Recapping memorable 13-game Friday

Busy Friday night in the NBA. Be sure to check out Pro Basketball News for columns on the difference between Chauncey Billups and Allen Iverson's debuts, Jerry Sloan picking up his 1,000th win in Utah and NBDL Draft fodder.

The waiting game continues in the Gerald Wallace trade saga, which includes the rumor being dispelled as NBA sewing circle talk. Expect a move to be made. The Charlotte Observer caught up with Wallace for his thoughts, to which he replied: "as long as I’m here I’m going to do whatever I can to help our team."
He backed up his words with strong defense in a typical honest effort in Friday's upset of New Orleans.

On a down note, the ankle monster crept up and claimed Atlanta's Josh Smith and San Antonio's Tony Parker, sidelining each for at least two weeks. The Spurs will suffer more since Manu Ginobili is already out, but don't dismiss how badly this figures to hurt the Hawks. Joe Johnson is playing well enough to humor in MVP talk, but Smith has been the glue guy, shoring up holes defensively and showing off his improved versatility on offense. Marvin Williams and Al Horford will have to step up their games to ease his void.
Roger Mason, Jr. will probably wind up with the bulk of Parker's opportunities, though rookie George Hill figures to get increased chances behind likely starter Jacque Vaughn.

Friday's +/- report: D.J. Augustin (+6, 11 points, four assists) proved familiarity puts him at ease. He's known Chris Paul (+2, 20 points, 10 assists, six steals) since his high school days and it showed in his comfort level going up against him... Chris Duhon (+13, 12 assists, one turnover, seven rebounds) made Mike D'Antoni very happy in D.C., running the point about as well as he can be expected to... JaVale McGee (-2) got nearly 30 minutes of action and notched his first career double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds... Proof Dwyane Wade is back: +24, 33 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists... Proof Tim Duncan can't do it alone: -19 despite 22 points and 11 rebounds. Michael Finley continued his fine play (-24, 0-for-8) against the Heat. The Spurs probably can't afford for him to continue his traditional slow start... Despite 12 assists, it was a tough night for Jose Calderon (-14, 2-for-10), who kept losing Mike Bibby (+19, 5-for-7 3-point shooting, 19 points)... Meanwhile, Al Horford was the picture of efficiency (+27 in just 16:35)... It was a a rough night for rookie Ramon Sessions (-16, 11 points, five turnovers) in Boston, while Paul Pierce (+13, 18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists) continued to evolve as an all-around player. Now that he has a lot more help, we're learning he can do a lot more than score.... Tayshaun Prince (-20, 19 points, 11 rebounds) really didn't fare well playing the spread-four in Michael Curry's small lineup, but his presence sure did sit well with Josh Boone (+23, 18 points, 14 rebounds), who made it a point to follow everything... Anderson Varejao's (+18, 18 points, eight rebounds) energy changed the game for Cleveland in the second half, and made up for another poor outing by Ben Wallace (-18, 0 points, 0 rebounds in 19 minutes)... Joakim Noah (+20, 9 points, 14 rebounds) responded positively to see Aaron Gray promoted to starter ahead of him, while rookie Robin Lopez (-6, 14 points, 7 rebounds) did some nice things in place of Shaquille O'Neal. Nice night to be an athletic big man... Nice to see Andrei Kirilenko (+13, 16 points, 12 rebounds) play such a large role in Jerry Sloan's milestone night. He links the previous Jazz era to this one... Spencer Hawes (+15, 13 points, eight rebounds) showed no sign that Brad Miller's return from suspension bothered him, doing his damage off the bench... Can't say the same for Ryan Gomes (-13, 1-for-5), who gave up his starting spot to rookie Kevin Love (6-for-7, 20 points, eight rebounds)... Jason Kidd (+12, 22 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists) was brilliant in Denver, but that 0-for-1 from the free throw line really hurt. His make would've tied the game and potentially set up overtime... Nene (+4, 8-for-12) was the most impressive of the Nuggets, moving around more fluidly than he has since having his knee repaired... O.J. Mayo (+12, 20 points, nine rebounds) got 44 minutes in Memphis' win at Golden State and might be surpassing Rudy Gay (+5, 23 points, 8-for-20) as Marc Iavaroni's most trusted player... Rookie Anthony Randolph (+9, 8 points, 7 rebounds) made a favorable impression on coach Don Nelson in the loss.