dwa posty, gdyż jednak troche dużo dzisiaj tego... :]
Pistons guard
Richard Hamilton wasn't feeling great, suffering the after effects of a gastrointestinal illness believed to be food poisoning.
Hamilton missed shoot-around, but recovered enough to suit up for the game.
He became ill Monday evening, after the Pistons had arrived in Atlanta.
Hamilton found a groove, especially defensively. He finished with 12 points in 35 minutes and held
Joe Johnson to 11.
"It was a tough night, having that bug and throwing up and I really didn't have a lot. I just told myself to dig. I had an airball, I can't remember the last time I had an airball."
Hamilton needs to regain his strength quickly for the busy week ahead: a game against the Pacers tonight at The Palace, and then a weekend engagement to play in the All-Star Game and 3-point contest in New Orleans.
Pistons veteran reserve guard
Lindsey Hunter and assistant coach Dave Cowens stayed behind in Detroit, due to their own lingering battles with flu-like illnesses.
Scores of Knicks fans who have seen the
Zach Randolph-Eddy Curry experiment flop probably are throwing their hands up in the air in frustration and saying, "You can have 'em." And you know what? You can.
With the trading deadline only nine days away, the Knicks are shopping their two big men, several league executives who have talked to the Knicks in recent days said Monday. It's not known exactly what Isiah Thomas is looking for in return - a Pau Gasol-type fire sale is not being conducted - but he's definitely trying to move both. The Knicks are also open to trading
Malik Rose, but Curry and Randolph, who have failed to mesh during this 15-26 season, are the top priorities to send off.
The Knicks would love to test a dubious trend that has infamously followed Stephon Marbury throughout his career, which shows that teams consistently display a dramatic improvement in the win-loss column after he has been traded.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Knicks have been trying to deal the injured 30-year-old point guard, who has one year and a hefty $22 million left on his contract. It's been a futile attempt with zero interest, but if Marbury's conspicuous distance from his team while recovering from bone spur surgery on his ankle isn't enough evidence that this is the end of his Knicks run, being on the trading block solidifies it.
The Knicks return to the scene of their ugliest night of this ugly season, the 45-point, nationally televised loss to the Celtics on Nov. 29. "Anytime you lose by that many points," Quentin Richardson said. "I don't see anybody forgetting it." It seems every time these teams meet something happens. In the teams' previous meeting, at the Garden on Jan. 21, Richardson and Paul Pierce were both ejected for trash-talking. Eddie House also enraged the Knicks when he yelled at their bench after he hit a three-pointer late in the game.
Nate Robinson, who missed the past two games with an upper-respiratory infection, is expected to play tonight.
While Celtics guard
Ray Allen would love to be an All-Star, he hopes it won't be because his friend and fellow ex-Connecticut star
Caron Butler can't play.
Allen said he has a commitment to appear on NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in New York City Thursday, and if he isn't named to the All-Star team, he plans on taking a private plane to the Bahamas after the taping. If he is an All-Star, he would depart for New Orleans after the taping.
Kevin Garnett said he is getting better and is running, but he has yet to return to basketball activity. Center Kendrick Perkins also missed last night's game, his second straight, with a strained left shoulder. Both will miss tonight's game against the visiting Knicks.
Celtics center
Scot Pollard had not played since Jan. 9 because of a sore left ankle, but the Celtics dressed him last night for use only in an emergency. Pollard, who wasn't needed last night, said he was fitted with tall ankle braces.
Hornets guard
Morris Peterson missed his second consecutive game with back spasms, and Scott said before the game that Peterson is likely to sit out until the end of this weekend's All-Star break.
Rasual Butler started in his place and had seven points and four rebounds.
Charlie Villanueva moved into the starting lineup last week and was making his fourth start of the season on Monday night.
So his disappointment was understandable, after the 6-foot-11 forward sprained his right ankle in the third quarter of the Bucks' 96-89 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Villanueva was wearing a big boot on his right foot at practice today, but he said he would try to return by Feb. 20 when the Bucks play their first game after the league all-star break.
Bucks center
Andrew Bogut took a hit on his injured hip in practice and had to sit out the rest of the way while receiving treatment. He suffered the injury last week in Memphis but played in the last three games and said he hoped to play again on Wednesday.
"I'll ice tonight and do some more stim tonight," Bogut said. "There's never a great time for an injury, but if you have one, it's good to have it at all-star (break) and have four good days of rest."
Tracy McGrady averaged 35 points against the Kings last season and has consecutive 40-point games against Sacramento.
Mavericks
An MRI confirmed that
Josh Howard has a lower back contusion. The forward, who suffered the injury in Monday's loss at Philadelphia, is questionable for tonight's game against Portland.
Josh Howard had an MRI on Tuesday and it confirmed a lower-back contusion, leaving him questionable against Portland. Howard took a hard fall in the third quarter at Philadelphia and left for good in the fourth.
Help could be on the way with
Erick Dampier (ankle) and
Jerry Stackhouse (hamstring), who are both game-time decisions. Neither played against the Sixers.
Devin Harris (ankle) continues to improve, but he won’t return until after the All-Star break.
Reserve guard Leandro Barbosa returned to practice after a bout with the flu sidelined him for most of Sunday's fourth quarter against Washington and Monday's practice.
"He said he lost five pounds," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "He didn't have five pounds to lose. I need to get what he got."
Forward Brian Skinner spent the past two days guarding O'Neal in practice, which he said is a little different than defending Shawn Marion, Amaré Stoudemire or Boris Diaw. In fact, Skinner said he actually saw a practice-court rim bend Tuesday, the first time he's seen such a thing this season.
Asked if he dishes the same punishment back to O'Neal, Skinner smiled and said, "You know, let sleeping lions lie."
With or without Shaquille O’Neal, facing Golden State isn’t high on the Suns’ to-do list. Without Shaq — and with Shawn Marion — Phoenix was soundly walloped in its last two trips to the Bay Area.
The Warriors run at a pace that makes even the Suns feel like plow horses.
And now, as the Suns are poised to drop a 320-pound part into their engine, the team most Western Conference contenders would like to avoid in mid-April is up next on Phoenix’s schedule.
The Warriors (first) and the Suns (second) lead the NBA in scoring. But comparisons between their styles got really fuzzy when the Suns moved Marion and added O’Neal to their attack.
The Warriors recently added an aging postman themselves in Chris Webber, but he’s surrounded by a team that took down Dallas in the playoffs last season with its hair-on-fire pace.
The Warriors will have their own problems dealing with O’Neal, but not tonight. He is still one day — and perhaps even one week — away from playing. He’ll travel with the team and take part in the late afternoon walk-through before a decision is made on a possible debut Thursday in Phoenix against the Mavericks.
“He said he feels good and the hip doesn’t hurt,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. “It’s just game condition. He knows he’s not quite ready, and we have no intention of rushing him.”
O’Neal was happy he didn’t have any soreness after his first workout on Monday and a repeat of that could pave the way for at least a short stint against Dallas.
Mickael Pietrus met with both Chris Mullin and Don Nelson this past week asking to be traded before the Feb. 21 deadline.
Nellie essentially told MP that if he wants to play at the wings, then there's only 10 minutes a night available behind Stephen Jackson. Which, of course, doesn't make MP any happier.
After sitting out two straight games due to a severely bruised tailbone, Ronnie Brewer hopes to play tonight.
"I'm anxious to get back," the Jazz's starting shooting guard said Tuesday, before practicing for the first time since he sustained the injury in last Wednesday's win at Denver.
Still, Brewer isn't sure if he'll be good to go or not tonight in Seattle. He's being called a "game-time decision" by the Jazz.
Delonte West returned to practice Tuesday after missing Monday with a sore knee. He is expected to be available against Utah.
Antonio Daniels, who has missed consecutive games with soreness in his right ankle, said the ankle is feeling "much better" and he could return Wednesday night when the team closes its four-game trip in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
Caron Butler has missed the last five games with a strained left hip flexor but went through a workout Tuesday and will be a game-time decision.
If Butler doesn't play or experiences a setback, he may sit out Sunday's All-Star Game with the hopes of returning healthy after the break, which begins Thursday and ends Monday when the Wizards return to practice to prepare for Tuesday's home game against the New York Knicks.
Forward Tim Thomas, who has missed three of the last four games because of a sore lower back, declared himself out until after the All-Star break. Just one of the ill effects, he said, of an extended trip.
"I'm trying to let it calm all the way down and rebuild," said Thomas, who played only 12 minutes in his appearance, Friday at Toronto. "It was already sore, but when you are sleeping in soft beds, that's what made it flare."
Point guard Brevin Knight, who played sparingly Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks because of a stomach virus, will be available tonight.