February 19, 2010 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Antawn Jamison shoots 0-for-12 in Cavaliers debut

Forward Antawn Jamison struggled mightily in his Cleveland Cavaliers debut, coming off the bench to shoot 0-for-12 as the team lost 110-93 to the Bobcats in Charlotte.

Playing 26 minutes, Jamison finished with two points, seven rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Stephen Jackson (9-of-17) played well for the Bobcats, finishing with 29 points, eight rebounds and four assists (though, five turnovers). Boris Diaw had 18 points and nine rebounds. And All-Star Gerald Wallace contributed 18 points, five rebounds and an impressive nine assists.

For the Cavs, LeBron James had an extremely quiet night with 22 points, three assists, nine rebounds and four steals.

As a team, the Cavs shot just 39.0%. They amazingly shot better from three-point range than overall, hitting 12-of-29 (41.4%) from outside the arc.

Charlotte had 10 more rebounds than Cleveland, and had 27 assists compared to just 15 for Cleveland.

Jamison is obviously a better player than he showed today, so this is a fluke, but it’s worth keeping an eye on Cavs team chemistry over the next 1-2 weeks.

Rockets re-assign Jermaine Taylor to D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has re-assigned guard Jermaine Taylor to Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. In his first stint with Rio Grande Valley, Taylor averaged 21.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.25 steals in four games (one start). He also posted back-to-back 30-point outings with the Vipers at Albuquerque (30 points on 2/2/10 and 32 points on 2/3/10).

Taylor (6-4, 210, Central Florida) has averaged 2.6 points and 0.2 assists in 17 games with the Rockets. A rookie out of Central Florida, Taylor recorded a season-high seven points (2-2 FG, 3-3 FT), one rebound and one steal in just 2:17 of action vs. Atlanta (1/25/10). Taylor, who had his draft rights acquired by Houston from Washington on June 25, 2009, was selected by the Wizards in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft. He also averaged 11.0 points and 2.3 assists in four games (two starts) with Houston in the 2009 NBA Summer League.

Mehmet Okur father of new baby boy

Utah Jazz center Mehmet Okur and his wife, Yeliz, welcomed the couple’s second child, a baby boy – Yigit Mehmet Okur (21 inches; 8 lbs., 2 oz.) early this morning in Salt Lake City. Memo, Yeliz, daughter Melisa, and new addition Yigit are all doing well.

Okur, who left the team in Oakland to be with his wife for the birth, will miss tonight’s Jazz game at Golden State.

Okur this season is averaging 12.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, shooting 43.5% from the field.

The 34-19 Jazz are currently the no.3 seed in the Western conference.

Knicks waive Brian Cardinal

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that the team has waived forward Brian Cardinal.

Just a day ago, the team traded Darko Milicic for Cardinal. It was mainly a financial-related transaction.

The 6-8, 240-pound Cardinal has an NBA career average of 5.4 points and 2.7 rebounds on 41.2% shooting in 15.7 minutes per game. His best seasons came with the Warriors in 2003-04 (9.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and with the Grizzlies in 2004-05 (9.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg).

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner says: Knicks fans will miss Brian Cardinal and his contributions, but the pain and loss they’re feeling will ease with time. The Cardinal era was a great one for the Knicks, but even legends must someday say farewell and move on. (Note to new basketball fans: I’m kidding. Cardinal just arrived a day ago and now he’s already gone.)

Josh Howard wants to stick it to Mavs

Eddie Sefko, special to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, reports:

Josh Howard’s exit from the Dallas Mavericks went from amicable to a bit testy after he made his debut in Washington on Wednesday night.

Howard said after his first game as a Wizard — he was 5-of-14 from the field with 14 points and one rebound in 27 minutes — that he looks forward to being able to “stick it to the Mavs” regarding the trade after six-plus seasons in Dallas.

The Mavericks took the high road, with owner Mark Cuban saying only, “I wish Josh nothing but the best.”

The juicy piece of irony is that Howard ended up in Washington, which may well have been the site where he had the beginning of the end, according to several Maverick sources.

They say Howard had a long night of partying on Jan. 19, the night after the Mavericks had won in Boston and less than 24 hours before playing the Wizards.