Philadelphia forward Elton Brand is inactive for Saturday night's game against the Atlanta Hawks with a sprained right thumb. Brand got his thumb caught in a jersey in Friday night's loss to Miami in Philadelphia. Rookie Lavoy Allen of Temple will make his first career start as the replacement for Brand.
The Atlanta Hawks say reserve center Jason Collins will miss the next two weeks with a sprained left elbow. Collins, the primary backup to Zaza Pachulia with All-Star center Al Horford sidelined the next three months, was injured in Thursday's home loss to Memphis. Collins, an 11-year NBA veteran, has started 31 of 81 career games in three seasons with Atlanta.
The Los Angeles Lakers opened a season-high six-game trip Friday night with a rare win in Denver, where the Nuggets were bleary-eyed and, in Danilo Gallinari's case, blurry-eyed. Lakers coach Mike Brown was simply red-faced after a non-call in the waning seconds gave Denver one last shot at the victory.
Boston stayed close enough until the New York Knicks failed again. This time, it was because of the Celtics' defense. Paul Pierce scored 30 points and Ray Allen had nine of his 14 in the final quarter to lift the Celtics to a 91-89 win over the struggling Knicks on Friday night. Hanging close until they finally caught New York midway into the final quarter, Celtics coach Doc Rivers kept telling...
Paul George and the Indiana Pacers are getting more and more confident. They should be with the way they're playing -- especially on the road. George hit seven 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 30 points as the Pacers won in Dallas for the first time in eight years, beating the defending NBA champions 98-87 Friday night.
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