Carmelo Anthony was surprised to be benched for the entire fourth quarter of Oklahoma City's overtime loss to the Nuggets.

"Yeah, of course," Anthony said. "Of course I wanted to be there, but that wasn't my decision to make, so I kind of leave that to coach on that one."

Anthony walked to the scorer's table with three minutes left in the fourth quarter but then sat himself back on the bench when Jerami Grant his a corner three-pointer. 

"I was sitting for the whole fourth, and there was like two and some change on the clock," Anthony said. "[Grant] hit that 3, so it was like, just let him continue to go out there and just play it out and see what happens. But then we wind up going to overtime."

Anthony subbed back in to start the overtime period.

"It was kind of a hard thing. I wanted to put Melo back in the game, but I think that unit was playing so well at that particular time. We were on a pretty good run, we were playing good. Jerami made a 3 when I wanted to put Carmelo back in," Billy Donovan said. "Carmelo's always been a team guy. I think he felt like, 'OK, Jerami's playing well, let him go, let him play.'"

Anthony said it's the first time in his career he can remember telling a coach to play someone else that late in a game.

"I think I've done it before, but not that late in the game and in the quarter," he said. "I've done it before where a guy has it going and didn't want to break his rhythm. A lot of times, when guys have it going like that, especially role players guys, bench guys, that gives them confidence, that you do believe in those guys. But not that late in a game like that, never did that."

Scott Brooks and Mike D’Antoni have been named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in February.  

Brooks led the Wizards to an 8-4 record in February, including a 6-1 mark on the road, as Washington took over first place in the Southeast Division and moved up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference.  Playing the entire month without All-Star guard John Wall, the Wizards defeated five of the seven other teams currently among the top eight in the East.

Washington opened February with a 122-119 home win over the current East-leading Toronto Raptors.  The Wizards’ road success featured victories at the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks.  For the month, Washington led the East in assists (29.3 apg) and ranked third in field goal percentage (48.6).      

Under D’Antoni, the NBA-leading Rockets went 12-0 in February, marking the third time in team history that they have gone unbeaten in a calendar month with at least 10 games.  Houston ended the month with a 14-game winning streak, becoming the sixth team in NBA history with two winning streaks of at least 14 games in a season.  At 48-13, Houston has its best-ever record through 61 games and a half-game lead over the Golden State Warriors for the best record in the Western Conference and overall.

Corey Brewer has committed to sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Brewer spoke with Billy Donovan and Sam Presti about the situation.

Brewer also communicated with three Eastern Conference teams.

The Lakers and Brewer agreed upon a buyout on Wednesday.

Derrick Rose has yet to receive a significant offer since becoming a free agent. Rose has received several 10-day contracts, according to sources.

Rose was waived by the Jazz following his trade from the Cavaliers.

Rose signed a veteran's minimum contract in the offseason with Cleveland.

"The injuries and lack of enthusiasm to play hurts him," a Western Conference executive told B/R.

Rose has interest in an opportunity that could be a longer term fit.

"He's not trying to go into a developing situation or trying to find out who is he is," a person close to Rose told B/R. "He knows who he is as a player."

Rose's camp hopes the Thunder could have interest in him. Some rival general managers speculate that the Clippers are interested.

There has been no communication between Rose and the Wolves.