January 2013 – Page 34 – NBA Blog

Fab Melo suffers concussion from running into a hotel door

Fab Melo was recalled from Maine of the Development League, but it was to get treatment for a concussion he received when he ran into a hotel door. Melo missed the Red Claws’ Dec. 31 win over Springfield and is questionable for Friday’s game with Erie.

Melo said he still feels concussion symptoms and is unsure when he can return.

“I still have a little headache sometimes. I can only focus on things for a certain time,” he said.

Melo, a first-round pick from Syracuse, has been making headlines, blocking 23 shots over a two-game period, including a league-record 14 Dec. 22 against Erie. In 12 games, the 7-footer is averaging 10.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks.

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

Chris Wilcox will not need surgery

Backup center Chris Wilcox is unsure when he will return from a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and he will be reexamined next week. Wilcox has been wearing a brace on his hand since sustaining the injury Dec. 18 at Chicago.

He said doctors have informed him he will not need surgery.

“The doc told me I need to take some time off. I gotta let it heal; it’ll be a while,” he said. “Yesterday I got good news; they told me I didn’t have to have the surgery. Now I’m just trying to see what I’m comfortable with.”

Wilcox, who last season underwent surgery to repair an enlarged aorta, said he considers this injury a minor setback.

“It’s been tough for me,” he said. “But this is minor compared to what’s happened to me in the past. Anything other than that is nothing.”

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

Jrue Holiday gets triple-double in loss to Suns

After Luis Scola gave the Phoenix Suns a nice cushion late in the game, the 76ers were unable to complete a late rally and fell to the Suns, 95-89, Wednesday night at US Airways Center.

The loss wasted a triple-double (16 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) by Jrue Holiday. The Suns, led by Scola’s 21 points, ended a six-game losing streak and beat a Doug Collins-coached Sixers team for the first time.

“I don’t want a triple-double if we don’t win,” Holiday said.

The Suns took their largest lead of the game early in the fourth quarter when Scola sank a jump shot for a 77-66 advantage. The Sixers steadily cut into the lead and finally got to within 87-85 when Holiday hit Dorell Wright for a layup with just over two minutes to play.

That was the closest the Sixers would get.

— Reported by John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Kings get second road win of season, in Cleveland

It’s one thing for DeMarcus Cousins to say the Kings play better when they share the basketball.

It’s another for Cousins to put that into action. Cousins has tried to do that more lately, and it’s working.

Cousins scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds Wednesday, but it was a pass to John Salmons for his sixth assist of the night that was his biggest play in helping the Kings beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-94 at Quicken Loans Arena.

It was the Kings’ second road win in 15 games.

The Kings (12-20) trailed 90-89, having squandered a 10-point lead in the third quarter, when Cousins found Salmons in the corner for a three-pointer and a 92-90 lead with 52.9 seconds to play. Cousins’ six assists led the Kings.

— Reported by Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee

Son of Clippers owner Donald Sterling found dead

The son of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was found dead of an apparent drug overdose at his Malibu home, authorities said Wednesday.

The body of Scott Ashley Sterling, 32, was found shortly after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Los Angeles County coroner’s Lt. Larry Dietz said.

The death cast a pall on what has been a joyous season for the Clippers, normally an NBA doormat but now among the league’s best teams. The team is in first place in its division and had a franchise-record 17-game winning streak that was snapped Tuesday.

Sterling, 77, a billionaire real estate mogul who purchased the team in 1981, and wife Shelley released a statement thanking friends for sympathy, asking for privacy and saying their son was diabetic, but did not indicate what role, if any, that may have played in his death.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Warriors hand Clippers 2nd straight loss

Stephen Curry’s shooting stroke flowed so smoothly he swished shots without even looking at the basket.

At one point, the Los Angeles Clippers cornered Curry on the sideline near the Golden State Warriors’ bench. The 6-foot-10 Lamar Odom tried to crowd Curry out of bounds, and the diminutive point guard never hesitated to chuck up the shot.

”I lost sight of the rim and I knew it was going in,” Curry said. ”I haven’t been that locked-in in a while.”

Curry scored 25 of his 31 points in the first half, David Lee finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds and the Warriors coasted past the ailing Clippers 115-94 on Wednesday night.

After winning a franchise-record 17 straight games, Los Angeles has suddenly dropped two straight and has Golden State surging from behind.

Curry made nine of his first 10 shots, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, and added eight assists and six rebounds to pace Golden State’s 26-8 spurt to start the game. His twice-surgically repaired right ankle healthy again, Curry – along with Lee – is making a strong case to be the first All-Star for the Warriors since Latrell Sprewell in 1997…

Jamal Crawford scored 24 points on a sore left foot and Chris Paul had 23 points and six rebounds for the Clippers, playing with heavy hearts after learning of the death of owner Donald Sterling’s son earlier in the day. Small forward Caron Butler also wasn’t with Los Angeles because of personal reasons.

After owning the NBA’s longest winning streak since the Boston Celtics rolled off 19 consecutive games from Nov. 15 to Dec. 23, 2008, Los Angeles has struggled to shoot in losses at Denver and Golden State. The Clippers shot 38.5 percent in Tuesday night’s 92-78 loss at Denver and 36.4 percent at Golden State, ending a difficult 24 hours for the franchise.

— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Nets beat Thunder 110-93, Kevin Durant ejected

P.J. Carlesimo’s first big motivational message as the interim coach of the Brooklyn Nets earned him an elusive win in Oklahoma City, and perhaps the kind of jolt his team needs to get out of a monthlong funk.

Joe Johnson scored a season-high 33 points, Deron Williams added 19 points and 13 assists, and the Nets snapped Oklahoma City’s 12-game home winning streak by beating the Thunder 110-93 Wednesday night in a game featuring the first ejection of Kevin Durant’s career.

Johnson said Carlesimo ”jumped on us” after a 31-point thumping at San Antonio two nights earlier, stressing the importance of ball movement on offense and helping each other out on defense…

The Nets built a 23-point lead late in the second quarter, then allowed Oklahoma City to tie it at 85 before ripping off a 23-8 run to seize control right back. Durant was ejected near the end of the surge, arguing with Danny Crawford after the referee had already issued a technical foul against Kendrick Perkins.

”I just thought it was a bad call. You get frustrated throughout a game, you show emotion. That’s how you can tell you love it,” said Durant, who scored 27 points…

Brook Lopez added 25 points as Brooklyn ended a seven-game losing streak in the series and got Carlesimo a victory against the team that fired him back in 2008. He’d only had one win in Oklahoma City during his abbreviated tenure in charge of the Thunder, getting fired after a 1-12 start after the team’s summer relocation from Seattle…

Russell Westbrook had 26 points and 10 assists for Oklahoma City, which lost for only the third time at home this season.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

LeBron scores 32, Heat beat Mavs in OT

Once the Miami Heat found a way to rally in the final moments of regulation, they made overtime look easy.

LeBron James scored 32 points and finished one assist shy of a triple-double, Dwyane Wade scored 27 and the Heat pulled off both early and late before beating the Dallas Mavericks 119-109 in overtime Wednesday night.

Down 100-94 with 3:02 remaining in regulation, the Heat closed the game on a 25-9 run – and sent Dallas to its sixth loss in as many overtime games this season.

”We have ultimate confidence in our team, our talent level, our execution,” said Chris Bosh, who scored 17 points for Miami. ”And we believe in each other. To know we can be down by six with 3 minutes left and still have the confidence to overcome everything and get the job done, it works out great.”

Ray Allen added 15 for Miami, which extended its Eastern Conference-leading record to 22-8 despite trailing by 12 in the opening minutes. James had 12 rebounds and nine assists for the Heat, who scored the first seven points of overtime.

O.J. Mayo scored 30 and Dirk Nowitzki – still working his way back from knee surgery – added 19 in 29 minutes for the Mavericks…

Vince Carter had 15 points, Chris Kaman scored 14 and Darren Collison finished with 11 for Dallas.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Pacers beat Wizards for 6th straight home win

Good enough to beat the Wizards, not good enough to satisfy Paul George.

George had 29 points and 14 rebounds, leading the Indiana Pacers to an 89-81 victory over Washington on Wednesday night.

”I’m glad we got this win but we’ve got to look past this,” George said. ”We didn’t do a good enough job executing.

”Luckily we made enough shots to win, but we didn’t do a good job at all of executing. We let them pressure us and get us out of stuff; we play tough teams and that’s not going to fly.”

The Wizards (4-26) came into the game with the NBA’s worst record, and had lost eight straight against the Central Division-leading Pacers (19-13)…

Roy Hibbert added 13 points for the Pacers, who won their sixth straight home game. Ian Mahinmi added nine points and 11 rebounds.

Jordan Crawford scored 20 points to lead Washington, which fell to 1-14 on the road this season. Kevin Seraphin scored 16, Nene added 15 points and Bradley Beal scored 14 for the Wizards, who never led in losing for the third straight game.

— Reported by Andy Proffet of the Associated Press

Suns beat 76ers to end six-game skid

Luis Scola and the Phoenix Suns have watched a lot of late leads vanish. On Wednesday, they found a way to hold on.

Scola scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half and the Suns beat the Philadelphia 76ers 95-89 to snap a six-game losing streak.

”It’s only one win but we needed one win,” Scola said…

Dragic added 20, Shannon Brown scored 12, and Marcin Gortat had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Suns…

Holliday had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double for the 76ers, who are 2-7 in the second half of back-to-back games. Wright and Thaddeus Young had 14 points apiece for Philadelphia…

Scola has scored 20 or more in three straight games. … Phoenix has won five of its past seven at home. . The Sixers are six games into a season-high, eight-game holiday road trip.

— Reported by Jonathan Dalton of the Associated Press