Knicks management continues to have problems with their point guard player, Stephon Marbury. Marbury was told by Isiah Thomas not to be present at home games of the Knicks. A confident source said the point guard was given a gag order and told not to speak to the press. This indicates that the feud between former pals has not subsided but has obviously gone worse. Marbury himself has made no comments on the issue since he had an ankle surgery on January 22nd. He has been on rehab for over the past week in the club’s practice facility in Westchester and a close source said that he had wanted to meet up with the club on the team bench during their home games.

Thomas took the feud a step forward on Wednesday during an interview. He was taking about their need for additional point guards to help Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and Fred Jones with ball handling. He was talking about their coming season’s backcourt and just did not mention Marbury. Marbury plays point guard and must have not been happy with being left out. He was given chance twice to correct himself during the interview but he adamantly refused to mention Marbury. Marbury still has a year’s contract and $21 million on his contract.

Bobby Jackson who traded to play for Houston Rockets last week, did exceptionally well in his first game for the Rockets as he along with Tracy McGrady was instrumental in the Rockets defeating the Bulls 110 – 97. Houston won its 12th straight game of the season and 14 points of the total score of 110 by Houston Rockets were scored by Jackson. The Rockets are a formidable side in the NBA this season as they have lost only one of their last 16 games.

The Chicago Bulls were in the match for the first three quarters, but in the fourth quarter the Rockets had a sudden spring in their step and their shooting skills left their opponents out in the cold. The Rockets coach, Rick Adelman, who was the coach for Jackson when he was playing for Sacramento, feels that the energy that Jackson brings on the playing arena will transform his teammates to play well. It was the coach’s intervention that led to the smooth transfer of Bobby Jackson from Sacramento to Houston Rockets. Bobby Jackson believes that the best part of his basketball career has occurred during the five seasons he played for Coach Rick Adelman. The 34 year old player is hoping to prove his mettle for the Rockets this season.

Boston Celtics are currently on a losing streak as they have lost three consecutive games and are going through a rough Western patch. The Phoenix Suns beat the Celtics convincingly by 85 to 77 and according to Kevin Garnett, the Celtics player, playing in the West is not a joke and it is an acid test for the players. Even though Shaquille O Neal played for the Suns, it was the amazing performance of Amare Stoudemire who scored 28 points who was the outstanding player in the match. Kevin Garnett who played brilliantly for the Boston Celtics was on a man to man marking mission as he was assigned the job of guarding Stoudemire.

The game was a rugged and rough one, but with the presence of O’Neal in the side, Suns are not the softer side that they were before and this would have been clear to the Celtics while they played the game. Celtic Coach, Doc Rivers, was frustrated with the play showcased by his players and said that his side was very poor offensively in the game. The tussle between Garnett and Stoudemire was the major highlight of the game and when Garnett had to leave the game due to elbowing Stoudemire, a technical was handed to Stoudemire for pushing Garnett.

The Sacramento Kings defeated Atlanta Hawks in the returning match of Mike Bibby. Though Bibby was given a warm welcome by the fans, the Kings were not at all affected by the presence of Bibby in the opponent’s team. Kings made the home victory by beating the Hawks 119-107, under the able guidance of Ron Artest. He was able to score 29 points and Kevin Martin, scored another 26 points for their team. Bibby also played well and did his trademark jumping to score 17 points for the Hawks, but it was not enough to prevent the sixth straight lose and the 8th consecutive lose in Sacramento by the Hawks.

The efforts of Artest are commendable as he made nine perfect hits out of the 12 shots and 10 of his 14 free throws were fruitful. Beno Udrih who has replaced Bibby in Kings contributed his share by scoring 18 points. The team coach believes in the ability of Beno as a defender and his ability to make fast decisions. Bibby later admitted that he was nervous as well as anxious before the match and was suffering due to an injury in his right heel. Sheldon Williams who was taken from Hawks by the Kings scored 8 points for Sacramento Kings.

The NBA All-Star point guard Jason Kidd has been signed by Dallas Mavericks with a single agenda of winning the NBA championship. This latest trade off by the Mavericks has shocked the entire NBA fraternity and Kidd said that he will try all his best in order to win the championship for his new team. Kidd returns to his debut franchisee after serving 8 years for New Jersey and the trade off was carried out in an unexpected and unique fashion. The Mavericks coach Avery Johnson hoped that Jason Kidd will be able to close the games for them and hopefully seal the playoffs as well.

Jason Kidd, along with his New Jersey teammates Allen and Wright will be donning the Maverick colors for their game on Wednesday at the Southwest division. The Mavericks were short of an All-Star point guard since their best point guard Steve Nash and Kidd with his experience, strength and durability is expected to do wonders for the team. Kidd feels that he is mentally and physically prepared for the season and the success of the team will depend on understanding all the new team members. The Maverick fans are also hoping that the former New Jersey point guard will be the guiding force for the team to lift the championship this season.

Dwight Howard who believes that with out creativity one cannot succeed in the Slam Dunk Competition, added spice to his performance and mesmerized the spectators. Howard indeed impressed everyone by dominating in both the rounds of competition. He scored 50 in his first round dunks and received more than 78% votes from the fans in his finals. Howard did two beautiful dunks in different rounds that are unthinkable by the others. He knew very well that people do not wish to see the repetitive dunks but want some thing different and spicy.

Howard said he had inspired by Andre Iguodala for the first dunk, in which he tossed the ball to himself with his right hand to the back of the backboard and caught it with his left hand and remaining at the back of the glass threw it down the basket. Later Howard revealed that he was practicing it for two years. In the finals he made another class dunk by tossing the ball from the left wing and caught it with his left hand on right side and threw it down with his right hand. Though it was an extremely difficult dunk, Howard made it look easy with his practice. He did the Superman dunk in between the two spectacular dunks.

The Boston Celtics won over Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night with 104-97, becoming the first NBA team to get its 40th win.  This is despite the absence of injured players Kevin Garnett, who had abdominal strain, and Kendrick Perkins, who strained his left shoulder.  Boston, however, does not get into a big celebration — yet.  Having finished last season with a record of 24-58, the team is saving its celebrations for later.

Coach Doc Rivers stressed that they are not looking at numbers but are grabbing the opportunity to get better each time as they prepare for the playoffs.  As for their 40 wins, Paul Pierce comments that it shows the team is headed the right way.  He says that now the team is building good habits.  Paul Pierce scored 28 points and had 12 rebounds.  Ray Allen scored 23 points while Leon Powe scored 16 points and had 9 rebounds.  Pierce also said that the absence of Garnett and Perkins is not an excuse for them not to win, and they would have to hold it out until the two could play again.

For the Pacers, Danny Granger gave 18 points, 5 blocks, and 10 rebounds, and Shawne Williams gave the team 14 points.  Indiana also played without their starters, Jermaine O’Neal and Jamaal Tinsley, who were both injured. 

Trevor Ariza, the number 3 forward for the Los Angeles Lakers is very popular for his heroics on the court. He had an impressive rookie season in 2004-05 and has been recently acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade off with the Orlando magic basketball team. He debuted for the Knicks as the youngest ever teenage player and stepped into the shoes of the legendary Carl Braun. The Lakers have a lot of hope on Trevor this season and an unfortunate incident during practice has caused a fracture on his right foot.

The Lakers forward player is now suffering from a fourth metatarsal fracture on his right foot and the examinations conducted by the foot specialist of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic group, Dr. Ken Jung, reveals that Trevor Ariza will be out of action for about 7 to 8 weeks. Trevor was just settling down with his new team Los Angeles Lakers and unfortunately this serious injury has ruined his chances to play for the Lakers for about two months. Trevor Ariza has an average of 5.5 points in the NBA with 3.1 rebounds and also has 1.3 assists in 15.6 minutes.

Shaquille O Neil commonly known as Shaq in the NBA League is one of the most sought after professional basketball player by any major league team. Shaq has just recently signed a contract to play for the Phoenix suns in this year’s NBA League and he says that he is looking forward to have a successful stint with his new team. Shaq is one of the tallest and dominant players in the NBA history and his physical stature has won him several nicknames like Big Daddy, The Big Aristotle and The Diesel. Shaq O Neil will start from the center for the Phoenix Suns and is known for playing better basketball when he is upset and faced by challenges. Though many from the NBA league and his critics are pessimistic about his adjusting abilities, Shaq is quite confident about joining the new team and is all set to surprise his critics and feels that his will spur him to help his team win this year’s championship. Even though O Neal’s free throw ability is not up to the mark, the very presence of this gigantic person in the team will send shivers through the spine of the opposing players as he was voted the Most Valuable Player by the NBA on three occasions.

Finally, the Miami Heat confirmed through an announcement that they have traded with Phoenix to get Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks and gave Shaquille O’Neal to the Suns.

The Miami Heat have a lot of reasons to get Four-time NBA All-Star Shawn Marion, who has averaged 15.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. This year, he was the leading scorer for the Suns five times, led the Suns with 1,713 minutes played, 378 defensive rebounds, 464 total rebounds, 95 steals and 47 starts. He and Kevin Garnett are named as the only players that made it to the Top 20 in rebounds and steal this season.

Marcus Banks is now point guard for the Miami Heat. He has averaged 6.1 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.6 rebounds. The Celtics originally chose him for the 2003 NBA Draft, but the Suns assigned him as a free agent on July 20, 2006. In this season’s 24 games, Banks averaged 5.2 points, 1.0 assists, and 0.8 rebounds.

Miami Heat took Shaquille O’Neal from the LA Lakers on July 14, 2004 during a four-player trade. O’Neal spent three and a half seasons with Miami, during which he averaged 19.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. O’Neal is a 14-time NBA All-Star and four-time NBA champion.