According to Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, who guarded Toronto Raptors star Vince Carter on Saturday night, the Raptors look like a team who have already moved on from their superstar.

Marc Berman of the New York Times reports that Marbury was suprised with how the Raptors under utilized Carter's talents, from running Carter off screens to free him up to utilizing his height by posting up the smaller Marbury when Carter was his defensive assignment.

"They don't run any plays for him," Marbury said. "He doesn't get the ball at all. You could tell he's not the focal of the team anymore. I don't understand it, but hey, he doesn't have to be the focal when he plays against us."

"I don't think the offense is geared for him," Marbury said. " I'm just speaking of just guarding him. When you're guarding him, you expect to be running off a lot of screens, having a lot of isolations, For him to be posting me up. There wasn't any of that."

Carter is expected to be traded from the Raptors after requesting to be moved.

According to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal Grizzlies GM Jerry West has met with head coach candidate Mike Fratello Saturday to discuss the team's head coaching vacancy but no agreement has been reached to this point.

Fratello, 57, is the leading candidate to replace coach Hubie Brown, who retired Thursday because of health reasons.

"Jerry basically interviewed or talked with Mike Fratello," majority owner Michael Heisley said. "He didn't tell me what went on. I haven't talked to him about it. ... I assume they had a good talk about it. I have no reason to believe they won't talk again."

Heisley denied a national television report that said Fratello had already accepted the job.

"It's news to me," Heisley said. "I think I'd know if we had a contract."

According to Karen Rosen of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shooting guard is the position most under the microscope in Atlanta by coach Mike Woodson. Rookie Josh Childress has started the last four games since taking over from Boris Diaw, but Childress has been struggling as of late including an 0-for-5 performance on Friday against Orlando.

"He's playing spotty minutes," Woodson said. "We're not giving him big-time minutes. I'm probably going to have to stick with him a little longer, just to get a better feel of what he can actually do."

He said he told Childress in the Saturday film session that his defense was nonexistent against the Magic.

"Sometimes defense can jump-start you offensively when you're struggling to shoot the basketball," Woodson said. "He's gotta keep working. He's a young kid in our league and every night that position is a tough position to defend."

The Denver Nuggets paid a heavy price for their win on the road over the Houston Rockets Saturday, losing star forward Carmello Anthony with a sprained ankle during the third quarter.

Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News writes that with 2 minutes, 21 seconds remaining in the period and the Nuggets leading 62-48, Anthony was wrapped up by Rockets guard Bob Sura to prevent an easy basket. Anthony crumbled to the floor, and had to be helped to the locker room.

X-rays on Anthony were negative, but he left the arena on crutches. He first said he would miss Monday's home game against New Orleans, but later said there's a "50-50 chance" he'll play.

"I just remember him grabbing me and I fell and stepped on his ankle," Anthony said. "There was a little soreness in it (due to stepping on Bruce Bowen's foot in Friday's 89-75 loss to San Antonio)".

Sura didn't feel the foul was excessive. But Anthony did.

"The way he grabbed me and, yeah, and he just threw me down," Anthony said. "I was in pain."

Back out West this season new Laker Lamar Odom doesn't mind playing the power forward position and banging against the likes of Elton Brand, Chris Webber and Carlos Boozer on a nightly basis, but according to Ross Siler of the Los Angeles Daily News Odom is having a hard time understanding the way the referee's decisions have been going against him all season.

For the fifth time in first 13 games, Odom picked up five fouls in the Lakers' 109-106 loss Friday night to the Sacramento Kings. Only nine NBA players have been called for more fouls this season than Odom, who is averaging 3.8 per game.

"A lot of my fouls are really ticky-tack," said Odom, who was limited to 34 minutes Friday. "I'm definitely right now a little frustrated about it. But I just have to keep playing.

"Sometimes it takes my aggressiveness away from me, which I can't help because you're thinking that 'I must be too aggressive if I keep fouling."'

Odom said Saturday that this is the first time in his pro career he can remember being called for charging against bigger players. He also said he was stepping aside for Brad Miller when he picked up his fourth foul.

"When I foul, I raise my hand (to say) I got him," Odom said. "When you're trying to get out of the way and they get you for fouls and things like that, it's frustrating. But it's part of the game. (The referees) have the hardest jobs out there."

Utah will be without their leader Andrei Kirilenko for at least the next week to ten days after Kirklenko suffered a sprained knee early in the second quarter of Utah's loss to the Spurs.

According to Phil Miller of the Salt Lake Tribune Kirilenko was standing near the left side of the lane with 9:08 to go in the second quarter when Howard Eisley drove toward him. Eisley collided with defender Beno Udrih, and the Spurs rookie bounced backwards, into Kirilenko. The contact bent Kirilenko's right leg from the side, and he crumpled to the ground.

"I don't think it's so [bad], but might take some time," said Kirilenko, who was hobbling around with a crutch after the game. "Feels like unstable walking side-to-side, but straight is not bad. I don't feel anything like hurting."

As the Cleveland Cavaliers continue to win and Lebron James continues to dominate, NBA records are beginning to be broken by the league's young superstar.

James added 26 more points to his season total against the lowly Chicago Bulls as the Cavaliers cruised to a 96-74 victory at home.  James is averaging 32 points a game in six home games this season, making things very difficult for the Bulls.  James wasn't needed to play in the fourth quarter, but that didn't stop him from earlier surpassing 2,000 career points, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to do so.

James, who turns 20 on Dec. 30, reached the milestone faster than the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, who was 20 years, 183 days old when he scored his 2,000th point.

"It's a great feeling," James said. "I didn't even know ? it came so quick. I don't notice things like that, I just notice I'm playing better."

The Cavaliers are 9-1 in their last 10 games after starting the season 0-3.

"We worked as a team, the unselfishness was just great," James said. "We got everyone into the game and came out with a victory."

James' scoring average of 26.6 is second to Bryant's league-leading average of 29.0 this season.

Sonics guard Ronald Murray expects to practice today after missing all of training camp and the past 12 games because of a strained left quadriceps muscle.

Murray, the team's third-leading scorer last season, said he was at the training facility twice a day receiving treatment and working out while teammates soared through a 10-day, six-game trip with a 5-1 record.

"The pain is gone," he said. "I mean, I feel it here and there, but it's like normal pain from working out. Once I go home and rest for a little bit it goes away."

Sonics coach Nate McMillan wants to see Murray in at least four practices before taking him off the injured list, which could make Murray's return Dec. 4 at Portland. But McMillan said there isn't a target date.

Starting Hornets center Jamaal Magloire fractured his right ring finger during the final minute of the game after deflecting a pass. It has not been determined how long Magloire will be sidelined, but it could be for more than five games.

With that prospect, Magloire looked shattered as he trudged through the locker room door after getting his finger examined by Hornets trainer Terry Kofler. One of his teammates asked him how bad was it, and Magloire spoke in a whisper.

He made the flight after the game with the team to Los Angeles but will return to New Orleans today to get re-evaluated by the team's medical staff.

Look for the Houston Rockets to start making changes if things do not improve quickly, with coach Jeff Van Gundy unhappy with his team's start and their inability to mesh on the court.

"Certainly if the results don't change, we'll need to change either who plays or who's here," Van Gundy said. "Because one thing you don't want to get used to is mediocrity."

"To break the cycle of mediocrity that our organization has been in is a challenge for all of us from (owner) Leslie (Alexander) on down," Van Gundy said. "And the one thing I love about him is he has an urgent desire to win. And he doesn't have any patience with mediocrity. And I think our team needs to reflect that. And I don't think we do, yet."