 3-4 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Bonzi Wells (Por) had 16 points, 7 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 5 steals. George Lynch (Phi) had 11 points and 9 rebounds. Allen Iverson (Phi) had 32 points including 10-11 FT and 6 assists. Tyrone Hill (Phi, right quad contusion) did not play. Hou 122, LAC 100 - at Hou Kelvin Cato (Hou) had 21 points including 9-12 FG, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Cuttino Mobley (Hou) had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 11 assists. Steve Francis (Hou) had 19 points and 11 assists. Lamar Odom (LAC) had 10 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. Maurice Taylor (LAC) had 31 points. Eric Piatkowski (LAC) had 24 points including 10-16 FG and 3-4 3-pointers. Derek Anderson (LAC, sprained left ankle) and Eric Murdock (LAC, sprained left ankle) did not play. Admin note: There are no games scheduled for December 31 or January 1, so I won't be sending anything out tomorrow (Jan 1). Happy New Year! [Subliminal note: vote for Michael Finley for the All-Star game at http://allstar.nba.com/Ballot]