New Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Cooper was victorious in his first game, defeating the 76ers by a final score of 97-92.  Denver outscored Philadelphia 30-18 in the 4th quarter.

Carmelo Anthony returned to action and scored 24 points for the Nuggets.  Allen Iverson led all scorers with 29 points.

Marcus Camby left the game in the 1st quarter and did not return, due to injury.  He had scored 8 points in that 9 minutes of play.

Cooper was named interim head coach of the Nuggets after Jeff Bzdelik was fired on Tuesday, following a disappointing loss at Golden State.

Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony has become engaged to MTV veejay La La Vasquez.

Anthony said on Thursday that he proposed on Christmas Day, and Vasquez accepted. They haven't set a wedding date.

The Utah Jazz activated guard Keith McLeod from the injured list after being out since December 6th with a moderate strain of the left adductor muscle.  

McLeod will replace guard Howard Eisley on the roster after Mr. Eisley was placed on the injured list with left Achilles tendonitis.

The Milwaukee Bucks activated guard Erick Strickland today.  Mr. Strickland had missed the last 6 games with a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee.

Strickland will take the roster spot left open due to the injury to Keith Van Horn earlier this week.

Forward Tom Gugliotta was activated Thursday by the Boston Celtics, who put forward Justin Reed on the injured list with right knee tendinitis.

Gugliotta spent the last eight games on the injured list with a right ankle sprain. Earlier this season he was sidelined for five games with lower back pain.

Reed, a rookie, scored six points in seven appearances this season.

Grant Hill must've finally felt relief when an x-ray of his ankle was taken following the game vs Milwaukee on Wednesday night. He had been on the court long enough to suffer a sprain to his right, never operated on ankle.

"I tripped over a cameraman who was sitting on the floor. He had his legs extended out," Hill said. "I'm OK, but they just wanted to take a picture of it. It's the other ankle."

In a match-up of two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat handled the Pistons, winning 89-78.  On the way, Wade recorded a triple-double with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

"It feels good to get my first triple-double in the NBA because I got it out of the way and it shows you're playing a team game," Wade said. "And, it feels good to beat the Pistons because I haven't done that in my young career."

"He's the best second-year pupil that I've had," Shaquille O'Neal said. "I've raised two great ones in my NBA lifetime and this guy is the best in his second year."

The Nuggets are reportedly showing some interest in Jerry Sloan?s top assistant of 17 seasons in Utah, Phil Johnson.

"He said they were interested, that's all," Johnson said of a "very brief" phone conversation with Vandeweghe, who fired Bzdelik on Tuesday after 2 1/2 seasons and the Nuggets in the midst of a six-game losing streak. "He wants to talk."

Johnson, who has been rated as the NBA?s top assistant coach in a survey of the league?s managers in October, is not sure he wants to take over a team in mid-season after a rough experience in Kansas City, taking over a team in midseason is much more awkward than during the summer - he knows from experience, having assumed the Kansas City Kings' reins midway through the 1973-74   season - and it leaves the coach's current team in a difficult situation, "so maybe that makes you less inclined [to seek the job]. But we'll see," he said.

Phoenix center Jake Voskuhl may suit up as early as Sunday after undergoing an emergency appendectomy on Dec. 10.

"When he feels comfortable and if he gets through a couple days of contact and feels good, he would be cleared to go," Suns head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson said.

A federal judge ruled on Thursday that previously suspended Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal did not have to serve the final 10 games of the suspension handed to him by the league Commissioner David Stern.

This ruling upholds the temporary decision U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels made last week, prior to the Pacers' Christmas Day matchup vs Detroit Pistons.

That decision, in turn, upheld the one made by arbitrator Roger Kaplan, who stated that penalty handed to O'Neal was too harsh, citing the player's "character, community involvement and citizenship." He had cut it to 15 games, down 10 from the one handed out by David Stern.

Kaplan upheld the penalties handed out to Ron Artest (remainder of season), Stephen Jackson (30 games), and Anthony Johnson (5 games) for their involvement in the November 19th brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The NBA then challenged Kaplan's authority to hear an appeal of Stern's punishment.