O’Neal’s Suspension Finalized at 15 Games

A federal judge ruled Thursday that Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal does not have to serve the final 10 games of his suspension for fighting with fans at the end of the Pacers-Detroit Pistons game last month.

O’Neal played Thursday night against the New Jersey Nets and scored 31 points in the Pacers’ 96-83 win.

The ruling makes permanent the temporary decision U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels made last week, which allowed O’Neal to return to action even though he had not served all of the 25-game suspension imposed by NBA Commissioner David Stern.

The league went to court after arbitrator Roger Kaplan said O’Neal’s penalty should be cut to 15 games, citing the player’s “character, community involvement and citizenship.”

The NBA challenged Kaplan’s authority to hear an appeal of Stern’s punishment.

“We are puzzled with Judge Daniels’ ruling because the Collective Bargaining Agreement states that an appeal of a suspension for ‘conduct on the playing court’ may be made only to the Commissioner, not to an arbitrator, and Jermaine O’Neal’s actions took place entirely on the playing court,” the NBA said in a statement.

O’Neal served the 15th game of his suspension on Dec. 22. During the stretch, Indiana lost 10 games.

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LeBron James spent his 20th birthday at home, nursing a broken left cheekbone sustained when he ran into Houston center Dikembe Mutombo’s elbow during the Cavaliers’ 98-87 loss to the Rockets on Wednesday night.

Once the swelling in his face goes down, James will be fitted with a protective mask that he’ll have to wear during games until the fracture is healed. The Cavaliers don’t play again until Monday at Charlotte, giving James time to rest.

“If they had to operate it could have been four or five weeks,” a relieved Coach Paul Silas said. “He’ll have to get adjusted to the mask, but at least he’ll be able to play.”

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Yao Ming is more than 60,000 votes ahead of Shaquille O’Neal in the race to finish No. 1 overall in NBA All-Star game balloting.

Through two rounds of voting, Yao -- the center for Houston of the Western Conference -- has 1,373,458. O’Neal, traded from the Lakers to Miami in the off-season, tops the Eastern Conference with 1,311,762.

The game is Feb. 20 in Denver.

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Forward Tom Gugliotta was activated by Boston, which put forward Justin Reed on the injured list because of right knee tendinitis. Gugliotta spent the last eight games on the injured list because of a right ankle sprain.... Phoenix chairman Jerry Colangelo, 65, underwent successful prostate cancer surgery in New York, the team said.