The Los Angeles Lakers celebrated "Chick Hearn Night" on Sunday, November 27th, which would have been the legendary Hall of Fame sports broadcaster¡¯s 89th birthday. All fans attending the game received an I Love Chick bear and Mark Haas, winner of the 2005 Chick Hearn Memorial Scholarship, was recognized at halftime.

Marge Hearn, widow of Chick Hearn, her great-granddaughter, Kayla, and USC Journalism Professor Joe Salzman participated in the special presentation to honor Mark, a senior at USC from Fort Collins, Colorado, who was named the third recipient of the scholarship. Mark serves as sports director for Annenberg TV news and assistant producer for MattReggieTV.com. The award also includes an internship with Fox Sports Net, where Mark will assist with the production of live pre-game programming and game telecasts.

Awarded annually to a deserving Broadcast Journalism major at the USC Annenberg School of Communication, the Chick Hearn Memorial Scholarship is funded by an endowment established by the Los Angeles Lakers in memory of Hearn, who passed away in 2002. In addition to a major gift from the Lakers, hundreds of fans contributed to the scholarship fund, which now totals more than $100,000. At halftime, Marge Hearn announced a campaign to expand the scholarship to benefit two students annually. She has made a lead gift of $100,000 and the public is invited to contribute to the fund

Time to start pumping the hype for Shaq vs. Lakers. Never mind the undercard on Christmas Day features the NBA's best teams -- the Pistons and Spurs. If you were to watch ABC's promos, you would be hard pressed to know there was an early game.

But, hey, this is what the league wants -- Heat vs. Lakers. Shaquille O'Neal vs. Kobe Bryant. Pat Riley vs. Phil Jackson. The fact the teams have muddled about for most of the season is irrelevant.

So, let's get to hyping. Lakers owner Jerry Buss recently defended his decision to trade O'Neal two years ago, calling it the right move and saying he was an honest businessman because he did not divulge the "real" reasons he made the trade.

This, naturally, caused Shaq to break his silence on the issue.

"Everybody knows what that is really about," O'Neal told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "He had to make a choice, the young guy (Bryant) or the old guy (O'Neal). He made his choice. Good luck with his choice."

O'Neal was amused when he heard Buss claim he would make the same choice "100 out of 100 times."

"How many years was Phil Jackson there?" O'Neal said. "And how many years did we go to the Finals? And how many points did I average and how many times was I the MVP?"

Let's see -- the Lakers were in the Finals four of the five years under Jackson, and O'Neal was MVP three times, averaging 38, 33 and 36.3 points.

"Do all the math," O'Neal said. "Everybody knows what that trade is really about."

Riley rips

Riley endured an avalanche of criticism and cynicism when he took over the coaching reins in Miami last week. He stood in there and took it pretty well, until a squeaky little voice in Cleveland piped up.

Damon Jones, who played in Miami last season, spoke what many believed, that former coach Stan Van Gundywas set up to fail, in large part by moves that Riley made.

"This is a business, and in my opinion, Stan was set up to fail," Jones said. "The way he likes to coach the game, he didn't have the personnel to do it. Stan's a great coach."

Riley was beside himself.

"That's a ludicrous statement," he said. "He is questioning my integrity, and it is absolutely who he is. That's why he's who he is. If he said that, it's a false statement, it's a lie, and I want him to come to my face and tell me to my face and not tell (the media). That's wrong, but that's why he's Damon Jones."

Jones, who turned down a two-year, $6 million offer from the Heat to sign a four-year, $16 million deal with the Cavaliers, backed off later.

"

Time to start pumping the hype for Shaq vs. Lakers. Never mind the undercard on Christmas Day features the NBA's best teams -- the Pistons and Spurs. If you were to watch ABC's promos, you would be hard pressed to know there was an early game.

But, hey, this is what the league wants -- Heat vs. Lakers. Shaquille O'Neal vs. Kobe Bryant. Pat Riley vs. Phil Jackson. The fact the teams have muddled about for most of the season is irrelevant.

So, let's get to hyping. Lakers owner Jerry Buss recently defended his decision to trade O'Neal two years ago, calling it the right move and saying he was an honest businessman because he did not divulge the "real" reasons he made the trade.

This, naturally, caused Shaq to break his silence on the issue.

"Everybody knows what that is really about," O'Neal told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "He had to make a choice, the young guy (Bryant) or the old guy (O'Neal). He made his choice. Good luck with his choice."

O'Neal was amused when he heard Buss claim he would make the same choice "100 out of 100 times."

"How many years was Phil Jackson there?" O'Neal said. "And how many years did we go to the Finals? And how many points did I average and how many times was I the MVP?"

Let's see -- the Lakers were in the Finals four of the five years under Jackson, and O'Neal was MVP three times, averaging 38, 33 and 36.3 points.

"Do all the math," O'Neal said. "Everybody knows what that trade is really about."

Riley rips

Riley endured an avalanche of criticism and cynicism when he took over the coaching reins in Miami last week. He stood in there and took it pretty well, until a squeaky little voice in Cleveland piped up.

Damon Jones, who played in Miami last season, spoke what many believed, that former coach Stan Van Gundywas set up to fail, in large part by moves that Riley made.

"This is a business, and in my opinion, Stan was set up to fail," Jones said. "The way he likes to coach the game, he didn't have the personnel to do it. Stan's a great coach."

Riley was beside himself.

"That's a ludicrous statement," he said. "He is questioning my integrity, and it is absolutely who he is. That's why he's who he is. If he said that, it's a false statement, it's a lie, and I want him to come to my face and tell me to my face and not tell (the media). That's wrong, but that's why he's Damon Jones."

Jones, who turned down a two-year, $6 million offer from the Heat to sign a four-year, $16 million deal with the Cavaliers, backed off later.

"I'm in a better place now as far as my career and the contract I received, because of the opportunity they (the Heat) gave me last year," Jones said. "What I said as far as Stan's departure, I didn't say those exact words. It was probably construed as that. I just said that if the coach wasn't brought in on any decisions as far as those trades, then what else can you get from that?

"If (Riley) felt that I was assaulting his judgment or his character, I'm not going to do that. I am smarter than that. He's a Hall of Fame coach, and everyone perceives me as a journeyman. That's a battle I can't win."

The Dallas Mavericks' only loss in their last nine games came against the Los Angeles Lakers just over a week ago.

The Mavericks look to avenge that loss in Los Angeles, where they have won just nine times in 54 games all-time.

Devin Harris and Josh Howard combined for 14 fourth-quarter points as the Mavericks extended their winning streak to three games with a 102-95 win Sunday over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Dallas made 11-of-16 shots the final 12 minutes, outscoring Minnesota 35-29.

``Devin makes a lot of things happen for us,'' said Dirk Nowitzki, who had 19 points, seven rebounds and a season-high four blocked shots. ``He's a great finisher. He's going to be our point guard of the future. I like the way he's progressing.''

Harris, who is averaging 12.0 points this season, has averaged 14.8 points while scoring in double figures in nine straight games. Howard has averaged 20.7 points since the loss to the Lakers, making 24-of-42 (57.1 percent) of his shots from the field.

Dallas, which lost 109-106 on Dec. 12 to the Lakers, has enjoyed some success at Los Angeles after more than a decade of misery. The Mavericks have won two of their last three games there after a 26-game road losing streak from Dec. 12, 1990-Dec. 12, 2003.

The Lakers failed to build on the momentum of their recently completed road trip with a 76-74 home loss Sunday to the Houston Rockets. Los Angeles, which went 5-1 on the trip, shot just 35 percent from the field and had an inexcusable breakdown in the closing seconds that led to Tracy McGrady's winning basket for Houston.

``They had a full clock to work with, and we stood there and watched McGrady get a layup, which is inexcusable,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ``Our big guys failed us in that situation when they didn't plug the lane or block the shot.''

Kobe Bryant scored 24 points for the Lakers, who have lost five of their last eight home games.

Bryant was named Western Conference player of the week after averaging 33.8 points to lead the Lakers to a 3-1 record. He is averaging 22.2 points in 30 games against Dallas.

Los Angeles in 24-6 in those games.

STANDINGS: Mavericks - 2nd place, 1 GB, Southwest Division. Lakers - 4th place, 2 1/2 GB, Pacific Division.

PROBABLE STARTERS: Mavericks - F Howard, F Nowitzki, C Erick Dampier, G Terry, G Adrian Griffin. Lakers - F Brian Cook, F Lamar Odom, C Chris Mihm, G Parker, G Bryant.

TEAM LEADERS: Mavericks - Nowitzki, 26.1 ppg and 9.2 rpg; Terry, 3.8 apg. Lakers - Bryant, 31.3 ppg; Odom, 9.3 rpg and 5.3 apg.

SEASON SERIES: Lakers, 1-0.

LAST MEETING: Dec. 12; Lakers 109-106. At Dallas, Bryant had 43 points and Odom added 15 points with 11 rebounds. Nowitzki had 27 points for the Mavericks, who had their winning streak snapped at five games.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Mavericks - 8-3 on the road; Lakers - 5-6 at home.