The AP reports: The Grizzlies’ youth movement is starting to show results. Memphis won its fourth straight game Sunday, beating the Miami Heat 102-86. Rookie O.J. Mayo had 28 points, and Rudy Gay added 18… Memphis’ winning streak is its longest since the five games of the 2005-06 season. Darko Milicic matched his season high with 13 points, and reserve Mike Conley had 12 for the Grizzlies, who at times have started three rookies—Mayo, Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur. Eight of Memphis’ 14 players are 23 or younger… Memphis has scored at least 100 points in all four wins during the run and has turned up the defensive pressure. On Sunday, the Miami star Dwyane Wade was 5-of-16 from the field and the Heat shot 36 percent… Michael Beasley led Miami with 20 points, and Joel Anthony had 12 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
Month: December 2008
Dec 14: Hornets 99, Raptors 91
The AP reports: The Toronto Raptors were determined to keep Chris Paul out of the paint. They limited Paul’s penetration, but couldn’t stop the New Orleans Hornets point guard from finding open shooters on the perimeter. David West scored 29 points, James Posey added a season-high 20 points, including six 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who beat the Raptors 99-91 Sunday for their eighth win in 10 games. Rasual Butler scored 16 points and Paul added 12 points and 12 assists for the Hornets… Chris Bosh had 25 points, and Jose Calderon scored 22 for Toronto on 8-for-8 shooting. Calderon also made his only free throw and has hit 59 straight dating to last season… Jermaine O’Neal added 19 points for the Raptors, who were shooting for their first three-game winning streak since a 3-0 start. Toronto is 5-6 at home.
Toronto Raptors sign Jake Voskuhl
The Toronto Raptors announced Sunday they have signed free-agent centre Jake Voskuhl. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.
Voskuhl, 31, is an eight-year NBA veteran. He has played for Chicago, Phoenix, Charlotte and Milwaukee, averaging 4.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 15.1 minutes in 412 regular season games. He has also made 92 career starts. He has recorded career bests of 20 points (April 6, 2002 at Minnesota) and 16 rebounds (January 20, 2004 versus San Antonio).
The 6-foot-11, 255 pounder was selected 33rd overall in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. He was acquired by Phoenix in October 2001 and spent four seasons with the Suns. He posted career highs of 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 24.3 minutes and 43 starts in the 2003-04 campaign.
Voskuhl participated in his lone postseason action in 2002-03 as a member of the Suns, where he averaged 6.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 16.3 minutes in six games. He shot .706 (12-17) from the field and .923 (12-13) from the free throw line.
The native of Katy, Texas averaged 6.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 138 career games at the University of Connecticut. He helped the Huskies capture the 1999 NCAA Championship.
The Raptors play host to the New Jersey Nets on Monday at Air Canada Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.
Nets-Raptors observations
InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner shares his unedited thoughts on the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors from Friday night. The Raptors visited the Nets and won in convincing fashion, 101-79.
Quick summary: The Raptors led 24-18 after the first quarter. Both teams scored just 16 each in a quiet second quarter. The Raptors tore away in the third quarter (31-19), and kept things going in the fourth for a convincing win. New Jersey shot just 31.3%. They had 20 offensive rebounds, compared to just 5 for the Raptors, but barely converted anything.
It’s pointless to say anything about Vince Carter today. He had a miserable game, shooting 0-of-13 and hitting 3-of-4 free throws for just three points, four rebounds and three assists (but three turnovers). The Raptors played very good defense, but Vince being off like this obviously isn’t normal.
Toronto also defended Devin Harris very well, holding him to 4-of-10 shooting for 14 points, five rebounds and five assists (but four turnovers). Are teams starting to figure Harris out? Hopefully not, for the Nets sake.
What I didn’t like about the Nets today is that as Harris struggled, very few other Nets seemed to try to help him out. As Harris had the ball in three-point range up top, Brook Lopez was the only Net to consistently set a real screen for him in an effort to free Devin up. Other Nets stood around watching. Now, usually Harris uses his super-quickness to create out of nowhere, but when it isn’t happening, guys should move and help a bit.
I’m extremely impressed by Brook Lopez. He’s the real deal and is very strong, agile and basketball-smart on both ends of the floor. The young center is a stud and will have an impressive NBA career.
I still don’t know what to make of Yi Jianlian, other than that he’s agile and has a sweet-looking jumper.
The arena’s sound system sounded especially muffled today.
As for the Raptors, Jermaine O’Neal is moving slowly and not the player he was before, but he has a high basketball IQ and uses his size more effectively than shows on the stat-sheet. Only a little, though.
Chris Bosh didn’t do anything special today, but he didn’t really have to.
Jason Kapono took 15 shots, more than any other Raptor, hitting just six, four of which were three-pointers, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds.
Joey Graham is having a great stretch and has played good basketball for the last few weeks. He looks confident. Graham came off the bench to play almost 30 minutes, shooting 5-of-8 for 16 points.
Andrea Bargnani was a starter this season, but now comes off the bench, and showed very little today, shooting just 2-of-10. That’s obviously worse than usual, but I’m still not sure how good he’s going to get. He’s shown in the past that he has the ability to become a starter-quality player on a winning team, but he isn’t that, yet.
Keep an eye on the Raptors as they learn to play under new head coach Jay triano.
Dec 13: Clippers 95, Rockets 82
The AP reports: The Los Angeles Clippers needed back-to-back 30-point efforts from newly acquired Zach Randolph to win consecutive games for the first time this season. Randolph had 30 points and 13 rebounds Saturday night in a 95-82 victory over the Houston Rockets. Friday night at Portland, he had 38 points and 11 boards in a double-overtime win… Yao Ming had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who had beaten the Clippers in seven consecutive meetings and 19 of the previous 22. Tracy McGrady scored 19 points on 5-for-17 shooting in his second game back after missing the previous seven because of a sore left knee… Al Thornton scored 26 points and Camby added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who got double-digit scoring from all of their starters. Baron Davis, who had 23 points and eight assists against the Rockets in the previous meeting at Houston despite a case of food poisoning, had 13 points and nine assists in the rematch.
Dec 13: Knicks 114, Kings 90
The AP reports: Al Harrington made five 3-pointers and scored 33 points Saturday night, helping the Knicks beat the slumping Sacramento Kings 114-90. “(Harrington) is a guy who’s a shot-maker and plays solid defense,” said teammate David Lee, who dominated the inside with 17 points and 19 rebounds… Although the Knicks only used seven players for much of the game, it was so one-sided in the fourth quarter that even Jerome James earned playing time… After missing seven of the past eight games with a strained groin, point guard Nate Robinson had 19 points for the Knicks, who won their second straight and moved within a game of .500 at 11-12. Tim Thomas scored 11 points and Chris Duhon added 10 points and eight assists.
Dec 13: Magic 103, Jazz 94
The AP reports: Could Dwight Howard be going from Superman to super sub? The All-Star center missed the first game of his career Saturday night, and coach Stan Van Gundy joked he might not get his starting spot back after the Orlando Magic used a dominating third quarter to beat the Utah Jazz 103-94… Rashard Lewis scored 27 points and Hedo Turkoglu added 22 for Orlando (18-6), which improved to 9-3 on the road this season… Andrei Kirilenko and Deron Williams each scored 17 points for Utah (15-10), which committed 22 turnovers, its second-highest total of the season.
Dec 13: Nuggets 123, Warriors 105
The AP reports: The Denver Nuggets didn’t need another 33-point third quarter from Carmelo Anthony. Fourteen was enough to put away Golden State. Anthony had 27 points and nine rebounds, Chauncey Billups added 16 points and 11 assists, and the Nuggets beat the Warriors 123-105 on Saturday night… Kenyon Martin, who returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sprained left wrist, had 15 points for the Nuggets, who had six players score in double figures. Jamal Crawford scored 25 points and Rob Kurz had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Warriors, who have lost 11 of their last 13.
Dec 13: Mavs 103, Thunder 99
The AP reports: Dirk Nowitzki had one of the best scoring nights of his career, Jason Terry put up another 20-point game and the Dallas Mavericks shot better than 50 percent from the floor. Despite those performances, the Mavericks still needed a late rally to fend off the struggling Oklahoma City Thunder. Nowitzki scored a season-high 46 points, Terry added 28 and Dallas won for the 11th time in 13 games, beating the Thunder 103-99 on Saturday… Jeff Green scored 25 points and Kevin Durant added 22, but none in the fourth quarter. Rookie Russell Westbrook chipped in with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Dec 13: Bulls 113, Nets 104
The AP reports: Ben Gordon and the Bulls knew Vince Carter would come out firing after the worst shooting performance of his career, but they overcame that with their depth. Gordon scored 29 points and Derrick Rose had nine of his 22 in the fourth quarter to lead Chicago to a 113-104 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Saturday night… Chicago got help from its young front line, who had been inconsistent all season. Tyrus Thomas scored 16 points and Joakim Noah added seven points and eight rebounds for the Bulls, who improved to 8-3 at home… Devin Harris finished with 22 points and seven assists. Carter and Harris were a combined 24-of-25 from the free throw line.