January 2013 – Page 21 – NBA Blog

John Wall returns in Wizards win over Hawks

John Wall gave his teammates a lift with 14 points and four assists in his first game of the season, and the worst-in-NBA Washington Wizards have their first winning streak after a 93-83 victory Saturday night over the Atlanta Hawks.

Wall’s playing time will be limited as he returns from a knee injury, but he appeared to have his old speed and explosiveness back while playing seven minutes in the first half and 15 in the second half.

No. 3 overall pick Bradley Beal, getting to play with Wall for the first time, scored 16 points for the Wizards, who are 6-28 but have strung together two wins in a row following their upset of Oklahoma City on Monday.

A.J Price added 16 points and Martell Webster had 15 for the Wizards, who never trailed in the second half.

Jeff Teague scored 19 points, Al Horford had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Josh Smith added 11 points for the Hawks, who have lost five of six. Atlanta had won 18 of its previous 19 against Washington, including six in a row.

— Reported by Joseph White of the Associated Press

Magic break 10-game losing streak with road win over Clippers

Two streaking teams going in opposite directions. The Clippers, co-owners of the NBA’s best record and on a roll at home. The Magic, playing opponents close only to fall short while piling up the franchise’s longest skid since the 2003-04 season…

J.J. Redick gave Orlando its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left, Arron Afflalo tied his season high with 30 points, and the Magic won 104-101 on Saturday to snap a 10-game skid.

“It wasn’t a letdown by us. Don’t try to take anything away from them,” Clippers guard Chris Paul said. “They made tough shot after tough shot. J.J. Reddick had a hand in his face half the time.” …

Redick added 21 points, and Vucevic had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the injury-riddled Magic, who also stopped a four-game road losing streak. They completed a sweep of the LA teams, having beaten the Lakers 113-103 at Staples Center on Dec. 2, when Afflalo also scored 30 points.

“Too bad we can’t play here all year,” said Afflalo, who starred at UCLA before Vucevic played across town at Southern California. “I was the sour grape at the end letting guys know this only counts as one game.”

Griffin tied his season-high with 30 points, Crawford added 13 points, and Paul had 10 points and 16 assists for the Clippers…

Grant Hill made his season debut for the Clippers, entering the game to a standing ovation in the fourth. The seven-time All-Star had missed 36 games with a bone bruise in his right knee. He made two free throws and had two rebounds in six minutes.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Iman Shumpert returning soon for Knicks

New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert could make his season debut on Thursday against the Detroit Pistons in London.

“He’s been cleared,” coach Mike Woodson said after Saturday’s practice at the team’s training facility. “He’ll practice on Monday and if we get the two practices in — for sure one in London and there’s no setback — he’ll be cleared probably to play in the Detroit game.”

Shumpert is returning from a left ACL and meniscus tear suffered last April in the playoffs. Initially, the Knicks were looking to have the sophomore practice with the Knicks’ D-League team, the Erie BayHawks, but Woodson said the schedule won’t permit that. Instead, Shumpert will practice with the Knicks and “have to learn on the fly,” as the coach said.

— Reported by Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York

Grant Hill set to make regular-season debut for Clippers

Grant Hill is set to make his regular-season debut for the Los Angeles Clippers.

The seven-time All-Star is expected to play limited minutes on Saturday against the Orlando Magic, his former team. Hill has missed 36 games with a bone bruise in his right knee. He hasn’t played since Oct. 13 when he had eight points and three rebounds in an exhibition game against Miami in Shanghai.

He’s been practicing for a week and coach Vinny Del Negro said Hill hasn’t had any setbacks.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Timberwolves guard Malcolm Lee needs two surgeries, out for season

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that guard Malcolm Lee will undergo two surgeries next week. On Monday, January 14, Lee will undergo a right knee cartilage repair. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Jonathan Glashow at Midtown Surgical Center in New York. On Wednesday, January 16, Lee will undergo surgery on his right hip. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Bryan Kelly at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Lee is expected to miss the remainder of the 2012-13 NBA season.

Lee, 6-5, played in 19 games for the Wolves this season, averaging 4.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 18.1 minutes per game. The Wolves originally acquired Lee from the Chicago Bulls on June 23, 2011.

Bucks assign Doron Lamb to D-League

The Milwaukee Bucks have assigned rookie guard Doron Lamb to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Indiana) of the NBA Development League (D-League), General Manager John Hammond announced today. Lamb will report to Fort Wayne on Sunday and practice with the Mad Ants in preparation for their road trip to Los Angeles (Jan. 16) and Bakersfield (Jan. 18). Fort Wayne is coached by Duane Ticknor and is also the D-League affiliate of Detroit, Indiana and Charlotte.

Drafted by the Bucks with the 42nd overall pick in the second round of the 2012 NBA draft, Lamb has appeared in 23 contests for Milwaukee this season and has averaged 3.4 points in 12.2 minutes per game. He has tallied a career-high eight points in four different games, most recently against the Memphis Grizzlies on Dec. 19.

In two seasons at Kentucky, Lamb, 21, finished his career with 1,018 points while helping the Wildcats to a National Championship in 2012. Averaging 13.1 points per game, Lamb also hit 47.5 percent of his shots from behind the arc to become the top three-point shooter in Kentucky school history.

Lakers forward Jordan Hill out for season with hip injury

Lakers forward Jordan Hill was examined by team doctor Steve Lombardo and hip specialist Dr. Jason Snibbe, and underwent an arthrogram test today on his injured left hip.

Results of the test showed he has loose fragments in addition to a possible labral tear. Hill has been advised that surgery will be needed to repair the injury, and he will be out for the remainder of the season.

Hill is expected to get a second opinion before he schedules surgery.

Raptors stay hot, beat Bobcats by 21

Alan Anderson scored 16 points against his former team, Jose Calderon had 15 and the Toronto Raptors won for the 10th time in 13 games Friday night, beating the Charlotte Bobcats 99-78.

Amir Johnson had 13 points and eight rebounds while Ed Davis had 12 points and eight boards for the Raptors, who led by as many as 24.

Anderson had four of Toronto’s 12 3-pointers, while Calderon and Kyle Lowry each made three.

Toronto has not trailed in each of its past three victories, including home wins over Portland on Jan. 2 and Philadelphia on Jan. 9.

Starting for the second straight game, Toronto’s Landry Fields matched his season high with 11 rebounds.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kemba Walker and Ben Gordon each scored 12 points as Charlotte’s modest streak of two straight road victories came to an end.

Ramon Sessions scored 11 for the Bobcats, and rookie Jeff Taylor had 10.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Vanessa and Kobe Bryant divorce is off

Vanessa is on Instagram, and she was posting a significant message on Friday that she and Kobe are officially back together.

“We are pleased to announce that we have reconciled. Our divorce action will be dismissed. We are looking forward to our future together. Kobe & Vanessa,” read the gram.

The Bryants were wed in 2000. Vanessa filed for divorce in 2011 but reconsidered.

— Reported by Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Blog)

Celtics give Fab Melo another trip to the D-League

The Boston Celtics today re-assigned rookie center Fab Melo to the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment is the record 102nd of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons, and is the third for Melo this year. He is one of a record 49 NBA players who’ve been assigned to the NBA D-League this season.

Melo (7-0, 215, Syracuse) returns to the Red Claws where he previously appeared in 12 games, averaging 10.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in 26.8 minutes per game. He was originally selected in the first round (22nd overall) by Boston in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Melo is expected to join the Red Claws today and be available tonight when the team visits the Springfield Armor.