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Tyrus ThomasTyrus Thomas did not play versus the Heat on Saturday. Instead, Chris Richard, recently signed from the D-League's Tulsa 66ers (owned by the Oklahoma City Thunder and rife with talent) got the minutes Thomas would have. And he didn't score the winning field goal, or spur an offensive explosion. But Richard came in, and did his job. He grabbed seven rebounds, handed out two assists, nabbed a steal, and had two blocks. This is the box score version. But the combination of effort and size he put in what exactly what the Bulls needed, especially with Joakim Noah out, and helped the Bulls outlast Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat.

That effort is in deep contrast to Thomas' absence, caused by a post-game tirade after the Bulls loss in Atlanta the night before. Thomas has been on the outs in Chicago since an injury derailed him early in the season. Upon return, he discovered that Taj Gibson's steady, consistent, but un-jaw-dropping play had cemented him in the starting power forward spot. Thomas responded with the same approach he's taken for most of his career. Disinterest mixed with resentment, lacking any effort to consistently produce what's being asked of him. If Tyrus Thomas is everything the fans want when he tries, Chris Richard is good enough for what his coaches want because he does try.
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CHICAGO -- Lindsey Hunter got up Saturday morning and walked around the house.

"Click. Click. Click,'' was a sound he heard. His wife, Ivy, wondered what it was.

"It's ridiculous,'' said Hunter, the Chicago Bulls guard who is the NBA's oldest player at 39. "When I got up and started walking around, my ankles click when I walk. My wife asked, 'What is that?' I said, 'It's my ankles.' Seriously, my ankles click when I walk. You can't recover (at his age) the way you used to.''

That's one reason Hunter said in an interview with FanHouse he expects to retire after this season. Hunter, who was brought back for a final year primarily to serve as a mentor for Chicago's young players, realizes the NBA is no place for 40-year old guards.

"It is unless something drastically changes,'' Hunter, a 17-year veteran, said of this being his final NBA season.

Later, after Hunter was asked if he was pretty sure this is indeed his final season, he said, "Yeah.''
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Tyrus ThomasCHICAGO -- From darling to snarling.

Chicago last week was the toast of the NBA after becoming the first team in NBA history to win five straight games on the road with all against teams .500 or better. But this week has been the pits for the Bulls.

The Bulls entered Saturday's home game against Miami with a three-game losing streak. And two of the losses were to the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia, definitely not teams over .500.

The news didn't get any better before Saturday's game. The Bulls announced forward Tyrus Thomas had been suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team.

"It's unfortunate, but it's an internal matter,'' said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. " Gar [Forman, the general manger] and myself will handle it ... It's disappointing. But I believe it is the right thing to do ... No one player is bigger than the team.''
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Derrick Rose will defend his championship in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge at All-Star weekend, but will have to beat two former champions and one of the league's top rookies to retain the title.

The field is set, and will feature Deron WIlliams, Steve Nash, and Brandon Jennings. Nash won it back in 2005, and WIlliams was the champ in 2008. But neither finished his final round with as much flair as Rose did a season ago.
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Derrick RoseAll-Star weekend is a busy time for the players who are scheduled to participate in even one of the events; it would be crazy busy for a player who was scheduled to compete in all of them.

That was how things were starting to shape up for Derrick Rose. The Bulls' second-year standout was booked solid all weekend long, initially slated to compete in the Rookie - Sophomore game on Friday, the Skills Challenge on Saturday, and the main event on Sunday.

Thankfully, someone came to their senses.

The Bulls pointed out Rose's busy weekend to the league office, and they relented ... a little. The NBA has decided to excuse Rose from Friday night's Rookie Challenge, mainly because they couldn't find a precedent for making a player take part in events on all three days.
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Chauncey BillupsFor the most part, the coaches got it right while selecting the 2010 All-Star reserves. But no matter how many deserving players get in, there are always a few who were on the fringe that could just have easily made the team. In no particular order, here's our list of notable names that may have a reason to feel snubbed.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Chris Kaman (Clippers): Kaman is having his best year as a pro, averaging 20.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. But the team he plays for is abysmal (seriously, how do you lose to a Nets team playing without Devin Harris by 16 points?), and that seemed to factor heavily in this year's selection of reserves. As noted by Eric Freeman over at The Baseline, every player on the reserves came from a team with a winning record. And unfortunately for Kaman, his Clippers don't fall into that category.

Chauncey Billups (Nuggets): Let's get this out of the way right now: Billups is an All-Star. The Nuggets are on fire, and there's no way they play at that level without Chauncey running the show. The problem he faced was too much talent at the guard spot in the Western Conference. With Chris Paul and Deron Williams locks to get in, and Brandon Roy almost singlehandedly keeping the Blazers afloat through their rash of injuries, he had to get in, too. But Roy has missed six of the last seven games with a hamstring injury, and if it remains serious enough to keep him sidelined for All-Star weekend, look for Billups to get the call as his replacement.
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Earlier this winter, the Hornets tried to send Devin Brown to Minnesota as part of Operation Avoid Tax. The team entered the season a good bit over the luxury tax threshold, and a bad start on the court left the franchise looking panicky. Brown was so close to heading to Minnesota that the Wolves even posted the trade -- for Jason Hart, whose deal was unguaranteed until Jan. 10 -- on the team website. It fell through when Brown refused to waive his trade kicker, worth about $100,000. (The nerve!)

So Plan B, or C, as it were: the Hornets managed to trade Hilton Armstrong for a phantom draft pick, getting the team within $400,000 of the tax line. At that point, the Hornets could get away with pawning off Sean Marks or Ike Diogu to someone under the tax to slip under the threshold themselves, earning the all-important pay-out given to non-tax teams, and expected to be at least $4 million this season.
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Derrick RosePHOENIX -- Derrick Rose hasn't exactly been known as a great shooter in his young NBA career. But with a few more performances like he had Friday night against the Suns, that might start to change.

Rose led the Bulls to a 115-104 road victory, thanks largely to his ability to consistently knock down the mid-range jumper. He was 15-for-21 from the field, and a quick look at his shot chart shows that all but four of his shots came in the 8- to 20-feet range away from the basket.

"I was just taking what they were giving me," Rose said. "They were giving me jumpshots; that's something I've been shooting the whole summer, something I've been working on. And I'm improving on it."

Especially lately.

Coming off of an ankle injury in the preseason, Rose got off to a slow start. But he seems to be back to full strength now, averaging over 23 points, 6.7 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game in the month of December, while helping his team to a 5-2 record in their last seven games.

But enough of the mid-range jumper talk: it's showtime.
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Kobe BryantAs the 2009-10 season approaches the midway point, last year's playoffs are a distant memory, right?

Perhaps not. The NBA released their list of the best-selling jerseys for the first half of the season, combining sales from the NBA Store in New York City and orders placed on NBAStore.com, and several of last year's most notable postseason heroes have made the most dramatic climbs.

After winning yet another ring, Kobe Bryant remains the top seller for the second year in a row (his real secret? They taste as good as they look!), followed by the marketing machine that is LeBron James.

The third and fourth spots, though, belong to Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose, respectively, who each climbed seven spots from their rankings last year.

At this time last year, Howard was already universally recognized as a bona fide superstar, setting an NBA record with over three million All-Star votes -- but it wasn't until he led the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals that it became fashionable to wear his uniform.
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New Year Time Capsule: East

By Matt Moore 1/01/2010 2:50 PM ET

Think of this as kind of a time capsule, for us to look back on in four months when the playoffs begin, in a year when everything settles, or in future decades when our descendants have cloned Tim Duncan and spliced him with Dane Cook to create the ultimate weapon of both rote efficiency and annoying doom.

Here's where every team in the Eastern Conference stands on January 1st, 2010.

Atlanta Hawks: On pace for their best season since 1997, including their best offensive season ever (Offensive rating of 112.9 according to Basketball Reference) and their best defensive squad since 2001. The Hawks are threatening to make the Eastern Conference a "Big Four" though back to back losses to the suddenly red-hot Cavs have tempered that somewhat. Josh Smith is putting forth a strong effort for most-improved player, defensive player of the year, and the All-Star game.
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