Allen Iverson has moved up to 16th overall on the all-time scoring list, passing former Sixer great Charles Barkley on Friday night.

According to the Detroit News, Iverson had 10 points in the first half for the Pistons against the Boston Celtics, giving him 23,759 in his career. Patrick Ewing is next on the list with about 1,000 more points.

Rockets' forward Ron Artest discussed the team's progress this season recently and feels as though they are in grade school.

"We're in elementary school right now," Artest said. "How do you go from elementary school to PhD beyond midseason? I don't know, but we're going to try and do it. We're going to try and make it happen."

After making the statement, Artest stopped to think about what he said.

"Did you like that analogy?" Artest said. "I don't know where that came from. I've been around Shane (Battier) too much."

Ron Artest has told CBS.com that he may sit out until after the All-Star break, but according to the Houston Chronicle, the Rocket forward's agent has said that he may not be out at all.

?He?s just sore,? David Bauman, Artest?s agent, said. ?I don?t know how much or if any time at all will be missed. I can tell you based on everyone I talked to today, he?s sore, he?s doing his treatment today, he?s taking it one day at a time, and there hasn?t been any conversation about shutting it down.

?Ron is very frustrated about not being able to penetrate and do the things he can do. To my knowledge, (the ankle) was not as sore or as badly swollen as it was. I think he was venting .?

Rockets' center Yao Ming injured his right knee in the team's loss to the Pacers in Indianapolis on Friday night, and he's listed as day-to-day.

"I'm OK," Yao said. "We'll see how I feel tomorrow. It was just a knee-to-knee hit. It was not just today; the last 10 games, I got a couple hits on the same spot.

"It felt a little bit funny after the first play. The X-ray showed the bone is fine. I did (worry) before the picture came."

Houston starters Ron Artest and Tracy McGrady made a step towards returning to game action on Thursday when they practiced with the team.

"They practiced," Coach Rick Adelman said. "Today they looked good. We'll see how they feel tomorrow.

"We had pretty much everybody. It was a short scrimmage after a game (Wednesday) night. But they both went through it. We'll see how they respond, and we'll go from there.

"I think definitely they both looked like they were moving good. They didn't have any problems. I was pleased with the way they came out and played."

Neither Artest nor McGrady will face the Pacers on Friday night in Indiana.

Kenyon Martin missed a pair of free throws that could have forced overtime in Denver's loss to Houston on Monday night, but the Nuggets feel they had the game-winning bucket taken away.

With Houston leading 114-113, Linas Kleiza drove into the lane and dished to Nene for a dunk, but the bucket didn't count because referee Bennett Salvatore called a charge on Kleiza as he ran into Chuck Hayes.

"I thought it was definitely a flop," Kleiza said. "I definitely didn't feel like I hit him. But, oh well. It's done. We've got to move on."

Yao Ming has told the Houston Chronicle that reports that he and Tracy McGrady do not speak and that he wants T-Mac off the team are not true.

"I'm upset," he said, "(that) this news is fake."

"We've been talking," Yao said. "The locker room is very good. In there, we're joking. I think it's been a tough time for us, for the Rockets, a lot of rumors, just like in the summer will come out."

"It's easy when a team is going the right way, going good, is winning. Everybody is good. This is a tough time for us. We need to stay together, stay tight, fight through it. That's how you show the teamwork, show how good you are.

"That (story) surprised me, really surprised me. That's the first time in my career I heard that. I heard other stories, but not about me. Now is the first time it happened to us. Whatever they say outside, I feel we need to keep inside that room, in close, and we fight like a team."

Houston star Tracy McGrady has vowed that when he returns to the court after sitting out with a sore knee he'll turn around his disappointing season.

He will undergo his offseason conditioning regimen over the next two weeks in an effort to improve his play.

"I think it's a very important decision," McGrady said. "It's been a tough season, my toughest season. You anticipate the season coming off a disappointing playoffs, not having our big man, again exiting out of the first round. So you get those additions with Ron (Artest) and the other guys we added to this team. That anticipation builds up.

"It wasn't my normal offseason. It wasn't my normal training camp. It's been tough physically and mentally. I didn't have the offseason I normally have to prepare for the season.

"I tried to go out and play on one leg. This league is too good. Me trying to get our team off to a good start kind of hurt me a little bit and maybe put our team somewhat in a funk.

"I'm going to bust my butt to try to get back."

Tracy McGrady has so frequently been out of the lineup that the Rockets are beginning to be fed up with him, and Yao Ming has quietly voiced his displeasure.

"They don't speak," an extremely plugged-in person tells David Aldridge. "And Yao wants him out."

Next summer McGrady will have an expiring, $22.4 million contract that many teams will likely be interested in taking.

Yao and McGrady still like each other personally, but it is an on-the-court matter.

One veteran scout who worked a Rockets' game recently was shocked by the deterioration in the still-29-year-old McGrady's game.

"I thought to myself, 'My God, he's old,'" the scout said. "It was amazing."

Houston forward Ron Artest had an MRI on his right ankle Sunday, and although the results were promising, he will remain sidelined for at least another week.

Artest has missed four of the team's last five games because of the injury, which has been diagnosed as a moderate to severe bone bruise.