Basketball : NBA 2009/2010

Kenyon Martin missed Sunday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers because of continuing left knee soreness. The Nuggets forward has been playing through persistent pain and swelling in the knee in the last few weeks but the condition, which the team has described as chronic patella tendinitis, apparently has worsened in recent days. Martin's status would become clear after his meeting with the doctors. The Nuggets also were without guard Ty Lawson, who was held out of a fourth consecutive game because of a bruised left shoulder.

Tony Parker is expected to miss the remainder of the NBA regular season. The San Antonio Spurs guard left Saturday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies with a broken bone in his right hand and could miss six weeks. Parker, the team's second-leading scorer at 16.6 points a game, suffered a fractured fourth metacarpal late in the first half.

The Miami Heat suspended Rafer Alston indefinitely after the point guard failed to show up for practice on Friday and Miami's game against Atlanta on Saturday. Alston had recently been unseated as the starting point guard after coach Erik Spoelstra handed those duties over to Carlos Arroyo before the Los Angeles Lakers game on Thursday. Since signing with Miami as a free agent on January 7, Alston has played in 25 games, all starts, and posted averages of 6.6 points and 2.9 assists.

Detroit's Rodney Stuckey was wheeled off the court on a stretcher during the third quarter after he collapsed on the bench during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Play was halted for 12 minutes as the medical staff worked on Stuckey, placed an oxygen mask on his face and wheeled him into an ambulance. The Pistons said Stuckey was taken to the Cleveland Clinic and his vital signs were stable, but was going for further testing and observation.

Dallas center Brendan Haywood missed the final three quarters of Friday night's game against the Kings due to lower back tightness. The Mavericks were already without guard Jason Terry (who underwent surgery Friday for facial injuries), center Erick Dampier (dislocated right middle finger) and forward Tim Thomas (personal reasons).

Guard Jason Terry will have facial surgery and the Mavericks said a timetable for his return would be determined fter the medical procedure. Terry's left eye was nearly swollen shut when he left the Dallas locker room after Wednesdayt's 112-109 victory over Minnesota. Terry, the only Mavericks player who has appeared in all 62 games this season, has averaged 17 points, 3.8 assists and 1.2 steals a game, primarily as their first player on the bench.

Center Joakim Noah is expected to be sidelined for three weeks because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot that has been bothering him since mid-January. He missed seven straight games, then saw limited action in four games after returning to the lineup. The injury has interrupted a breakout season for Noah, who is averaging 10.7 points and a team-best 11.4 rebounds over 50 games.

The Philadelphia 76ers announced that Allen Iverson will not return to the team this season. Iverson has been tending to his sick daughter for the past week, and both sides reportedly agreed that it would be best for him to stay at home. The 34-year-old, who returned as a free-agent to the 76ers in December, has not played since February 20. In 25 games for the Sixers this year, Iverson was averaging 13.9 points.

The Golden State Warriors will likely be without leading scorer Monta Ellis and leading rebounder Andris Biedrins for the duration of the team's five-game road trip beginning Tuesday in Miami. Ellis underwent an MRI exam on his sore back that revealed a lower back strain. Biedrins is set to meet an expert in the field of sports hernias and athletic pubalgia after suffering a right groin injury in Saturday's triumph over Detroit.

Shaquille O'Neal is expected to be sidelined for the next eight weeks after undergoing surgery for an injured right thumb. An eight-week recovery period would keep the Cleveland Cavaliers center sidelined for the rest of the regular season and likely the first round of the NBA playoffs. In 53 games this season, O'Neal is averaging 12 points and 6.7 rebounds.