The Hornets will stop playing Chris Kaman as they look for a trade.

"We had a conversation with Chris and expressed that the Hornets are going to go in a different direction. We mutually decided for a number of reasons that we are not going to play Chris as we pursue a trade. Chris has been the ultimate professional during this process and we thank him for the way he has handled the situation."

Dwight Howard intimated that teammates didn’t stick to their roles in Thursday night’s loss to Boston, in which the Magic lost a 27-point lead.

“We didn’t play the right way and we have to change,” he said.

“Everybody just can’t come down (the floor) and feel like they have to take the game over. You just have to play team-ball and play the way we want to play. We didn’t do that.”

Howard said the team let down after racing to a big lead.

“We thought it was going to be easy after the first two quarters,” Howard said. “We can’t allow that. We have to change.”

Andrea Bargnani re-injured his strained left calf in the first overtime of Wednesday’s double-overtime victory at Utah. Tests done Thursday in Denver revealed no significant damage to the calf. Bargnani will be treated symptomatically and is expected to be sidelined for an indefinite period of time.

Bargnani originally injured his calf on January 11 against Sacramento. He missed six games from January 13-22.

Rajon Rondo is not able to shoot or dribble with consistency and could miss several more days with a sprained right wrist.

Rondo attempted to practice Wednesday but it was a brief effort. Rondo wouldn’t say when he would return but said the wrist is at about “45 percent, but I played with my elbow at 37 percent last year’’ during the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“He can’t play,’’ Rivers said. “If he could play, he’d play. His hand just won’t let him. It’s not broken or anything. It’s just extremely sore. He tried to shoot and do things [Wednesday] and you could just see it’s no way. There’s no way he could have been effective.’’

The Philadelphia 76ers announced that they have signed Francisco Elson. With the addition of Elson, the Sixers roster now stands at 14.

“We are happy to pick up Francisco Elson, a veteran big man who can help bolster our front court,” Rod Thorn said.

Elson (7-0, 240) has appeared in 467 games with 149 starts while averaging 3.7 points (47.8% FGs, 70.0% FTs) and 3.5 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game.

Bo McCalebb established Euroleague career highs with 25 points and a performance index rating of 36, which netted him Top 16, Week 2 MVP honors.

Siena defeated Real Madrid 88-69 in the game.

McCalebb won the same honor in Week 9 of last year's Regular Season.

Eric Gordon remains a central figure in the Hornets' long term plans, even though he turned down a four-year extension offer from the club, New Orleans general manager Dell Demps said.

"It's a situation where we talked, thought we came close to an agreement and it just didn't work out, but we are still very optimistic we can get something done this summer," Demps said. "It's not a big issue. It's not a situation that is uncommon. ... There are other measures that you can use to sign Eric to a long-term contract and that's our goal."

The Hornets currently are owned by the NBA, meaning commissioner David Stern, who is temporarily acting in the role of team owner, had the final say in what kind of deal the Hornets could offer Gordon.

"We were authorized to make a deal, we had conversations that were productive, and although we didn't come to an agreement, the talks were amicable," Demps said.

Luol Deng is making "great progress" in his rehabilitation from a torn ligament in his left wrist, Bulls GM Gar Forman said Thursday night.

So much so that he may be back on the floor in time for Sunday's showdown against the Miami Heat.

Deng, who has been optimistic about his recovery time all week, is hopeful he'll be back much sooner than most expected.

"When he's physically able to play is when he'll play," Forman said during a charity event at the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls on Thursday night. "He's obviously made great progress this week. He's been on the floor. He's doing some shooting. He's doing some handling. When he feels, and we feel, he's physically ready to step back on the floor, he'll be back on the floor for us."

Tiago Splitter has been much more aggressive looking for his shot in the post in recent games and credits a more confident approach to improved foul shooting. After making only 54.3 percent of his free throws in his rookie season, he is making them at a 72.7 percent clip this season. He made 6 of 7 foul shots against the Hawks.

“When you know that you will make free throws, you can play more aggressive,” he said. “(You can) go to the rim and you’re not thinking, ‘What if I get fouled and miss free throws?’

“That’s a big thing and of course it’s helped my confidence. At the end of the day when you start playing good, you have confidence and attack the rim. If you are going to get fouled you are going to make it.

“It’s like a snowball.”

With the aid of shooting coach Herb Magee, a 2011 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Evan Turner has improved his shooting motion.

"The first thing we did was we worked with him just shooting the basketball with one hand without using his guide hand to try and get the feel for what the ball should feel like when it's released properly," Magee said.

Turner's shooting percentage has increased from 42.5% last season to 45.2%, and his percentage from shooting nine feet and closer has risen from to 50% to 73.5%, according to hoopdata.com. His outside shot is still a work in progress.

Turner is adjusting to the new shot: "I'm more comfortable with it. I think it's quicker. Mechanics was key. It was the reason I was having a slow shot. I get my shot off quicker nowadays. That definitely helps."