News from October 31, 2009 Denver signed Renaldo Balkman to a 3 year, $6 million contract extension. Denver exercised their 10-11 option for Arron Afflalo. San Antonio exercised their 10-11 option for George Hill. San Antonio elected not to exercise their 10-11 option for Ian Mahinmi, making him a free agent in the summer of 2010. Devin Harris (NJ) is expected to be out 7 to 10 days with an injured right groin. The LA Clippers activated Mardy Collins and placed Ricky Davis on IL. Houston activated Brian Cook and placed Joey Dorsey on IL. Cleveland activated Delonte West and placed Coby Karl on IL. Washington activated Paul Davis and placed Caron Butler (bruised left kneecap) on IL. Dal 93, LAC 84 at LAC Shawn Marion (Dal) had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) had 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Jason Terry (Dal) had 16 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Chris Kaman (LAC) had 27 points including 12-19 FG and 11 rebounds. Eric Gordon (LAC) had 16 points. Drew Gooden (Dal, muscle strain right ribs) did not play. Hou 111, Por 107 at Hou Aaron Brooks (Hou) had 28 points including 10-16 FG and 4-6 3-pointers and 8 assists. Trevor Ariza (Hou) had 33 points including 11-17 FG and 5-8 3-pointers. Carl Landry (Hou) had 16 points including 7-11 FG. LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) had 27 points including 13-16 FG. Brandon Roy (Por) had 42 points on 12-20 FG, 5-7 3-pointers, and 13-13 FT and 6 rebounds. SA 113, Sac 94 at SA Richard Jefferson (SA) had 21 points including 7-8 FG. Tony Parker (SA) had 24 points including 10-16 FG and 7 assists. George Hill (SA) had 15 points and 5 rebounds. Kevin Martin (Sac) had 29 points including 10-11 FT. Spencer Hawes (Sac) had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. SA shot 58.1% (43-74) FG and Sac shot 44.6% (33-74) FG. Antonio McDyess (SA, flu-like symptoms) did not play. Mil 96, Det 85 at Mil Brandon Jenning (Mil) had 24 points including 9-15 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 3 steals. Hakim Warrick (Mil) had 21 points on 5-14 FG and 10-15 FT and 5 rebounds. Rodney Stuckey (Det) had 13 points on 6-19 FG, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Ben Gordon (Det) had 26 points and 3 steals. Phi 141, NY 127 OT at NY Thaddeus Young (Phi) had 25 points including 9-14 FG. Louis Williams (Phi) had 27 points including 10-12 FG, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. Andre Iguodala (Phi) had 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Marreese Speights (Phi) had 20 points including 7-10 FG and 10 rebounds. Danilo Gallinari (NY) had 30 points including 8-16 3-pointers. Al Harrington (NY) had 42 points on 16-22 FG and 9-11 FT and 6 rebounds. Larry Hughes (NY) had 18 points including 7-11 FG, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. Phi shot 60.7% (51-84) FG and NY shot 47.5% (47-99) FG. Phi out-scored NY 19-5 in overtime, including scoring the last 17 points of overtime. Cle 90, Cha 79 at Cle LeBron James (Cle) had 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists. Maurice Williams (Cle) had 24 points including 9-14 FG and 5-8 3-pointers and 5 turnovers. Anthony Parker (Cle) had 13 points including 3-4 3-pointers. Gerald Wallace (Cha) had 11 points including 4-11 FG and 9 rebounds. Vladimir Radmanovic (Cha) had 12 points. Cle shot 58.1% (36-62) FG and Cha shot 42.6% (29-68) FG. Was 123, NJ 104 at Was Gilbert Arenas (Was) had 32 points on 9-13 FG, 3-4 3-pointers, and 11-12 FT and 7 assists. Randy Foye (Was) had 17 points and 8 assists. Andray Blatche (Was) had 30 points on 15-18 FG and 6 rebounds. Chris Douglas Roberts (NJ) had 25 points including 11-12 FT. Rafer Alston (NJ) had 20 points including 8-11 FG and 8 assists. Was shot 61.5% (48-78) FG and NJ shot 46.3% (37-80) FG. Devin Harris (NJ, sore right groin) did not play. On the lighter side: It was appropriate that on Halloween a bat was flying around the court during the SA-Sac game in San Antonio. After a few swoops, the bat flew near Manu Ginobili (SA) and Ginobili showed quick hands in swatting the bat, knocking it to the ground. More surprising was that Ginobili then, without pause or hesitation, reached down and picked up the bat and took it off the court. Tony Parker: "That was amazing. The legend continues with Manu. Unbelievable. ... He's always doing crazy stuff." Gregg Popovich: "The drummer that he marches to sometimes is a little bit different. He never ceases to amaze me and he just did it again. The legend grows. It's incredible on Halloween night. You would call someone a liar if they told you that story." Ginobili: "When you can't dunk anymore, you have to find a way to make it into the news. So that's what I did. I grabbed a bat. I didn't think it was a big deal. Then the whole arena started chanting my name. Schedule for Sunday, November 1 (All times Central) Orlando @ Toronto 12:00 pm New Orleans @ Boston 5:00 pm NBATV Chicago @ Miami 5:00 pm Portland @ Oklahoma City 6:00 pm Memphis @ Denver 7:00 pm Minnesota @ Phoenix 7:00 pm Atlanta @ LA Lakers 8:30 pm ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html