Miami Heat head coach Stan Van Gundy will coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars for the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, to be played on Sunday, February 20 at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.

Van Gundy and the Heat (32-13, .711) coaching staff earned the honor to coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars as a result of Miami?s 106-94 defeat this evening of the Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards (26-16, .619) 108-101 loss to Orlando, clinching the best possible winning percentage in the Eastern Conference through games of February 6, 2005.
Head coaches for the East and West All-Star teams are based on teams with the best winning percentage in each conference following the Sunday games (February 6) played two weeks prior to the All-Star Game.

In his second season as head coach of Miami, Van Gundy earned Coach of the Month honors for the month of December, guiding the Heat to a 14-1 month (6-0 at home, 8-1 on the road) to set a franchise record for most wins in a month.  Prior to becoming head coach of the Heat in October, 2003 when Pat Riley stepped down, Van Gundy served as assistant head coach for six years and as an assistant coach for two years.  In his rookie season, he led the Heat to their first playoff berth in three years and led the Heat to the 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The Miami Heat signed former Portland forward Qyntel Woods, who was waived by the Trail Blazers last week. To make room for Woods the club waived forward Jerome Beasley and placed veteran Wesley Person on the injured list.

In 62 games, including eight starts, with the Trail Blazers last season, he averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game.

Heat guard Dwayne Wade tweaked his left ankle and left knee again Monday in the opening minutes of the third quarter, forcing him to hobble through the rest of the game in clear discomfort the Miami Herald is reporting.

''I just twisted my ankle and fell on my knee,'' Wade said.

Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said there was no pressure placed on Wade to return.

''[Trainer] Ron [ Culp] wasn't sure that he should've gone [back in the game],'' Van Gundy said. ``I made it very clear to him that if he could not go, he could not go. He said he was OK to go.''

Members of the Philadelphia Eagles were honored on Monday night at the Sixers game versus Miami, as they are now on their way to the Super Bowl, and their excellence might have just rubbed off on their basketball team.

"It was something you always want to be a part of," Allen Iverson said. "That's the same thing with me. Just being able to try to get to the Finals and win it. That's the ultimate goal."

Iverson had 45 points and 11 assists, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 106-98 victory over the Miami Heat on Monday night.

With his strong play this season, there is concern out of miami that forward Udonis Haslem may be pricing himself out of the Heat's market.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that with strong finishes, Haslem could command more than what Miami can pay him, and point guard Damon Jones also could leave the Heat in a difficult spot.

Haslem will be a restricted free agent at the seasons end, and with the Heat already over the cap Miami is unable to give him more than the NBA's average salary -- about $5 million -- for next season. If a team offers Haslem more than that, Miami could not match, unless it gets more than $5 million under the cap, and even trading Eddie Jones will not accomplish that.

''They could lose him,'' the top scout for an Eastern Conference team said. `` Brian Cardinal got the [$5 million cap] exception from Memphis, and I'd much rather have Haslem.''

The good news for Miami is re-signing Haslem would not take any money away from the Heat's $5 million exception, which could be used on a free agent such as Raja Bell, Stromile Swift or Donyell Marshall.

''Haslem is a heck of a player,'' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ``It's amazing where he's come from so quickly.''

Jones will decide this summer whether to opt out of his $2.75 million salary next season and seek a lucrative, long-term contract in free agency. If he opts out, Miami would need to re-sign him or another point guard, using that mid-level exception, restricting its ability to improve elsewhere.

Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets and Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves lead all players in the Western Conference and Shaquille O?Neal of the Miami Heat and Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets lead all players in the Eastern Conference in votes received after the fourth returns of the 2005 NBA All-Star Balloting program.

Through the 2005 All-Star Balloting program, NBA fans from around the globe are responsible for voting in the starters for the 54th NBA All-Star Game, which will be played in Denver on Sunday, February 20. The game will be broadcast live on TNT, Rogers Sportsnet, ESPN Radio and audio in several languages on NBA.com (http://nba.com) at 8 p.m. (EST).

Yao leads all players with 2,153,039 votes. He is followed at the center position in the Western Conference by Sacramento?s Brad Miller (328,537). Garnett, the 2003-04 NBA Most Valuable Player, is third in overall votes received and leads all Western Conference forwards with 1,755,124 votes, followed by San Antonio?s Tim Duncan (1,446,824). Houston?s Tracy McGrady (1,688,159) and Los Angeles Lakers? Kobe Bryant (1,551,177) lead all Western Conference guards and round out the top five vote-getters.

O?Neal leads all Eastern Conference players with 2,099,201 votes, followed at the center position by Detroit?s Ben Wallace (644,543). Carter (1,505,169) and Orlando?s Grant Hill (1,273,846) lead all Eastern Conference forwards. Cleveland?s LeBron James (1,351,369) has regained the lead among Eastern Conference guards followed by Philadelphia?s Allen Iverson (1,341,824).

The Miami Heat have announced that as a result of the Philadelphia Eagles? participation in the NFC Championship Game, the NBA has announced that the HEAT?s home game versus the New Orleans Hornets has been changed from Monday, January 24, at 7:30 pm to Sunday, January 23 at 6:00 pm at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

The following contest against the 76ers has also been changed from Sunday, January 23, at 6:00 pm to Monday, January 24, at 7:00 pm at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

While Jimmy Jackson has made it clear he has no intention of playing for his current team the New Orleans Hornets, according to Dave D'Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger a person close to Jackson revealed that the ex-Rocket would welcome a move to the Nets, Denver or Miami, though there are at least two other teams interested in his services.

The Nets need Jackson the most to help fill the void left by the injury to Richard Jefferson, but Hornets GM Allan Bristow is demanding a first-round draft pick from Nets president Rod Thorn in return.

And since his team is going nowhere, Bristow is in no rush to move Jackson until he gets what he wants. Jackson, meanwhile, runs his businesses and restaurants as the resentment over his exile from Houston continues to build.

"Being traded is not the bad part. The trade part is all part of the NBA," said Jackson. "I was supposed to be held in high regard. They (Rockets management) always communicated with you. So why not communicate with you now?"

According to TNT Analyst David Aldridge there has been talk of a four way trade involving Toronto, New York, Miami and Minnesota, four maximum sized contracts exchanging zip codes.

According to the report Minnesota would receive Heat guard Eddie Jones and Toronto forward Donyell Marshall, Miami would receive Wolf Latrell Sprewell, the Knicks would receive disgruntled guard Jalen Rose while the Raptors receive often injured guard Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway, who has one less year remaining on his contract.

More details as they come into play.

With Shaq visiting Oakland on Wednesday, he indicated that he knew Golden State had interest in acquiring him before he left the Lakers.

"It's not that I didn't want to be here," he said. "They didn't move fast enough. I wanted to be traded that day."

The rumored deal for O'Neal involved Nick Van Exel, Cliff Robinson, Mike Dunleavy and Mickael Pietrus.