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: *** Clark sticks it to ex-team as Raptors outlast Nuggets : (AP) - Keon Clark stuck it to his ex-coach. Clark had 15 points : and five blocks and Vince Carter scored 31 points as the Toronto : Raptors beat the Denver Nuggets 99-92 Thursday night. "I told Dan : Issel, 'Thanks for trading me,' when I ran by the bench a couple : of times," Clark said. "I never did anything like this in Denver : because I was looking over my shoulder at the coach, and I don't : have that problem here. I don't have to worry about anybody : saying something negative to me on the floor, and that's a : beautiful thing." Clark, acquired Jan. 12 along with Tracy Murray : for Kevin Willis and others, shot 7-for-9 from the field and had : seven rebounds. "I gave (Issel) a wink every now and again so he : knows what he missed out on," Clark said. "It just makes me smile : because I know I showed him, and my actions spoke louder than his : words." Willis had two points and three rebounds. : IN THE PAINT : There's no cure for a slumping team quite like Atlanta. : Charlotte, desperate to snap out of a six-week funk, beat the : Hawks 101-84 to snap a four-game losing streak. It was just the : Hornets' seventh win in 22 games, but afterward the Hornets said : the win did wonders for their crumbling confidence. "This just : puts a good taste in your mouth," said David Wesley, who led all : scorers with 27 points. The Hawks lost their fifth straight to : drop 17 games below .500. Elsewhere, Cuttino Mobley scored 18 of : his game-high 29 points in the first quarter as Houston defeated : Detroit 103-90. The Rockets won their third straight and improved : to 14-3 against Eastern Conference teams. Stephon Marbury scored : 38 points and Johnny Newman added season-high 25 as New Jersey : edged San Antonio 99-97, snapping the Spurs' eight-game winning : streak and running its own winning streak to three. : *** Sixers' All-Star Ratliff sidelined with wrist injury : PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia 76ers center Theo Ratliff will : miss the NBA All-Star game and will be sidelined for 4-to-6 weeks : with a stress fracture in his right wrist. Toronto Raptors center : Antonio Davis was selected by NBA commissioner David Stern on : Thursday to replace Ratliff on the East team in the NBA All-Star : game on Sunday. Ratliff, who leads the NBA with 187 blocked : shots, was placed in a hand cast Thursday after an MRI exam : confirmed the stress fracture. Ratliff is expected to wear the : cast for two weeks and then have a second MRI test to determine : if he needs another cast or surgery. Ratliff averaged 12.4 points : and 8.3 rebounds 3.7 blocked shots. He has blocked at least one : shot in 49 consecutive games for the Sixers, who entered the : All-Star break with an NBA-best 36-14 record. : *** Toronto's Davis to replace Ratliff on East All-Stars : NEW YORK (AP) - Toronto Raptors center Antonio Davis will replace : the injured Theo Ratliff of the Philadelphia 76ers on the East : team in the NBA All-Star game on Sunday. Davis was picked for the : team Thursday by NBA commissioner David Stern. This is the first : all-star appearance for Davis, who is in his eighth season in the : league and is averaging 10.9 rebounds, 13.1 points and 1.98 : blocked shots. "You never want any of your NBA brothers to be : hurt," Davis said. "Unfortunately, sometimes it happens. I'll : take it and I'll go and try to represent the city and the team. I : was a little bitter before. But I'm very honored. I just want to : go out there, have fun and play a good game." Ratliff, who leads : the NBA with 187 blocked shots, was placed in a hand cast : Thursday after an MRI exam confirmed a stress fracture in his : right wrist. Ratliff is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks. : *** Mavs' Nelson aims to return Feb. 20 : FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Hey, Shaq, get ready for the circus. Don : Nelson hopes to return from prostate cancer surgery and start : coaching the Dallas Mavericks again on Feb. 20 against Shaquille : O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers. The last time the Mavericks : played the Lakers, O'Neal referred to Nelson as a clown because : of the bizarre defenses he called, most of which involved : smothering O'Neal. Referring to O'Neal's comments, Nelson said: : "When I come back, it's going to be with one of those big red : fake noses." If Nelson, the third-winningest coach in NBA : history, returns then -- as he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram : in Thursday's editions -- he will have missed 21 games over six : weeks and five days. "That's within the timetable the doctors : told me," said Nelson, who has been recuperating in Hawaii since : his Jan. 4 operation. "I've talked to a lot of people who went : through the same thing. All of them warned me about coming back : too soon, so I'm being very careful with that." : Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=406108888 : *** Nets activate Feick : EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The New Jersey Nets activated : forward Jaime Feick and placed guard Kendall Gill on the injured : list Thursday. Feick had surgery on his left heel on Oct. 9 and : had been on the injured list since the start of the season. A : five-year veteran, he averaged 5.7 points and 9.3 rebounds in 81 : games last season, finishing 13th overall in the NBA in : rebounding. In his first action of the season, Feick scored just : two points but grabbed nine rebounds and added two assists in 22 : minutes as the Nets beat San Antonion 99-97 on Thursday night. : Gill had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Tuesday. The : 32-year-old guard averaged 9.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 : assists in 31 games. Gill had not played since Jan. 26 because of : tendinitis in the knee and has missed 18 games because of the : injury. : *** Kings guard Barry to undergo surgery : SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Sacramento Kings guard Jon Barry was : scheduled to undergo surgery on his broken left hand Friday. : Doctors plan to insert screws into the fourth metacarpal of : Barry's left hand. The King's team doctor, Dr. Richard Marder, : will lead the group of physicians performing the surgery. Barry : broke his hand in Tuesday's game at Milwaukee. He was placed on : the injured list Wednesday and is expected to be sidelined for : 4-to-6 weeks. : *** Hornets activate James, place Nailon on IL : CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The Charlotte Hornets activated forward : Tim James from the injured list Thursday night, and placed : forward Lee Nailon on the injured list because of lower back : spasms. James had been on the injured list since Jan. 5 with : tendinitis in both knees. James scored four points, grabbed four : rebounds and added two assists in 12 minutes as the Hornets beat : the Atlanta Hawks 101-84 on Thursday night. He has missed 17 : games this season due to injury. In 15 appearances coming into : Thursday, he averaged 1.3 points and 5.9 minutes. Nailon is : averaging 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 38 games. : *** Spurs activate Avery Johnson from injured list : EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Point guard Avery Johnson, who : missed 26 games with a bruised thigh and sore hamstring, was : activated from the injured list by the San Antonio Spurs on : Thursday night. Johnson was averaging 5.4 points and 4.3 assists : before being sidelined after a game against Utah on Dec. 11. The : 12-year veteran had played in 157 consecutive games. He didn't : play in the Spurs' 99-97 loss against New Jersey on Thursday : night. Center Shawnelle Scott was placed on the injured list with : tendinitis in his left knee to make room for Johnson. : *** Sixers weary entering All-Star break : PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia 76ers have the NBA's best : record and the weariest bodies heading into the All-Star break. : Despite losing several key players to injuries, including : starting point guard Eric Snow, the Sixers are 36-14. But they've : dropped 4-of-6, including three straight to teams with losing : records following Wednesday's 112-87 loss to the Houston Rockets. : "We're not going to make any excuses for ourselves," said Allen : Iverson, who is averaging nearly 43 minutes a game to lead the : NBA. "A lot of guys are tired. It's been real tough." : In addition to Snow, who has been out since Dec. 5 with a stress : fracture in his right ankle, the Sixers have been without Toni : Kukoc for the last seven games (lower back strain). : Backup center Matt Geiger has played just nine games and is : recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Jan. 4. : Rookie guard Speedy Claxton went down with a season-ending knee : injury in the preseason. : The schedule hasn't been any relief, either. : Philadelphia already has played 27 road games, posting the : league's best record away from home (21-6). The Sixers also have : played back-to-back games 15 times. : "We haven't made any excuses since day one and we're not making : any excuses now," forward Tyrone Hill said. : Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=406111916 : *** Lakers enter All-Star break on winning note : LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ron Harper doesn't believe the Los Angeles : Lakers stink anymore. : The guard had given the dour assessment on Jan. 21, after the : defending NBA champions were beaten 103-92 by the visiting Miami : Heat. : The Lakers are 5-3 since, but have been without Shaquille O'Neal : in their last six games, four of them wins. : "I think we learned how to play basketball," Harper said : following the Lakers' 85-83 victory over the Phoenix Suns on : Wednesday night. "I think we grew; the best thing is we've become : a very good defensive team again." : The fact that it's happened without O'Neal, the Lakers' anchor in : the middle and last season's MVP, seems surprising. : "I think we learned we had to play hard," Harper said. "Earlier, : our team was out there hum-humming around, I think." : The Lakers are hopeful that O'Neal, sidelined since Jan. 26, will : return to action following this weekend's All-Star break. : With a 31-16 record, the Lakers have already lost one more game : than all of last season, but coach Phil Jackson doesn't sound : dismayed, and shouldn't be considering his team is just 2 1/2 : games behind first-place Portland in the Western Conference race. : Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=406112391 : Scoreboard : ---------- : *** Thursday's results : 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL : --- --- --- --- ----- : Atlanta 18 23 22 21 84 : Charlotte 25 31 20 25 101 : : 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL : --- --- --- --- ----- : Houston 34 23 22 24 103 : Detroit 18 29 21 22 90 : : 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL : --- --- --- --- ----- : Denver 30 28 17 17 92 : Toronto 21 26 25 27 99 : : 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL : --- --- --- --- ----- : San Antonio 23 21 23 30 97 : New Jersey 28 27 19 25 99 : Transactions : ------------ : *** Thursday's Moves : CHARLOTTE HORNETS-Placed F Lee Nailon on the injured list. : Activated F Tim James from the injured list. : NEW JERSEY NETS-Activated F Jamie Feick from the injured list. : Placed G Kendall Gill on the injured list. : SAN ANTONIO SPURS-Activated G Avery Johnson from the injured : list. Placed C Shawnelle Scott on the injured list.

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