Marcus Camby

The Los Angeles Clippers have acquired center Marcus Camby from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for a future second-round draft pick. The Clippers were in need of a big man after losing free agent Elton Brand to the 76ers. Camby led the NBA in blocked shots with 3.61 per game last season, only the second player in league history to do so in three straight seasons. He averaged 9.1 points and 13.1 rebounds playing a career-best 34.9 minutes per game for the Nuggets. Camby was the league's defensive player of the year in 2006-07.

Marcus Camby put on quite a show, one that even caused the opposition to sit back and notice. Camby scored 30 points and No. 5 Massachusetts turned in its second straight suffocating defensive performance yesterday in winning the Franklin National Bank Classic with an 80-58 rout of Florida, at Landover, Md. Camby, the MVP of the two-day tournament, made nine of 15 shots and had eight rebounds in the championship game. He also handed out two assists and blocked two shots. "He's so good, I caught myself watching him a little bit out there tonight and he made me pay for it," Florida center Dametri Hill said.

BOSTON - Point guard Gary Payton is on the verge of re-signing with the Boston Celtics, coach Doc Rivers said yesterday, a week after the nine-time all-star was traded by the Celtics to the Atlanta Hawks, then waived. That deal brought forward Antoine Walker, a former Celtics captain, back to Boston, where he had played for seven seasons before being shipped out a year and a half ago. Nuggets sign Person. The Denver Nuggets signed Wesley Person, adding a long-range shooter to a team that has the NBA's second-worst three-point-shooting percentage.

Jose Barea kept finding unimpeded paths on his drives to the basket, and two things became clear: the Dallas Mavericks couldn't be stopped, and the New York Knicks didn't seem interested in proving otherwise. Dallas put on a shooting clinic that crushed the Knicks' spirits, rolling to the biggest win in franchise history, 128-78, yesterday at Madison Square Garden. It was the worst home loss in Knicks history. "They took our heart out of us," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said.

New York Knicks center Marcus Camby was suspended for five games and will lose about $345,000 for throwing a wild sucker punch at San Antonio's Danny Ferry. The punishment angered the Knicks, especially coach Jeff Van Gundy, whose head collided with Camby's while he stepped between the players. Van Gundy needed more than a dozen stitches to close the cut over his left eye. "I'm not here to try to defend Marcus, what he did was wrong and he admitted that, but clearly the punishment doesn't fit his actions.

The longer they played, going chest-to-chest with the No. 1 team in the country, somehow finding answers for just about everything powerful Massachusetts had to offer, the more the St. Joseph's Hawks could sense that something special was about to happen. They had never seen Phil Martelli, their usually mild-mannered first-year coach, quite like this, pounding his fist on a table, screaming blue streaks at the officials, waving his arms to exhort the sellout crowd of 3,200 at the Fieldhouse.

LET'S WORK FROM the assumption that Allen Iverson has retired and played his last NBA game. What is his legacy? How will he be remembered? Strictly from a basketball standpoint, Iverson is a clear-cut Hall of Famer. Along with Isiah Thomas and Nate "Tiny" Archibald, the barely 6-foot Iverson is one of the best little men in basketball history. A 10-time All-Star, Iverson averaged 27.0 points in 13-plus seasons to rank sixth all-time in the NBA. With a resume that includes four scoring titles, the 1996-97 Rookie of the Year Award and 2000-01 Most Valuable Player Award, Iverson should be a first-ballot selection for enshrinement in Springfield, Mass.

Unwanted Antoine Wright scored 14 of his career-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to lead the host New Jersey Nets to a 112-103 victory over the distracted Chicago Bulls last night. Richard Jefferson added 29 points and 10 rebounds, Vince Carter had 24 points and a big steal late and Jason Kidd handed out 13 assists to lead the Nets to their 12th straight win over Chicago in New Jersey. Ben Gordon had 27 points and Luol Deng added 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who have been distracted in recent days by rumors of a possible major trade for Kobe Bryant.

Nearly a decade of ineptitude is over. The Denver Nuggets are going to the playoffs. Marcus Camby had 12 points, 21 rebounds, seven assists and five blocked shots to help the Nuggets reach the playoffs for the first time since 1995 with a 97-89 victory over visiting Sacramento last night. The win secured at least the eighth spot in the Western Conference for a Nuggets team that won just 17 games last season. "I think a lot of people looked at our schedule the last part of the season and thought we wouldn't have a chance," said forward Ryan Bowen, the Nuggets' longest-tenured player at 4 years.

Forward Eddie Griffin took a leave from the New Jersey Nets yesterday, 3 weeks after signing with the team. "Eddie has informed the team that he is not ready to resume his NBA career at this point in time," Nets president Rod Thorn said in a statement. Thorn said there was no timetable for Griffin, a Roman Catholic High product, to return. Griffin told the team he will return to Houston, where he was recently convicted of marijuana possession. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 13. Griffin also faces a separate charge of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Jose Barea kept finding unimpeded paths on his drives to the basket, and two things became clear: the Dallas Mavericks couldn't be stopped, and the New York Knicks didn't seem interested in proving otherwise. Dallas put on a shooting clinic that crushed the Knicks' spirits, rolling to the biggest win in franchise history, 128-78, yesterday at Madison Square Garden. It was the worst home loss in Knicks history. "They took our heart out of us," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said.

LET'S WORK FROM the assumption that Allen Iverson has retired and played his last NBA game. What is his legacy? How will he be remembered? Strictly from a basketball standpoint, Iverson is a clear-cut Hall of Famer. Along with Isiah Thomas and Nate "Tiny" Archibald, the barely 6-foot Iverson is one of the best little men in basketball history. A 10-time All-Star, Iverson averaged 27.0 points in 13-plus seasons to rank sixth all-time in the NBA. With a resume that includes four scoring titles, the 1996-97 Rookie of the Year Award and 2000-01 Most Valuable Player Award, Iverson should be a first-ballot selection for enshrinement in Springfield, Mass.

The Los Angeles Clippers have acquired center Marcus Camby from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for a future second-round draft pick. The Clippers were in need of a big man after losing free agent Elton Brand to the 76ers. Camby led the NBA in blocked shots with 3.61 per game last season, only the second player in league history to do so in three straight seasons. He averaged 9.1 points and 13.1 rebounds playing a career-best 34.9 minutes per game for the Nuggets. Camby was the league's defensive player of the year in 2006-07.

DENVER - George Karl worries about his profession. He worries about NBA coaches in the final season of a contract. He wonders whether young coaches in difficult situations will survive or get a second chance. The Denver Nuggets' veteran coach wasn't necessarily campaigning for the 76ers' Maurice Cheeks, who is working on the last leg of his 3-year contract. But before the Nuggets turned back the Sixers, 109-96, Sunday night in the Pepsi Center, Karl - taking an overview of coaching - was complimentary of both Cheeks and new Sixers president/general manager Eddie Stefanski.

Unwanted Antoine Wright scored 14 of his career-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to lead the host New Jersey Nets to a 112-103 victory over the distracted Chicago Bulls last night. Richard Jefferson added 29 points and 10 rebounds, Vince Carter had 24 points and a big steal late and Jason Kidd handed out 13 assists to lead the Nets to their 12th straight win over Chicago in New Jersey. Ben Gordon had 27 points and Luol Deng added 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who have been distracted in recent days by rumors of a possible major trade for Kobe Bryant.

This is what the Denver Nuggets had in mind when they acquired Allen Iverson to go with Carmelo Anthony. The high-scoring All-Star duo provided the offense and the Nuggets were tough defensively, too, as they beat the host San Antonio Spurs, 95-89 in, Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series last night. Iverson, acquired in a trade the Sixers in December, scored 29 of his 31 points after the first quarter and Anthony added 30 for the sixth-seeded Nuggets, who haven't won a playoff series since 1994.

The Spurs played in San Antonio for the first time in more than 3 weeks last night in a 95-80 win over Denver. Tony Parker scored 17 points, Manu Ginobili added 14 and Tim Duncan had 12 during the Spurs' first home game since they went on a lengthy road trip, where they split their eight games. Not even the return of Allen Iverson could boost Denver. Iverson missed nine of the Nuggets' last 10 games before the All-Star break with a right ankle sprain. He scored nine points.

Denver forward Kenyon Martin was fined $15,000 by the NBA yesterday for using inappropriate language, including profanity, during his interactions with fans following a game against the Chicago Bulls last week. Two fans accused Martin of telling a man to confront them after one heckled Martin for sitting out the game Wednesday night with an injured knee. One fan later said he exchanged words with Martin after the game. No police report was filed. Martin has said he knew the man, but denied having any involvement in the incident.

BOSTON - Point guard Gary Payton is on the verge of re-signing with the Boston Celtics, coach Doc Rivers said yesterday, a week after the nine-time all-star was traded by the Celtics to the Atlanta Hawks, then waived. That deal brought forward Antoine Walker, a former Celtics captain, back to Boston, where he had played for seven seasons before being shipped out a year and a half ago. Nuggets sign Person. The Denver Nuggets signed Wesley Person, adding a long-range shooter to a team that has the NBA's second-worst three-point-shooting percentage.

Playing in Colorado for the first time since sexual assault charges against him were dropped, Kobe Bryant was expected to have a big night. The Denver Nuggets never gave him much of a chance. Denver built a big early lead and held Bryant mostly in check, ending a five-game losing streak with a 95-83 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers last night. Bryant had 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds, but took just 14 shots. Bryant's teammates didn't help much, going 5-for-29 on three-pointers and shooting 37 percent against a team that spent 10 hours getting back from Sacramento the night before.