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Thursday afternoon, the latest updated results for fan voting that picks the All-Star game starters came in. InsideHoops.com has the full voting counts posted here (click this).
If voting ended today, here’s who would start:
East: Kidd, Wade, LeBron, Garnett, D-Howard.
West: Kobe, McGrady, Melo, Duncan, Yao.
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Losing Chris Mihm for a few weeks hurts the Lakers frontcourt depth a tiny but but it won’t make a huge difference. The 7-0, 265-pound player gets 13.3 minutes per game but contributes just 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds on awful 36.9% shooting. Though, still, you never want to lose anyone to injury… I agree with the league for suspending Lamar Odom for one game. I hope that Dikembe Mutombo, now age 62, keeps playing and doesn’t retire at season’s end, though he’s said for a while now that he will. The 74-year old center is playing just 8.5 minutes per game this season, putting up a whopping 0.5 points and 2.5 rebounds on awesome 16.7% shooting. Clearly, the 83-year-old has some game left in the tank… Larry Hughes is shooting 33.5% from the field and 27.3% from three-point range. He does make his free throws, though, nailing 86.5% of them. He’s scoring just 9.7 pppg, the lowest average since his rookie season. His career FG% is 41.1%… I think the Hornets and Bobcats should combine into one team, and move to Oklahoma City… New Orleans clearly can’t support an NBA team right now. Me, my friend Mike, you, and a random hot chick chosen from the background of an MTV music video could stand centercourt, do the “Crank Dat Superman” Soulja Boy dance, and draw the same number of fans that have been going to home Hornets games.
This light, unedited editorial is a response to today’s NBA rumors stories. You absolutely need to hit the insidehoops rumors page every single day — with one main morning update, and more stories later in the day as they develop. Also hit that page to see the photo caption that accompanies the commentary. And of course, read the read of insidehoops.com as well.
The Bulls actually look like a real team again under new head coach Jim Boylan. Maybe they’ll soon be a force as it was expected they’d be. The AP reports:
Ben Gordon scored 22 points, Luol Deng added 21 points and 13 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls continued their strong play under interim coach Jim Boylan with a 109-97 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. The Bulls, who improved to 3-1 under Boylan, rallied from a 12-point third-quarter deficit when Boylan tweaked his rotation to take advantage of Charlotte’s small lineup.
Lots of teams rally when a big change gets made, though. Let’s see if it continues.
The Knicks continued their losing ways Wednesday night in New York, losing to the injury-riddled Sacramento Kings 107-97. The final score is deceptive. This game wasn’t close at all and for all intents and purposes was really a 20-point Kings win.
In addition to Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin being out the Kings were also without Ron Artest, who had right elbow surgery today. But Brad Miller, John Salmons and Francisco Garcia played like stars.
Miller put up 26 points and 16 rebounds. Garcia shot badly but earned plenty of free throws to make up for it, getting 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Salmons was king of the court, shooting 13-of-18 for 32 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals.
For the Knicks, Eddy Curry found offense, shooting 10-of-17 (and just 4-of-11 free throws) for 24 points, most of which came in the first half. But he grabbed just 3 rebounds and was totally destroyed when attempting to play defense.
Stephon Marbury returned for the Knicks, coming off the bench to play reasonably well, getting 16 points and 4 assists.
Nate Robinson got 19 points on just 11 shots.
Jamal Crawford was awful, as was Quentin Richardson. And Zach Randolph had one of his worst games of the season and was ejected after throwing his headband in disgust.
The Knicks committed 21 turnovers and 32 fouls.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Yi Jianlian and the Seattle SuperSonics’ Kevin Durant today were named the Eastern and Western Conference T-Mobile Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played for the month of December.
Yi averaged 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds for the month and ranks second in scoring and rebounding among rookies. He also leads rookies in field goal percentage with .503 and is third in minutes per game with 30.6. In addition, he scored a career-high 29 points in a 103-99 win over Charlotte on Dec. 22.
Among rookie qualifiers for the second straight month Durant ranks first in the league in scoring with 19.7 points per game, seventh in rebounding with 4.2, and is tied for first in assists with 2.1. He is also ranked second in the league in field goal percentage with .407, first in free throw percentage and is averaging 1.3 blocks per game. In addition, Durant matched his career high in points with 35 and rebounds with eight and set a new career high in blocks with five on Dec. 7 vs. Milwaukee.
InsideHoops.com NewsWire: The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard and the New Orleans’ Hornets Chris Paul today were named Eastern Conference and Western Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played Dec. 1 through Dec. 31.
Howard averaged 21.7 points on .598 shooting, a league-high 16.1 rebounds and 2.87 blocks in winning his second consecutive monthly award. Howard recorded 14 double-doubles in December, as the Magic went 8-7. The center had five games of 20-plus rebounds, including a season-high 23 on Dec. 3 at Golden State in a 123-117 overtime win.
Paul averaged 24.5 points, 10.4 assists and a league-high 3.00 steals in guiding the Hornets to a Southwest Division-best 9-5 mark. Paul’s month included two 40-plus-point performances and three games with at least 15 assists. With season averages of 21.5 points, 10.2 assists and 3.00 steals, Paul is attempting to become the first player to average at least 20.0 points, 10.0 assists and 3.0 steals for a season.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month were Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, Boston’s Paul Pierce, Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace, Denver’s Allen Iverson, Detroit’s Richard Hamilton, Houston’s Yao Ming, Philadelphia’s Andre Miller, Portland’s Brandon Roy, and Toronto’s Chris Bosh.
InsideHoops.com NewsWire: The Detroit Pistons’ Flip Saunders and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Nate McMillan today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in December.
Saunders guided the Pistons to a 15-2 (.882) record last month as Detroit established a franchise mark for wins in December. Holding eight of their last 10 December opponents to 90 points or less, the Pistons are in the midst of a nine-game winning streak. At 24-7, Detroit enjoys a 9.5-game lead in the Central Division. The Pistons handed the Celtics their first home loss of the season on Dec. 19 when Detroit posted an 87-85 victory in Boston.
McMillan led the Trail Blazers to a 13-2 (.867) record in December, which included 13 straight wins from Dec. 3 through Dec. 30. The 13-game winning streak is the second-longest in Trail Blazers history and tops in the NBA this season. At 18-13, Portland is second in the Northwest Division, trailing Denver by one-half game. The Trail Blazers defeated the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on Dec. 16, their first win in Denver since Feb. 26, 2003.
Other nominees for the Coach of the Month were Atlanta’s Mike Woodson, Boston’s Doc Rivers, Dallas’ Avery Johnson, Golden State’s Don Nelson, New Orleans’ Byron Scott and Philadelphia’s Maurice Cheeks.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have assigned forward Cedric Simmons to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today.
“We are happy to have the ability to put Cedric in game situations like this. This gives Cedric a great opportunity to finish the last step of his rehab from his ankle sprain,” Ferry said.
Simmons has played in four games for the Cavaliers this season and has grabbed 11 rebounds in 43 minutes. He was acquired by the Cavaliers on September 29, 2007 from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for David Wesley.
The Vipers are the D-League Affiliate for the Cavaliers, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Hornets.
Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace was selected 4th overall by Washington Bullets in the 1995 NBA Draft…Pistons guard Richard Hamilton was selected 7th overall by the Wizards in the 1999 NBA Draft…Pistons free agent signee Jarvis Hayes was selected 10th overall by the Wizards in the 2003 NBA Draft…Wizards guard Antonio Daniels and Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace were teammates during the 2002-2003 season with the Portland Trail Blazers.
InsideHoops.com NewsWire: Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom has been suspended one game without pay and assessed a Flagrant Foul, Penalty Two for flagrantly fouling Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics by throwing himself into Allen and knocking him to the floor, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred with 2:56 remaining in the fourth period of the Lakers 110- 91 loss to the Celtics at Staples Center on Dec. 30.
Odom will serve his suspension on Jan. 4 when the Lakers host the Philadelphia 76ers.
InsideHoops.com editor says: I agree with the suspension. It had to be done. Odom intentionally football-hit Ray Allen.
Check out what Odom did to get suspended: youtube video.
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