Suns release Dee Brown

The Phoenix Suns have released guard Daniel “Dee” Brown, the club announced today.

The 6-0, 181-pound guard appeared in two games for Phoenix in a reserve role, averaging 2.5 points and 1.5 assists in 14.0 minutes.  Brown hit a three-pointer in his first action with Phoenix on Dec. 29 at Oklahoma City and also finished with one assist in 13 minutes.  A night later in Memphis, the Illinois product scored two points, dished two assists and grabbed a rebound in 15 minutes.  The two-year NBA performer was signed by the Suns on Dec. 24 after appearing in 17 games (11 starts) with the Washington Wizards to begin 2008-09.

The Suns roster now stands at 12.

A season-high seven games above .500, the Suns return to action tomorrow night, Wed., Jan. 7, hosting the Indiana Pacers at 7 p.m. at US Airways Center.

Read fan reaction and discuss your opinion in this forum thread.

Antoine Walker charged with DUI

The AP reports: Former NBA player Antoine Walker was charged with suspicion of drunk driving in Miami Beach early Monday morning, further hurting his chances of playing again this season. Walker was driving a black Mercedes without the lights on when he was pulled over at 5:39 a.m., according to the arrest report. Officers detected a strong odor of alcohol and wrote in the report that Walker had a sleepy look on his face. He refused a breathalyzer test… Walker was being held Monday on a $1,000 bond and jail officials said they did not immediately know if he has attorney.

InsideHoops.com reader Goose says: Any word on the secondary charge of making a career out of jacking up careless jumpers?

Don Nelson job safe

The San Francisco Chronicle (Janny Hu) reports: Despite the dismal start and consecutives losses to the two worst teams in the NBA this week, Warriors President Robert Rowell reiterated Monday that coach Don Nelson’s job in not in jeopardy. “No, I’ve not given it an ounce of thought,” Rowell said before the game at Utah. “Nellie’s a great coach. I think he’s done his job as a coach. I think Nellie has done everything he’s done his last 30 years in the business. … “Unfortunately, we’ve had Corey (Maggette) out 15 games, we’ve had Monta (Ellis) out, we’re banged up. It’s still not an excuse – it’s the NBA – but we knew when Monta went down that this would be a tough start to the year.”

New nickname for Nenad Krstic

The Oklahoman (Darnell Mayberry) reports: Nenad Krstic is officially a member of the Thunder after having his work visa approved Monday. And with a new team comes a new nickname. Krstic, the 7-foot center who was signed Dec. 30, is no longer affectionately referred to as “Curly” as he was during his four seasons with the New Jersey Nets. Thunder players have taken to the nickname “Krispy.” While the nickname is more of a play off Krstic’s last name, it could carry a double meaning for how crisp Krstic has been in his first week of practice. “He’s looking good,” Desmond Mason said of Krstic, who could make his Thunder debut tonight against the New York Knicks.

Lone Star teams break women`s scoring record

InsideHoops.com covers the WNBA, but we don’t do a lot of women’s college hoops stuff. Still, all basketball fans should take 20 seconds to skim this, below:

The AP reports: Jamie Meyer scored 49 points to help Abilene Christian overcome a 63-point effort by Renee Renz and beat Texas Woman’s 147-143 in quadruple overtime on Monday night in a record-setting game. The Division II schools combined to break the NCAA record for points in a game of 261 set by St. Joseph’s (Ind.) and Northern Kentucky in 1988. The 143 points by Texas Woman’s broke the NCAA record for most points by the losing team. The 112 points the two teams scored in the overtimes also was an NCAA record as was Abilene Christian’s 58 in overtime… Renz was 22-of-36 from the field and 15-of-17 from the free throw line. She also had 15 rebounds.

Williams helps Jazz hold off Warriors

The AP reports: Paul Millsap scored 19 points and had 14 rebounds to lead the Jazz to a 119-114 victory over the Warriors on Monday night. It was his 18th consecutive double-double in place of Boozer, who has missed 23 straight games since injuring his left knee on Nov. 19. Boozer will have arthroscopic knee surgery Friday… Deron Williams had 25 points and 15 assists, Ronnie Brewer scored seven crucial points down the stretch to help the Jazz hold off the Warriors… Mehmet Okur had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Andrei Kirilenko added 15 for the Jazz… Jamal Crawford scored 28 points and Maggette had 23 points in his return but the Warriors have now lost four of five games and were winless on their three-game road trip… Andris Biedrins had 14 points and 17 rebounds, but no other Warrior grabbed more than five boards.

Nuggets beat Pacers 135-115 but Melo breaks hand

The AP reports: Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points and set a season-high with nine assists despite injuring his hand in the third quarter of the Denver Nuggets’ 135-115 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night… Kenyon Martin finished with 25 points, the fourth time this season he’s led the team in scoring. Danny Granger had 36 points, the most scored against the Nuggets this season. He’s now scored 30 or more points 10 times this season… Troy Murphy added 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Jarrett Jack contributed 17.

Redd, Villanueva lift Bucks over Raptors

The AP reports: Charlie Villanueva thought any win the Milwaukee Bucks could get without Andrew Bogut would be big. This one was Villanueva’s first. Michael Redd scored a season-high 35 points and Villanueva added 13 of his 25 in the fourth quarter Monday night, leading Milwaukee to its first victory without Bogut in 21 months, 107-97 over the Toronto Raptors… The Raptors, playing without center Jermaine O’Neal and guard Jose Calderon on this two-game road trip, turned to Chris Bosh, who had 31 points on 12-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds to help Toronto hold the lead through most of three quarters. The Raptors shot 54 percent for the night… But neither he, nor Andrea Bargnani, who added 21 points as O’Neal’s replacement, could keep up with the Bucks down the stretch.

Carter has 29, Yi 22 to lead Nets over Kings 98-90

The AP reports: With leading scorer Devin Harris sidelined in the second half, the New Jersey Nets turned to Vince Carter and couple of other things that have not been as reliable—Yi Jianlian and defense. Carter scored 29 points, Yi added 22 points and a season-high 13 rebounds and the Nets limited Sacramento to 36 second-half points in handing the Kings their 11th straight road loss, 98-90 on Monday night… Getting 17 second-half points from Carter was no surprise. Getting 15 points and 10 rebounds from Yi was stunning… Kevin Martin, who scored 45 on Saturday night, had 36 points for the woeful Kings (8-27). The reserve scored 11 in the second half, when he was 3-of-12 from the field.