NBA -- Strickland Arrested, Charged With Assault

NEW YORK - Rod Strickland, the star guard of the Portland Trail Blazers, was arrested for allegedly giving his former girlfriend a black eye last month at her Bronx home.

Accompanied by his attorney, Strickland yesterday surrendered at a police station where the ex-girlfriend, Judith Cruz, had filed a criminal complaint, police said.

Strickland, who was born in the Bronx and used to play for the New York Knicks, was charged with misdemeanor assault and released.

Strickland, 29, averaged a career-high 18.9 points a game in 1994-95.

"Let's get this straight. She's no girlfriend or ex-girlfriend," Strickland said in today's editions of the New York Times.

NOTES

-- Anthony Peeler of the Los Angeles Lakers spent nearly three hours in jail for allegedly violating provisions of his probation from a 3-year-old assault case in Missouri.

-- Chris Mills of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Predrag Danilovic of the Miami Heat were suspended for one game and fined $10,000 and $3,500, respectively, by the league for fighting during their season opener Friday night.

-- The Dallas Mavericks moved forward Roy Tarpley from the suspended list to the injured list.