Iverson to be fined for missing practice

Allen Iverson apparently chose family and food over practice - and he'll be fined for it. Iverson was the only player who didn't show up when the Detroit Pistons worked out on Thanksgiving. Coach Michael Curry confirmed Iverson will be fined, will not start tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks, and might not play in the game for missing the practice. After Detroit traded for the superstar, Iverson insisted he would do whatever Curry wanted him to and even mocked his famous rant about practice while playing for the 76ers. The Pistons are 5-5 since acquiring Iverson from Denver for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheikh Samb.

Stephon Marbury will soon either be ordered to stay at home indefinitely or be released by the New York Knicks, a source told the New York Daily News. Marbury declined to play Wednesday night against the Pistons, the second time he had done so in six days. The source told the Daily News that Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni considered sending Marbury home that night. The Knicks are down to two healthy guards - Chris Duhon and Anthony Roberson - after Nate Robinson missed Wednesday's game with a groin injury and Cuttino Mobley (heart condition) has not yet been cleared by team doctors. Marbury also has irked teammates. After Wednesday's loss, forward Quentin Richardson told ESPN.com, "He hasn't played with us all year. Regardless of what you have going on with the organization - you're not going to allow your teammates to be left out there the way we were basically being left out there."

Brian Burke is the new general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sources confirm to ESPN.com that a contract was finally agreed upon yesterday for six years, including the remainder of this season. A news conference is expected tomorrow in Toronto. Burke has been linked to the Leafs job for more than a year but the speculation intensified once he parted ways with the Anaheim Ducks Nov. 13 . . . Phoenix Coyotes center Olli Jokinen, who has seven goals and 18 points, will be out two weeks with a shoulder injury, ending his consecutive games streak at 397 . . . The Panthers acquired Nick Tarnasky from the Predators for Wade Belak.

Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka combined for a 10-under-par 62, giving Germany a one-stroke lead over Australia's Richard Green and Brendan Jones after the first round of the World Cup at Shenzhen, China. Three teams - Spain, Canada, and the United States - were two shots behind. The Americans got an early boost when Brandt Snedeker holed an eagle on No. 4 - a 138-yard 9-iron that found the cup. It followed partner Ben Curtis's birdies on two of the first three holes . . . South Africa's Tim Clark waited out a three-hour suspension because of a severe thunderstorm to shoot a 5-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead in the Australian Masters at Melbourne. Australian Scott Hend was in the clubhouse at 67 when a hail-laced storm forced nearly 80 players off the course. Clark, 3 under when play was suspended, birdied 15 and 16 when play resumed on what he said was a "totally different course." John Daly played in the morning and shot 76.

Former Olympic hurdles champion Fani Halkia has been suspended for two years for doping, Greek sports officials said. Halkia - the 400-meter hurdles gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics - was expelled from the Beijing Games after testing positive for the steroid methyltrienolone. The ban is effective from August. Halkia denies wrongdoing and suggested tampered diet supplements may be responsible for the failed doping tests . . . Irish Olympian Martin Fagan and Teyba Naser of Bahrain won the Manchester (Conn.) Road Race . . . AC Milan took until stoppage time to salvage a draw against Portsmouth at Manchester, England, in the UEFA Cup as the Italians missed a chance to join Manchester City, CSKA Moscow, and St. Etienne in qualifying for the knockout phase early . . . The remainder of England's cricket tour of India was canceled and a Champions League Twenty20 tournament for next week has been postponed following terror attacks that killed more than 100 people in Mumbai.