THROUGH THE WIRE: MONDAY (12/06/10)

24. It's been a bad weekend for the New Orleans Hornets. First they were stung by the San Antonio Spurs in a 109-94 loss on Sunday and now they are staring down the barrel of the highest bidder. The owner of the hive George Shinn has agreed to sell the club to the NBA. It also looks like this move could be completed in a few days as things go from bad to sold for the N.O. squad. A New Orleans born sports attorney Jac Sperling (no, not Spalding) will temporarily act as the NBA's administrator of the team and oversee its sale to a more permanent owner. The vice chairman of hockey's NHL's Minnesota Wild will be assisted by the Hornets president Hugh Weber who will still oversee day to day operations for the club during it's transactional period. The team has finally been sold after months of stalled negotiations that began with talks as early as last Spring. Things aren't looking so bad for the Hornets on court as they have built a 13-7 record on little buzz. Still with attendances as low as 13,865 the team may look elsewhere and break their lease at the New Orleans Arena after this season. Still after all the club and city have been through this probably won't be an issue. Could the Hornets be on the move to another nest yet again? Sound off in our comments below.

48. Beantown is booming right now. After some injury troubles and concerns the Boston Celtics are on a hot streak in this cold New England Winter. Last night Boston routed the New Jersey Nets 100-75 en route to a seven game winning streak. Still it wasn't all sunshine for Boston as they headed to New York. Rajon Rondo told his coach Doc Rivers just seconds prior to the game that he couldn't play due to foot and hamstring concerns. So as the Celtics and leagues star guard continues to battle injury the Celtics will have to continue winning without him. Nate Robinson stepped in and stepped it up for the team with a game high 21 points. The tenacious, tiny dynamo really is a spark plug, "I just play the same way as if I was coming off the bench," the little glue guy remarked. So here's to Mr. Robinson who scored 8 of his points in the first 4 minutes and a three pointer with just under 8 to go in the first period that led Boston to an 11-8 lead. That was all he needed to write as the Nets would not scrawl back from this deficit. The energetic play maker also had 6 rebounds and 6 assists proving that even without Rondo Boston hope to make winning the norm. Cheers to that.



82. Los Angeles will be the city that holds the 2011 NBA All-Star Game but the Staples Centre will be unveiling more than the best players the NBA have to offer on that day. Another Lakers legend will join Magic Johnson and Chick Hearn and be immortalised in a statue. A statue of a sky hooking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could join his former teammate outside of the arena one day but it will be on the logo, Jerry West who will finally be honored. "It's about time", Kobe Bryant said-a player that West brought in as a GM-proving that West has done much for the Lakers than just in his legendary playing days. West obviously appreciates this honor but is a little embarrassed, "I would love to have a bunch of the players I played with up there with me if that's going to be honored. That doesn't define who I am. Whoever decided to do this, I'm extremely grateful and I don't want to feel like I don't care. But it's a lot more about teams than individuals," 'Mr. Clutch' said. The 1969 MVP will always be with the Lakers and once February comes that will be even more literal.

O.T. Steve Nash's perfect 20 and 17 assists helped his team win over the Wizards. Nash didn't miss a trick or a bucket as he led his team to a 125-108 victory...Kevin Durant was back in the lineup and back on form as his 28 helped his Oklahoma Thunder overcome the Golden State Warriors and keep the Californian team on the wrong end of a dry spell...the Denver Nuggets moved to their 9Th straight win with a victory over Memphis which also gave their coach George Karl his 999Th career win...one Tri-State team may have been routed but the other provided the blowout as the ever impressive New York Knicks overcame the Toronto Raptors 116-99. The Knicks moved to seven straight wins on the road behind Amare Stoudemire's 31 point and season high 16 rebound STAT's. TIM DAVID HARVEY.