Los Angeles  - In the end, Alonzo Mourning chose his health rather than another comeback, and the seven-time All-Star centre officially retired Thursday.

"That's what it's all about, it's my health," Mourning said during a press conference at Miami's American Airlines Arena. "My health is more important than anything.

"So many of us take it for granted, underestimate it until something seriously happens to us. I've gone down with something seriously physically happening to me, and I can surely appreciate my health at this particular state that I'm in right now."

Los Angeles  - For the first time, fans had their say and voted high-flying Spaniard Rudy Fernandez of the Portland Trail Blazers as the fourth member to participate in the Slam Dunk Competition on Saturday night of NBA All-Star Weekend, February 13-15 in Phoenix, Arizona.

"It's very exciting for me to play in the slam dunk contest for the fans and for me," told Fernandez local reporters at a Monday afternoon press conference following the announcement. "It's my dream, you know."

Los Angeles - The Orlando Magic hit the long ball on Sunday night to beat the San Antonio Spurs at their own game.

Jameer Nelson scored 12 of his 22 points in the final quarter, and the visiting Magic hit 14-of-22 three-pointers to shoot down the Spurs 105-98 in a battle of division leaders.

"It was a really well played game with neither one of us able to stop the other for any length of time," said Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy, after his South-east Division leading Magic (30-8) moved to a league best 14-5 on the road.

"The difference in the game simply came down to three-point baskets. We simply shot the heck out of the threes."

Los Angeles - Darius Miles is back on the Memphis Grizzlies, which is bad news for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Defying a request by the Trail Blazers that could have considerable financial impact, the Grizzlies on Saturday re-signed Miles to a 10-day contract, three days after waiving him.

The Grizzlies announced the move just one day after Blazers team president Larry Miller sent an email to every NBA team threatening legal action if Miles was signed for the sole purpose of disrupting Portland's finances.

Los Angeles  - Orlando Magic centre Dwight Howard and reigning league Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers remain the leading vote-getters in their respective Eastern and Western Conferences, after the fourth returns of the 2009 NBA All-Star balloting was announced Thursday.

Howard, the league's top rebounder, leads all players with 2,102,368 votes, while Bryant is next with 1,903,798.

Los Angeles - The Charlotte Bobcats are the latest to take advantage of the mighty Boston Celtics' recent road woes.

Raymond Felton scored 25 points, and rookie DJ Augustin came off the bench to add 11 of his 20 in overtime, including the go-ahead three-pointer, as the Bobcats surprised the suddenly stumbling Celtics with a 114-106 victory on Tuesday night.

After starting the season with a sparkling 27-2 record, including a franchise-record 19 consecutive victories, the defending NBA Champions have sputtered, dropping five of their last seven contests - all on the road.