January 2, 2013 – Page 2 – NBA Blog

Amare Stoudemire returns in Knicks loss to Blazers

In 16:41 of action, Stoudemire finished with six points on 3-of-8 shooting with only one rebound. He received a standing ovation when he checked into the game with 3:31 left in the first quarter.

“I almost shed a tear when I got out on the court,’’ Stoudemire said. “I’m glad to see the fans were patient with me.’’

In the second half, Stoudemire showed he can still run the pick-and- roll, but struggled most rotating on defense — coach Mike Woodson’s largest concern — despite two blocks. Stoudemire missed his first five shots and made his final three.

“My second half was better than my first half,” Stoudemire said, “and hopefully my second game will be better than my first game.”

With Stoudemire sealed to the bench, the Knicks — who were 21-9 without him — rallied from 11 points down in the final four minutes and cut the deficit to three points on two occasions in the last minute.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

Lakers guard Jodie Meeks holds no grudge towards Sixers

Sometimes when they leave a team and land somewhere else, NBA players don’t speak fondly about their old club.

Not so with Jodie Meeks, now a backup guard with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Meeks spent almost three seasons in Philadelphia and started 114 games before the 76ers allowed him to walk as a free agent last summer. Meeks wanted to stay in Philadelphia, but he knew that the Sixers wanted to free up more playing time for Evan Turner, the second overall pick in the 2010 draft.

No hard feelings.

“No, not at all,” said Meeks, who signed a two-year, $3 million deal to be a backup with the Lakers. “I liked everything about Philadelphia. It was a good organization. I liked Coach [Doug] Collins and still do to this day. He gave me the chance to start in the NBA and I loved playing for him. . . . But they made a business decision and it was time to move on.”

— Reported by John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Grant Hill hopes to play in January

Grant Hill smiled as soon as he was asked if he has a target date to play in his first game of the regular season for the Clippers.

“Yeah,” Hill said, smiling. “In my mind.”

Hill has a bone bruise in his right knee that has kept him out since the exhibition season.

He said he has “ramped up” his workout activity.

So Hill was asked what date he has in mind to play.

“Sometime in January,” is all Hill would say.

“Hopefully soon I’ll get to start practicing a little bit,” he said. “They are stressing that a lot of it is how you respond. So a target date could be sooner, it could be later. You want to let your body dictate that.”

— Reported by Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times

Deron Williams knows he is not playing up to expectations

The matchup between the Nets’ Deron Williams and Thunder star Russell Westbrook tonight should be a battle between two of the elite point guards in the NBA.

But given the way Williams has performed this season, it’s hard to argue more than one elite point guard will take the floor tonight at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

“I don’t think I’m playing like [an elite point guard],” Williams said before practice yesterday. “I think I can be. But I’ve just got to figure this thing out.”

The Nets have been a hard team to figure out all season, and that starts with the play of their star point guard. The Nets re-signed Williams to a five-year deal worth just under $100 million this summer thinking he was one of the best players in the NBA — and arguably the league’s best point guard.

— Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Avery Bradley set to return for Celtics

Plus one, minus one.

During practice Tuesday, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said the team will be graced with the return of Avery Bradley, who hasn’t played in seven months and is coming off surgery on both his shoulders, for Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

But the Celtics may be without point guard Rajon Rondo, who has been dealing with a bruised hip that caused him to miss the Dec. 29 game against Golden State and hindered him in Sunday’s disappointing loss to Sacramento, when he had just two points.

“When you’re getting beat down the court by a big, it’s frustrating,” Rondo said. “I’m OK. I’ll be fine. It’s not like I need surgery or anything. It’s just a bruise.”

— Reported by Jason Mastrodonato, correspondent for the Boston Globe (Blog)

Derrick Rose will travel, but still not close to return for Bulls

Derrick Rose will travel on the Chicago Bulls’ two-game trip to Orlando and Miami, but coach Tom Thibodeau downplayed expectations of a more expedited return from knee surgery.

“You don’t want to rule out anything,” Thibodeau said. “But he has to go through regular practice for an extended amount of time before we even think about him playing.”

The general guess-timate on Rose has been a return after the All-Star break, sometime in late February or early March.

“Whether it’s after the All-Star break, two weeks after, it’s when he’s ready,” Thibodeau said. “We don’t want to put a date on it. When he makes it through practices for an extended amount of time and there’s not any soreness the next day, we’ll make a decision then. He’s got a long way to go.”

— Reported by KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune

Jrue Holiday leads Sixers over Lakers 103-99

Jrue Holiday had 26 points and 10 assists, Evan Turner added 22 points and 13 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers rang in the new year with a 103-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

The Lakers (15-16) have matched their worst start after 31 games since the 2002-03 season, when they began defense of their third straight NBA title with a 12-19 record.

Kobe Bryant, who shifted from shooting guard to small forward five games ago in coach Mike D’Antoni’s redesigned rotation, led the Lakers with 36 points. Steve Nash added 12 points and 10 assists.

The Lakers, who tied a franchise record with 10 3-pointers in the first half of their 111-98 win at Philadelphia on Dec. 16, were 1 for 11 from 3-point range before intermission in the rematch and finished 3 for 22 from behind the arc.

Pau Gasol had 11 points and nine rebounds, but shot only 2 for 12 while playing on a sore right foot. Dwight Howard missed his first five shots and finished 1 for 7 with seven points and 14 boards. The six-time All-Star’s only field goal came with 6:15 left in the third quarter, a put-back dunk that reduced Philadelphia’s lead to 67-63…

Lakers reserve F Antawn Jamison was benched for the sixth straight game. The 15-year veteran, a two-time All-Star and former sixth man of the year (2003-04), hasn’t played since Dec. 16, when he went scoreless in 13 minutes against the 76ers.

— Reported by Joe Resnick of the Associated Press

Nuggets end Clippers 17-game win streak

During an undefeated five-week run by the Los Angeles Clippers, the Denver Nuggets were just another team they beat along the way. The second time around, the Nuggets were the team that ground the Clippers’ streak to a halt.

Danilo Gallinari led six Nuggets players in double figures with 17 points and Denver stopped the Clippers’ franchise- record winning streak at 17 games with a 92-78 victory Tuesday night.

The Clippers’ streak was the longest in the NBA since the Boston Celtics won 19 in a row from Nov. 15-Dec. 23, 2008.

”We were all a step slower today,” said Blake Griffin, who had 12 points for the Clippers. ”We’ve got to be better than that. We’re not going to sit and cry on the plane and get beat down. We’re not going to cause ourselves to lose our confidence, despite what people want us to do. That’s the best thing about the NBA – you’ve got another game.”

Griffin went 4 of 11 from the field – the first time he’s shot below 50 percent in 18 games…

Kenneth Faried added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who won their eighth in a row at home..

Eric Bledsoe also had 12 points, DeAndre Jordan had 11 and Chris Paul 10 for the Clippers…

Andre Miller, starting in place of point guard Ty Lawson, had 12 points and 12 assists for the Nuggets. Lawson, the team said, has been bothered by tightness in his left Achilles’ tendon for the past week, forcing him to miss a game for the first time this season.

— Reported by Dennis Georgatos of the Associated Press