Month: March 2009

Spurs rout Clippers 106-78

The AP reports: Home-court advantage for a potential showdown with the league-leading Lakers doesn’t appear a realistic possibility with the Spurs trailing them by 7 1-2 games despite Monday night’s 106-78 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers… Tony Parker had 26 points and 10 assists for San Antonio, which pulled away in the third quarter with four 3-pointers from Michael Finley. The Spurs, who came in with a league’s best assist-to-turnover ratio, had 28 assists and just eight turnovers against the Clippers… Tim Duncan, playing his second game after missing the previous three with a sore right knee, had 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists before sitting out the fourth quarter. The 11-time All-Star needs 18 points to overtake Scottie Pippen for 44th place on the career scoring list.

Undermanned Thunder stun Mavs 96-87

The AP reports: Russell Westbrook had his first triple-double of his rookie season with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and midseason pickup Nenad Krstic added a season-high 26 points as the undermanned Thunder beat Dallas 96-87 Monday night despite playing without their two leading scorers… Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas’ charge back from a 23-point deficit, and his 3-pointer from the right wing got the Mavericks back within 88-84 with 4:13 to play. Those were the last of his 28 points, and Dallas didn’t score again for 4 minutes… Kyle Weaver, who answered Nowitzki’s final 3-pointer and then added a runner to help Oklahoma City stop the comeback, finished with a career-high 18 points and Thabo Sefolosha added 15 points. Jason Terry scored 20 points for Dallas in his second game back after surgery on an injured finger.

LeBron scores 42, Cavs beat Heat 107-100

The AP reports: LeBron James scored 42 points, Williams got 15 of his 30 points in the final 7:14 to lead a stirring rally, and the Cleveland Cavaliers dominated the final minutes to beat the Heat 107-100 on Monday night… Wade’s dunk put Miami up 91-80 with 7:52 left. The Heat shot 2-for-17 with four turnovers the rest of the way, getting outscored 27-9—a far cry from Saturday night, when the Heat got 24 from Wade in the final quarter to pull off a stunning win over the New York Knicks… Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 12 points and had 15 rebounds—his fourth double-double on a four-game road trip—for Cleveland, which moved a full game ahead of idle Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Jermaine O’Neal scored 16 points, Mario Chalmers added 15 and Moon had 11 for Miami, which shot 2-for-17 with four turnovers in the final 6:52 to waste what was a 91-80 lead.

InsideHoops.com note: Dwyane Wade had 41 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists (but 8 turnovers) and 7 steals.

West scores 30, Hornets beat 76ers 98-91

The AP reports: David West scored 30 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Hornets to their season-high fifth straight win, 98-91 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night… Chris Paul bounced back from a two-point first half to finish with 16 points and 12 assists. His 3-pointer with 70 seconds left made it 95-89 and the Sixers could not recover… Andre Iguodala scored a season-high 30 points and Andre Miller had 28 for Philadelphia… Rasual Butler, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds, hit the Hornets’ eighth 3 of the game and they were back ahead by double digits.

Hawks overcome flight delays, beat Wizards 98-89

The AP reports: Marvin Williams scored 28 points, Horford added 16, and Joe Johnson had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Hawks completed a 4-0 season sweep of the Wizards. Atlanta was in need of a slump-busting win, having lost five of seven after Sunday night’s 88-87 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a game decided on a free throw by LeBron James with 1.6 seconds left… Antawn Jamison scored 23 points for the Wizards, whose talent level took another plunge when Caron Butler was scratched with tightness in his left hamstring. Washington fell to 0-13 against the Southeast Division, just three games away from becoming the first NBA team to go winless within its division.

Nuggets suspend Carmelo Anthony

The Denver Nuggets have suspended F Carmelo Anthony for one game following an in-game transgression Sunday against Indiana.

“There is a code of conduct that we take very seriously, especially from a leader and co-captain,” said Nuggets Vice President of Player Personnel Rex Chapman.  “Carmelo knows this and regrets what happened.  He is a very competitive person and made a poor decision in the heat of the moment.  We look forward to having him back on Thursday and will have no further comment at this time.”

Anthony will not play Tuesday night, when the Nuggets visit the Detroit Pistons.  He will return to the lineup for Thursday’s game vs. Portland.

The Denver Post reports: Multiple sources said coach George Karl tried to take Anthony out of the game in the third quarter, but Anthony refused to come out, disrespecting the coach.

DeShawn Stevenson done for season

The Washington Post (Ivan Carter) report (via blog): Spoke with DeShawn Stevenson before the game and he said that he’s undergoing surgery later this week to repair a herniated disk in his lower back. That means his season is officially over. He said it would be roughly two months before he can resume hoops activity.

InsideHoops.com note: Stevenson this season was averaging just 6.6 points and 3.1 assists per game on awful 31.2% shooting. He only played in 32 games and hasn’t seen action since January 31 when he scored two points in a Wizards win over the Clippers.

SF Marcus Williams is D-League player of week

Marcus Williams of the Austin Toros has been named NBA D-League Performer of the Week for games played during the week of Feb. 23, 2009.  Williams, who earned the honor once during the 2007-08 season, joins Malik Hairston as Toros players to earn the honor this season.

Williams led Austin to a 3-0 record this week, averaging 26.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists.  He scored 30 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Saturday’s win over Tulsa, which was Austin’s seventh win in its last eight games.

A 6-7 forward from Arizona, Williams is in his second season with the Toros.  Last season, he earned Third Team All-NBA D-League honors and received GATORADE Call-Ups from the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers.  He ranks fifth in the NBA D-League with 22.2 points per game and has led Austin to a league-best 25-9 record.

Other top performers last week included Tulsa’s Keith Clark, who averaged 23.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in two games for the 66ers; Fort Wayne’s Ron Howard, who averaged 26.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in three games for the Mad Ants; Albuquerque’s Jasper Johnson, who averaged 28.3 points and 10.8 rebounds in four games for the Thunderbirds; Iowa’s Demetris Nichols, who averaged 26.0 points in two games for the Energy; Sioux Falls’ Frank Williams, who averaged 32.0 points while making 15 three-pointers in two wins for the Skyforce; and Rio Grande Valley’s Jawad Williams, who averaged 26.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in three games for the Vipers.

Knicks sign Cheikh Samb to 10-day contract

The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that free agent center Cheikh Samb has been signed to a 10-day contract.

Samb, 7-1, 245-pounds was selected in the second round (51st overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, before being traded to the Detroit Pistons on draft night. A native of Senegal, Samb has career averages of 1.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 5.4 minutes in 20 career games over two seasons with Detroit, Denver and the Los Angeles Clippers. On Nov. 3, he was traded from Detroit to Denver, and on Jan. 5 from Denver to the L.A. Clippers. In 16 games this season with the Nuggets and Clippers, Samb averaged 0.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.63 blocks over 4.7 minutes. He was waived by the Clippers on Feb. 16.

The Knicks roster now stands at 13 players.

InsideHoops.com editor says: He’s probably in for those 10 days and then out again.