December 2012 – Page 8 – NBA Blog

Clippers beat Suns to run win streak to 13 games

The Los Angeles Clippers are starting to make easy victories look routine.

Blake Griffin scored 23 points, Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists and the Clippers extended a franchise record with their 13th consecutive victory, 103-77 over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night.

Reserve Jamal Crawford added 22 points for the Clippers, who won in Phoenix for the first time since April 17, 2007. Los Angeles’ overall win streak is an NBA season best and its six straight road victories are also a franchise best.

”We’re just taking care of business right now,” Griffin said. ”To be honest, we’re not really concerned with ‘You haven’t won here since then’ or ‘You haven’t won this many games in a row.’ ”We hear it all but we’re about just getting these wins and if they come within a streak or when we haven’t won somewhere, that’s fine.”

The Clippers have won by an average of 13 points and boast four victories of 20 or more points during their streak…

Jared Dudley scored 19 points, Luis Scola had 11 and Markieff Morris added 10 for the Suns, who have dropped two straight after winning four in a row…

Paul either scored or assisted on all but one basket over the final five minutes of the first quarter. … The Clippers matched a franchise record by holding their eighth straight opponent below 43 percent shooting.

— Reported by Jonathan Dalton of the Associated Press

Boston Celtics recall Kris Joseph from D-League

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

Joseph, a 6’7 forward, has appeared one game during his most recent assignment against Erie on December 22 and recorded 10 points and seven rebounds in just over 37 minutes of action. He has posted averages of 19.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.88 steals in his eight contests for Maine this season.

Spurs quotes after beating Mavs 129-91

SPURS HEAD COACH GREGG POPOVICH: (When asked how different the Spurs are when Kawhi Leonard is playing…): “Well, we’re trying to make him a defender, a top notch defender that can become ‘All League’ kind of defender like Bruce (Bowen) was. I think he has got the mentality for it, the intelligence for it. He just needs the experience. So we will see how it goes but in that regard he’s doing a good job. Chip Engelland has done wonders with his shot. Chad Forcier has been working on his mid-range game. He’s coming along. He’s been sitting for a long time. This is only his second game back. He’s sort of like a rookie starting over again. We are happy to see him making the steals that he did and knocking down some shots.”

SPURS GUARD TONY PARKER: (On the record setting three-point shooting from the Spurs…) “It was great ball movement. We shot the ball very well. It was just one of those games where everything we did worked. We will see next week. It is tough to beat a team like that and then we play them next week.”

SPURS GUARD TONY PARKER: (On having Kawhi Leonard back in the rotation…) “It is great. It’s huge. He is a big part of what we do. He played great tonight. He was everywhere. We missed him on the road. Everybody stepped up but after a while it was tough and it showed that we were missing Kawhi.”

SPURS GUARD DANNY GREEEN: (On his hot shooting night…) “Luckily it felt good tonight. Some nights you have it and some nights you don’t. Good thing we had it tonight. Not just myself, but everybody else on the team also stepped up and knocked down some shots. It helped us open up the lead a little bit.”

SPURS GUARD DANNY GREEEN: (On Kawhi Leonard’s impressive defensive performance…) “Kawhi gets in the lanes. He’s got the long arms and big hands. He got a lot of deflections and a lot of hands on balls. He got some fast break dunks for us which opened it up for us a little bit.”

MAVERICKS GUARD DARREN COLLISON: “They (San Antonio) shot lights out. That’s Spurs basketball. We know what they’re about. We just didn’t have our rotations down pat. We’ll work at it.”

Melo shines in 4th quarter, helps Knicks beat Timberwolves

Carmelo Anthony scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, rallying the New York Knicks to a 94-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.

New York trailed from the opening minutes until Anthony scored eight straight points down the stretch. He had scored just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting in the first half, but had the final 12 for the Knicks to give them a 4-2 finish on their six-game homestand.

J.R. Smith added 19 points and Tyson Chandler had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who will fly to Los Angeles later Sunday for their Christmas Day game against the Lakers.

Nikola Pekovic had 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who played without star forward Kevin Love because of an eye injury. Alexey Shved added 18 points for Minnesota.

Love was poked in the eye late in the Wolves’ 99-93 victory over Oklahoma City on Thursday and didn’t travel with the team to New York. They nearly pulled it out without him, leading almost the entire night before falling for the third time in four games…

Even with Love out and Ricky Rubio still on a minutes restriction in his return from major knee surgery, Minnesota led 29-22 after one and never gave up the lead in the half, even when the Knicks seemed to be putting together some momentum…

Knicks coach Mike Woodson seemed to rule Amare Stoudemire out of the road trip, saying he thought it would be best to have the forward practice against his teammates when they get back before he plays. But Marcus Camby, who has been sidelined by a sore left foot and has barely played this season, said he will be ready to play Tuesday.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Joe Johnson scores 22 points, Nets beat 76ers

Nets coach Avery Johnson used the previous three days to give his team some rest after Brooklyn dropped nine of its last ten games.

The Nets got in some practice time and Johnson’s staff looked over recent game film, adding some new plays to an offense that has struggled this season.

It paid off Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Joe Johnson scored 22 points, including 10 in the third quarter, Gerald Wallace had 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists and the Nets held on to beat the 76ers 95-92.

Avery Johnson came away pleased with the performance after the Nets had coughed up leads in the second half during their recent stretch of loses…

The Sixers rallied from eight points down in the final 40.5 seconds left, but Brooklyn didn’t fold.

”We definitely needed it. We just needed to get back in the winning track, especially in our building. It was good for us tonight,” said Deron Williams, who added 16 points to help the Nets end a six-game losing streak at home against Philadelphia…

Jrue Holiday led Philadelphia with 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds, Thadeus Young added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Evan Turner had 15 points and seven rebounds. The 76ers, opening an eight-game trip, have dropped six of their last seven games…

Nets F Kris Humphries was projected to be in the starting lineup but was replaced by F Keith Bogans. Wallace slid over to the power forward spot as Avery Johnson preferred to go with a smaller lineup, something he had been working on over the stretch of days the team had off.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Mo Williams out with right thumb injury

The Utah Jazz announced Sunday that guard Mo Williams will be out indefinitely with a right thumb injury.

Williams, who sustained the injury on Saturday, is averaging 12.9 points and 6.7 assists this season in 24 games, all starts.

The extent of Williams’ injury is unknown, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

— Reported by the Sports Xchange

Kevin Love out vs Knicks due to eye injury

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced that star forward Kevin Love will not play Sunday’s game against the New York Knicks because of an eye injury.

Love was poked in the eye during Thursday’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He did not travel with the team to New York.

The Timberwolves’ next game is against the Houston Rockets at home on Wednesday, giving Love several days to recover.

— Reported by the Sports Xchange

Warriors re-assign Kent Bazemore and Jeremy Tyler to D-League

The Golden State Warriors have assigned guard/forward Kent Bazemore and forward/center Jeremy Tyler to the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA Development League, the team announced today. Both players are slated to join Golden State’s D-League affiliate in time for the team’s first-ever game in Santa Cruz tonight against the Bakersfield Jam at Kaiser Permanente Arena (5:00 p.m. tipoff).

Bazemore, 23, has appeared in 14 games with Golden State this season, registering six points in 21 total minutes. He was previously assigned to Santa Cruz once this season, registering 27 points, nine rebounds, one assist, five steals and one block in 33 minutes of the team’s 101-95 season-opening victory at Reno on November 30.

Tyler, 21, has appeared in nine games for Golden State this season, averaging 1.3 points in 2.1 minutes per contest. He also has made one D-League appearance this season, registering five points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal in 29 minutes of the team’s 95-79 victory at Reno on December 2.

Dallas Mavericks sign Chris Douglas-Roberts

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent guard/forward Chris Douglas-Roberts. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Douglas-Roberts (6-7, 210) has played in 11 games (all starts) for the Mavericks’ D-League affiliate Texas Legends this season, and has averaged a league-high 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals in 38.5 minutes per game. In those 11 contests, he has shot 49.4 percent (79-160 FGs) from the field, 39.5 percent (15-38 3FGs) from 3-point range and 90.4 percent (75-83 FTs) from the line.

The 6-7 guard/forward spent the 2012 training camp with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he averaged 4.0 points and 8.3 minutes in four games. He played for Virtus Bologna of the Italian League in 2011-12.

Douglas-Roberts was originally selected by the New Jersey Nets in the second round (40th overall pick) of the 2008 NBA Draft. The three-year pro has appeared in 155 NBA games (53 starts) for the Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks and holds career averages of 7.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 20.6 minutes.

Douglas-Roberts played three seasons at the University of Memphis (2005-08) and earned first-team All-American honors as a junior. He declared for the NBA Draft following his junior season.

The Mavericks’ roster now stands at 15 players.

OKC Thunder recall Reggie Jackson, Perry Jones, DeAndre Liggins from D-League

The Oklahoma City Thunder has recalled guard Reggie Jackson, forward Perry Jones and guard DeAndre Liggins from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Including his 37-point (14-of-19 FGs) performance last night versus the Canton Charge, Jackson has appeared in three games (all starts) with the 66ers this season, averaging 28.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists in 38.0 minutes.

Jones has seen action in four games (all starts) with Tulsa this season, averaging 11.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 30.3 minutes.

Liggins has appeared in five games (all starts) with the 66ers and recorded averages of 11.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.40 steals in 36.4 minutes.