TNT was in talks with the NBA to drop the Denver Nuggets' game Thursday night against the Seattle SuperSonics after Carmelo Anthony was hit with a 15-game suspension on Dec. 18, according to the Rocky Mountain News. Instead, TNT had considered moving the Phoenix at Dallas game to the late slot and adding Utah at San Antonio Spurs as the early game. Those plans, changed, however, when the Nuggets traded for Allen Iverson, keeping the game of interest nationally.
Of course, TNT is likely thrilled it didn't have the Jazz/Spurs game on national television. San Antonio dominated from the start and coasted to a lopsided victory. Incidentally, Utah's only appearance on TNT this season was a blowout loss to the Lakers on Nov. 30. ...
Maurice Cheeks isn't producing many wins this season as the 76ers' coach, yet he knows Philadelphia has as good a chance as anybody in the struggling Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.
The 76ers, still adjusting to life without Allen Iverson, sit in last place in the division, but they were only 5 1/2 games back of leader Toronto through Thursday.
"We still have a chance," Cheeks said with a chuckle. "We were talking about that the other day that we have seven wins and the leader of our division (had) 12 wins. If we get one here or two there, we're right there. It seems kind of funny, but we still exist. If we come out on top of that division, I wouldn't care if it's the worst division ever. There are a lot of sub-.500 teams."
Cheeks is trying to be patient with his team as the Sixers as ex-Ute Andre Miller, acquired in the Iverson trade, adjusts to a new system and new teammates.
"He's a guy who we depend on so much now with the ball in his hands 60 or 70 times," Cheeks said. "We've got to get him more comfortable being that guy we have to go to — especially late in the game. He has the potential to fill up the stat sheet." ...
He went from genius in January to scapegoat by summer. Now, Flip Saunders is back on top.
Not that he paid too much attention either way.
"I don't read papers, I don't listen to things," the Detroit Pistons coach said. "I just go about as I think any coach goes about. You coach your team to the best that you think you can do."
This time last year, Saunders was praised for the way he had improved the Pistons' offense after replacing Larry Brown. Detroit was off to the best start in the league and seemed headed for a third straight NBA finals appearance.
But when the Pistons fell short, the fingers pointed at Saunders. He was blamed for letting the Pistons get away from Brown's tough defense-minded tendencies, especially when Detroit couldn't stop Miami's Dwyane Wade in the Eastern Conference finals.
Worse, he alienated Ben Wallace along the way. After Wallace bolted Detroit for Chicago as a free agent over the summer, he cited his relationship with Saunders as one of his reasons for leaving.
Now, Detroit is again on top of the East standings. But no matter where Saunders was during his roller-coaster year, he was comfortable that he was doing the right things. ...
Iverson's trade to Denver could cost him his usual All-Star game starting spot.
A fan favorite, Iverson has started in all seven of his appearances. He was twice the MVP of the game, in 2001 and 2005.
He was on track to start again before the Philadelphia 76ers dealt him earlier this month, but that's now in jeopardy. The NBA released its second set of voting results this week, and Iverson had 975,319 votes.
That would have been second in the Eastern Conference behind Miami's Dwyane Wade, but it's only third in the West behind two other perennial starters, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady.
Iverson has until late next month to make up the total if he wants to be a starter in Las Vegas on Feb. 18. Paper balloting runs until Jan. 15, and voting can be done online until Jan. 21.
Benefiting from Iverson's trade is New Jersey's Vince Carter, who moved up to second among East guards. ...
The Chicago Bulls got a defender, shot blocker and rebounder when they signed Ben Wallace during the offseason. Now they want an inside scoring threat to go along with him.
"The one thing I think we'd all like is the guy who plays with his back to the basket and scores those buckets inside, and maybe run some offense through (him)," Bulls general manager John Paxson told the Chicago Tribune. "We'd like to have another (scorer) to compliment what Ben (Gordon) can do." ...
Phoenix point guard Steve Nash has done just fine for himself since leaving the Dallas Mavericks — as his back-to-back MVP trophies will attest. Still, he wonders what might have been had he stayed Dirk Nowitzki's teammate.
"I spend time thinking about it," Nash admitted to the Dallas Morning News. "But it is what it is. It would have been nice to have a shot at it with the group, the city and the team you spent six years with. I have a feeling we could have won one (championship) at least. But that's behind us. I love playing in Phoenix. I miss playing in Dallas. It's a great town. But if I had to go anywhere, I went to a perfect situation, obviously."