Veteran guard Sam Cassell has spent most of the season on Boston's inactive list. When Gabe Pruitt missed the Celtics' game with Orlando, however, Cassell dressed and sat on the bench. He didn't play, but he was slapped with a pair of technical fouls by referee Bob Delaney during a timeout in the second quarter. Referring to Boston coach Doc Rivers, Cassell explained, "I did the dirty work for Doc. That's what that was." Said Rivers: "I told him he took a bullet for me."

NEW YORK Knicks

Heart of the matter

When the Knicks acquired veteran guard Cuttino Mobley from the Clippers as part of the three-team deal that allowed them to shed the bloated salaries of Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford, the team knew he had some kind of heart condition. But the Knicks approved of the deal "as is"

because they wanted so badly to get some salary cap relief. Now, it appears Mobley's career is in jeopardy because the doctors in New York have not cleared him to play. More tests are pending, however.

SAN ANTONIO Spurs

Any more questions?

After the Pistons beat the Spurs, coach Gregg Popovich wasn't in the mood for stupid questions. So he interviewed himself: "I'm going to say this very succinctly so, after I say it, nobody has to say, 'Well, why do you think that, Pop?' Think we can do that? OK. I thought we played very poorly. Very unwisely. We have to have more people play well. . . . And the most disturbing thing is we were very soft. Detroit intimidated us. They ran us off the court with their aggressiveness and physicality. It was really sad to watch. I thought we totally folded to their aggressive play. Thus, the loss." End of interview.

HOUSTON Rockets

A Francis sighting

With Tracy McGrady and Brent Barry sidelined, veteran Steve Francis was in uniform and on the bench this week for the first time since having surgery last February. He insists he wants to play again, although coach Rick Adelman says that won't happen for awhile. "He has to go out and practice," Adelman said. "He's got to show us what he can do - that he can help the team. And then, there's a chance. But as of today, there are a lot of people ahead of him."

Williams, Utah 6 46 7.7

SHOOTING %

Nene, Den. 117 185 .632

Okafor, Char. 90 152 .592

O'Neal, Phoe. 95 163 .583

Howard, Orl. 144 248 .581

Diaw, Phoe. 75 131 .573

Kaman, LAC 89 156 .571

Stoudemire, Phoe. 157 277 .567

SCORING

Wade, Mia. 19 191 142 540 28.4

James, Clev. 19 175 136 505 26.6

Bosh, Tor. 18 165 137 470 26.1

Nowitzki, Dall. 18 159 112 451 25.1

Bryant, LAL 18 164 108 449 24.9

Harris, N.J. 15 106 140 363 24.2

Granger, Ind. 18 146 80 419 23.3