After Peyton Manning stole the big stage from his little brother, Eli, allweek, the Indianapolis Colts owner tried to resolve the second public spat intwo weeks with his star quarterback. The latest controversy is over Manning’shealth and whether he’s actually been cleared to start taking hits again.

“Peyton Manning, Jim Irsay and the entire Colts family remain close andunified as we continue to work through all the options that relate to his futurewith the Colts,” Irsay said in a statement that included a color photo from hisprivate party Thursday night.

The photo shows NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell between the smiling Manningand a thrilled-looking Irsay, flanked on the ends by actress Meg Ryan and singerJohn Mellencamp.

But it was a much happier scene than the public image that has evolved overthe past two weeks.

Peyton Manning watches preseason action.(AP)

The party was taking place at about the same time Manning’s surgeonconfirmed that Manning had been cleared to play. A few hours later, Irsayresponded tersely on Twitter.

“Peyton has not passed our physical nor has he been cleared to play for theIndianapolis Colts,” he wrote.

The ruckus didn’t stop Manning from making a scheduled visit to a localgrade school along with Brandon Marshall and Roddy White on Friday, but Manningdid not allow print media into the event and was not available for questions.

Meanwhile, Manning’s agent, Tom Condon, told NFL Network that the four-timeleague MVP would play in 2012, a point Manning made perfectly clear when he toldreporters Tuesday that he did not plan to retire despite missing the entire 2011season after having his third neck surgery in 19 months.

It didn’t change the likelihood of a nasty divorce between the Colts and thelongtime face of their franchise.

The biggest question is Manning’s health. He was cleared to practice inDecember and has been throwing for at least two months, but the Colts want toknow whether Manning can regain the arm strength that made him a perennial ProBowler.

Manning’s doctor and agent insist he’s healthy.

“He is sound. He can take a hit. He can certainly play in a footballgame,” Condon said. “How effective will he be? Probably not as effective as hewould be in two to three months.”

The Colts still aren’t sure and will have to decide whether to pay a $28million roster bonus by March 8 or risk losing him as a free agent.

Manning has said he does not expect to retire, and not everyone is convincedhis career is over.

A group of Tennessee Titans placed an electronic billboard message onnorthbound I-65 on Friday: “Peyton you’re going the wrong way.” The highwayruns between Indy and Nashville, Tenn.

Even some Colts fans want Manning to stay.

“It would be incredibly sad to see him go and I’d hate to be Irsay. I wanthim to stay,” said Keith Harden, a 51-year-old Indy native who was wearing aReggie Wayne jersey. “No, I don’t think it’s hurt his (Manning’s) image. Ithink he’s fighting to stay, and I like that.”

But things could get much worse before Irsay makes his decison.

“Jimmy and Peyton have had a strong relationship for a really long time,”Condon said. “They’ve been great friends besides the business relationship. Butthis is a tough time, there is potential that you could be separated from a teamhe’s been a part of for a long time.”

Follow Yahoo! Sports NFL coverage on Twitter.

Lakers coach Mike Brown was simply red-faced after a non-call in the waningseconds gave Denver one last shot at the victory.

Andrew Bynum scored 22 points and Kobe Bryant added 20 in their 93-89 winthat wasn’t secured until Al Harrington missed a 3-point attempt with 2 secondsleft that would have put Denver ahead.

DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Kob… Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:52 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Kob… Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:52 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Hea… Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:51 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Pau… Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:49 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: And… Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:49 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Dan… Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:48 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Pau… Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:47 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Nen… Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:46 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Al … Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:45 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Tim… Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:44 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Kob… Getty Images – Feb 4, 1:44 am EST Denver Nuggets forward Al Harr… AP – Feb 4, 1:37 am EST Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau… AP – Feb 4, 1:37 am EST Los Angeles Lakers center Andr… AP – Feb 4, 1:37 am EST Los Angeles Lakers head coach … AP – Feb 4, 12:47 am EST Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe … AP – Feb 4, 12:46 am EST Denver Nuggets forward Danilo … AP – Feb 4, 12:46 am EST Denver Nuggets guard Andre Mil… AP – Feb 4, 12:46 am EST Denver Nuggets center Timofey … AP – Feb 4, 12:45 am EST Denver Nuggets center Timofey … AP – Feb 4, 12:45 am EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Hea… Getty Images – Feb 3, 11:56 pm EST Denver Nuggets head coach Geor… AP – Feb 3, 11:56 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Ty … Getty Images – Feb 3, 11:55 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: And… Getty Images – Feb 3, 11:55 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Nen… Getty Images – Feb 3, 11:55 pm EST Los Angeles Lakers center Andr… AP – Feb 3, 11:54 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Met… Getty Images – Feb 3, 11:54 pm EST Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe … AP – Feb 3, 11:54 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Kob… Getty Images – Feb 3, 11:53 pm EST Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau… AP – Feb 3, 11:19 pm EST Los Angeles Lakers center Andr… AP – Feb 3, 11:18 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Dan… Getty Images – Feb 3, 11:18 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Kob… Getty Images – Feb 3, 11:18 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Hea… Getty Images – Feb 3, 11:17 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: And… Getty Images – Feb 3, 11:17 pm EST Los Angeles Lakers forward Met… AP – Feb 3, 11:16 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Hea… Getty Images – Feb 3, 10:18 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Hea… Getty Images – Feb 3, 9:52 pm EST DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 03: Hea… Getty Images – Feb 3, 9:52 pm EST 1 of 39 LAL-Den Gallery

“A step-back, that’s my favorite shot,” said Harrington, who hit two big3-pointers earlier in the fourth quarter. “I thought it was going to go in.”

Matt Barnes was fouled on the rebound and sank two free throws withtwo-tenths of a second left.

Pau Gasol added 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for thethird time in 10 road games this season and prevailed in Denver for only thesecond time in their last seven trips to the Pepsi Center.

The Lakers took control after Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov rolled his leftankle after scoring a bucket early in the second half. He was helped to thelocker room by Chris Andersen and Julyan Stone without putting any pressure onhis left foot and didn’t return. The Nuggets said X-rays were negative.

His coach, George Karl, came by his locker after the game and asked how hewas doing.

“Could be better,” said Mozgov, who still wasn’t putting any weight on thefoot.

Mozgov was injured when he tried to hustle back on defense after a layup.

Two minutes later, Denver’s leading scorer, Danilo Gallinari, wasaccidentally poked in his left eye by World Peace and retreated to the lockerroom for a few minutes to replace his contact while the Lakers put the finishingtouches on a 10-2 run.

Gallinari returned to the court, but sat out the final six minutes withblurry vision. He was held to six points on 1-of-9 shooting.

Harrington, who led Denver with 24 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers thatkept them close in the final minutes.

And after Nene’s slam with 28 seconds left cut the Lakers’ lead to 91-89,Bynum missed a dunk with 11 seconds left, and after the officials reviewed thetape, they overturned their initial ruling that the ball went off a Nuggetsplayer and out of bounds.

“Some nights, that’s what happens,” Bynum shrugged, “but I’m supposed toput them in the rim.”

His coach was livid.

“Obviously, it was a missed call, and that missed call was tough toswallow,” Brown said. “Drew has a clean dunk and he gets fouled and it ends upbeing Denver’s ball in a two-point game. That’s tough to swallow when it’s insomebody else’s building.

“We didn’t execute right down the stretch but we got lucky and had a cleandunk at the rim and we got fouled. It’s tough to sit there and watch a no-callat that point in the game.”

On the inbound, Ty Lawson found his lane to the basket blocked and so hepassed to Harrington, who found World Peace in his face and had to step back totry to sink the 3-pointer.

“We made it really hard on ourselves, but it’s good to get a win,” Brownsaid. “Our defense got us a win in a tough environment. What an ugly game, wefound a way to win.

“I’m a little disappointed the way we executed down the stretch anddisappointed in how the game was called down the stretch,” Brown added. “In atight ballgame, you hope that you got something better from both parties, fromour guys and from the official.”

The Nuggets were hoping for a better look.

Karl wanted Lawson to go to the hoop with about 5 seconds left, but DerekFisher didn’t let him past.

“He played great defense, so I had to go to the second option and I saw Aland he had a good shot when he stepped back, and it almost went in,” Lawsonsaid. “He’d hit two big 3s. He had the hot hand, so we definitely wanted to gethim the ball.”

Usually, it’s the Lakers who are wearied after flying into Denver on thered-eye after playing the night before in L.A., and the Nuggets who arewell-rested.

Not this time.

The Lakers were hunkered down in snowy Denver on Thursday night while theNuggets were beating the Clippers by 21 points at the Staples Center and thenflying back to Denver, which was getting hit by a storm that dumped more than afoot on snow on the Mile High City.

It showed as the Lakers negated the Nuggets’ superior speed by getting backon defense often enough to keep the game from turning into a track meet.

Behind Bynum’s 15 first-half points, the Lakers took a 44-41 lead into thelocker room after stifling both Denver’s fast-break and Gallinari, who averages17.5 points.

It was noted before the game that Karl finally had a roster with enough bigmen to match up to the Lakers’ size, but he said he wanted nothing to do with amatchup like that.

“This team goes to the post as much as anybody in basketball. I don’t wantto try to beat them power vs. power, I want to go speed. I want pace vs.power,” Karl said before tipoff. “We’re always going to try to outrun them.”

The Lakers controlled the tempo instead.

The Nuggets took their first lead, at 47-46, on Gallinari’s 3-pointer with10:34 left in the third quarter, and a half-minute later Mozgov went up for abucket that made it 49-46 and tried to get back on defense quickly.

His left foot wasn’t flat on the floor and he tripped, immediately rollingaround in pain.

Notes: Brown said he didn’t think PG Steve Blake would play on the Lakers’trip. He is out with broken cartilage in his ribs. … Brewer returned to actionafter missing the Clippers game to deal with a personal issue.

The Texas Rangers slugger and recovering drug addict said he had “three orfour” drinks during dinner at a Dallas restaurant and bar Monday and continueddrinking later that night.

“Things happened that me, personally, I’m not proud of after I drank, andthey are personal and are being handled as that,” he said Friday during a newsconference called specifically to address the incident. “Knowing this was goingto get out in social media, Twitter, people get excited. There was no picturestaken of me having a beer with somebody or anything like that, but I did takepictures with people.”

Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton confirmed his relapse with alcohol at a press conference Friday in Arlington, Texas.(AP)

Hamilton didn’t elaborate or give any real indication about what thosethings were.

Hamilton was suspended for more than three years for drug and alcohol usewhile in the Tampa Bay organization. The former No. 1 overall draft pick missedthe entire 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons, but has become one of the best playersin baseball on a team that has won the last two American League pennants. He wasthe AL MVP in 2010.

The 30-year-old Hamilton said his latest actions “hurt a lot of people veryclose to me.” He closed his eyes at one point and seemed to force a smileanother time. He didn’t take questions during his 12-minute appearance.

Without being specific, Hamilton said he had a “weak moment” that stemmedfrom “personal reasons” involving a family member. He said he walked to arestaurant to have dinner and ended up “ordering a drink, and probably hadthree or four drinks.”

Hamilton said he did not take any drugs, and had no thoughts of doing so. Hesaid he has been tested for drugs twice since Monday, part of his normalmandated routine.

This is Hamilton’s second known alcohol-related relapse in three years. Bothcame during the offseason, and this one has put on hold talks with the Rangersabout a contract extension.

After his public apology earlier in the day, Hamilton appeared as scheduledFriday night at a Christian men’s rally in Katy, Texas, near Houston. He againdidn’t take any questions and spoke only to the congregation.

“I could hide in shame, and not show up tonight and be withdrawn, but Ididn’t want to do that,” Hamilton told the group while reiterating hisChristian faith. “I’m doing what I had to do today. I am fessing up. I am goingto be a man about it; I am fessing up. People are going to call me a hypocrite,but I am a sinful man.”

In January 2009, he drank to excess in a bar in Tempe, Ariz. He apologizedfor that a few months later when a dozen or so pictures were posted onlineshowing Hamilton taking shots off the bar, and dancing and hugging several youngwomen. He said then that he had been sober since October 2005.

Hamilton and general manager Jon Daniels said the outfielder will meet soonwith Major League Baseball doctors and counselors in New York for an evaluationin his continued recovery.

“My life in general is based on making the right choices, everything as faras my recovery, as far as my baseball goes, it’s all based around myrelationship with the Lord,” Hamilton said earlier at Rangers Ballpark. “And Ilook at it like that, you all know how hard I play on the field and I give iteverything I absolutely have. When I don’t do that off the field, I leave myselfopen for a weak moment.”

After having a few drinks with dinner, Hamilton called Ian Kinsler to comehang out with him.

Hamilton said Kinsler didn’t know he had been drinking, and that he neverhad a drink in front of his teammate, even when they left before the restaurantclosed and went to another place nearby for 25-30 minutes. Then Kinsler drovehim back to where he was staying not far away.

Though Hamilton told Kinsler he was not going anywhere else, Hamilton saidhe later returned to the place they had left and had more drinks.

Daniels, who was out of town and spoke on a later conference call, was askedif he was concerned that the incident was more than just Hamilton having a fewdrinks. The GM referred to Hamilton saying that alcohol had led the outfielderto some things he wasn’t proud of.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t there,” Daniels said. “That’s how Josh wants toaddress those things right now.”

In Twitter posts Friday, Hamilton’s wife, Katie, wrote: “Truly appreciateall the encouraging & supportive tweets we’ve been getting. God is Faithful andforgives- so thankful that you all are … Showing us such love andencouragement during this time.”

When the Rangers acquired him from the Cincinnati Reds in December 2007,they were aware of Hamilton’s off-the-field problems. He is tested for drug usethree times a week and has had an accountability partner to support him in hisrecovery—though that job is now vacant.

Assistant hitting coach Johnny Narron’s primary role was to support theformer No. 1 overall draft pick, but Narron left the Rangers in November forMilwaukee.

The Rangers announced last month that Hamilton’s father-in-law had beenhired as a staff special assistant to be the accountability partner, but MichaelDean Chadwick has since decided against accepting that position because of“family considerations.”

Daniels said the team was close to hiring someone for the job, a processthat was already in the final stages before the latest incident. He said anannouncement could come next week.

But Daniels said such a person likely wouldn’t have been with Hamiltonduring the offseason when he was home with his family, as was the case thisweek.

Hamilton can become a free agent after this season and had been talking tothe Rangers about a contract extension.

“It would be nice if it was talking about a contract but we’ll put that onthe back burner for a while,” Hamilton said before walking out of the room.Daniels concurred that he had agreed with Hamilton’s agent, Mike Moye, thatcontract talks would be put on hold. Daniels said there was no timetable forresuming them.

While Daniels said Hamilton’s relapse created a number of emotions,including disappointment, the GM said the overriding concern was for Hamiltonand his family. Hamilton and his wife have four daughters, the youngest bornlast summer.

“For everybody who I have hurt, for everybody—fans, kids, people who haveaddictions and look up to me—I apologize to you,” he said. “When you’redoing this, you don’t mean to hurt anybody. You only think you’re hurtingyourself. But as I know, you’re hurting a lot of people.”

Follow Yahoo! Sports MLB coverage on Twitter.

Paul Pierce scored 30 points and Ray Allen had nine of his 14 in the finalquarter to lift the Celtics to a 91-89 win over the struggling Knicks on Fridaynight.

Hanging close until they finally caught New York midway into the finalquarter, Celtics coach Doc Rivers kept telling his team that it would be defensethat would make the difference.

Boston Celtics ' Kevin Gar… AP – Feb 3, 11:49 pm EST Boston Celtics head coach Doc … AP – Feb 3, 11:40 pm EST New York Knicks ' Carmelo … AP – Feb 3, 11:36 pm EST Boston Celtics point guard Raj… AP – Feb 3, 11:33 pm EST Boston Celtics ' Ray Allen… AP – Feb 3, 11:30 pm EST Boston Celtics ' Paul Pier… AP – Feb 3, 11:17 pm EST Boston Celtics ' Paul Pier… AP – Feb 3, 11:17 pm EST New York Knicks head coach Mik… AP – Feb 3, 11:10 pm EST Boston Celtics point guard Raj… AP – Feb 3, 9:32 pm EST Boston Celtics ' Paul Pier… AP – Feb 3, 9:29 pm EST New York Knicks ' Carmelo … AP – Feb 3, 9:24 pm EST Boston Celtics ' Ray Allen… AP – Feb 3, 8:52 pm EST Boston Celtics guard Rajon Ron… AP – Feb 3, 8:50 pm EST Boston Celtics point guard Raj… AP – Feb 3, 8:45 pm EST 1 of 14 NY-Bos Gallery

It was. On the Knicks’ final two possessions, it was someone other thanCarmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire that were forced to take the final twoshots.

“I just said, `Guys, our defense is bailing us out. This is going to be adefensive win,”’ Rivers said. “You rarely say you `steal a game’ at home, butthat’s how it felt.”

Kevin Garnett finished with 15 points and eight boards for the Celtics, whowon for the seventh time in eight games.

Anthony scored 26, Tyson Chandler had 20 with 11 rebounds and Stoudemire had16 with 11 rebounds for the Knicks. New York lost for the 11th time in 13 games.

“They were doubling and doing a good job. That’s why other guys had to stepup and make shots.” New York coach Mike D’Antoni said about his team’s finaltwo shots.

Boston got the win despite shooting just 38.9 percent in the second quarterand 31.8 in third.

“It’s good when you find way to win,” Pierce said. “Things really weren’tgoing our way.”

Garnett grabbed his 10,000th career defensive rebound early in the secondquarter, becoming the third player in NBA history to reach that mark. He’sbehind former Celtic Robert Parish (10,117) and Karl Malone (11,406).

Boston point guard Rajon Rondo returned after missing the previous eightgames with a right wrist injury, but was ineffective, scoring just seven pointsand getting seven assists.

After Iman Shumpert’s jumper from the right corner closed the score to85-83, Allen nailed a 3 from the right wing. Following a putback by Chandler,Allen caught the ball in the right corner, drove the baseline and hit aleft-hander that rolled in, giving the Celtics a 90-85 lead with just under 2minutes left.

But the Knicks battled back, closing the gap to one after an alley-oop layupby Chandler and a steal and breakaway layup by Landry Field with 1:26 left.

Following a miss by Pierce, Anthony missed a drive, but the ball went out ofbounds off Brandon Bass’ hands, giving New York another chance.

But the Knicks turned it over. Pierce had what appeared to be an off-balance3-pointer with 14.4 seconds left as the shot clock expired. But the officialsoverruled it following a reply review.

Fields missed a 3 from the left corner with 6 seconds left and Piercegrabbed the rebound and was fouled. He hit the first, but missed the second.

“It’s right there. It’s just the moment you get over that hump.” Fieldssaid. “Just got to get over it. Nothing much you can really say about it.”

Steve Novak airballed a desperation 3 and Garnett batted the ball down thefloor as time expired.

On Thursday, Stoudemire missed a shot from beyond his normal range—a 3with 11.9 seconds left that would have tied the score in a 105-102 loss toChicago.

“It’s definitely not a great feeling right now,” he said. “Winning isalways what we play the game for. It brings joy when you win. Right now we’renot winning, so it’s a little bit difficult to deal with.”

Boston, which trailed since late in the opening quarter, tied it at 77 onChris Wilcox’s two free throws with 7:13 to play. The teams traded baskets andremained tied until Allen nailed a 3 from the right side with 4:24 to play. Itwas his first basket of the second half.

New York had a six-point halftime lead and increased it to 67-55 onAnthony’s off-balance jumper midway into the third quarter. Both teams thenplayed sloppily, turning the ball over numerous times and missing jumpers as theKnicks maintained at least a nine-point edge until late in the quarter.

Boston scored the final seven points of the third, cutting it to 72-69 afterthree when Wilcox had a putback of Pierce’s miss at the buzzer.

With the crowd a little extra excited with the Patriots playing in the SuperBowl on Sunday, it appeared to help get the teams energized early, with bothteams appearing to play tough defense from the start.

Notes: Stoudemire had a season-high 34 points in a loss at home againstChicago on Thursday. … Rondo was hit in the face with an elbow early in thegame and had a welt under his right eye. … With his team struggling to getwins, D’Antoni wasn’t worried before the game about minutes with his teamplaying the second of three in three nights. “We’ll see how everybody responds,but we need to win this game,” he said. The Knicks host New Jersey on Saturday.… Boston reserve G/F Marquis Daniels missed the game with a foot injury. …Rivers joked about the Boston-New York rivalry. “A lot of love,” he said,smiling, before talking about the Super Bowl matchup between the Patriots andGiants. “These two cities have a pretty good game coming up on Sunday, too.”… Rivers was given a technical in the second quarter and Stoudemire got onemidway into the third after being called for an offensive foul.

So, when the Hall of Fame coach of the defending national champions, whoturns 70 in May, had just about had it with his back problems, he let peopleknow.

“The bottom line is I’m going to need some work done,” Calhoun told TheAssociated Press in a phone interview Friday. “In January the shooting painswere getting worse and after one plane ride I couldn’t even get up. I tried tohide it. I’m taking medicine right now for the pain. They are waiting for thingsto quiet down, and I’ll meet with the doctor next week.”

As a result, Calhoun is taking an indefinite medical leave of absence, as hehas been suffering for several months from spinal stenosis, a spinal conditionthat causes him severe pain and hampers mobility.

Calhoun said he told university President Susan Herbst about it but hadhoped to gut out the final weeks of the season.

“But it’s just so bad, even getting through practice,” Calhoun said. “NowI’m going to see what the next step is. The bottom line is I’m hurting.”

George Blaney, the team’s associate head coach, will lead the team inCalhoun’s absence.

He said Calhoun missed practice Thursday and could not get out of bed Fridaymorning. Blaney said Calhoun began feeling pain in his legs and buttocks duringthis week’s road trip to Georgetown.

“When we got off the plane, he really had trouble getting in the car andgoing home,” he said.

The Huskies (14-7, 4-5 Big East) have lost four games in a row and fell outof the Top 25 for the first time in 28 weeks. They host Seton Hall on Saturdaybefore traveling to Louisville on Monday.

Calhoun has had a history of health problems. He is a three-time cancersurvivor, overcoming prostate cancer in 2003 and skin cancer twice, mostrecently in 2008.

“I had back pain like never before last summer, thought it was backspasms,” he said in the phone interview. “I saw a neurologist and he told meabout scoliosis, stenosis and other things and that there could be things like abone spur and that I could probably need something done at some point. I wentfor the physical therapy and it worked, but it started to lock up sometimesrecently and it was worse.”

Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spine, normally associated with agingand sometimes with arthritis. If physical therapy and medicines aren’teffective, surgery may be considered, although some people’s symptoms may notimprove after an operation.

Calhoun has missed 21 games during his career at UConn, 17 for medicalreasons. He has had to leave another 11 games with health problems. His lastextended medical leave came in 2010, when he missed seven games withstress-related issues.

He missed three games earlier this season because of NCAA sanctions.

“I don’t know anybody tougher,” Blaney said. “He doesn’t use Novocainwhen he goes to the dentist. He’s a tough guy and usually `No’ spurs him on.”

Blaney informed the team of Calhoun’s illness just before Friday afternoon’spractice.

“We wish we could be there to help him, and he wishes he could be there tohelp us,” said guard Shabazz Napier, a team captain. “Sometimes you have to goon a journey without your captain, and we’re going to do whatever we got to doto fulfill his dreams and fulfill ours at the same time.”

Napier and forward Alex Oriakhi called a players-only meeting to discuss theteam’s recent slump.

“It’s tough,” said freshman center Andre Drummond. “We’ve had a couple ofdownfalls, a couple of roadblocks throughout the way, but that’s life. That’sone of the things you’ve got to get through. That’s what we’re doing right now.We’re fighting through it and we’re not going down without a fight.”

Calhoun is No. 6 on the all-time wins list with 867. He has won threenational championships at Connecticut and was inducted into the Basketball Hallof Fame in 2005. He coached the team to its fourth Final Four and third nationaltitle last April.

The subject of Calhoun’s tenure is not new. He said last month he decided tonot retire after last year’s national championship in large part because hewanted to see through the NCAA sanctions leveled on him and his program forrecruiting violations. The NCAA required Calhoun to sit out wins over SouthFlorida and St. John’s and a loss to Seton Hall for violations that included afinding that the coach had failed to maintain “an atmosphere of compliance” inthe program.

He told reporters that the idea of bringing closure to that issue was a“major, major factor” in his decision to come back this season.

Connecticut has gone 9-9 in games that Blaney has coached, including 2-1during Calhoun’s recent suspension.

Guard Ryan Boatright, who has missed nine games this season while the NCAAinvestigated his eligibility, said he thinks the team will rally under Blaney.He said both coaches are able to motivate the team, but their styles are muchdifferent.

“There’s not as much yelling,” he said. “Obviously the cuss words aredown to a (lower) level. It’s a difference.”

Follow Yahoo! Sports college basketball coverage on Twitter.

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 thePacers won in Dallas for the first time in eight years, beating the defendingNBA champions 98-87 Friday night.

“Yeah, he’s oozing confidence, as is our whole team,” coach Frank Vogelsaid.

Indiana Pacers ' Paul Geor… AP – Feb 3, 11:35 pm EST Indiana Pacers ' Paul Geor… AP – Feb 3, 11:34 pm EST Indiana Pacers ' Roy Hibbe… AP – Feb 3, 11:33 pm EST Indiana Pacers guard Paul Geor… AP – Feb 3, 11:26 pm EST Dallas Mavericks ' Dirk No… AP – Feb 3, 11:11 pm EST Indiana Pacers ' David Wes… AP – Feb 3, 11:09 pm EST Dallas Mavericks ' Rodrigu… AP – Feb 3, 10:00 pm EST Dallas Mavericks ' Ian Mah… AP – Feb 3, 9:55 pm EST Dallas Mavericks ' Delonte… AP – Feb 3, 9:55 pm EST Indiana Pacers ' David Wes… AP – Feb 3, 9:51 pm EST Dallas Mavericks ' Jason T… AP – Feb 3, 9:47 pm EST Dallas Mavericks ' Brendan… AP – Feb 3, 9:47 pm EST Dallas Mavericks power forward… AP – Feb 3, 9:46 pm EST 1 of 13 Ind-Dal Gallery

The Pacers have won four consecutive games, three of those on the road.Their 10 road victories are tied with Chicago for the most in the NBA thisseason.

Indiana took the lead for good with seven consecutive points in the first 2minutes of the second half. George made a go-ahead running layup then had asteal that he turned into a dunk and a free throw.

“I’ve grown into a confident player. I feel like I can knock down anyshot,” said George, the second-year post player from Fresno State. “I’ve got acomfort level out there right now.”

The Pacers had lost 11 of their previous 12 road games against the Mavs,winning only in 2004. This was their only scheduled meeting this year againstDallas.

There was also the impressive segment early in the fourth quarter whenGeorge blocked a fast-break layup attempt by Jason Terry. The Pacers got therebound and quickly went the other way, with George hitting a 3-pointer.

George also had five assists, five steals and no turnovers in more than 41minutes.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a performance like PG gave us fromboth ends of the floor,” Vogel said.

David West added 20 points for the Pacers, while Danny Granger had 16 andDarren Collison 13. Roy Hibbert, the other Indiana starter, had nine points and14 rebounds.

Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 30 for Dallas on 12-of-17 shooting. Thatwas a big boost for last year’s NBA finals MVP, who was playing his fourth gameafter a planned four-game hiatus to strengthen his sore right knee.

“At least Dirk was able to get into a rhythm tonight,” Shawn Marion said.

In the previous three games since returning, Nowitzki had scored only 28total points while shooting 28 percent (11 of 39). That led to NBA analystCharles Barkley saying during an appearance on ESPN Dallas radio this week thatNowitzki’s role as one of the league’s top players was fading fast.

“I had some good looks and knocked them down. I finally got into a goodrhythm. The strength in my legs is coming back. Hard work always pays off,”Nowitzki said. “I couldn’t prove him wrong the last couple of weeks.”

Vince Carter added 14 points for Dallas, which has lost consecutive games athome for the first time since losing the first two games of the season back inDecember.

Dallas had a 53-52 halftime lead before Indiana’s quick second-half surge.

George had the quick layup, then a steal after a bad pass by Nowitzki. TheMavericks had two more turnovers before Collison’s 21-foot jumper made it 59-53and Dallas coach Rick Carlisle called time out.

The Pacers stretched the lead to 69-59 on a 3-pointer by George. That endeda session when Hibbert missed inside, West got the rebound and pushed the balloutside to one wing before it went to George on the right side.

George’s seven 3s were one off the Indiana franchise record set by ReggieMiller in 1997.

“He’s a good player. We played a lot of zone tonight and we lost him a fewtimes on the zone,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s a good 3-pointshooter. He made shots and there were other plays we made mistakes on. He had abig night and they had a lot of other guys who played well too.”

The Pacers got off to a fast start, making their first eight shots andtaking a 25-17 lead on Granger’s 3-pointer less than 6 minutes into the game.They finished at 43 percent (37 of 87).

Nowtizki had 20 points by halftime, when he was already 9-of-11 shooting.

Things were still going good for Nowitzki when, with 2 1/2 minutes left inthe game, he was falling away from the basket and flung a ball up and in whilebeing fouled. He added the free throw, but the Mavs still trailed by 11.

“Every day he’s moving better. At some point, this kind of game was goingto be a reality,” Carlisle said. “It was great to see because he was doingeverything. He was shooting the ball, he was driving the ball, rebounding.Overall, he was very active. Very positive.”

Notes: Mavericks 7-foot center Brendan Haywood used both hands to shove 6-6Dahntay Jones when they were face-to-face and yapping at each other near theDallas basket after a made shot with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the thirdquarter. Officials conferred and called a double technical foul. … Dallasguard Jason Kidd missed his fourth consecutive game because of a strained rightcalf. He will also miss Saturday’s game at Cleveland, but said he is feelingbetter and could be back for the next game, Wednesday night at Denver. … ThePacers were without George Hill (chip fracture left ankle) and Jeff Foster(lower back). Foster hasn’t dressed for the last 10 games, Hill for the lasttwo.

Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder keep finding ways to stay onestep ahead.

Durant scored 36 points and hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer in the finalminute to lift the Thunder to a 101-94 victory against Memphis on Friday nightin a rematch of their epic Western Conference semifinals series.

One of those games went to triple overtime and another was settled after oneextra period.

Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony A… AP – Feb 3, 11:36 pm EST Oklahoma City Thunder head coa… AP – Feb 3, 11:28 pm EST Memphis Grizzlies head coach L… AP – Feb 3, 11:26 pm EST Oklahoma City Thunder forward … AP – Feb 3, 11:20 pm EST Oklahoma City Thunder forward … AP – Feb 3, 11:15 pm EST Memphis Grizzlies center Marc … AP – Feb 3, 11:05 pm EST Memphis Grizzlies center Marc … AP – Feb 3, 11:04 pm EST Memphis Grizzlies center Marc … AP – Feb 3, 11:03 pm EST Oklahoma City Thunder forward … AP – Feb 3, 11:01 pm EST Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ru… AP – Feb 3, 10:59 pm EST Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. M… AP – Feb 3, 9:28 pm EST Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy… AP – Feb 3, 9:27 pm EST 1 of 12 Mem-OKC Gallery

This one came right down to the wire, too, before Durant scored the finalseven points.

“Those guys are the guys that we need to be like, from start to finish,”Grizzlies forward Tony Allen said.

Durant answered Mike Conley’s tying 3-pointer by pulling up in front of RudyGay for his own 3 from the right wing with 53 seconds left. He added a jumperfrom the foul line to push the lead to five, then closed out the game bygrabbing the rebound on O.J. Mayo’s 3-point attempt and hitting two free throwsafter getting fouled.

“The 3s I was shooting looked good but I was missing,” said Durant, whohad missed all five of his previous 3-point attempts.

“It was just a matter of time before one was going to go down for me. Ishot the ball right and it was able to go in.”

James Harden scored 10 of his 24 points during Oklahoma City’sfourth-quarter rally.

Marc Gasol led Memphis with 24 points and Gay scored 23.

That duo and Durant played the entire second half in a thrilling renewal ofthe West semifinals won by Oklahoma City last year in seven games.

The Thunder won twice in Memphis this season by a total of eight points, butit was the Grizzlies who were in control most of the way in this one and up75-65 in the final minute of the third quarter.

Harden engineered a comeback, hitting two 3-pointers and driving for twolayups during a 15-4 burst to start the fourth quarter. His drive set up NickCollison for the go-ahead free throw, and Daequan Cook followed with a jumperfrom the right side for an 84-81 lead.

The Grizzlies had an answer and were able to claw back and tie it onConley’s 3-pointer from the right side with 1:12 remaining—only for Durant todeliver the knockout punch.

“It’s always fun. We always have grind-it-out games against each other, andtonight was another one,” Durant said. “We dug ourselves a hole early, wasn’tplaying well, but the second half, we picked it up.”

Russell Westbrook added 21 points and seven assists for the NBA-leadingThunder, the only team other than Chicago to score at least 100 points onMemphis this season. Oklahoma City has done it twice and the Bulls once.

“They’re playing like they’re more experienced than us right now but at theend of the day, we’re still a work in progress and I like the future for thisteam,” Allen said.

“They’ve got our number right now.”

It was the only stop at home for the Thunder during a 19-day span featuringeight out of nine on the road.

Allen had 17 points for the Grizzlies, who are also in the midst of playingnine of 12 away from home.

“We started taking too many jump shots as we were coming down the stretch,but my guys played really hard,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. “They leftit out there and they didn’t have enough in the tank coming down the stretch.”

The Thunder outscored Memphis 32-17 in the final period.

“I think our energy picked up; the crowd got into it. That whole fourthquarter was the way we play basketball,” Harden said.

Memphis used a couple of bizarre steals to fuel a 9-0 run late in the firstquarter. Conley came up with a pass that went through Serge Ibaka’s legs, and itended up leading to Gay’s two-handed putback dunk on a fast break. On the nexttrip, Ibaka stepped in the way of Westbrook’s pass. Dante Cunningham grabbed theloose ball and fed Mayo for a right-handed transition dunk to make it 23-17.

NOTES: Kendrick Perkins picked up his NBA-leading ninth technical foul ofthe season with 5:02 left in the first half when he and Gasol got tangled upbattling for rebounding position on a 3-pointer that Harden made. Perkins facesa one-game suspension if he gets to 13. The scuffle resulted in Gasol’s thirdtechnical of the season, all against the Thunder and the second time as part ofa double-technical foul tangle with Perkins. … Westbrook also got his fifthtechnical for spiking the ball after Allen blocked his shot about two minutesearlier.

“I just remember not coming with a lot of energy, not lifting my teammatesup,” Knight said. “Me, as a rookie, that’s something I’ve got to be able to doeach and every game, no matter who we’re playing against.”

In a rematch with the Bucks on Friday night, Knight was at his best, scoringa season-high 26 points and helping the Detroit Pistons snap a seven-game losingstreak with an 88-80 victory. Knight was outscored 21-0 by Milwaukee’s BrandonJennings in a loss to the Bucks on Monday night, but he looked impressive whileturning the tables four days later.

Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Sk… AP – Feb 3, 11:02 pm EST Detroit Pistons ' Brandon … AP – Feb 3, 10:50 pm EST Detroit Pistons ' Brandon … AP – Feb 3, 10:48 pm EST Detroit Pistons ' Greg Mon… AP – Feb 3, 10:41 pm EST Detroit Pistons ' Jonas Je… AP – Feb 3, 10:38 pm EST Detroit Pistons ' Tayshuan… AP – Feb 3, 10:34 pm EST Milwaukee Bucks ' Mike Dun… AP – Feb 3, 9:08 pm EST Milwaukee Bucks ' Larry Sa… AP – Feb 3, 9:08 pm EST Milwaukee Bucks ' Shaun Li… AP – Feb 3, 9:06 pm EST Milwaukee Bucks ' Ben Udri… AP – Feb 3, 9:03 pm EST Milwaukee Bucks ' Brandon … AP – Feb 3, 8:48 pm EST 1 of 11 Mil-Det Gallery

The Bucks had won three straight, including a come-from-behind victory overMiami on Wednesday, but they trailed by as many as 15 points in the thirdquarter against the Pistons.

“We were terrible in every aspect of the game. Our effort was horrible—asbad as I’ve seen since I’ve been here—and our execution was very poor on bothends of the floor,” Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles said. “We’ve played two goodquarters out of the last eight. The other six have been pitiful.”

Milwaukee went on an 11-0 run spanning the end of the third quarter andbeginning of the fourth, and Detroit led by only four with 2:54 remaining.Knight responded with a floater, followed moments later by a driving shot offthe glass, and the Pistons held on.

Knight went 10 of 23 from the field and also had seven assists and noturnovers. Jennings, the opposing point guard, scored 20 points, but only sevenafter the first quarter.

“I thought Brandon really responded,” Detroit coach Lawrence Frank said.“When you hold a team to 80 points defensively, everyone who is on the floorcontributes to that, and that deserves more credit than anything else.”

Greg Monroe added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Tayshaun Prince had 13points for the Pistons. Shaun Livingston was the only other Milwaukee player indouble figures with 14 points.

The Pistons led by as many as nine in the first quarter, but Jennings madeall five of his shots in the period and it was 26-all after one.

Jennings finished 7 of 19, and the Bucks shot only 35 percent as a team.Milwaukee trailed 51-41 at halftime and never seemed to click offensively afterscoring at least 100 points in each of its previous five games.

With Detroit up 58-52, Jennings tried a behind-the-back pass on a 2-on-1break to Beno Udrih. The play resulted in a turnover, and the Pistons slowlyincreased their lead.

Knight made a nice bounce pass in transition to Rodney Stuckey for a layupand a 64-53 advantage. Jonas Jerebko made it 70-55 with a dunk.

Milwaukee trailed 72-68 in the fourth, but Monroe scored inside to halt theBucks’ run. That wasn’t the last time the Bucks cut the deficit to four. It was80-76 and 82-78 late in the fourth, but Knight answered both times with abasket.

“He was great tonight,” Jennings said. “He was aggressive on offense andhe was going for steals on defense. He’s a good young player.”

In their previous five games, the Pistons had allowed opponents to shoot 46of 89 from 3-point range. Milwaukee was only 3 of 17 on Friday—after making 10in each of its previous two games.

The Bucks also had only 10 assists—after six straight games with at least20.

NOTES: Detroit is still without G Ben Gordon (shoulder) and F CharlieVillanueva. The team released an update on Villanueva’s troublesome right ankle,saying he has a “resolving posterior tibial tenosynovitis with small talotibalspurs.” He’s expected to need a few weeks of partial immobilization. … WithVanilla Ice performing at halftime at The Palace, the game drew 13,181.

Now, they don’t seem eager to go back there.

Luke Ridnour made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:23 left, Nikola Pekovicscored a career-high 27 points, and the Timberwolves beat the New Jersey Nets108-105 on Friday night to surpass last season’s road victory total.

The Timberwolves overcame a career-high 42 points from Anthony Morrow, whoseeight 3-pointers in 11 attempts were the most in the NBA this season.

New Jersey Nets ' Anthony … AP – Feb 3, 11:36 pm EST New Jersey Nets head coach Ave… AP – Feb 3, 11:04 pm EST Minnesota Timberwolves head co… AP – Feb 3, 10:59 pm EST Minnesota Timberwolves ' N… AP – Feb 3, 10:56 pm EST Minnesota Timberwolves ' N… AP – Feb 3, 10:52 pm EST Minnesota Timberwolves Jose Ba… AP – Feb 3, 10:38 pm EST Minnesota Timberwolves Kevin L… AP – Feb 3, 10:38 pm EST Minnesota Timberwolves Anthony… AP – Feb 3, 9:08 pm EST New Jersey Nets ' Kris Hum… AP – Feb 3, 9:03 pm EST New Jersey Nets ' Deron Wi… AP – Feb 3, 9:03 pm EST Minnesota Timberwolves Darko M… AP – Feb 3, 8:24 pm EST New Jersey Nets ' Kris Hum… AP – Feb 3, 8:23 pm EST 1 of 12 Min-NJ Gallery

Kevin Love added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which improved to6-4 on the road and 11-12 overall. The Wolves, just 5-36 on the road lastseason, have won three in a row away from home.

So, how about more road games?

“I wish,” Love said. “If it was that way we’d be over the doomed .500mark that we can’t seem to get over. I really don’t even want to talk about itbecause it’s kind of been our Achilles’ heel.”

Rookie Ricky Rubio finished with 10 points, 10 assists and six steals forthe Wolves in his point guard matchup with Deron Williams. Williams had 12points and 14 assists, but shot just 5 of 18 and had two costly turnovers in thefinal half-minute.

Rubio came up with a steal with 1:35 left, leading to Ridnour’s 3-pointerthat made it 102-99. The Wolves got the ball back after replays showed a ballwent off Williams out of bounds with 29 seconds remaining, and Ridnour made twofree throws for a five-point lead.

But Morrow, who missed the last game with a sprained left ankle, converted afour-point play to make it 104-103 with 22 seconds left. Jose Barea and Ridnoureach made a pair from the line around Kris Humphries’ dunk to keep the lead atthree, and the Nets lost their final chance when Williams fumbled the balltrying to throw a pass, with Rubio eventually coming up with it and lofting itdowncourt as time ran out.

“Anthony was open, too,” Williams said. “It was an unfortunate turnover.Last two of the game are on me. I told the team it was my fault.”

Minnesota is just 5-8 at home, where it plays Saturday against Houston. Butthe Wolves seem comfortable on the road. Rubio is quickly making fans around theleague, particularly in large markets, and one fan held a Puerto Rico flagbehind the basket when Barea made his first appearance Friday.

Coach Rick Adelman agreed that maybe the Wolves should play more on theroad.

“It seems like that’s where we win,” he said. “But I think it just givesyou a lot of experience and different guys really stepped up. Pek was terrific.Just really terrific. I thought Ricky was really good tonight.”

Humphries had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Pekovic, in his second year from Montenegro, made 11 of 14 shots. Hereplaced an ineffective Darko Milicic to start the second half and dominatedinside while also grabbing 11 rebounds. His layup erased the Nets’ last lead andtied it a 99 with 1:55 left.

“Pekovic played unbelievable,” Rubio said. “He’s a tough guy. He’s reallytough I can tell you. He saved me a couple of times. I was all over with theball and he was right there to finish the basket. He’s a smart guy.

“He knows how to play. He did an unbelievable job. Maybe he was the key ofthe game today.”

The Wolves led 23-19 after one, then used a 13-1 run early in the second toopen a 36-22 lead on Michael Beasley’s follow with 8:15 remaining in the half.Morrow then hit a 3-pointer and suddenly the Nets were rolling, tearing off a23-5 spurt that gave them a 45-41 edge.

Morrow hit his fourth 3 of the period with 1:33 to go, and the Nets led50-49 at the break.

“It’s just me being in aggressive,” Morrow said. “It’s something that I’mcontinuing to build on.”

The Wolves trailed by one early in the third before Wes Johnson slammed downRubio’s lob pass, then hit a 3-pointer for a 63-59 lead. Love hit two freethrows, Rubio made a nifty move that had the crowd gasping to set up Johnson fora three-point play, and Pekovic hit two free throws to cap a 12-0 burst and makeit 70-59 with 5:17 left in the period.

The Nets cut it to 80-75 after three.

Notes: Morrow’s previous career best of 37 came on Nov. 15, 2008, for GoldenState, when he set an NBA record for most points scored by an undrafted rookie.… Nets C Brook Lopez, out all season with a broken right foot, said he hasbeen jumping rope and running, and that he will soon work on his lateralmovement. … The Nets won’t play in Brooklyn until next season, but they’ll bein New York on Monday. The Nets will wear their jerseys from the New York Netsof the ABA for the first of five games as part of the NBA’s Hardwood Classicnights. They played on Long Island from 1968-77, winning two titles. … Morrowwas wincing as he came down the floor after rebounding the miss of Minnesota’sfirst shot, but didn’t appear bothered again by the ankle injury. … Milicichad missed three games with an illness before returning Wednesday againstIndiana.

A recent season-high four-game losing streak was plagued with turnovers,inconsistent play on defense and stale offense.

Since then, the Magic have dug out of the muck, earning their secondstraight victory, 102-94 over the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night.

Dwight Howard scored 19 points, had 16 rebounds and blocked eight shots, andhit some key late free-throws to help ward off a late Cavs’ charge.

Jason Richardson also added 19 points in his first action in two games afterresting a sore knee. Hedo Turkoglu finished with 18 points and Ryan Andersonchipped in 17.

“We did good job of spacing the floor out, moving the ball and getting eachother involved,” Richardson said. “It was really good for us tonight.Everybody was involved, did a good job on both ends and got the win.”

The Magic won their seventh straight over the Cavaliers, despite playingwithout injured starting point guard Jameer Nelson and suspended reserve big manGlen Davis.

Orlando continues a stretch of nine games in 13 days Saturday at Indiana.

Alonzo Gee led Cleveland with 20 points, followed by Kyrie Irving with 18.

The Cavs have lost three of their last four and returns home to host Dallason Saturday before going to Miami on Tuesday.

The Magic came in averaging 15.5 turnovers per game, but had just fiveagainst the Cavs and opened up a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter.

The Cavs got it down to 95-90 with 2:12 to play by fouling Howardintentionally and sending him to the free-throw line.

Howard missed four straight attempts from the line during one stretch beforesinking a pair to give the Magic a seven-point cushion and help close it out. Hefinished 9 for 16 for the evening.

He said he is never surprised when teams resort to fouling him, especiallywith the career-low 47 percent he came in shooting from the stripe.

“No, that’s the game plan,” Howard said. “Until I get better at the linethey’re gonna continue to do it. It is what it is. I shot them better. I justgotta continue to work on them. They’ll fall.”

Despite the missing and still healing bodies on their roster, the Magicmanaged to take a nine-point advantage into the break, building their cushion byhitting six first-half 3s. Richardson also hit five of his six field goalattempts for 11 points.

Cleveland also helped out, connecting on only 29 percent of its field goals(14 for 48). Antawn Jamison kept the Cavs close with an 11-point, 10 reboundeffort in the half.

The Cavaliers finished shooting 36 percent, ultimately undermining theirfouling strategy.

“I think you can do it at any point in time,” Scott said. “I don’t thinkyou necessarily have to have to be down. Until he proves he can hit 75 percenton those free throws on a consistent basis.”

Cleveland scored 41 points in the fourth quarter.

“I wish we could put the first three quarters together like we did thefourth,” he said. “We couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean for the first threequarters. It was tough.”

Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy had to make some pregame adjustments to hisrotation after Davis was suspended for two games prior to tip-off Friday forconduct detrimental to the team. He’ll also miss the Indiana game.

Van Gundy acknowledged before the game that he and Davis were involved in averbal incident during the morning walkthrough, but said nothing physical tookplace. He didn’t elaborate further, though added he said he didn’t expect thesuspension to go beyond two games.

Nelson continues to deal with concussion symptoms. Without a true thirdpoint guard behind Chris Duhon, the team released Larry Hughes followingWednesday’s win over Washington and signed free agent Ish Smith Thursday.

Smith had two early assists, including one on a dunk by Earl Clark, but alsohad three fouls in just five minutes of action early. He finished with fourassists in nine minutes of action.

Van Gundy said it was nice to have Richardson back, but he will reserveevaluation for a few more days.

“I don’t know if today is as big a test as tomorrow,” Van Gundy said. “Ithink when he gets up and gets moving on it tomorrow will be the bigger test.”

NOTES: Van Gundy said Nelson, who sat out his fourth straight game withconcussion symptoms, did do some limited, off-court physical activity Friday andhas a chance of returning Monday against the L.A. Clippers. … The Cavs playedwithout G Daniel Gibson (soft tissue infection in neck), G Anthony Parker (backstrain) and F Tristan Thompson (ankle sprain).