The AP reports: Rudy Gay scored 17 points, and Hakim Warrick added 14 points and eight rebounds Friday night as Memphis won its first preseason game with a 92-79 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. Reserve Quinton Ross added 13 points for Memphis (1-2), while rookie O.J. Mayo finished with 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting. Mike Conley added 10 points… Jason Richardson led the Bobcats with 14 points, while Gerald Wallace finished with 13. Andre Brown had 12 points and nine rebounds for Charlotte (0-2).
Month: October 2008
Oct 10: Celtics 96, Cavs 94
The AP reports: LeBron James scored 12 points in the first quarter, finishing with 15 in 13 1/2 minutes on Friday night to help the Cavaliers open an early lead before the Boston reserves took over and led the NBA champions to a 96-94 victory… Tony Allen scored 25 points, and Leon Powe hit two free throws with 13.6 seconds left to put Boston ahead just as Jed Lowrie’s sacrifice fly gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the AL playoffs against Tampa Bay… None of Boston’s “Big Three” played more than 9 1/2 minutes, all in the first quarter. Paul Pierce scored eight points, Ray Allen had five and Kevin Garnett scored four.
Oct 10: Pistons 73, Magic 62
The AP reports: Rasheed Wallace scored 12 points to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 73-62 preseason victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night… Chauncey Billups had 10 points, Kwame Brown added nine and Richard Hamilton had eight for Detroit (3-0, which is undefeated under new coach Michael Curry. Caron Butler, Etan Thomas, Dominic McGuire and JaVale McGee all had eight points for the Wizards (1-2), who missed 30 of 40 shot in the second half.
Oct 10: Knicks 110, Sixers 104
The AP reports: David Lee had 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead the New York Knicks to a 110-104 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in a preseason game Friday night. Chris Duhon added 19 points and Zach Randolph had 18 to lead six Knicks players in double figures. Elton Brand led the 76ers with 24 points, Andre Iguodala added 16 and Andre Miller had 12 points and 12 assists.
Oct 10: Pacers 102, Bulls 95
The AP reports: The Pacers sent Williams to Dallas on Friday for Eddie Jones, cash and draft picks. Brandon Rush, a rookie, took advantage of the available minutes and scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to lead Indiana past the Chicago Bulls 102-95 in a preseason game… T.J. Ford scored 18 points and Marquis Daniels added 13 for the Pacers (1-1). Tyrus Thomas had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Aaron Gray added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls (0-2). Chicago guard Derrick Rose, the first pick in the 2008 draft, had 13 points and six assists.
TV network fires Bob Cousy
The Boston Globe (Frank Dell’Apa) reports: Bob Cousy will be at TD Banknorth Garden for the Celtics’ banner raising Oct. 28, but he will not be involved in the television broadcasts this season for the first time in 34 years after Comcast SportsNet fired him. “I would have liked to have continued,” Cousy said yesterday. “I’m only involved in 10 games a season, so it’s not that big a deal. But I would have liked to have been allowed to keep my hand in, especially after 22 years of [Celtics] mediocrity – last year was kind of fun, frankly, and I was looking forward to doing it again. Comcast can choose to do the hiring and firing, but if it’s a financial situation, I’m not being overpaid. What they pay me is what they spend monthly for office supplies.” Cousy said he was dissatisfied with how he was informed of the decision. “I got a call from somebody I hardly knew, not even the head honcho, saying they decided to go to a two-man booth,” Cousy said. “I said, ‘Thank you, very much,’ and hung up. When you’re 80 years old, you run out of leverage.”
Pacers, Mavs trade Shawne Williams, Eddie Jones, picks, cash
The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they acquired forward Shawne Williams from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for guard Eddie Jones and two future second-round draft picks.
Williams (6-9, 225) was selected by Indiana with the 17th overall pick in the 2006 draft. The third-year forward averaged 6.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 65 games (3 starts) last season with the Pacers improving on his rookie numbers of 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in 2006-07.
A native of Memphis, Tenn., Williams played one year of college basketball at the University of Memphis before declaring himself eligible for the 2006 NBA Draft. As a Tiger, Williams helped lead Memphis to a 33-4 record while averaging 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds and being named Conference USA Freshman of the Year. In his lone collegiate postseason, Williams was named Most Valuable Player of the Conference USA Tournament after averaging 18.0 points and 6.7 rebounds.
“On behalf of the Mavericks organization, we would like to thank Eddie Jones for the valuable contributions he has brought to our team,” President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Donnie Nelson said. “We appreciated his professionalism both on and off the court as a Maverick. Shawne Williams is an exciting young prospect with a bright future. We look forward to developing him into the player he aspires to be.”
InsideHoops.com editor says: The Mavs must see some talent in Williams. The Pacers just see that he occasionally gets in legal trouble, and they aren’t particularly in love with his basketball ability or brains. Eddie Jones is all washed up at this point and doesn’t really count. Second rounders don’t have much value these days. And then there’s the cash. It’s basically Williams for second rounders and cash. Which sounds like a somewhat even deal, assuming Williams avoids getting arrested and turns out to be good enough to help the Dallas bench sometime in the near future.
Bucks waive TJ Cummings
The Milwaukee Bucks have requested waivers on forward T.J. Cummings, General Manager John Hammond announced today.
In one preseason game with the Bucks, Cummings scored four points while adding one rebound, one assist and one steal. Cummings, 27, signed a free agent contract with Milwaukee on October 2.
The Bucks preseason roster currently stands at 18.
Wizards waive Taj McCullough
Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has waived forward Taj McCullough.
McCullough appeared in two preseason games for Washington and averaged 3.0 points in 9.5 minutes per game. McCullough originally signed with Washington on September 22, 2008.
The Wizards roster (attached) now stands at 17.
Melo may not play tonight
The Rocky Mountain News (Chris Tomasson) reports: Carmelo Anthony is listed as questionable for the Nuggets’ preseason opener at the Pepsi Center on Friday night because of a hand injury, and even coach George Karl isn’t sure of his star’s status. The fifth-year forward suffered a contusion on the fourth finger on his left hand in practice Thursday when a teammate slapped the ball out of his hand.
InsideHoops.com editor says: In preseason most star players are on the court for very limited minutes, so even if he was healthy Melo may have only played 10 or 15 minutes. All that really matters here is that the injury is very minor and will soon heal up.