December 2012 – Page 23 – NBA Blog

Brandon Knight shines in Pistons win over Cavs

Brandon Knight steps up in Pistons win over Cavs

Brandon Knight made sure the Detroit Pistons got a needed road win.

Knight scored a career-high 30 points and the Pistons defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time in six days with a 104-97 win on Saturday night.

The Pistons, who won for just the second time in 12 road games this season, took control with a run that began late in the third quarter and carried into the fourth period…

Tayshaun Prince scored 14 points while Jason Maxiell added 11 for the Pistons, who defeated the Cavaliers 89-79 on Monday in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Jeremy Pargo scored 24 points for Cleveland, which has lost five straight, nine of 10 and 15 of 17…

Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao, who scored 16 points and had 13 rebounds, went to the locker room late in the second quarter with a bruised left elbow. X-rays were negative and he returned to begin the third quarter with the elbow wrapped.

Cleveland again played without leading scorers Kyrie Irving (broken left index finger) and Dion Waiters (sprained left ankle).

— Reported by the Associated Press

Spurs set 3-point mark in 132-102 win over Bobcats

Charlotte Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap decided to pack the paint Saturday night and make the San Antonio Spurs beat them from the outside.

Danny Green and company did just that.

Green scored a season-high 23 points and the Spurs set a franchise record with 19 3-pointers to hand the Bobcats their seventh straight defeat, 132-102. Green was 7 of 9 from 3-point range and the Spurs shot 56 percent from behind the arc.

Tony Parker had 22 points and nine assists as the Spurs won for the ninth time in 10 games to push their record to 17-4.

Green and Parker were a combined 18 of 22 from the field.

”Tony was driving and the defense was collapsing on Timmy (Duncan), so there were a lot of open shots from the perimeter,” Green said. ”We were driving and kicking and moving the ball. It makes the game a lot easier when you’re making shots. We haven’t been shooting the ball as well lately from the outside so I don’t blame them for trying to do that.” …

Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with 23 points and Gerald Henderson chipped in with 13.

It was San Antonio’s first game with Joey Crawford officiating since a Halloween photo emerged earlier this week on the internet showing Duncan and Parker holding fake guns to the head of a bald man dressed up as Crawford.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

Clippers beat Suns 117-99 for 5th straight win

The bench bailed out the Clippers again.

Jamal Crawford led a fourth-quarter rally with 13 of his 21 points, and Los Angeles beat Phoenix 117-99 on Saturday, winning its fifth in a row while sending the Suns to their season-worst sixth straight loss.

”Thank the bench because the starters were struggling,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. ”They got us off to a bad start again. Our starters get into this energy on the offense and not on the defense. This game easily could have gone the other way.”

Blake Griffin added 24 points and a career-best four steals, and Chris Paul had 16 points and 11 assists, but the Clippers’ reserves carried them. Crawford made all four of his free throws to extend his streak to 55 in a row since Nov. 3…

Michael Beasley scored 21 points off the bench, and Shannon Brown added 19 for Phoenix, which hadn’t lost six in a row since March 3-12, 2009…

Luis Scola scored 10 in a row for the Suns and finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Thunder assign guard Reggie Jackson to D-League

The Oklahoma City Thunder has assigned guard Reggie Jackson to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Jackson has appeared in 10 games this season with Oklahoma City averaging 1.8 points and 1.0 rebound in 5.6 minutes per contest.

He will be in uniform tonight when the Tulsa 66ers take on the Rio Grande Valley Vipers at the SpiritBank Event Center.

Celtics send Kris Joseph to D-League again

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have assigned forward Kris Joseph to their NBA Development League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.

Joseph, a 6’7” forward, appeared in one game for the Celtics during his recall from the Red Claws against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 5. He returns to the Red Claws where he has appeared in three games this season with averages of 21.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 39.0 minutes per game.

Kevin McHale set to return to Rockets

Rockets coach Kevin McHale will return to the team tonight, a person with knowledge of the decision said Saturday.

It was unclear whether McHale, who has been on a leave of absence since Nov. 10, whether McHale would entirely resume his coaching duties or would coach during the game tonight against the Dallas Mavericks, but will likely meet with the team at its pregame walk through and could resume coaching as soon as tonight.

— Reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Blog)

Jan Vesely falls out of Wizards rotation

Jan Vesely waited by bench to greet his teammates with applause and hand slaps at halftime of Wizards’ 104-95 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday at Philips Arena. He didn’t leave until Nene was the last player to walk of the court and joined him on the journey to the locker room.

Vesely remains a supportive teammate in the only way he can, now that he hasn’t been able to provide much assistance on the court. The struggling second-year forward from the Czech Republic has fallen so far out of the rotation that he was the only healthy Wizard on the roster that didn’t make an appearance in the loss to Atlanta.

With the Wizards trailing by 13 in the final minute, Coach Randy Wittman called on veteran Earl Barron to replace Nene and finish out the game. Vesely has received a DNP-Coach’s Decision in each of the past two games but Wittman said recently that he hasn’t given up on the sixth overall pick of the 2011 draft.

— Reported by Michael Lee of the Washington Post (Blog)

Thunder assign Jeremy Lamb and Daniel Orton to D-League

The Oklahoma City Thunder has assigned guard Jeremy Lamb and center Daniel Orton to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Lamb has appeared in eight games this season with Oklahoma City averaging 2.1 points in 4.3 minutes.

Orton has seen action in one game for the Thunder, scoring two points in two minutes versus Cleveland on Nov. 11th.

Both will be in uniform tonight when the Tulsa 66ers take on the Rio Grande Valley Vipers at the SpiritBank Event Center.

Joakim Noah unleashes monster game in Bulls win over Pistons

Joakim Noah was standing near the scorer’s table during the first half, visibly upset with his team’s performance while he was waiting to check back in.

The Detroit Pistons were outworking his Chicago Bulls – but Noah’s big night was only beginning.

”I just felt like our energy was just low, from the start of the game,” Noah said. ”It’s just human reaction, when there’s not a lot of people in the stands, to kind of put your guard down. I think we regrouped pretty well.”

Noah had 30 points and 23 rebounds [plus six assists, two steals and two blocks], setting career highs in both categories and helping the Bulls beat Detroit for the 16th straight time, 108-104 on Friday night.

”It’s crazy to have numbers like that,” Noah said. ”I knew I was missing a lot of tips in the beginning of the game. In some arenas, they count as rebounds, and some other arenas, they don’t. I’m happy they counted.”

Chicago trailed by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, but the Bulls rallied toward the end of the half and took control in the fourth.

All five Chicago starters finished in double figures, including Carlos Boozer with 24 points. Luol Deng and Marco Belinelli scored 16 apiece.

— Reported by Noah Trister of the Associated Press

Kevin Love drops 36 and 13 on Cavs

Kevin Love’s shooting stroke returned, and Andrei Kirilenko also was back for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The timing couldn’t have been worse for the reeling Cleveland Cavaliers.

Love had 36 points and 13 rebounds and Kirilenko delivered another solid all-around performance in the Timberwolves’ 91-73 victory over the Cavaliers on Friday night.

Love missed most of the first month of the season with a broken right hand, and he’s been struggling to regain his shooting touch since returning nine games ago. The release looked much more fluid against the Cavs, and the trajectory was better as well. He made 10 of 19 shots and 14 of 18 free throws and is cautiously optimistic that it’s all coming back to him now.

”Hopefully it’s not fool’s gold,” Love said. ”It’s a step in the right direction. I’ve been putting in work, but it’s just one game.”

Kirilenko had eight points, seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks after missing four games with back spasms and Luke Ridnour added 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Timberwolves, who improved to 9-9 in their best start since the 2006-07 season.

— Reported by Jon Krawcznski of the Associated Press