The AP reports: Amare Stoudemire had 29 points and 11 rebounds and the Suns overcame Shaquille O’Neal’s second-quarter ejection to beat the Detroit Pistons 104-86… Steve Nash, back from a one-game suspension for his part in a skirmish with several Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, added 17 points and seven assists for the Suns, who were without two players even before O’Neal was tossed for a flagrant foul with 5:19 left in the first half. Boris Diaw had 13 points for Phoenix. Richard Hamilton scored 19 for the Pistons, who entered the game 3-0 on a four-game western swing that began Tuesday. In their previous stop, they handed the Lakers their first loss of the season Friday night in Los Angeles. Detroit’s Allen Iverson scored nine points on 4-for-17 shooting.

The AP reports: Chauncey Billups scored 26 points, J.R. Smith had eight of his 14 points in a decisive fourth-quarter stretch and the Denver Nuggets overcame poor shooting to hand Minnesota its eighth straight loss, 90-84 on Sunday night. Carmelo Anthony added 14 points and 12 rebounds to help Denver improve to 5-1 since the Nuggets acquired Billups in the trade that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit. Al Jefferson had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Randy Foye added 18 points for Minnesota. The Timberwolves haven’t won since beating Sacramento in their opener… The Nuggets won despite a poor shooting night from Billups and Anthony, who were a combined 11-for-40 from the field.

The AP reports: Dirk Nowitzki scored seven of his season-high 39 points in overtime and grabbed 15 rebounds, and the Mavericks snapped a five-game skid with a 124-114 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday. Josh Howard added season highs of 31 points and 14 rebounds… They were down 15 in the first half and trailed for almost all the first 48 minutes, then tied it with a furious rally and didn’t allow a field goal in overtime… Jason Terry scored 16 of his 20 points after halftime for the Mavs, who avoided their first six-game skid since Feb. 29-March 9, 2000. Reserves James Singleton and Brandon Bass each added 12… Zach Randolph had 27 points and 18 rebounds in his eighth straight double-double for the Knicks, who were 0-for-9 in overtime and lost for the first time this season when scoring 100 points… Quentin Richardson had 17 points and Chris Duhon added 16 points and 12 assists. Jamal Crawford also had 16 points.

The AP reports: Dwight Howard has played a role in winning more than a few games for the Orlando Magic in his career. On Sunday night, the Magic showed that they can win a game without him. Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points to lead four Orlando players in double figures in a 90-85 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. Mickael Pietrus added 18 points, Rashard Lewis had 17 and Jameer Nelson 15 for Orlando, which overcame a five-point halftime deficit for its third straight road win… Gerald Wallace scored 17 points, and Raymond Felton and Adam Morrison had 14 each for the Bobcats, who led 51-47 with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

The AP reports: Chris Bosh scored 27 points, Jermaine O’Neal had 11 points and 18 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors snapped a two-game losing streak with a 107-96 victory over the Heat on Sunday. Kris Humphries scored 14 points and Andrea Bargnani added 12 in his first start of the season. Jason Kapono and Anthony Parker each had 10. Dwyane Wade scored 29 for Miami, with Daequan Cook adding a season-high 16 and Michael Beasley 13. Chris Quinn had 11 points and Udonis Haslem added 10 for the Heat… Toronto guard Jose Calderon sat out with a strained right hamstring and was replaced by Will Solomon, who finished with 15 points and 11 assists.

Sunday evening in Madison Square Garden the New York Knicks hosted the Dallas Mavericks. NY enters the game with 6 wins and 3 losses while struggling Dallas is 2-7. InsideHoops.com presents raw, uneditede game notes taken live in MSG as the game happened.

Gerald Green started at shooting guard for Dallas. And their first sub off the bench was Clippers cast-off James Singleton.

New music clip in the live-game MSG music rotation: Beastie Boys singing “What’s the time… It’s time to get ill!”

The Knicks are hot early, leading 16-9 with seven quick Zach Randolph points plus five from Jamal Crawford. Dirk Nowitzki has six for the Mavs.

The Knicks like to shoot open shots quickly, even if they just came up the floor. Quentin Richardson does this and nails a three putting NY up 10.

Knicks fans don’t get particularly excited when David Lee enters the game anymore. They are just as happy to see Nate Robinson.

Dirk is burning everyone who guards him with outside stand-still jumpers.

Randolph can make open threes. As he just reminded Dallas. And a minute later he pops a deep two.

Mavs players seem to not create for each other. Almost all of Dirk’s shots are from him standing still, facing the defender and simply shooting over him.

End of first quarter: Knicks 35, Mavs 26. The Knicks shot 60%, the Mavs 41.4%. For NY Randolph had 16 points and six rebounds. Jamal Crawford scored seven. Chris Duhon had four assists. For Dallas, Dirk scored 11 with five rebounds. J-Ho had nine with four rebounds.

The Mavs offense looks random. It has sped up now, with guys driving in circles and passing to guys who aren’t really in position to do anything.

The Knicks have 50 and the second quarter is almost half over.

With Kidd back in the faster Mavs movement appears to make more sense but they still trail by eight with a few minutes left in the half. They have energy now, though.

Dirk finally drove. And drew a hack.

The Mavs looked like a real basketball team in the second quarter. They were aggressive and got to the loine more. They need to make a habit of this.

End of first half: Knicks 64, Mavs 57. For NY Randolph has 20 points and 11 rebounds. Crawford has 11. David Lee has 10 with six rebounds. For Dallas Dirk has 26 on 14 shots with nine rebounds. Josh Howard has 13. Jason Kidd has four assists and little else.

Dallas starts the third quarter strong and looks like they should. This with their four usual starters plus Jason Terry.

Q-Rich drives right baseline past a caught-off-guard J-Ho and crams a surprising reverse dunk. However, in general Q does not look as quick as he needs to be.

Standing ovation for Plaxico Buress and Brandon Jacobs of the New York Giants. Earlier in the game Magic Johnson also got love.

Nice left baseline jumper from Brandon Bass. Knicks lead by seven.

Jason Terry hits a three over a slow-moving Q-Rich.

Wilson Chandler has a beautiful, high-arc jumper. He can hit it with a defender on him.

A double on Dirk leaves JJ Barea open and he swishes a deep jumper which ties the game at 86.

Surrounded by defenders down low, Randolph saw Lee start to cut down the middle of the paint and hit him with a perfect pass for a dunk. See folks, Zach can pass, sometimes.

End of third quarter: Knicks 91 Mavs 89. Randolph now has 25 and 17. Crawford has 16. Chandler 14. Chris Duhon has nine assists. For Dallas Dirk has 28 and 11. Jason Terry was hot in the third and now has 18.

In the fourth a Berea three makes it a one point game. His outside shot is legit.

Richardson is doing it from outside. He can launch quickly and drain it. Knicks up 101-96.

Kidd backs Robinson way down near the basket and dishes out for a wide open Howard jumper. And Howard scores again. The Mavs need him to help lead, not follow.

Dirk is trying to do it alone, creating jumpers for himself and missing them.

Richardson keeps swishing threes. His latest gives NY a seven point lead.

Dirk heats up in the final few minutes though. And a Jason Terry slash ties it at 112.

As fans rise to their feet NY is unable to get a good shot. Richardson forces it and misses, Knicks keep it alive but can’t score, and the Mave have it with 9.5 seconds. Timeout.

Jason Terry tries to do it alone and misses a contested jumper. We have overtime.

The Mavs go nuts in overtime and run away with it. Dallas was on something like a 19 to 2 run towards the end of the fourth and in OT. The Knicks missed their final 13 shots. An exciting game in NY despite the loss.
Final score: Mavs 124, Knicks 114 OT.

New York Newsday (Alan Hahn) reports: Seattle no longer has an NBA team (for now), but among the best things to come out of the Emerarld City still includes basketball players. There is a growing contingent of NBA players from Seattle: Jason Terry, Brandon Roy, Spencer Hawes, Aaron Brooks, Rodney Stuckey, Luke Ridnour and the Knicks’ own Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson. The list will continue to grow, for sure, especially with Louisville standout Terrence Williams on his way. And one of the Next Ones is a kid named Isaiah Thomas and if his name sounds familiar his game looks even more familiar. See if you can guess who he looks up to: 5-foot-nothing, a-hundred-and-nothing freshman at Washington who can score the ball from anywhere and buzzes around the court like a hedgehog on a six-pack of Amp.

The AP reports: Derrick Rose showed another dimension to his already impressive game and led the Chicago Bulls to a victory just before they start a tough seven-game road trip. Besides his quick first step and fearless forays to the basket, Rose displayed his 3-point shot Saturday night while scoring 23 points and helping the Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers 104-91… Rose finished 3-of-5 on 3-pointers after going 2-for-9 in the first nine games… T.J. Ford led the Pacers with 16 points. Ford had a pair of baskets, one after a steal, as Indiana closed within two in the fourth before the Bulls took off… Nocioni scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds, Gordon chipped in 19 points and Rose added eight assists. Danny Granger had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Troy Murphy 12 points and 13 boards for the Pacers.

The AP reports: Paul Pierce hit a 3-pointer on a second chance, and he and Allen hit all six of their free throws, lifting Boston to a scrappy 102-97 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night… Pierce scored 28 points and Allen finished with 27, combining to hit 23 of 24 free throws. Boston went 32-of-36 as a team. Milwaukee hit its share, too, going 30-of-38 with the teams combining for 62 personal fouls, nine technicals and one ejection… Bucks rookie Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who finished with 14 points, hit two free throws to give Milwaukee a 95-93 lead, but Pierce answered with a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound by Garnett to put Boston up by one… Milwaukee, already without leading scorer Michael Redd (right ankle) and Charlie Villanueva (hamstring strain), finished 1-for-11 in overtime after rallying from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

The AP reports: The Houston Rockets refused to let a big fourth-quarter lead slip away two nights in a row. Yao Ming scored 21 points, Tracy McGrady added 18 points and nine rebounds, and the Rockets bottled up Chris Paul in a 91-82 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday. Paul, who came in averaging 22 points, went 2-of-10 from the field and made all eight free throws to score 12. He had 12 assists, but the Hornets shot 41 percent (31-for-76) and were outrebounded 41-35. Luis Scola added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who led by 12 at the half and shot 53 percent (8-for-15) in the third quarter to take a 70-53 lead to the fourth. The Hornets couldn’t crack Houston’s double-digit lead until David West sank a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left… West scored 18 and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Hornets. Tyson Chandler added 16 points and Devin Brown scored 13.

The AP reports: Watch out NBA, Greg Oden is starting to clear the cobwebs from two injuries, giving Brandon Roy a monster presence down low for the young Portland Trail Blazers. Playing the first back-to-back of his career, the former No. 1 draft pick followed his first double-double with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 23 minutes. Roy then closed things out in the Blazers’ 88-83 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night… Roy, who was originally chosen by the Timberwolves but traded for Randy Foye on draft night, scored 24 points for the Blazers, including a driving layup and a fast-break dunk in the closing minute that gave them the lead for good… Al Jefferson had 26 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves (1-7), who have lost seven in a row since an opening night victory over Sacramento.

The AP reports: LeBron James scored 16 of his 38 points in the final period, leading a second-half rally that gave the Cavaliers their seventh straight victory, 105-93 over the short-handed Utah Jazz… Cleveland, which is 8-2 overall and 6-0 at home, tied the game at 69 later in the quarter on Delonte West’s 3-pointer and finally took the lead for good, 76-74, on James’ two free throws with 30 seconds left in the period. That marked the Cavaliers’ first lead since they were up 25-23 with 10:59 left in the second period. Carlos Boozer, who led Utah with 17 points, is familiar with James’ ability. He played his first two seasons with the Cavaliers before signing with the Jazz in 2004… Mo Williams added 20 points for the Cavaliers, including a 3-pointer and a layup midway through the fourth quarter that pushed Cleveland’s lead to 95-84, its biggest since the first quarter… Paul Millsap led Utah in the first half with 11 points and finished with 15. The Jazz made 20 of 38 shots in the first two quarters but were 13-of-34 in the second half.

The AP reports: The Philadelphia 76ers expended quite a bit of energy in overcoming a 26-point deficit in their victory at Indiana. Yet they still had plenty of pep one night later. Thaddeus Young scored 23 points, Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala added 15 apiece, and the 76ers cruised past the struggling Oklahoma City Thunder, 110-85 on Saturday… Samuel Dalembert contributed 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Sixers, who won their third straight game to even their record at 5-5… Jeff Green scored 21 points and Kevin Durant added 13 for Oklahoma City, which fell to 1-9 and dropped its seventh in a row. Durant, who was the Rookie of the Year last season, shot just 6-of-18. Russell Westbrook also had 13 points and Johan Petro grabbed 12 rebounds.

The AP reports: Devin Harris’ confidence is soaring, just like his scoring.  Harris scored 33 points, Vince Carter had 29 and the New Jersey Nets beat the Atlanta Hawks 119-107 on Saturday night, completing a sweep of the two-day, home-and-home series… The Nets made 55 percent of their shots from the field (38 of 69) and set a season high in scoring for the second straight night… Joe Johnson scored 31 points for Atlanta, which has lost three straight after a 6-0 start. The Hawks played their fifth straight game without forward Josh Smith, who has a sprained left ankle. Center Zaza Pachulia was held out with a sore left shoulder… Marvin Williams and Flip Murray each had 14 points and Horford added 12.

The AP reports: In the first meeting between Baron Davis and Corey Maggette since they switched teams as free agents this summer, an undrafted rookie named Anthony Morrow stole the show. Morrow had 37 points and 11 rebounds in his first NBA start, leading the Golden State Warriors to a 121-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday. His point total was the highest by a rookie this season, topping O.J. Mayo’s 33, and was the highest ever by an undrafted player in his rookie campaign… Andris Biedrins had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Warriors, who blew a 14-point lead before pulling away early in the fourth quarter. Biedrins recorded his 16th consecutive double-double, the team’s longest streak since Nate Thurmond’s 18 straight in 1971-72. Stephen Jackson had 20 points and 10 assists. Davis finished with 25 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who also got nice efforts from Chris Kaman and reserve Marcus Camby. Kaman had 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Camby got 12 points and 11 boards. Cuttino Mobley finished with 19 points.

he San Antonio Spurs today announced they have signed guard Blake Ahearn. Per club policy terms of the contract were not released. At the same time the team announced that guard Desmon Farmer has been waived.

Ahearn is the first player called up from the NBA Development League in the 2008-09 season. He was in Minnesota’s 2008 training camp where he averaged 7.8 points and 1.2 assists in five games. After being waived by the Timberwolves he joined the Dakota Wizards. Ahearn was in camp with the Wizards prior to signing with the Spurs.

During the 2007-08 season the 6-2, 190-pound, Ahearn appeared in 41 games for the Wizards. He averaged 19.0 points, 3.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes per game. He shot .486 (239-492) from the field, .439 (108-246) from three-point land and .960 (192-200) from the line. Ahearn was named the 2008 D-League Rookie of the Year and earned a spot on the All D-League Second Team.

Ahearn was signed by the Miami Heat on 3/21/08. He spent the remainder of the 2007-08 season with Miami. In 12 games with the Heat he averaged 5.8 points, 1.6 assists and 1.6 rebounds.

Ahearn played his collegiate ball at Missouri State.  In four seasons with the Bears, he averaged 13.8 points, 1.8 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 128 games.  Ahearn earned First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors his junior and senior seasons. For his career Ahearn shot .423 (483-1,142) from the field, .408 (276-676) from three-point range and .946 (435-460) from the foul line.  He finished collegiate career as the all-time leading free throw shooter in NCAA Division I history.  Ahearn led the nation in free throw shooting his freshman, sophomore, and junior years.

Farmer was signed by the Spurs as a free agent on 9/17/08.  He appeared in three games for the Silver and Black, averaging 4.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 18.0 minutes.