NBA-National Basketball Association roundup

Feb 12 (The Sports Xchange) - Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh pulled out of Sunday's All-Star Game with a sprained right calf, the team announced on Friday. Bosh will be replaced on the Eastern Conference squad by Atlanta center Al Horford. Bosh has expressed eagerness in recent weeks to play in this year's game because it is being played in Toronto, where he played his first seven NBA seasons with the Raptors before leaving as a free agent to sign with Miami. Horford is making his fourth All-Star appearance. He is averaging 15.3 points and 6.9 rebounds this season. Bosh also pulled out of Saturday's 3-point shooting contest. Portland guard C.J. McCollum was tabbed to replace him. -- Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson headline the list of 14 finalists for this year's Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class. This year's list includes seven first-time finalists: four-time NBA champion O'Neal; nine-time NBA All-Star Iverson; NBA referee Darell Garretson; college coach Tom Izzo; the first African-American coach in a pro league John McLendon; four-time WNBA champion Sheryl Swoopes; and 10-time AAU national champions Wayland Baptist University. Previous finalists included three-time NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson; college coaches Charles "Lefty" Driesell, Bo Ryan, Eddie Sutton and Muffet McGraw, and high school coaches Leta Andrews and Robert Hughes. -- All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson left little doubt that the Golden State Warriors would be gunning for the NBA single-season wins record in the second half of the season. At 48-4, the Warriors hit the All-Star break needing a 25-5 finish to the season to break the record set the by Chicago Bulls with a 72-10 mark in 1995-96. "Oh we will," said Thompson as part of an ESPN Radio interview. "We'll probably rest guys down the stretch. But we're so deep of a team that we should have a chance to win every night. "Just to be in the conversation of 'You guys can do it' is crazy. It's great. I would have never imagined this. Growing up, I always thought that record was untouchable. Obviously we're playing for more than just 73 wins -- we're playing for a championship -- but if it's right there for us, we might as well try and take it." -- The Atlanta Hawks recalled center Edy Tavares from the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League, the team announced. (Editing by Larry Fine) ))