NBA-National Basketball Association roundup

Dec 18 (The Sports Xchange) - The Philadelphia 76ers hired former NBA head coach Mike D'Antoni as associate head coach on Friday. D'Antoni brings 25 years of coaching experience to the Sixers' staff, including 12 seasons as an NBA head coach with four teams. The 76ers and D'Antoni had been in discussions about his role on head coach Brett Brown's staff. The move came after Brown agreed to a two-year extension last Friday that will carry him through the 2018-19 season and Jerry Colangelo was named chairman of basketball operations on Dec. 7. Colangelo also serves as an adviser to team ownership. D'Antoni, 64, previously was head coach of the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers. He has been out of coaching since stepping down from the Lakers following the 2013-14 season. The 76ers own an NBA-worst 1-26 record. - - - Houston Rockets point guard Ty Lawson was suspended for two games without play for driving while impaired, the NBA announced. Lawson pled guilty in November for driving while impaired after leaving a party in Denver early last year. He has a sentencing hearing next month in which he faces up to 180 days in jail. Lawson also was arrested on a DUI charge in Los Angeles in July. The troubled guard has been a major disappointment for the Rockets and is averaging just 5.9 points and 4.2 assists, well off his career marks of 13.7 points and 6.5 assists. - - - The Philadelphia 76ers assigned rookie forward Christian Wood to the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League. - - - The Los Angeles Lakers assigned Tarik Black and Ryan Kelly to the D-Fenders of the D-League. (Editing by Andrew Both)