December 2012 – Page 24 – NBA Blog

Jazz score 131 points vs Raptors

The pregame talk was about 6-foot-11 center Enes Kanter making his first career start for the Jazz.

But it was Utah’s ”small” lineup that delivered the knockout blow in the second quarter, with the Jazz hitting five 3-pointers in a 3 1/2-minute span to set the tone in a 131-99 rout of the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

”It’s just like anything, when you see someone else on your team make the extra pass to the open guy, then you’re going to come down and make the extra pass to the open guy,” guard Randy Foye said. ”It’s contagious.”

In the end the Jazz hit 13 of 23 shots from beyond the arc – the sixth-highest total in team history. Marvin Williams, Foye and DeMarre Carroll finished with three 3s apiece.

”It felt good to see those guys firing them up and them going in,” said Paul Millsap, who led the Jazz with 20 points but didn’t attempt any 3s…

Kanter finished with 18 points and eight rebounds in place of Al Jefferson, who did not play because of back spasms…

Hayward added 17 points off the bench as Utah (11-10) improved to 8-1 at home…

Bargnani led Toronto with 20 points and eight rebounds. DeMar DeRozan added 17 points while Amir Johnson scored 10 off the bench.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin of the Associated Press

Warriors, coach Mark Jackson beat Nets in Brooklyn

Mark Jackson looked around Barclays Center and saw friends, family and familiar faces from a lifetime of New York basketball.

What he saw on the court was pretty special, too.

David Lee had 30 points and 15 rebounds, Stephen Curry scored 28 points, and the Golden State Warriors gave their coach a winning return to Brooklyn by beating the Nets 109-102 on Friday night.

”Good to be home,” Jackson said, ”and it’s even better to leave out of here with a victory.”

Lee scored six straight points to break open a tie game midway through the fourth quarter, and Curry had 21 in the second half for the Warriors, who won for the fifth time in six games.

Golden State improved to 2-0 on its season-high, seven-game road trip against Eastern Conference opponents, a game played not far from where Jackson became a New York City star…

Joe Johnson scored a season-high 32 points for the Nets, who dropped their season-high third straight. Deron Williams added 23 points and eight assists…

Brooklyn played without starting center Brook Lopez for a fourth straight game because of a sprained right foot. Andray Blatche had 22 points and 15 rebounds in his place…

Jackson was born in Brooklyn, played high school ball at nearby Bishop Loughlin, starred at St. John’s and began his NBA career with the Knicks, winning Rookie of the Year honors in 1988. The trip back to Brooklyn hit home, he said, when the team bus passed a McDonald’s where he used to eat after high school home games.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Thunder rumble over Lakers, win 7th straight

Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook gorged himself with 27 points in the first half as the Thunder extended their recent dominant run with a 114-108 win over the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

The victory was the Thunder’s seventh in a row, and their 16th win of the season, while the Lakers are struggling at 9-11.

After trailing by a point after the first quarter, the Thunder (16-4) exploded in the second with 41 to open up a 14-point lead at the half, a gap the Lakers could not reel in.

“That was a solid win, we had some very good stretches but then in the second half we had some not so good stretches. We relaxed some on defense in the second half,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.

Westbrook had a huge first half, scoring 27 of his 33 points to help the Thunder open up the big gap.

The battle of the scoring big guns went to Thunder forward Kevin Durant with 36 points and nine rebounds, while Lakers guard Kobe Bryant finished with 35 points.

— Reported by Reuters

Hornets insert Xavier Henry into starting lineup

Hornets coach Monty Williams announced before Friday night’s game against Memphis that he has made a change in his starting lineup.

Xavier Henry has been inserted into the starting lineup for the first time this season, replacing Al-Farouq Aminu, who had started every game so far this season.

Aminu is coming off a 3 for 6 shooting night in which he scored six points during Wednesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Henry came off the bench to contribute eight points on 2 of 5 shooting in season-high 19 minutes against the Lakers.

— Reported by Terrance Harris of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Big expectations on Ricky Rubio when he returns for Timberwolves

Ricky Rubio knows that there are a lot of expectations being put on his return to the Timberwolves. He knows he is being cast as the magic sand that will fill in every crack and mask any blemish in the team’s promising, if flawed, foundation as soon as he hits the court. It’s nothing new for basketball prodigy who has been carrying the weight of expectations since he was a teenager in Spain.

“I don’t know why, but the pressure has been following me since I turned pro,” Rubio told The Associated Press on Friday. “I was 14 and I was they said I was unimpressive. `He’s too young to play. He’s not going to do well.’ And I did well back in Spain.

“The pressure followed me when I came here and they said, `Oh Ricky’s coming after two years, he’s going to bring everything to this team.’ It’s just hard, but it’s something that I’m used to. I like the pressure, I like the challenge. The more difficult the challenge, the better it is for me.”

What makes this hurdle different than any other he’s had to leap before it is that Rubio is recovering from his first significant injury. It’s been almost nine months since he tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee late in a game against the Lakers, ending a terrific rookie season and sucking the life right out of a young Timberwolves team that he helped return to relevance in the Western Conference.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Virginia governor will not include money for new arena in budget

In a possible blow to Virginia Beach’s efforts to lure the Sacramento Kings, the governor of Virginia doesn’t plan to include any subsidy for the team’s move in his proposed budget.

Virginia Beach officials were seeking $150 million in state funds to bring the Kings to their city, including a $70 million contribution toward a new arena and $80 million to assist the team’s relocation.

But Gov. Bob McDonnell won’t include any subsidy in his 2013 proposed budget. In a prepared statement, McDonnell’s spokesman, Tucker Martin, indicated the governor wasn’t convinced the proposed subsidy penciled out.

— Reported by Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee

David Kahn denies latest Timberwolves-Lakers Pau Gasol rumor

David Kahn made a special guest media appearance at shootaround this morning to shoot down Thursday’s ESPN.com — the latest in a series of semi-regular such rumors — that the Lakers are refusing Wolves’ overtures for Pau Gasol.

Kahn said he hasn’t talked to the Lakers since last June. He didn’t say this, but that was when he was talking with the Lakers about a bigger deal that would have brought Gasol here and sent away Derrick Williams, probably to a third team.

The latest ESPN.com said the Lakers had turned down a Wolves deal built around Williams and Nikola Pekovic.

— Reported by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Rip Hamilton could be out longer than expected

When Richard Hamilton tore the plantar fascia in his left foot last weekend, there was a lot of one- to two-weeks thrown out there as the recovery time.

That still might be the case for the Bulls shooting guard, but Hamilton admitted on Friday that a month on the shelf might be more realistic.

“[The doctors] said four weeks, but they said I could probably come back before that,’’ Hamilton said. “Every one’s body is different, so it’s just one of those things where you want to try and get better every day.

“We’re working really hard on it, trying to get flexibility, trying to get the swelling down, get all the blood that’s in there down. Every day it gets better. The good thing about it is there hasn’t been a setback or anything like that.’’

— Reported by Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times

Trail Blazers assign Will Barton and Victor Claver to D-League

The Portland Trail Blazers have assigned guard Will Barton and forward Victor Claver to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Trail Blazers General Manager Neil Olshey.

Barton and Claver, both rookies, will join the Stampede tomorrow, Dec. 7 in advance of the team’s contests against the Austin Toros tomorrow night and on Saturday, Dec. 8, in Boise.

Barton, the 40th overall pick out of Memphis in the 2012 NBA Draft, has played in 16 games this season for the Trail Blazers, and has averages of 2.6 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 8.8 minutes per game.

Claver has appeared in four games with Portland this season, and averages 0.3 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 5.8 minutes per contest. Claver was selected by the Trail Blazers with the 22nd pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, and signed with Portland on July 11, 2012.

Wizards uncertain when John Wall will play

Ten weeks after the Wizards announced that John Wall would miss “approximately” eight weeks because of a stress injury in his left patella, the injured point guard is still unable to practice, scrimmage or even elevate to shoot.

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld and Wall both referred to the injury as a “bump in the road” that wouldn’t keep him down for long, but the team now has no timetable for his return. His extended absence has raised concerns, but Coach Randy Wittman acknowledged Thursday that the original estimate was actually eight-to-12 weeks. Wittman began to panic when a reporter asked if Wall would return this season.

“I hope so. What the heck is that? You’re scaring me,” Wittman said before cursing a few times. “I just talked to my mother again today. I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not looking at it like that”

He added, “We’re not hiding anything here.”

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