Nene is upset with all the focus the Nuggets have placed on Carmelo Anthony with his own future undecided, according to sources.

Like Anthony, Nene has an early termination option in his contract that could make him a free agent this coming summer.

Ken Berger of CBS Sports writes that Nene "has made a list of three teams he's interested in signing with or being traded to -- and not surprisingly, one of them is Miami, where his fierce interior presence would be the missing piece for the Heat."

Denver's stance has been to handle the Anthony situation first, but time is running out to sign Nene to an extension.

If Anthony and Chauncey Billups are traded, Nene is expected to push for a trade.

"The whole team is sick of the Carmelo thing," one source said. "They're sick of the distraction."

Carmelo Anthony did not attend Denver's shootaround on Friday morning because of what coach George Karl called a personal matter.

Karl said, "I hope so," when asked if Anthony would play against the Lakers on Friday night.

Anthony has been the subject of trade rumors since he turned down a three-year, $65 million extension with the Nuggets this past summer.

Two potential trades to the Nets fell apart and New Jersey pulled out of talks with Denver on Wednesday night.

The Nuggets claim they are in talks with several teams regarding a trade.

Steve Nash spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench Tuesday night as the Suns lost 132-98 to the Nuggets.

Denver outscored Phoenix by 42 points over the second and third periods to turn the game into a rout.

"It feels like there's a little lack of cohesion and chemistry. I don't feel like we're getting that performance and effort that we're accustomed to, and that's disappointing," Nash said. "It seems like when we lose the momentum, we just go downhill fast. It's like we stop believing.

"We're all concerned and disappointed. We've got to keep fighting; that's all we can do. You can't cry about it; you've got to keep fighting."

The Suns, 15-21, have lost 12 of their last 16 games.

The Hawks are having hourly discussions with the NBA as they consider a possible postponement of Tuesday night's game against the Bucks.

Ice and snow from a winter storm that hit Georgia on Sunday night are making travel difficult around Atlanta.

Hawks spokesman Arthur Triche says the game has not yet been postponed.

Phil Jackson has confirmed a report that he was "loudly confronted" by Ron Artest during a recent practice.

Yahoo! Sports initially reported the incident.

"That's not accurate, but it's close to accurate," Jackson said. "It was not a loud confrontation; it was a man-to-man confrontation. And it was obviously out of character for both that to happen at practice and for Ron. And it wasn't about embarrassing him publicly; it was about some of the issues that had been brought up that have focused about him."

The Lakers have lost four of their last seven games.

Jackson said there was nothing out of the ordinary about the incident and questioned the report.

"It's nothing more than what could normally happen at a practice," Jackson said. "Obviously there's either a spy or a camera or a leak or something that went on in our practice, but those are things that happen in practice, and it's not the first time, and it's not going to be the last."

Jackson said Artest apologized to both him and the team.

The report claimed Artest has "less tolerance" for Jackson's public comments about him this season and said the confrontation occurred because "Artest told Jackson that if he wants to coach him, coach him. Just stop embarrassing him in public."