News from December 26. The NBA named Russell Westbrook (OKC) and Isaiah Thomas (Bos) as Players of the Week for the week ending December 25. Westbrook averaged 41 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 10 assists as Oklahoma City went 3-1. Thomas averaged 33.3 points and 7.3 assists as Boston went 3-1. Atlanta activated Dwight Howard and placed Tim Hardaway on IL. Brooklyn activated Isaiah Whitehead and Trevor Booker and placed Spencer Dinwiddie and Chris McCullough on IL. Chicago activated Michael Carter-Williams and placed Doug McDermott (lower left contusion) on IL. Detroit activated Michael Gbinjie and placed Boban Marjanovic on IL. New Orleans activated Terrence Jones and placed Reggie Williams on IL. Portland activated Evan Turner and placed Damian Lillard (sprained ankle) on IL. Sacramento activated Rudy Gay and placed Arron Afflalo on IL. NO 111, Dal 104 at NO Anthony Davis (NO) had 28 points including 12-14 FT, 16 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 6 turnovers. E'Twaun Moore (NO) had 16 points on 7-10 FG. Langston Galloway (NO) had 17 points on 6-8 FG and 5-5 3-pointers. Deron Williams (Dal) had 24 points and 9 assists. Seth Curry (Dal) had 16 points and 7 assists. Hou 131, Pho 115 at Hou James Harden (Hou) had 32 points including 12-15 FT, 5 rebounds, 12 assists, and 7 turnovers. Ryan Anderson (Hou) had 15 points and 5 rebounds. Eric Gordon (Hou) had 15 points and 5 assists. Eric Bledsoe (Pho) had 24 points including 1-8 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers. Brandon Knight (Pho) had 21 points and 5 rebounds. Min 104, Atl 90 at Min Andrew Wiggins (Min) had 21 points including 4-6 3-pointers. Karl-Anthony Towns (Min) had 22 points on a perfect 8-8 FG, 3-3 3-pointers, and 3-3 FT, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Zach LaVine (Min) had 21 points including 6-9 3-pointers. Dwight Howard (Atl) had 20 points including 9-9 FG and 12 rebounds including 6 offensive. Thabo Sefolosha (Atl) had 13 points including 3-4 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Tor 95, Por 91 at Por DeMar DeRozan (Tor) had 20 points including 8-22 FG, 10 rebounds including 5 offensive, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Kyle Lowry (Tor) had 27 points including 5-13 3-pointers and 7 rebounds. Patrick Patterson (Tor) had 15 points on 5-11 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. C.J. McCollum (Por) had 29 points and 7 assists. Mason Plumlee (Por) had 13 points and 15 rebounds. Den 106, LAC 102 at LAC Danilo Gallinari (Den) had 23 points including 11-12 FT and 3 steals. Nikola Jokic (Den) had 24 points including 11-16 FG, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals. Will Barton (Den) had 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Jamal Crawford (LAC) had 24 points and 6 assists. Austin Rivers (LAC) had 19 points, 5 assists, and 5 turnovers. Chris Paul (LAC, strained left hamstring) and J.J. Redick (LAC, sore left hamstring) did not play. Sac 102, Phi 100 at Sac Rudy Gay (Sac) had 17 points and 9 rebounds. DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) had 30 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers. Ty Lawson (Sac) had 12 points. Joel Embiid (Phi) had 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 turnovers. Sergio Rodriguez (Phi) had 18 points on 7-9 FG and 4-5 3-pointers, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Richaun Holmes (Phi, concussion) did not play. Chi 90, Ind 85 at Chi Jimmy Butler (Chi) had 16 points on 3-12 FG and 9-12 FT and 5 assists. Dwyane Wade (Chi) had 21 points and 5 assists. Nikola Mirotic (Chi) had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Myles Turner (Ind) had 16 points and 8 rebounds. Aaron Brooks (Ind) had 19 points including 6-8 FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 7 assists. Chi shot 20-28 FT and Ind shot 8-10 FT. Det 106, Cle 90 at Det Andre Drummond (Det) had 11 points on 5-15 FG and 1-7 FT and 17 rebounds including 7 offensive. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Det) had 18 points on 7-11 FG and 4-6 3-pointers and 3 steals. Tobias Harris (Det) had 21 points and 6 rebounds. Kevin Love (Cle) had 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 turnovers. Kyrie Irving (Cle) had 18 points and 8 assists. LeBron James (Cle, rest) and J.R. Smith (Cle, fractured right thumb) did not play. Bro 120, Cha 118 at Bro Brook Lopez (Bro) had 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. Sean Kilpatrick (Bro) had 23 points including 9-15 FG and 4-7 3-pointers and 5 rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic (Bro) had 26 points including 7-11 FG and 4-7 3-pointers. Nicolas Batum (Cha) had 24 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Cody Zeller (Cha) had 15 points including 7-11 FG and 9 rebounds. Orl 112, Mem 102 at Orl Aaron Gordon (Orl) had 30 points including 11-15 FG and 4-4 3-pointers. Elfrid Payton (Orl) had 16 points and 7 assists. Nikola Vucevic (Orl) had 13 points and 9 rebounds. Mike Conley (Mem) had 17 points including 6-8 FG. Troy Daniels (Mem) had 16 points including 4-8 3-pointers. Was 107, Mil 102 at Was Otto Porter (Was) had 32 points including 13-18 FG and 5-9 3-pointers and 13 rebounds. Bradley Beal (Was) had 22 points on 5-14 FG and 9-10 FT and 5 assists. John Wall (Was) had 18 points, 16 assists, and 7 turnovers. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Mil) had 22 points including 8-11 FT, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. Tony Snell (Mil) had 20 points including 6-11 3-pointers. Steve Novak (Mil, ill) and Mirza Teletovic (Mil, concussion) did not play. Schedule for Tuesday, December 27 (All times Central) Memphis @ Boston 6:30 pm Oklahoma City @ Miami 6:30 pm NBATV Houston @ Dallas 7:30 pm Utah @ LA Lakers 9:30 pm NBATV Schedule for Wednesday, December 28 (All times Central) Indiana @ Washington 6:00 pm Charlotte @ Orlando 6:00 pm New York @ Atlanta 6:30 pm Milwaukee @ Detroit 6:30 pm Brooklyn @ Chicago 7:00 pm LA Clippers @ New Orleans 7:00 pm NBATV Phoenix @ San Antonio 7:30 pm Minnesota @ Denver 8:00 pm Sacramento @ Portland 9:00 pm Toronto @ Golden State 9:30 pm NBATV ---- 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